Factors Affecting the Growth of E-Shopping over the COVID-19 Era in Hanoi, Vietnam

Abstract

In response to insufficient understanding of the determinants of change in e-shopping behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic in developing countries, this paper used the data from 355 respondents, collected in Hanoi during the social distancing period (April 2020), to explore the factors associated with shopping online more frequently (i.e., representing the growth of e-shopping) for five product types (food, medical products, clothing, electronics, and books) in Hanoi, Vietnam. The results showed that nearly 80% of the respondents engaged in e-shopping more frequently than they did before the outbreak of COVID-19. As regards shopping online more frequently in general (i.e., for at least one product type), females were more likely to do so. In-store shopping enjoyment and a decrease in income were a facilitator and a deterrent, respectively. Regarding specific product types, completely working from home had a positive association with more frequent e-purchasing for electronics. Fear of disease encouraged higher frequencies of e-shopping for food and medical products. Notably, the shortage of physical supply was not a determinant of buying any product type online more frequently. As for the implications of our findings, supporting and encouraging low-income shoppers, older persons, and females to engage in e-shopping is necessary to limit the detrimental effects of the pandemic on their lives. The growth of internet purchasing expresses a need to manage the development of urban delivery services, to limit the uncontrolled proliferation of motorcycles. E-shopping requires delivery to complete the online-to-offline process; therefore, protecting the health of delivery drivers to ensure the safety of the whole online shopping process would be necessary.

Examining the Effect of Consumer Demographic Characteristics on Online or Offline Shopping Preference

“…Then, the analysis of hypothesis show that there is no significant difference between consumer demographic characteristics with the decision of preferred shopping method. It is quite different from the previous studies which stated that the demographic characteristics of consumers can make a significant difference to the decision of consumer shopping methods (Azevedo et al, 2011;Law et al, 2016;Nguyen et al, 2021;Shephard et al, 2016;Sung & Jeon, 2009).…”

“…In the modern lifestyle, people need practicality in their lives, and online-based trade transactions or e-commerce are starting to be widely used (Lie et al, 2019).Consumers usually have their own preferences in terms of shopping methods, both offline and online (Kulkarni, 2020). Various studies have been conducted to analyze the influence of consumer demographic characteristics such as gender, age, occupation and others on consumer decisions to shop offline or online have also obtained significant results (Azevedo et al, 2011;Law et al, 2016;Nguyen et al, 2021;Shephard et al, 2016;Sung & Jeon, 2009).Based on the explanation above, this research specifically focuses on the shopping behavior of fashion products, seeing the tendency of people to buy fashion products. This study aims to determine the effect of consumer demographic characteristics on their preferences for shopping fashion products offline or online.…”

Exploring Chinese Consumers’ Online Purchase Intentions toward Certified Food Products during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The pandemic is far from being simply a health crisis-it is expected to cause a severe global economic disruption and affect all economic sectors, particularly the food sector [2]. Notably, it is evident that the pandemic has profoundly changed the food systems, as well as the way people purchase and consume their food [4][5][6][7][8].…”

Bus Crash Severity in Hanoi, Vietnam

“…The authors worked with bus providers from September to December 2020 to collect the collision data of subsidized bus routes in Hanoi from 2015 to 2019. The data of 2020 were excluded since the bus operation within this period were largely affected by the social distancing directive mandated to stop the transmission of COVID-19 [49][50][51][52].…”