Residents' online shopping behavior characteristics in China during COVID-19 pandemic: The case of Guangzhou

With the burgeoning development of mobile information and communication technologies (MICTs) as well as the popularization of smartphones, online shopping behaviors have progressively penetrated people's everyday lives. The outbreak of COVID-19 and its consequent implementation of prevention and control policies have expanded the target audience of online shopping, which has also complicated the mechanism of online shopping behaviors. This study used structural equation modeling to explore how and why the pandemic factors have influenced the characteristics of residents' online shopping behaviors in urban China experiencing rapidly advancing MICTs to extend the discourse on online shopping behaviors. This study found that the gap in individuals' online shopping expenses between the central urban and suburban areas was slightly narrower than in normal times. This is primarily because the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing policies, technological innovation, and the type of purchase item intertwined as a geographical balancer in lessening the extant smart divide. Moreover, residents' consumption preference during COVID-19 had a positive effect on their online shopping behaviors, mainly because online shopping offered a relatively safe way to minimize the risk of infection during the pandemic. Individuals with advantaged income and educational levels tended to shop online more frequently than the disadvantaged, suggesting that online shopping became a new component of the smart divide during the pandemic. The findings of this study can contribute to the further understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on individuals' shopping behaviors, and provide references for the transformation of urban retail space.