When it comes to shopping, you might think that living close to stores would make people less likely to shop online. However, recent research surprisingly suggests otherwise. Based on data from a recent study, we found that proximity to a single store doesn’t significantly affect whether someone chooses to shop online. However, being near a store doesn’t necessarily make you less likely to click “Add to Cart.”
However, when we zoomed in on walking behavior, the story changed. People who live within a 10–13-minute walk (roughly half a mile) of multiple shopping options are much more likely to shop in person—on foot. The odds of walking instead of driving or choosing delivery increase by 23% for groceries and household goods and by 17% for restaurants. That’s a meaningful shift, especially for cities aiming to reduce car use and promote walkable neighborhoods.
This matters because cities have different goals for local shopping, including reducing emissions, supporting the local economy, or simply making it easier for people to access what they need. Whether it’s “better” to shop online or in person depends on your perspective—but our findings suggest that when people have more choices close to home, they’re more likely to walk instead of drive.
Therefore, if cities aim to promote more sustainable and local shopping habits, walkable access to a diverse range of stores could be a powerful tool. Proximity alone doesn’t stop people from shopping online—but a walkable cluster of options might invite them to step outside instead.
Source: Verma, R., Chiara, G. D., & Goodchild, A. (2025). Does proximity matter in shopping behavior? Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 196, 104471. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2025.104471