Distance to Market: Propinquity across In-store and Online Food Retailing

This qualitative research examines propinquity across two grocery shopping situations – real (in-store) and virtual (online). Examining how the same consumers shop for the same or similar commodities provides quasi-experimental conditions to examine differences in shopping behaviour. Convergent interviews with 15 respondents identified that consumer reasons – expectations of convenience, trust and satisfaction – for choosing online over in-store shopping fall into three categories of propinquity: physical, temporal and relational. The main reason consumers chose online shopping was convenience, to save time. To maximize trust and satisfaction, consumers seldom changed brand in online grocery shopping situations. The analysis also identified four distinct online shopper types – occasional, nasties, speciality and dependent – based on perceptions of convenience and trust and satisfaction associated with virtual