Purchase Perceptions That Promote Frequent E-Commerce Buying - Research Paper Example

Identifying purchase perceptions that promote frequent e-commerce buying with special reference to UAE" Table of Contents 3 Introduction 3 Research Objective 4 Literature Review 4 Research Methodology and Data Collection 8 Data Analysis and Findings 11 Discussion 13 Conclusions 14 References 16 Darby, R. 1998. E-commerce marketing: fad or fiction? Management competency in mastering emerging technology. An international case analysis in the UAE. Journal of Enterprise Information Management. Vol 16(2). pp. 241-243. 17 Alrawi, K. and Sabry, K. 2009. E-commerce evolution: a Gulf region review. International Journal of Business Information Systems. Vol 4(5). pp. 509-526. 17 Lowe, A. 2012. UAE holds largest share of e-commerce sales in region. [online]. Available at: http://gulfnews.com/business/retail/uae-holds-largest-share-of-e-commerce-sales-in-region-1.970176. [Accessed on 20th February, 2014]. 17 Appendix: Interview Questions 18 Abstract The research paper deals with the perception of the people in UAE on the e-commerce purchasing process. However, the perception of consumers on e-commerce purchasing process used to differ from an individual to an individual to another individual due to several positive and negative aspects of e-commerce. It is clear from both primary and secondary data analysis process that the demand for online marketing activities is increasing significantly, but some individuals are concerned about the account hacking threats during online payment process. Introduction Business environment in UAE is becoming highly competitive and saturated. It is true that B2C e-commerce purchasing activities is increasing significantly in UAE as several leading multinational or domestic organizations are trying to market their products through online. In addition to this demand for online buying and selling activities is significantly increasing among the people in UAE. Day-by-day, the number of internet and social media network users is increasing significantly around the globe. UAE is achieving significant economic growth as the business environment of this part in the world is improving constantly. UAE is enriched with natural oil and gas resources. In addition to this, the government has developed and implemented some effective policies in order to attract the leading multinational organizations to enter in this part of the world. Favourable economic environment of UAE is motivating several leading multinational organizations to enter in UAE. In addition to this, high purchasing power and high disposable income of people is motivating several domestic and multinational firms to start business operation activities in UAE. However, implementation e-commerce in the business operation activities has become one of the important upcoming trends for the business organizations in the industry. Adoption and implementation of e-commerce business operation activities can benefit both the organizations and customers. Organizations can reduce business operation cost through the adoption and implementation of this strategy. In addition to this, the organizations can bring efficiency in the overall business operation process as it helps to\ reduce the overall business operation lead time. On the other hand, customers can save their valuable consumption time and cost through online purchasing and payment process that are offered by the e-commerce organizations. On the other hand, some people try to avoid online purchasing and payment process due to some issues. However, it is true that several organizations are trying to overcome these issues in order to maintain their brand image and constant business growth rate. The perception about e-commerce buying used to vary from an individual to another individual due to some individual experiences and thoughts of other people. Now-a-days, several organizations are trying to shift from the concept of bricks-and-mortar stores to online e-commerce stores in order to meet current market demand. Research Objective The objective of this research is to determine the e-commerce buying perception of the people in UAE. Literature Review There are numerous benefits of e-commerce. It is considered as that aspect of e-business which is related to sales. It provides option to the consumers to select among a wide range of products especially in situations when the product or service is not available in local and international markets. It also helps consumers to save time and money. The use of online shopping has developed a lot at the national level as compared to cross-border sales. Due to this fragmentation, consumers may fail to take the advantages of e-commerce such as cheaper prices and a wide range of choices for products. The retail sector in the U.A.E. needs a better understanding of these situations such as the experience of consumers with respect to online shopping and the related internet selling and marketing strategies. The main question that is to be answered in this regard by UAE is whether e-commerce is delivering to its full potential in respect of welfare of consumer such as choice, price, adequate protection and quality. If not, then U.A.E. has to look into the matter and find out the size of missing potential, the main barriers in this regard and the remedies. The missing potential could be the choices that are available online to consumers regarding their products and the cheap prices. The introduction of e-retail in the U.A.E. was done in the year 2009. It has been found that U.A.E. is one of the five countries in the world in respect of the purchasing power of consumers of luxury accessories and clothes. U.A.E. has a population which is estimated at 8.2 million. 