Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review ( Chapter), 9(2)2020,56-63 An Open Access Journal • ISSN: 2617-3190

Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review (Oman Chapter)

Research Article Homepage: www.arabianjbmr.com AGJ

AN ANALYSIS OF FACTORS AFFECTING ONLINE SHOPPING OF HOMEMADE FOODS IN SULTANATE OF OMAN

Dr. Renjith Kumar R Lecturer, Business Studies Department, Nizwa College of Technology, Oman Email: [email protected] Hajar Ali Salim Al Brashdi Business Studies Department, Nizwa College of Technology, Oman. Email: [email protected] HuriaAbdallahSalim Al Mughairi Business Studies Department, Nizwa College of Technology, Oman. Email: [email protected] Shamsa Abdullah Mubarak Al Rawahi B.Tech in Marketing, Nizwa College of Technology, Sultanate of Oman. Email: [email protected]

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Online shopping behavior of consumers has been one of the most important research Keywords: agendas in e-commerce during the past decade. The application used for online purchase Online shopping, saves time and effort, makes shopping easy, helps to get market information faster and Homemade food, Oman, reduces the crowd. In Sultanate of Oman, there are two online applications used for the Marketing purchase of food from restaurants i.e. Talabat and Daleel 1010. This study aims to understand the potential demand for an online application for Omani home food. The objectives of this study are to know the acceptance and usage of online application of consumer purchase and to analyse the factors affecting online shopping. The responses from a sample of 233 households are taken for this study. 71% of the households prefer to have a new application for staple goods. The usage of Talabat and Daleel 1010 is only for the purchase of fast food and is used only by 49% of the consumers in Oman. Therefore there is a potential demand for an online application (71%) for fast food especially in homemade foods. The most important attributes for online usage is the convenience of using online application that users can use at any time and that users can avoid the crowd Article History: of shopping and standing in queue for long time. Online developers of a new application Received: 11 Feb 2020 should focus on the attributes like: usage of credit card, difficulty to judge the quality of Revised: 13 Mar 2020 the product, consumers cannot verify the product before purchase, delivery of the product Accepted: 25 May 2020 at the right time, money back guarantee, and sufficient information to be provided in the Available Online: 02 Jun 2020 online application platform. © 2020 The authors. Published by ZARSMI UAE. This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 1. INTRODUCTION The Internet is the most useful advertising method and competes with many traditional advertising methods. It helps to communicate through its diverse sites, and the speed of navigation to reach the target segments with great time and speed led to the arrival of the product or commodity purchased directly to the consumer. Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the retailer directly or by searching among alternative vendors using a shopping search engine, which displays the same product's availability and pricing at different e-retailers. Customers can shop online using a range of different computers and devices, including desktop computers, laptops, tablet computers and smartphones. FMCG has seen great success in many markets around the world following new investments in technology, startups and innovation in business. In developed markets, there is a potential for growth in the electronic consumer goods trade by consumers' preference for offline storage, better price discounts available online and the desire for convenience. In many developing markets, rising Internet penetration, Internet banking, mobile wallets, and overall increases in consumer spending and improved infrastructure are driving online FMCG sales. 1.1 Online application in Hunger Station is one of the first online ordering platforms to order food from your favorite restaurants to your doorstep. Hunger Station started in March 2012, have extended to several cities forming a specialized network to order food from the Internet. They currently provide services in and .Hunger Station offers its customers multiple features: Ordering food has become fun and easy, secure payment by credit card, Schedule requests in advance,

