E-Commerce in the Life of Qatari Women - Research Paper Example

? E-commerce in the life of Qatari Women Introduction With the arrival of the 21st century, the global business scenario has experienced a drastic shift in terms of the market dynamics. The development of information technology has impacted almost every sphere of business. However, there were both positive and negative impacts on the business houses and society due to the colossal development of information technology. The positive factors emerged in the form of better communication, increased efficiency and higher productivity. From the perspective of a business, IT allowed companies to operate online and reach global customers at the most cost efficient way. One of the dimensions of IT is e-commerce and it acts as a tool that facilitates online business. In addition, it has also helped customers to carry out online purchases irrespective of the time and geographic location. The negative factors on the other hand appeared in the form of security threats. Before getting further deeper into the study, a brief overview of e-commerce is presented below. The notion of e-commerce can be traced back during the epoch when the concept of the internet just came into light. During the earlier days, e-commerce was deemed as the process through which companies used to carry out their transaction over the electronic platforms (Majumdar, Cave, and Vogelsang, 2005). During this period, the concept of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) has also emerged and companies used these tools to transact in an efficient manner. These technologies have allowed companies to complete transactions electronically and companies were hugely benefitted by it. However, the commercialization of e-commerce only became possible during the early 1990s and as soon as it became commercialized a number of business houses such as eBay and amazon.com have taken their business online (Reynolds, 2004). In the early stages, companies had shown more interest in using the internet as a tool for promoting the business, but for the last decade it companies became more active in selling their products and services over the online platforms (eCommerce-Lund, 2004). From the point of view of customers, e-commerce eased several kinds of activities. For example, it allowed customers to shop during their convenient time and also allowed them to carry out shopping sitting inside the home (Bhasker, 2006). The sales figures also experienced huge growth. According to reports, the growth was around 32% in 2012, in comparison to 2011 (Provost, 2012). Apart from e-shopping, e-commerce also allowed customers to carry out banking transactions. Hence, it is evident that e-commerce now acts as part and parcel of the life of human beings. Executive Summary This study seeks to shed light on the impact of e-commerce in the life of Qatari Women. The primary objective was to identify the problems faced by Qatari women in using e-commerce in their daily life. In order to address the objectives, the study will carry out a survey of 10 people so as to know their perception about e-commerce. In order to analyze the findings, the study used qualitative approach. Both primary and secondary research was undertaken to identify the problems associated with e-commerce in the life of Qatari women. The key findings of the study were that Qatari women face problems related to the payment gateway, security issues, delivery issues and issues pertaining to terms and condition. In order to triumph over these issues, the Qatari women should make themselves more familiar with such platforms and should only use authentic platforms. Similarly, the government must ensure that the websites are transparent enough and is offering secure payment gateways. The Problem The women of Qatar exercise full right so as to take a proactive role in the society and simultaneously act as a vital element in the development process of the country. With the modernization of the society, the Qatari women have also adopted themselves with the shifting market dynamics (qatarembassy, 2010). It has been found that the women of Qatar are connected with internet and e-commerce like never before. On an average the households in Qatar owns 3 mobile phones, one smart phone, and two computers. According to a report published by ICTQatar, it has been found that women have been keeping a pace with men when it comes to the use of smart phones (ICTQatar, 2013). Moreover, tablets are being used more by the women than the man uses it. Hence from the above data and information, it is evident that Qatari women have a strong interest in the use of technically upgraded products. These facts also make it obvious that Qatari women will have a positive outlook towards the use of e-commerce. However, the situation does not remain the same for every segment. Another astonishing fact is that most of the women in Qatar use these gadgets for their core task or functions and just after that they uses it for internet access. Studies have also identified that customers in general faces different types of problems in using e-commerce. The study also found that customers mainly update and switches to contemporary versions of mobile phones and smart phones for the purpose of accessing internet at a faster pace. When online shopping is carried out customers often faces difficulties in finding the most appropriate product or the product which they are looking at. Moreover, it has been also found from the secondary survey that the complicated checkout process also becomes a cause of concern and hinders people from using e-commerce technology. It has been also observed that the majority of the e-commerce site offers recommendation to the users to buy certain products, but unfortunately the majority of the users are not interested in those recommendations. The problems related to the security are also other major issues being faced by customers around the world. Although a certain section of the country has high exposure to digital gadgets and knowledge on the operation of these products, but a major segment of lack the appropriate knowledge of internet, computers and electronic commerce. Over the years people from the Arabian countries has mostly relied on face to face interaction. Moreover, familiarity with the English language is another vital requirement for customers to effectively use e-commerce application, but in case of Qatari women, they lack the desired knowledge of English, which greatly hinders them from using e-commerce application. Prior experience of using computers is another vital factor that influences the decision of consumers to carry out online purchasing. In this context also, a certain segment has prior experience of using e-commerce, but another segment of the country greatly lacks experience and knowledge of computers (Nathan, 2008). In order to know the problems of Qatari women faces for using e-commence on their daily life the study also considered a questionnaire survey. The questions asked to 10 Qatari women and basically aimed to understand their perception and the extent to which they use e-commerce application. The primary survey carried out to assess the usage pattern and problems customer’s faces for using e-commerce in the life of Qatari women has provided the following results. The first question asked to them was about the type of gadgets they owns. In response to this, most of the women have marked on smart phones, laptops and mobiles. In addition, some of them also own desktops, tablets and other gadgets like Sony Dash to use internet. This clearly shows that the eagerness of using internet among the Qatari women is very high. In the similar backdrop, on asking them about the purpose you are using these gadgets apart from the core function, around 70% respondents mentioned that they use it for multimedia and internet activities. Figure 1 – Digital gadgets owned by Qatari Women Figure 2 – Purpose of using Digital Gadgets One of the most important question was asked to them was about their awareness about the benefits of e-commerce. In response to this, each participant marked on the ‘yes’ option, which signified they are aware of the e-commerce benefits. Similarly, on asking them whether they have ever experienced the benefit or not, again the result was astounding. 