Who are the online grocers?

Abstract

Online grocery sales experienced a surge in Singapore in the early half of 2003 during the SARS outbreak. This research uses the technology acceptance model and some basic demographic variables to study the intended usage of online supermarkets. Based on a sample size of 211 shoppers, it was found that those 21-40 years old have a higher propensity to use the online grocery stores while those having income lower than S$2000 a month have less inclination to make use of e-grocery shopping. The stepwise discriminant analysis shows that two perceived variables, usefulness and ease of use, and two demographic variables, age and income are significant in differentiating the intended customers. Our results are different from past studies, where gender and education were found to be significant. This may be due to the fact that the bulk of the respondents were under 41 years old with at least tertiary education. © 2009 Taylor & Francis.