1. An empirical demand model for e commerce
- Author
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de Bok, M.A. (author), Eggers, Larissa (author), Thoen, Sebastiaan (author), de Jong, Gerard (author), de Bok, M.A. (author), Eggers, Larissa (author), Thoen, Sebastiaan (author), and de Jong, Gerard (author)
- Abstract
1. Overview and motivation The emergence of e-commerce in the past decade and the surging growth during the pandemic, partially at the cost of in-store shopping, have reinforced the need for a better representation of this type of consumer demand and its effects in urban transportation studies (Reiffer et al, 2021). Since this is a recent development, conventional passenger transport models only model the personal mobility for in-store shopping. Standard modelling tools for large-scale demand forecasts for online and in-store shopping are limited. A proper representation of this demand segment first of all requires an estimate of e-commerce demand, and second the simulation of the delivery of the orders. Jaller and Pahwa (2020) developed both an econometric MNL model for in-store and online shopping and applied it to a synthetic population to estimate externalities of the alternatives. The econometric model explains the preferences for type of shopping but not the total level of product consumption, and the delivery of online orders is estimated on aggregate statistics. Other disaggregate simulation studies only focus on e-commerce demand, without considering the trade-off between online versus in-store shopping, such as Cheng et al (2021). In effect, online ordering may reduce physical movements of people to stores, while increasing the delivery of orders to people’s home addresses. This shift is taking place for many consumer products and groceries as well. Weltevreden and Rotem-Minaldi (2007) show early evidence that e-commerce ordering in the Netherlands increases freight transport, while personal travel decreases marginally. On the side of e-commerce deliveries, the simulation of urban freight transport is a well-studied topic in recent literature (Mommens et al, 2021; Hörl and Puchinger, 2021; Reiffer et al, 2021). However, modelling the demand side of e-commerce is often still minimal. 2. Methodology, results and main contributions, Transport and Planning
- Published
- 2022