13.3% of the population are Emiratis, 23% non-Emiratis and the rest are from India. There are numerous companies such as Tejari.com, Souq.com, BurjMall.com, and Brownbag.ae, which have designed strategies so as to fit the needs of online consumers in the online market at U.A.E. The purchase of products online by the consumers of U.A.E. rose to 42% in the year 2010 against 29% in the year 2009. According to Siddiqui (2008), ten factors that are interrelated which contribute to online shopping behaviours and attitudes in the U.A.E (Siddiqui, 2008, p.53). The factors are identified as external environment, personal characteristics, demographics, product characteristics, quality of website, attitudes adopted towards shopping online, intention for online shopping, decision making, online purchasing, and customer satisfaction. External environment refers to the factors that are contextual and have a significant effect on the online shopping behaviour and attitudes of consumers. It is a three dimensional system. The legal framework is the first which protects the online buyers from any loss that may result on account of an online transaction. The second is the recognition of third party which basically deals with the trustworthiness of vendors that operate online. The third factor refers to the number of organizations that are competing with each other. The factor demographics reveal that the online shopping market in U.A.E. is led by the age group of 25-44. Young women in the U.A.E. are resorting to internet to purchase goods. Personal characteristics factor comprises internet knowledge of consumers, their need specifications, cultural climate, trust disposition, involvement with the product, and the extent of sharing information and values with others. Product characteristics provide information regarding the characteristics of online stores, the products that are sold by them and the support services provided to support the transactions. Website quality refers to the content of information on the company’s website, its presentation, searching mechanism, navigation, security, technical features of the site, and media richness. Online shopping attitudes reflect the attitudes of consumers which affect their intention to shop online and decide whether there is a transaction ultimately. According to Ayass (2008), the intent to shop online refers to the willingness of consumers to make purchases online (Ayass, 2008, p.48). It also refers to the fact whether the consumer is making repeated purchases over the net and so it is also a representation of customer loyalty. The decision to shop online refers to the seeking of information, comparison of alternatives, and making choices by the consumers. Purchasing online refers to the actions of placing orders by the consumers and also paying for it. Customer satisfaction refers to the extent to which perceptions of consumers are confirmed by a favourable experience of online shopping. When the expectations of consumers are met, a high degree of satisfaction is achieved by consumers and this influences their attitudes, decisions, intentions, and the decision to shop online. Numerous people in the U.A.E. are using their mobile phones more than their personal computers to shop online. 29% of the people who uses internet in the U.A.E. have purchased products using their smart phones compared to 26% people who have resorted to personal computers to do so. Moreover to provide more security to consumers while transacting online, UAE based Emirates NBD has entered into a partnership with Visa to use the system of Verified by Visa which will provide additional protection to online consumers of UAE. This partnership has lead to the launch of Double Secure service. Online bookings such as booking airline tickets over the net have proved to be very popular in the UAE. The e-banking concept has gained significant recognition in the UAE and this has resulted in increasing the trust of people while handling their money online. This has also opened up growth opportunities in the region. The most popular product that is bought online in UAE is clothing. According to Smith (2004) UAE has seen a constant growth in sales after the introduction of e-commerce (Smith, 2004, p.11). As the consumers find a wide range of products to choose from and they also save time and money, it is very beneficial for them to buy products online. There are many companies in the UAE which have designed their strategies to suit the needs of online consumers. Every organization has to focus on e-commerce to achieve more business (Darby, 1998, pp. 241-243). It became a standardised tool for every organization to implement business. The monitoring of the e-commerce system requires an organization to measure current values against the values that are expected i.e. planned values. To achieve efficiency in this regard, the subsystems of the e-commerce system must be efficient as well. According to Paua (2003), there are three measurement systems within the system of e-commerce such as performance measurement, success measurement, and the testing of usability (Paua, 2003, p.28). Performance measurement refers to the technical parameters which are to be measured such as loading time of the web page, the time taken to process user commands, and the speed of reporting, etc. Success measurement should provide a link between the e-commerce system and the