Table of Contents

CHAPTER-1............................................................................................................................................4
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................4
Introduction:......................................................................................................................................5
E-Retailing (Online Shopping) in Oman..............................................................................................5
Important factors influencing consumer preferences in Oman:........................................................6
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM...........................................................................................................7
NEED OF THE STUDY..........................................................................................................................7
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY................................................................................................................8
LIMITATIONS OF THIS STUDY..............................................................................................................8
CHAPTER-2............................................................................................................................................9
REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND................................................................................................................9
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY..................................................................................................................9
LITERATURE REVIEW........................................................................................................................10
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.............................................................................................................11
Research design...........................................................................................................................11
Data collection.............................................................................................................................11
Sample universe...............................................................................................................................11
Sampling Technique:...................................................................................................................11
CHAPTER-3..........................................................................................................................................12
THEORETICAL FRAME WORK..............................................................................................................12
Conceptual Framework of E-Retailing and Online Shopping............................................................15
E-Retailing/Online Shopping........................................................................................................15
History of E-Retailing/Online Shopping........................................................................................15
International E-Retailing statistics................................................................................................16
Customers....................................................................................................................................16
Product selection.........................................................................................................................16
Product delivery...........................................................................................................................17
ATTITUDE TOWARDS ONLINE SHOPPING/E-Retailing.......................................................................18
INTENTION TO SHOP ONLINE.......................................................................................................18
ONLINE SHOPPING DECISION MAKING........................................................................................18
ONLINE PURCHASING..................................................................................................................18
CONSUMER SATISFACTION..........................................................................................................19
BARRIERS TO GROWTH OF E-Retailing/ Online Shopping................................................................20
Consumer Bias.............................................................................................................................20
 Lack of ‘Touch –Feel-Try’ Experience...........................................................................................20
Mounting Competitive Pressures.................................................................................................20
Seasonality...................................................................................................................................20
Credibility in Payment System......................................................................................................20
Untimely Delivery of Products.....................................................................................................20
Advantages of E-retailing.................................................................................................................20
Disadvantages of E-Retailing............................................................................................................21
CHAPTER-4..........................................................................................................................................23
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION........................................................................................................23
Q1: Gender of the respondents.......................................................................................................24
Q2: Age of the respondents.............................................................................................................24
Q3: Educational of Respondents......................................................................................................25
Q4: Occupation................................................................................................................................25
Q5. Annual Income...................................................................................................................26
Q6: How often you use Intern..........................................................................................................26
Q7: where do you frequently access Internet?................................................................................27
Q8: Influence for use of the Internet...............................................................................................27
Q9: Internet usage gives a lot of benefits to personal life................................................................28
Q10: Product/commodity usually would you like to buy through online.........................................29
Q11: Maximum amount spent on online shopping.........................................................................29
Q12: Problems faced during online shopping (leave blank if not applicable)..................................30
Q13: Advertisement on online marketing........................................................................................30
Q14: strategies of online marketing.................................................................................................31
Q15: Favorite online give rank.........................................................................................................31
Q16: Accuracy of product quality....................................................................................................32
Q17: Timely delivery of products.....................................................................................................32
Q18: About product warranty/guarantee........................................................................................33
Q19: Satisfaction in online shopping than traditional marketing:....................................................33
Q20: Additional features to be expected for the betterment of online shopping............................34
Chapter-5.............................................................................................................................................35
Summary and suggestions..................................................................................................................35
FINDINGS.........................................................................................................................................36
SUGGESTIONS..................................................................................................................................37
CONCLUSION...................................................................................................................................38
 Acknowledgement

I would like to thank Allah for bestowing Divine Blessing on us to do this project Also I
would like to take this opportunity to express our profound gratitude and deep regards to my
supervisor Mr.Mohiden Abdul, for this exemplary guidance monitoring and constant
encouragement throughout the course of this project.

Also, thank for the continuous support and kind communication which had a great effect
regarding to feel interesting about what I was on .However, it would not have been possible
without the king support and help of all .I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all of
them .Finally, I express my sincere thinks and deep sense of gratitude to my family and friend
for giving timely advice in all the ways and in all aspects and doing the project.
 CHAPTER-1
INTRODUCTION
Introduction:

