The COVID‐19 pandemic and ensuing lockdown measures have led to an increase in e‐shopping. Using longitudinal data from before and during the pandemic, this paper finds that the number of respondents in the study who shop online at least once per week increased nearly five‐fold between fall 2019 (11.6%) and spring 2020 (51.2%). The authors estimate a series of ordered logit models to establish who is responsible for this recent rise in e‐commerce, and to help assess whether it will be temporary or longer lasting. The paper then discusses the equity implications and urban and regional restructuring that this change in e‐shopping behavior may entail.
