In search of the 'good life': Understanding online grocery shopping and everyday mobility as social practices. (February 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Berg, Jessica; Henriksson, Malin
• Is Part Of: Journal of transport geography. Volume 83(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-02
• Subjects: Transportation -- Periodicals; Telecommunication -- Periodicals; Transport -- Périodiques; Télécommunications -- Périodiques; Telecommunication; Transportation; Periodicals; 388
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2020.102633
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0966-6923

Abstract

Abstract: Online grocery shopping offers an alternative to everyday grocery shopping, which often requires car travel. A growing marketplace of online grocery shopping services enables distributors to control 'the last mile' by which products reach consumers. However, realising the energy-saving potential of online grocery shopping entails addressing several problems, as increased e-commerce does not necessarily mean decreased car use. Today, calculated potential energy savings are based on estimates and assumptions rather than on thorough knowledge of consumers and their preconditions for e-commerce. This paper is based on a survey of 19 households that regularly buy groceries online. Qualitative interviews combined with travel diaries enable discussion of the household members' rationales, attitudes, expectations, and mobility practices. Online grocery shopping is considered here as a social practice that could contribute to a more sustainable mobility. In line with social practice theory, practices are understood as successful configurations of material, meaning, and competence that are also dependent on networks of other practices. This framing enables discussion of the likelihood that consumers will change mobility practices as an effect of online grocery shopping. The paper suggests that mobility practices results from constraining activities in everyday life, in which urban planning, norms of food and food purchasing, and the search for better quality of life are more decisive than is the practice of online shopping per se. This paper contributes empirically and theoretically to the study of mobility practices and discusses, from a user-centred perspective, the possibility of creating sustainable transport solutions. Highlighs: Explores how online grocery shopping influence mobility practices and choice of transport modes. Social practice theory is used to look at how grocery shopping is intertwined in other activities in everyday life. Interviews and travel diaries are combined to capture practices concerning grocery shopping and mobility practices. Case studies show how life-phases and residential location influence online grocery shopping and mobility practices. Demonstrates how e-commerce enables a car-free lifestyle in the city.