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Browse the menus of many restaurants in one place, No need for restaurant numbers and waiting on line to order food anymore, customer service team will ensure you follow up with the restaurant. The Danube e-Commerce platform brings together technology and retail to serve the Saudi shopper. It aimed at transforming the retail experience in the Kingdom's retail sector. And all the other needs, at a time that suits the consumer, this would make the new application one of the largest online shopping applications in the Middle East and North Africa.Carriage is a leading application in and delivery in the Middle East through more than 2000 different restaurants along with a wide variety of cuisines and enjoy your delicious meal. Carriage offers the fastest service in the Middle East with estimated average delivery time of 25 minutes with GPS live tracking that allow you to view your order while being delivery to your premises.By downloading the applications, consumers will be able to order from your favorite restaurants such as Hardees, KFC, Subway, Slice, Zero Carb, Rock House Slider, Proper Burger, Melenzane, Solo Pizza and many other restaurants. 1.2 Online platforms in Oman There are many applications of FMCG in the Arab countries, but in Oman the applications are less. There are two online applications used forrestaurants food in Oman:Talabat: is the largest online food ordering platform in the Middle East. It operates across the GCC (, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, , Oman, ) and . Users can order from over 4,300 restaurant partners including brands such as Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut, Papa John’s and Subway, as well as local eateries from different cuisines.Daleel 1010 is Oman’s first local online delivery app. Launched in November 2018, the application simply enhances the ease and convenience of ordering and shopping. It’s easy to navigate and not only delivers food from your favorite restaurants and groceries from local stores to your doorstep, it also provides home service solutions and more. 1.3 Statement of the problem Online stores and services are important sales channels in B2C transactions. Online shopping behavior of consumers has been one of the most important research agendas in e-commerce during the past decade (Chen, 2009). The application used for online purchase saves time and effort, makes shopping easy, helps to get market information faster and reduces the crowd. In Sultanate of Oman, there are two online applications used for the purchase of food from restaurants. They are Talabat and Daleel 1010. In other Gulf countries, there are online applications for Fast Moving Consumer Goods (staple goods). This application for FMCG product is not available in Oman. Therefore, this study is taken to identify the factors and the acceptance for the online application of FMCG products in Sultanate of Oman. 1.4 Objectives of the study • To know the acceptance and usage of online application of consumer purchase. • To analyse the factors affecting on online shopping behavior. • To investigate the effect of these factors on shopping behaviour 2. LITERATURE REVIEW A summary of the literature review is exhibited in the table below; Author (Year) Country Objectives Major results Mohammed et. al Iran To examine main factors that Financial factors and non-delivery factor negatively affected (2012) influence online shopping attitude toward online shopping. Domain specific behavior innovativeness and subjective norms positively affect online shopping behavior. Anamika&Mithun Dhaka, To identify different factors Positive impact on young consumer’s attitude towards (2018) Bangladesh that influenced young online shopping: security, after sales service, time savings, consumers’ attitude towards return policy, website design, product quality, previous online shopping experience, reputation of the online vendor. Gender, family income, personal income, educational level, member of the current residence and daily use of internet has statistically significant association with consumer’s attitude. Jemila (2017) Tamil Nadu, Consumer’s attitudes towards Most attractive and influencing factor for online shoppers is India online shopping and the Website Design/Features, convenience, time saving. Other factors influencing consumers factors includes less price, discount, feedback from previous to shop online customers and quality of product. Abdullahi et al Abuja, Mode of payment for online 78.9% of the respondents are very satisfied with the online (2017) Nigeria shopping, extent of delay shopping even though it is characterized with little delay in experienced in the delivery of the delivery. One-third (31.2%) of the respondents were not online goods, and assessed sure if they will do online shopping in future, 9.4% said how satisfactory online they will never do, while 59.4% responded that they will do shoppers are with the in future. delivered goods. Heather, (2017) Finland To determine the factors Most shoppers are young adults and the basic factor that

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influencing online purchase influenced online purchase is convenience. Finnish shoppers intention are also keen on the quality of products that they intend to purchase. Yunxiao (2015) China To investigate the online Favorite products, websites, device and payments of shopping behavior of students, university students, the most important motivations and as well as motivations and barriers consumers face when they shop online. They see barriers for online shopping, convenience as the biggest advantage and not being able to and its effect on the shopping see products as the biggest disadvantage. habits of consumers Hashim, (2015) Sweden To identify the psychological The website design is the most influential factor when factors and to determine the respondents shop online. Factors like trust & security, and consumers’ behavior towards product performance factor also have significant effect on online shopping consumers’ behavior towards online shopping. Financial factor and delivery factor have no significant influence on consumers’ attitude towards online shopping. Helen et.al (2007), UK Motivations and perceptions While convenience was a motivation for shopping online, of online grocery shoppers issues of service quality, particularly surrounding deliveries, made respondents frequently re-evaluate their decision of whether or not to continue to shop online. Ho Soo, (2013) Malaysia Consumers’ attitudes towards Consumers exhibited positive intention to make an online purchasing online sales on purchase in future and attitude is positively and strongly Penang fruit pickles. It also correlated with behavioral intention. The perceived benefits investigated the influence of of online shopping, perceived merchant’s trustworthiness, factors (demographic profile) consumers’ lifestyle and consumers’ prior ecommerce experience have direct influence on attitude. Demographic profile, online shopping frequency and duration of daily internet usage found to have no impact on attitude. Michelle & Brenda US Assessment of consumer Over 70 percent reported convenience and saving time as (2000) response to and demand for their primary reasons for buying groceries online. 19 online food retail channels percent bought all of their groceries online. Demographic and online shopping variables that are significantly related to the primary reason for shopping online, willingness to buy all grocery items online, perception of time spent shopping online vs in the store, and experience with online grocery shopping.

