Digital Transition by COVID-19 Pandemic? The German Food Online Retail
#MMPMID32836487
Dannenberg P
; Fuchs M
; Riedler T
; Wiedemann C
Tijdschr Econ Soc Geogr
2020[Jul]; 111
(3
): 543-560
PMID32836487
show ga
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a sharp increase in online trade. This article
examines the impact of the pandemic on online grocery retail in Germany. Here we
follow and refine the multi-level perspective by Geels, and examine to what
extent and why the online grocery retail expanded during the pandemic. A
particular focus is on the spatial expansion into rural areas. The study shows a
general upswing in the grocery trade and disproportionately high growth in online
grocery trade and identifies driving and limiting factors. While COVID-19 has
opened a window of opportunity, our results indicate little transition of grocery
to e-grocery. This finding can be explained by the sudden and temporary
constellation at the level of the socio-technical regime during the pandemic. As
a result, we argue for a rethinking the temporality of windows of opportunities
and the related vulnerability of the innovations which need them.
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