company objectives. Testing of usability is done in a laboratory. The companies in UAE that are focusing on e-commerce as a means to increase profitability must also understand that there are negative aspects of e-commerce. There is a lack in security while transacting online as well as the inability of consumers to test the product before buying it can be considered as drawbacks of the e-commerce system. According to Blythe (2011) the organizations that are considering e-commerce as a basis for increasing their profitability must take note of the drawbacks of the e-commerce system and design their strategies accordingly (Blythe, 2011, p.32). The consumers should feel free while purchasing products online. If this is achieved, the organizations will be in a much better position to take advantage of e-commerce. Research Methodology and Data Collection An appropriate and effective research is required in order to determine the fundamental principles of several important positive incidents of a research work. It is highly important for an organization or a researcher to adopt an appropriate research method in a research work in order to get positive research outcome. Research methodology can be categorized into two parts, such as qualitative research methodology and quantitative research methodology, these two research methodologies have own advantages and disadvantages that need to be considered by the researchers during the application of these methodologies in the research work. Generally qualitative research methodology used to deal with inner feelings, emotions, attitudes, gestures, thoughts and behaviours of people towards the research topic. On the other hand, quantitative research objective used to deal with the analysis and evaluation of sourced and gathered data and information. It can be considered by several organizations to adopt and implement effective and appropriate research methodology based on the nature of the study (Maylor and Blackmon, 2005, p.21). This particular research work is exploratory in nature in which the feelings, opinions, thoughts, behaviours and attitudes of people can be considered as the source of data and information. On the other hand, qualitative research deals with the feelings, emotion, views and thoughts of people. Therefore, it can be stated that the adoption and implementation of qualitative research will be effective in this research due to the exploratory nature of the study. It is true that the qualitative research methodology used to focus on describing the system or process of defining and measuring several important variables. Qualitative research methodology can be categorized into several important approaches under three major orientations. Theory building approach, interpretative approach and language orientated approach can be considered as three different approaches in the qualitative research methodology. However, researchers generally implement language oriented approach in the research method in order to execute language and meaning of the words. Interpretative approach can be considered as throughout description and interpretation of several important social phenomena that are centrally focused (Kolb, 2008, p.17). Lastly, theory building approach generally evaluates the connection between several important several important social phenomena. However, qualitative research methodology can be implemented in this study due to the interpretative orientation of the research. Data analysis can be considered as an important aspect in a research work. Data collection process can be categorized into two parts, such as primary data collection process and secondary data collection process. Primary data collection process can be defined as the process of sourcing and collection of raw and live data from several practical field works. On the other hand, secondary data collection process can be considered as the sourcing and collection of data from several existing databases. There are several advantages and disadvantages of these two data collection processes. Primary data collection process can be considered as most important data collection process that helps the researchers to source current and up-to-date data and information that can help the researchers to enhance effective and positive research outcome. In terms of disadvantages, primary data collection process is highly cost and time consuming that can increase the research cost and research time. It can affect overall research outcome. On the other hand, a research can source effective and large number of data and information in limited time and cost that can bring efficiency in overall research process. In terms of disadvantages, validity and appropriateness of the collected data through secondary data collection process cannot be determined. Looking into the advantages and disadvantages of both the data collection process, it can be stated that the adoption of both primary and secondary data collection process will be effective. Several academic text books and the views of several authors have been considered as the effective secondary data collection sources (Lyons and Coyle, 2007, p.11). In terms of primary data collection process, the researcher has incorporated an open ended interview process to source and gather effective data. It is true that the researchers generally adopt different types of primary data collection processes apart from the interview process. Focus group interview process also can be incorporated in this research work. In addition to this, focus group interview process can be considered as both time and cost effective data collection process. But, it is highly difficult for the researchers to accumulate the individuals of a large group. So the monitoring and controlling each and every interview can become more challenging and difficult. Therefore, it will be effective for the researcher to incorporate the simple open ended interview process for the purpose of the study. Interview process can be considered as much more flexible data collection process comparing to other primary data collection processes. Interview process can be divided into three categories, such as structured interview process, semi structured interview process and unstructured interview process. 