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This is a descriptive study as it covers the attributes effecting the online shopping behvaiour of consumers.The study area selected for this research is Nizwa. This is the sampling frame where each household is taken as a unit of measurement. The period of study is from September 2019 to December 2019. The population of Omanis in Wilayat of Nizwa is 80,958 (Statistical Year Book, 2017). According to Census Survey by National Center for Statistics and Information (NCSI, 2018), the total number of households in Nizwa is 8661. The sample size is determined as 368 (Krejcie and Morgan,1970) households. The sampling method adopted for the collection of samples is simple random sampling method, where in the customers are contacted on a random basis. Primary data is collected with the help of a structured questionnaire. Pilot study was done among 20 respondents to identify thevalidity of the questions. Thus well-structured questionnaire is administered for collection of data. Questionnaire is prepared in also.The constructs used for the study are the factors that influence online shopping behavior that includes financial factors, product factors, convenience factors, non-delivery factors, return policy, Cyber laws, after sales service and transportation chargesand Web design. Analysis of the study.The sample size determined was 368 households. But the responses received are from 233 respondents and therefore the response rate is 63%. The researchers analysed the 233 responses collected and the analysis is carried out in detail. The demographic profile of the respondents is shown in table no.1. Table 1. Demographic profile of the respondents Gender No of responses In percentage (%) Male 66 28% Female 167 72% Total 233 100 Age group (years) 20-30 159 68% 31-40 59 25.5% 41-50 14 6% >50 1 0.5% Total 233 100

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Marital Status Single 109 47% Married 124 53% Total 233 100 Occupation Government job 60 26% Private sector job 30 13% Own business 6 2% Unemployed 137 59% Total 233 100

Table no.1 shows that 72% of the respondents are females and 28% of the responses are from the males. 68% of the responses are from the age group of 20-30 years. 25.5% of the respondents are in the age group between 31-40 years. The marital status of the respondents shows that 53% of them are married and remaining 47% are single. The occupation status shows that 26% of them are employed in government sector and 13% are in the private sector. However, 59% of the respondents are in the unemployed category. The respondents were asked whether they use Talabat or Dalal 1010 applications for food items ordered from restaurants. This is to know the number of users who using online application for their purchase. It is found that 49% of the users use these application for fast food purchase through online. It is also clear that 51% of the consumers do not use online application for fast food purchase. This is shown in table no.2 Table 2. Users using the existing application Opinion No of responses In Percentage Yes 115 49% No 118 51% Total 233 100

Table no.3 shows the nature of purchase of goods by the respondents. 47% of the people prefer both online and shop visits for their purchase. 30% of the consumers shop only through online to enjoy the benefits of online purchase. But 23% of the consumers prefer to visit the shop as they prefer physical buying from shops. Table 3. Nature of purchase Options No of responses In Percentage Use only online 71 30% Purchase only from the shop 53 23% Both online and visit shop 109 47% Total 233 100

This analysis is also shown through graph no.1 below

Graph no.1 Nature of purchase by the consumers

Both onlineUse onlyand online visit shopPurchase only from the shop

Use only online Purchase only from the shop Both online and visit shop

The researchers analysed the frequency of using the online application by the respondents. This is shown in table no. 4 Table 4. Frequency of using online application Frequency No of responses In Percentage Use daily 32 28% Use once in a week 14 12% Use every two weeks 15 13% Use once in a month 54 47% Total *115 100 *responses from the existing users of application

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It is evident from the table no.4 that 47% of the online users are using the application once in a month. 12% of the consumers use once in a week and 13% of the respondents uses the application in every two weeks. 28% of the users are using online application on a daily that shows the potential use of online application by the users. This also shows the dependency of the consumers on online application.The researchers next analyzed the important reasons for visiting the shop and purchase the goods. Table 5. Reasons to buy from shop Reasons No of responses In Percentage Near to home 39 17% To see variety of products and price 75 32% To go along with friends/family 41 18% Physically see the product and buy it 78 33% Total 233 100

It is revealed from the table no.5 that 33% of the consumers want to see the product and make a purchase decision. 32% of the consumers want to compare a variety of products. 18% of the respondents stated that they want to go along with their family for shopping and 17% prefer to go shopping due to the accessibility to the shop. This is also exhibited in graph no.2.

