Internet shopping: the supermarket model and customer perceptions

It has been widely speculated that new markets and customers can be reached through the use of the Internet and new ways of conducting business can be developed. A major growth 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, little empirical evidence is documented to reveal whether consumer 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 UK supermarkets, and examines consumer shopping behaviour and their attitudes toward the Internet for grocery shopping.