KISDI Publishes Report on “Hidden Barriers to the Expansion of Online Grocery Shopping” (detail)

※ URL(Korean): https://www.kisdi.re.kr/bbs/view.do?bbsSn=114862&key=m2101113055776&pageIndex=1&sc=&sw=

KISDI Perspectives (25-12-05): Hidden Barriers to the Expansion of Online Grocery Shopping

Despite improvements in pricing and logistics conditions, sustained use of online channels remains limited

▲ Empirical analysis based on purchase data from 1,500 consumers in the Seoul metropolitan area
▲ 35.6% did not reuse online grocery services within 12 weeks after first use
▲ About 80% of purchases occurred offline even when online prices were lower
▲ Digital utilization capability, rather than familiarity, influences channel choice
▲ Reducing burdens in the usage process is key to expanding adoption

The Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI, President Sangkyu Rhee) recently published KISDI Perspectives (25-12-05): Hidden Barriers to the Expansion of Online Grocery Shopping.

Korea’s online retail environment has matured in terms of accessibility through expanded logistics infrastructure and improved delivery systems. Against a backdrop of weakening neighborhood offline grocery options, the report examines whether online channels are sufficiently serving as consumers’ primary grocery shopping method.

The study analyzes receipt-based purchase data and mobile app usage data from a 2024 panel of 1,500 consumers in the Seoul metropolitan area. It assesses whether online grocery shopping becomes a repeated and habitual purchasing practice following initial use.

In the analysis, grocery shopping is defined as planned purchases of essential goods, including food and household items, intended for daily consumption by most household members over several days. To distinguish grocery purchases from other transactions in receipt data, the study applies criteria including purchase size (at least three items), product composition (at least 70 percent of spending on core categories such as processed food, fresh food, and daily necessities), and selection of the highest-value transaction when multiple qualifying purchases occur in the same week.

The findings indicate that the main bottleneck for online grocery shopping is not limited access but rather a lack of sustained use. Approximately 35.6 percent of consumers did not reuse online grocery services within 12 weeks after initial use, and among repeat users, one in five made only a single additional purchase. These results suggest that initial use does not automatically lead to habitual purchasing.

The analysis also shows that around 80 percent of purchases were made offline even when online prices were more favorable. More than 90 percent of nonusers had experienced situations where online prices were lower, indicating that nonuse cannot be explained by price factors alone and suggesting the presence of nonprice barriers.

The study finds that digital utilization capability—defined as the ability to perform complex digital tasks such as searching, comparing, and making payments—is significantly associated with online grocery adoption. This suggests that the key constraint lies not in access or device familiarity but in consumers’ capacity to complete the required digital tasks.

Jae Shin Chang (Associate Fellow, KISDI) stated that although online grocery shopping has the potential to improve access to essential goods and enhance consumer welfare, improvements in supply-side conditions alone are insufficient to drive adoption. He emphasized that the main bottleneck lies in the process by which consumers repeatedly select and sustain online channels and noted the need for policies to address “hidden barriers,” including strengthening digital utilization capability and reducing cognitive and procedural burdens during use.

While previous discussions on expanding online shopping have focused mainly on supply-side factors such as delivery speed, logistics networks, and pricing, this study is notable for analyzing consumers’ actual purchasing decision processes.

KISDI News

KISDI Publishes Report on “Hidden Barriers to the Expansion of Online Grocery Shopping”