Internet shopping model and customer perceptions: a study of UK supermarkets

A major growth area in electronic commerce (EC) is organisations that directly interact with their customers (Business to Consumer EC). The supermarket sector is at the forefront of this development. However, it has been widely reported that e-tailing for grocery shopping, e.g., Webvan, particularly in the U.S., has not been successful. Little empirical evidence is documented to reveal whether customers’ shopping patterns have significantly changed toward Internet shopping. By using a case study approach and a questionnaire survey, this study reports the Internet shopping models adopted by the major U.K. supermarkets, and examines consumer shopping behaviour and their attitudes toward the Internet for grocery shopping.