Graph no.2 Reasons for buying from shop

80 60 40 20 0 Near to home See variety of To go along Physically see products and with the product price friends/family and buy it

The preference of consumers for a new online application for fast moving consumer goods especially staple goods are identified. These include the regularly purchased groceries by the households. It is identified that 71% of the households prefer to have a new application for staple goods. This shows the high demand for the usage of online application for fast moving consumer goods in Oman. This is shown in table no.6 and graph no. 3. Table 6. Launching of new mobile application for groceries Opinion No of responses In Percentage Yes 166 71% No 67 29% Total 233 100

Graph no.3 Consumer preference for new application for FMCG's

Yes No

The researchers next rated the attributes of online shopping from the consumers. Coefficient of variation is calculated to find the consistent and reliable attribute. This is calculated by using the mean and the standard deviation. The formula used is (Standard Deviation/Mean) x 100.

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Table 7. Attributes of online shopping Sl. No Attributes Mean SD Coefficient of variation 1 I can shop in privacy from home 3.89 0.97 24.93 2 I can avoid the crowd in shop 4.06 0.9 22.16 3 I get detailed information online 3.5 0.9 25.71 4 I get broader selection of products online 3.7 0.92 24.86 5 I get reviews on the product online 3.87 0.91 23.51 6 I can control my expenses by online 3.52 0.99 28.12 7 It saves time and avoid travelling 3.77 0.99 26.25 8 I can shop whenever I want 4.2 0.79 18.80 9 Online shopping procedure is difficult 2.87 1.03 35.88 10 Online shopping helps price comparison 3.81 0.89 23.35

Among the various attributes of online purchase, the most consistent and reliable attribute is the convenience of using online application that users can use at any time (Coefficient of variation score of 18.80). The second most attributes for the users of online purchase is to avoid the crowd of shopping and standing in queue for long time (CV score is 22.16). The difficulty in the procedure of online shopping is least consistent attribute for the users.Through the next table, the researchers tried to find out the relevant factors to be considered in developing an online application. Based on the experience of the users the following factors are considered for developing an online application for Fast Moving Consumer Goods; Financial factors, Product related factors, convenience factor, non-delivery factor, return policy, cyber laws, transportation charges, after sales service and web design. These nine attributes are analysed to know the opinion of the respondents which will help the researchers to develop the new application. Table 8. Attributes/factors related to online shopping experience. Sl. No Attributes Mean SD Coefficient of variation Financial factor 1 I feel my credit/debit card may be misused if I purchase online. 3.31 0.97 29.30 2 I may be overcharged if I shop online as the retailer has the credit card 3.73 0.94 25.20 information 3 I feel that the personal information given for transaction to the retailer 3.4 0.97 28.52 may be misused by another party Product related factor 4 I will not get what I ordered through online shopping 3.2 1 31.25 5 I may receive a bad quality product 3.65 0.91 24.93 6 It is difficult to judge the quality of goods over internet 4.1 0.9 21.95 Convenience factor 7 Finding and searching the right product online is difficult 3.24 1.07 33.02 8 I cannot get a chance to examine the product 4.01 0.91 22.69 9 It is difficult to settle complaints when I buy online 3.76 0.93 24.73 10 It is not easy to cancel the orders when shop online 3.63 1 27.54 11 I face problem in returning the product bought online 3.96 0.94 23.73 Non-delivery factor 12 I am not getting the product ordered online at the right delivery time. 3.59 0.97 27.01 13 I do not shop online because of non-availability of reliable delivery 3.18 1.06 33.33 person Return policy 14 I do not purchase online if there is no free return service available 3.77 1.03 27.32 15 I purchase only if I can return the product without any difficulties 3.85 0.98 25.45 16 I do not purchase online if there is no money back guarantee 3.97 1.01 25.44 Cyber laws 17 I shop online without any fear of frauds and hackers 3.1 1.12 36.12 Transportation charges 18 Iam charged extra for transportation when I shop online 3.9 0.94 24.10 Aftersales service 19 Getting good after sales service is time taking and difficult for online 3.64 0.88 24.17 purchases Application web design 20 It is comfortable to navigate and search 3.8 0.9 23.68 21 It is easy and convenient to use the application 3.81 0.89 23.35 22 The layout of the web design helps me to choose the right product 3.71 0.84 22.64 23 The application supports with good information 3.74 0.8 21.39

