E-shopping and in-store shopping status in Tehran: Can e-shopping reduce traffic in the future?

Abstract

Nowadays Information and Communication Technology effects on all aspects of human activities, such as teleworking, electronic commerce, electronic banking, electronic learning, etc. the most of these services can prevent unnecessary travels in cities especially in rush hour. The aim of this study is to explore the frequency of electronic shopping and in-store shopping in Tehran, according to gender, educational background and employment status in order to obtain some information about the behavior of online and traditional shoppers in Tehran. For this purpose, 510 questionnaires were collected and the shoppers were categorized and analyzed in some groups, using SPSS23. The findings showed that the people often tend to buy their favorable products traditionally. As expected, the percentage of people that never experience electronic shopping is high but the development of online shops and mobile apps can attract people to this way of modern shopping. A good strategy for improving online marketing will reduce traffic congestion, travel time, energy consumption, and air pollution and so on.