Off their trolley – understanding online grocery shopping behaviour

The artefact or object-based models commonly used in interaction design for describing users are inadequate for understanding the complexity and variability of online consumer behaviour, while traditional models of consumer behaviour do not reflect the user’s ability to shape their shopping experience online. To address this gap a framework has been developed for modelling online consumer behaviour and in this paper this framework is used to develop a survey of online grocery shopping in the UK. Analysis of the survey reveals several issues of concern, particularly dissatisfaction with product search capabilities and a conflict between the online consumer’s desires for both empowerment and experimentation.