Substitution or complementarity? How the Internet changes city centre shopping

The rapid expansion of the Internet has spawned a growing body of literature on the impact of online shopping (here called e-shopping) on physical shopping. This paper explores the impact of e-shopping on shopping at city centres in the Netherlands for 25 retail categories, using a sample of 3200 Internet users. Results indicate that in the short run, e-shopping is unlikely to have a significant effect on purchases at city centre stores. In the long run, however, e-shopping may well substitute for going to actual stores. Furthermore, consumers today frequently consult the Internet before making a purchase from a store, and the city centre constitutes a source of information before an online purchase is made. The impact of these events, however, differ largely among the various retail categories and types of Internet shoppers. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.