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Respondents feel that they may be overcharged if they use the credit card for their purchase. (CV value is 25.20). From the product related attribute, respondents perceive that it is difficult to judge the quality of the product when they buy online (CV value 21.95). The convenience factor that they most give is that they cannot examine or verify the product that they buy (CV score 22.69). Regarding the delivery of the product, consumers state that they are not getting the products delivered at the right time (CV score 27.01). Users give more importance for the return policy and the attribute they give is money back guarantee (CV value 25.44). Consumers are not willing to buy online if they are not given money back guarantee. The users need sufficient information to be provided in the online application (CV value is 21.39). 4. FINDINGS OF THE STUDY The main findings of the study are mentioned as follows. It is identified that 71% of the households prefer to have a new application for staple goods. The usage of Talabat and Daleel 1010 is only for the purchase of fast food through only and that is used only by 49% of the consumers in Oman. Therefore there is a potential demand for an online application (71%) for fast food consumer goods especially in the staple goods category.The most important attribute for online usage is the convenience of using online application that users can use at any time. The second most important attribute is that users can avoid the crowd of shopping and standing in queue for long time. They never feel that online procedure as difficult. At the same time they do not give importance for the control of expense through online buying. Therefore the most important attributes for online buying are convenience and avoiding crowd and saving time.The effect of online application usage on the purchase behavior of users is addressed. Respondents feel that they may be overcharged if they use the credit card for their purchase. From the product related attribute, respondents perceive that it is difficult to judge the quality of the product when they buy online. The convenience factor that they most give is that they cannot examine or verify the product that they buy. Regarding the delivery of the product, consumers opined that they are not getting the products delivered at the right time. Users give more importance for the return policy and the attribute they give is money back guarantee. Consumers are not willing to buy online if they are not given money back guarantee. The users need sufficient information to be provided in the online application. Therefore online application or developers should focus on the above factors when they develop an application. 5. RECOMMENDATIONS • Online developers should provide adequate information to shoppers about goods and services through websites, search engines, emails and create an interactive electronic marketing environment. • Creating innovative advertisements in order to attract people and also inform people about the features and importance of the application. • Raising the awareness of online shopping families about the potential factors of using some electronic payment methods and how to prevent them. • Protecting consumer trends from the impact of electronic shopping process through credibility in the presentation of data and facts about products. • Building an extended relationship with customers to understand consumer needs. • The application should be easy to use, attracting consumers with clear images and information. • As there is no online application for groceries in Oman, there is a potential demand for online application. Developers should consider the main attributes mentioned in the findings of this study. 6. CONCLUSION There are many applications of FMCG in the Arab countries, but in Oman the online applications and its usage are are less. There are two online applications used for restaurants food only (Talabat and Daleel1010). The application we want to create used for online purchase saves time andeffort, makes shopping easy, helps to get market information faster and reduces the crowd. Most of people prefer use of online buying and there is a potential for growth in the consumer goods trade by consumers' preference for offline storage, better price discounts available online and the desire for convenience, rising Internet penetration, Internet banking, mobile wallets, and overall increases in consumer spending and improved infrastructure are driving online FMCG sales. However, established FMCG brands, retailers and manufacturers need to understand the factors driving success in e-commerce across their focus markets in order to broaden their multi-channel strategy for business growth appropriately. The recommendation provided through this study helps the customers to get easy buying of FMCG products and helps marketers to reach more customers. REFERENCES Abdullahi Ayegba1, AbubakarAbdullahiOchiba, OmaleAlhassan Dominic, and OnojaAbubakarDanladi, (2017), A Study Of Consumers’ Experience On Online Shopping In Nigeria, International Journal of Advancements in Research & Technology, Volume 6, Issue 4, April-2017, pp 22-32. AnamikaDatta&Mithun Kumar Acharjee, (2018), Consumers Attitude towards Online Shopping: Factors Influencing Young Consumers to Shop Online in Dhaka, Bangladesh, International Journal of Management Studies, Vol.–V, Issue –3(4), July 2018 [2],

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