100% respondents mentioned that they have experienced the benefits of e-commerce. Hence, it can be analyzed that Qatari women are well exposed to e-commerce technology and have previously used it. The subsequent question asked to them was about the type of benefit they have received from e-commerce, it has been identified that around 70% of them had received the benefit of online shopping. The remaining of them has received benefits in the form of online fund transfer and online application fill up. Therefore, from this data it can be analyzed that Qatari women has enjoyed most of the benefits offered by the e-commerce. Figure 3 – Purpose of E-commerce Usage The next question asked to them was related to the frequency of online purchase. Again the responses were encouraging for an online business company. Among the 10 respondents 6 of them mentioned that they frequently purchases through online stores, whereas 2 of them stated they purchases it quite often and the 2 of them mentioned rarely. However, this data suggests that Qatari women are active online buyers. Despite, high frequency of usage and awareness about the benefits of e-commerce, there have been reports that the problem is being faced by Qatari women in terms of using e-commerce. Then they were asked about the types of problems they experiences while using e-commerce application. In reply to this, the respondents mentioned that they are mostly concerned with the problems related to the payment gateway, security issues, delivery issues and issues pertaining to terms and condition. Figure 4 – Problems of E-commerce The Solution The last section of the study has identified the problems which are being faced by the Qatari women while using e-commerce. Now in order to make the solutions, the following are the activities that should be undertaken by Qatari women and the government. Role of Qatari Women The role of Qatari women in solving the issues is greatly important. The Qatari women should carefully go through the buying instruction to the website’s home page. This will help in making them accustomed to the buying process and will reduce the complicacy they are facing while online shopping. Moreover, in order to minimize the security threats they should only consider popular and authentic websites to buy the product. It is always helpful to keep a secret code while transacting online as this increases the level of security to quite a large extent. Role of Government The government of the country also has a major role to play in minimizing the different problems faced by Qatari women while using e-commerce. One of the foremost tasks of the government is to administer the websites that offer online shopping opportunities to the customers. The government should also ensure the payment gateways offered by the websites are secure and have strong firewalls. Lastly, they are also recommended to ensure that the companies are mentioning clear terms & conditions. The Benefits The implementation of the above recommendations will greatly help both the customers as well as companies to improve their position. For example, the business houses will be able to generate a sense of trust among the consumers if they are compelled to follow the rules and regulations of the government. Moreover, customers will be able to continue their shopping without worrying about the security threats. Thus, with the implementation of certain rules and regulations the e-commerce process becomes simpler and is advantageous for the society. Conclusion The study was about analyzing the problems faced by Qatari women while using e-commerce. The secondary and primary survey revealed that there are several problems being faced by them. The major ones identified are problems related to the payment gateway, security issues, delivery issues and issues pertaining to terms and condition. In order to get rid of these issues, the Qatari women are recommended to get accustomed with the process of transaction. In addition, the government is also recommended to administer the websites and along with that ensure the payment gateways offered by the websites are secure and have strong firewalls. Reference List Bhasker, Bharat. 2006. Electronic Commerce: Framework, Technologies and Applications. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Education. Ecommerce-land. 2004. History of Ecommerce. http://www.ecommerce-land.com/history_ecommerce.html. ICTQatar, 2013. Households and Individuals. http://www.ictqatar.qa/sites/default/files/documents/Qatar%20ICT%20Landscape_EN.pdf. Majumdar, Sumit K., Martin Cave, and Ingo Vogelsang. 2005. Handbook of Telecommunications Economics: Technology Evolution and the Internet. Amsterdam: Emerald Group Publishing. Nathan, Robert J. 2008. Electronic Commerce Adoption in the Arab Countries – An Empirical Study. http://www.iajet.org/iajet_files/vol.1/no.1/EC%20Adoption%20in%20Arab%20Countries_RobertJ_IAJeT.pdf. Provost, Taylor. 2012. Black Friday Sales Rose Online, Sank In Stores. http://www3.cfo.com/article/2012/11/technology_economy-black-friday-cyber-monday-online-shopping-increase-brick-and-mortar-decrease. Qatarembassy, 2010. Qatari Women. http://www.qatarembassy.net/women.asp. Reynolds, Janice. 2004. The Complete E-Commerce Book: Design, Build & Maintain a Successful Web-Based Business. Massachusetts: Focal Press. Questionnaire Survey Q1. Among the below mentioned options tick on the gadgets you own. Along with that also write the number of these things you own. a. Mobile b. Smart Phones c. tablet d. Laptop e. Desktop f. Other gadgets Q2. For what purposes you use these gadgets apart from the core function? a. Internet Surfing b. Multimedia and Gaming c. Official purpose d. other purpose ( please specify) Q3. Are you aware of e-commerce and its benefits? a. Yes b. No c. Know the term but unaware of the functions Q4. Have you ever experienced the benefits of e-commerce? a. Yes b. No Q5. Among the below mentioned benefits which one you have availed? a. Online shopping b. Online Fund Transfer c. others please specify Q6. How often you carry out online purchases? a. Rarely b. Frequently c. Quite Often Q7. What are the types of Problems you experience while using e-commerce application? a. Complicacy of the process b. Not finding the desired products c. Problems related with payment gateway d. Security Issues e. Delivery Issues f. Others (Please Specify) Read More