Consumer Mobility, Offline and Online Regional Trade: Evidence From High‐Frequency Transaction Data
ABSTRACT The shift from offline to online purchasing is reshaping trade patterns: a weaker effect of distance has been observed in digital transactions. This study analyzes these dynamics at an unprecedented scale and granularity, using interregional gravity models estimated from billions of geolocated French card transactions. Using a matched sample of merchants active in both online and offline channels, with unambiguous regional identification, we compare purchasing behavior across channels. We estimate that distance matters 35% less online than offline on average, but for durables, 69% lower online; 43% lower online for nondurables; a negligible online–offline difference is found for services.
Authors
- Youssouf Camara (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4938-0051)
- John W. Galbraith (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6019-2169)
- David Bounie
Institutions
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Center for Interuniversity Research and Analysis on Organizations (CA)
- McGill University (CA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- International Economic Review
- Published
- 2025-11-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1111/iere.70036
- Primary Topic
- Consumer Market Behavior and Pricing
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Fondation du Risque
- Télécom Paris