50 customers of UAE have been selected as the respondents in this data collection process. The responses and answers of these respondents have been effectively gathered during the open ended semi structured interview process in order to enhance effective and positive research outcome. The questionnaire for this open ended semi structured interview process has been developed in the appendix part. Data Analysis and Findings 37 respondents out of 50 have replied that they used to buy products through online. These 37 respondents have replied that the people can save consumption cost and time through the online consumption and payment activities. They have replied that daily busy work schedule force them to buy products and services through online. On the other hand, rest of the 13 respondents have replied that they are not comfortable with the online consumption process and purchasing activities due to several associated risk factors. 36 out of 50 respondents have replied that they are quite happy with the organization’s e-commerce business process as it helps them to gain products and services in quick period of time comparing to the traditional shopping and consumption activities. On the other hand, 12 respondents out of the 50 respondents have responded that they faced problems during the online payment process due to the systems breakdown. On the other hand, rest of the 2 respondents have replied that they have negative perceptions on the e-commerce business activities. Each and every respondent has stated that the organizations should try to ensure effective quality control in the online marketing activities. 2 respondents have experienced inadequate service quality as the organizations failed to maintain efficiency in the online order processing and online payment procedure. Adequacy and efficiency are the major aspects that need to be integrated in the e-commerce business operation process in order to enhance effective business performance. All the 50 respondents have replied that the organizations should try to hire or appoint expert technological professionals who can fix the issues and problems and ensure effective online business operation process. Order processing, order delivery and online transaction are the major characteristics of an e-commerce business operation. Therefore, it is highly important for the organizations to ensure security of the personal information of the users or business clients during the online payment process to maintain its strong brand image in the competitive market place. In terms of economic stability, all the 50 respondents have replied that e-commerce purchasing activity can help the people to maintain their economic stability. They have replied that organizations are adopting online business operation activities due to growing market demand. In addition to this, the organizations can reduce their overall business operation cost by the adoption and implementation of e-commerce business operation strategy. Therefore, it will help the organizations to offer products at competitive and economic price level. Apart from online hacking of personal details and security issues, each and every respondent has replied that the cost reduction process will help the e-commerce organizations to offer products at economic price to grab the market share of other existing organizations (Alrawi and Sabry, 2009, pp. 509-526). It has been discussed earlier that some respondents are unhappy with the e-commerce services of some organizations. Those unhappy respondents have replied that the e-commerce organizations should consider the customer feedback regarding the online product delivery or payment services to improve efficiency in the business operation process. Last but not the least; each and every respondent has agreed the upcoming social trend of e-commerce purchasing activity can reduce the demand of traditional shopping and consumption activities. Each and every respondent has replied that the number of internet users in UAE is increasing at a rapid pace. Therefore, recent market demand and favourable external environment for e-commerce business can abolish the demand for traditional bricks-and-mortar business operation process. In addition to this, low consumption effort can increase the demand for online e-commerce purchasing activities. In terms of findings, it can be stated that several individuals among all the respondents are highly concerned about the online transaction or online order delivery process. It is true that several organizations are trying to adopt and implement effective strategies in the business operation process in order to enhance effective business performance. But, it is clear from the responses from the respondents that the organizations need to improve the security aspect of the websites during the online payment process to secure the personal information and account details of the buyers. Discussion It is clear from above analysis and findings that the trend of e-commerce purchasing has increased significantly among the people of UAE. UAE is gaining positive economic growth rate. It is helping the government of the country to motivate several leading multinational organizations to enter in the competitive market place. Now-a-days, several leading organizations are trying to adopt and implement advanced technological processes in the business operation activities in order to enhance effective business performance and gain potential competitive advantages. On the other hand, demand for online product or service consumption is significantly increasing among the people of UAE as it help to reduce their consumption time and cost. It is clear from the data analysis part, 70 percent respondents used to purchase products or services through online. But, in terms of cyber hacking and security of personal details, each and every respondent is concerned. It is the responsibility of the organizations to sue effective business operation resources in the business operation activities to ensure high quality control. Therefore, it is true that several organizations need to ensure effective business operation activities to protect the information of customers and business clients to maintain its high brand image in global market place. In addition to this, it is highly important to use advanced and high quality technological resources and tools in the business process to ensure effective e-commerce business operation activities (Lowe, 2012). Despite the presence of several leading multinational organizations, the leading domestic firms are also trying to implement e-commerce business operation strategies in the business process in order to grab the market share of the leading multinational organizations. However, people are only concerned about the quality of service and security of personal details. Therefore, it is quite important for each and every organization to focus on issues and overcome them to gain effective customer loyalty. Conclusions UAE can be considered as one of the developing countries around the globe. This effective constant economic growth rate is motivating several organizations to enter into the emerging UAE market and doing business practices. Demand for online marketing activities is significantly increasing among the people of UAE. Therefore, several new entrants are also following the strategies of leading multinational organizations by introducing e-commerce business operation activities. Several individuals may have either negative or positive perception about e-commerce purchasing activities. People generally prefer e-commerce purchasing process in order to reduce the consumption time and cost. On the other hand, some individuals generally have negative perceptions on e-commerce purchasing activities due to several problematic reasons and issues. It is true that, in some cases several leading organizations also face issues regarding the theft of personal information and account details of the customers and several business clients. It is highly important for the organizations to take care of the needs and demand of people. The business environment in UAE is becoming highly competitive as several organizations are trying to implement competitive strategies in the business operation processes in order to gain potential competitive advantages. Therefore, effective sustainability and assurance of high quality security can help the organization to maintain effective brand image among the target customers. References Ayass, T., 2008. Investigation of the Antecedents of an E-Commerce trust model. London: ProQuest. Blythe, S., 2011. E-Commerce law around the world. London: Routledge. Kolb, B., 2008. Marketing Research: A Practical Approach. London: Sage. Lyons, E., and Coyle, A., 2007. Analysing Qualitative Data in Psychology. London: Sage. Maylor, H., and Blackmon, K., 2005. Researching in Business and Management. London: Palgrave Macmillan Paua, F., 2003. The Global Information technology Report. London: Oxford University Press. Siddiqui, H., 2008. Investigation of Intention to Use E-commerce in the Arab Countries. London: ProQuest. Smith, G., 2004. Control and Security of E-Commerce. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Darby, R. 1998. E-commerce marketing: fad or fiction? Management competency in mastering emerging technology. An international case analysis in the UAE. Journal of Enterprise Information Management. Vol 16(2). pp. 241-243. Alrawi, K. and Sabry, K. 2009. E-commerce evolution: a Gulf region review. International Journal of Business Information Systems. Vol 4(5). pp. 509-526. Lowe, A. 2012. UAE holds largest share of e-commerce sales in region. [online]. Available at: http://gulfnews.com/business/retail/uae-holds-largest-share-of-e-commerce-sales-in-region-1.970176. [Accessed on 20th February, 2014]. Appendix: Interview Questions Name: Age: Income: Nationality: 1. How frequently do you purchase products through online? 2. Are you satisfied with e-commerce consumption process? 3. How do you moderate quality in the consumption process? 4. Can you recommend some aspects to enhance effective e-commerce business operation activities? 5. What are the impacts of e-commerce purchasing activity on your economic stability? 6. Do the e-commerce organizations need to focus on customer feedback during the strategy development process? 7. Does the upcoming trend of e-commerce purchasing can abolish the demand for traditional bricks-and-mortars consumption process? Read More