Today E-Retailing is a byword in Oman society and it has become an integral part of our
daily life. The rapid growth of E-Retailing in Oman Over the last two decades, rising internet
and mobile phone penetration has changed the way we communicate and do business. E-
Retailing is relatively a novel concept. It is, at present, heavily leaning on the internet and
mobile phone revolution to fundamentally alter the way businesses reach their customers.
While in countries such as the US and China, E-Retailing has taken significant strides to
achieve sales of over 150 billion USD in revenue, the industry in Oman also reaching
maximum customers through E-Retailing Over the past few years, the sector has grown by
almost 35% CAGR from 3.8 billion USD in 2009 to an estimated 12.6 billion USD in 2015.
Industry studies by IAMA indicate that online travel dominates the E-Retailing industry with
an estimated 70% of the market share. However, e-retail in both its forms; online retail and
market place, has become the fastest-growing segment, increasing its share from 10% in 2009
to an estimated 18% in 2015. Calculations based on industry benchmarks estimate that the
number of parcel check-outs in E-Retailing portals exceeded 100 million in 2015.
However, this share represents a miniscule proportion (less than 1%) of Oman’s total retail
market, but is poised for continued growth in the coming years. If this robust growth
continues over the next few years, the size of the e-retail industry is poised to be 10 to 20
billion USD by 2017-2020. This growth is expected to be led by increased consumer-led
purchases in durables and electronics, apparels and accessories, besides traditional products
such as books and audio-visuals.

E-Retailing (Online Shopping) in Oman

The E-Retailing market in Oman accounts to only 1% of total sales .It is still a nascent
market and have ample opportunities to grow in future .On the other hand , global E-
Retailing market is about to reach US$ 2trillion by 2020 and have a share of 7.8% of all sale
in developed nations ,E-Retailing industry in past decade . Many companies are established
during this time and became billion dollar companies.

In Oman, More than 20% of the population made at least One (1) online purchase in
2014.Despite Oman has one of the highest smart phone use Middle East region, Only 8% of
the population did mobile shopping. Most of the items purchased online in Oman are
groceries and music .However, more then 1/4th of the population of Oman still Purchases
products from foreign websites.
High smartphone penetration has helped –commerce to grow in Oman and neighboring GCC
countries .Oman and UAE has 2ed highest smartphone penetration in gulf region after Qatar
which has 79% penetration.
The biggest hurdle in E-Retailing market is changing the mindset of people .Customer want
to buy products directly from shop .As per the survey conducted Mordor intelligence ,we
found that customer want to touch and feel the product through which they perceive the
quality of the product

During e-shopping Oman consumers spend most money on:

 Clothing
 Airlines
 Groceries (Food )
 Travel
 Beauty Care
 Medicine
 Coupons
 Hotels

Important factors influencing consumer preferences in Oman:

 Ease of Use
 Pricing
 Customer Service
 Financial Inclusion

Major deterrents influencing consumer buying patterns in Oman:

 Inability to touch and see the products
 Security Concerns
 Impersonal Shopping Experience
The study elucidates the situation of Oman and predicts the growth of its E-Retailing
Industry .Report talks about growth market trends , progress ,challenges ,opportunities,
technologies in use , growth forecast major Companies ,upcoming companies and projects
etc.in addition to it ,the report also talks about economic conditions of and future forecast of
its current economic scenario and effect of its current policy changes in to its economy,
reasons and implications on the growth of this sector .Lastly the report is segmented by
various types E-Retailing available in the country.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The main purpose of our research E-Retailing in Oman is get understanding of E-Retailing
in Oman .We select this this topic because E-Retailing has spread in a big way in Oman
especially in recent time .I want to know E-Retailing are affect the willingness of consumers
to engage in internet shopping .

NEED OF THE STUDY

Marketing made it clear that, customers is a king for all retailers or services providers, the
competition in the world made it clear that Consumers attraction and making the more
flexible and better feasible services is the new dimension in the world market. The traditional
marketing system attracting lesser the clients than the modern marketing system and more
over buying and availing the services through modern system made it clear that easy and
convenient services are delivered to the customers and attracted more at the distances.
Electronic retailing has emerged as a new avenue to consumers for shopping. Internet
penetration spread across Oman at a faster rate, gaining attractiveness for online buying.
Retailers intend to take advantage on it in spite of impediment and escalated competition of
entailing. Thus, this study is undertaken to analyses the perception of E-Customers towards
the E-Retailing and the services of E-Retailers.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The following objectives were framed to fulfil the research gap and come out with fruitful
conclusion:
 To analyses the relationship between the socio-economic status and buying behavior
of the E-Consumers.
 To evaluate the consumers perception towards the services of E-Retailers.
 To analyses the influencing factors of E- Retailing on customers.
 To evaluate and suggest the required changes in E-Retailing Business for its better
outreach.

LIMITATIONS OF THIS STUDY

Limitation of the study is the selection of the existing studies. Owing to time limitation, we
only searched a few number of journals. This may leave some other prominent empirical
studies out. In addition, owing to the multidisciplinary nature of online shopping, it would be
very interesting to compare IS literature to other disciplines that study online shopping
attitudes and behavior.
 CHAPTER-2
REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
LITERATURE REVIEW
Nagesh (2009), describes that Oman retailing will see a sea of change in the next five years
driving consumption boom never seen in the history of any country. From a drought situation
we will see a flood of modern retail, So Oman retail will be on a steady ground of sustained
growth year after year and thereafter.
Mohanty & Panda (2010) opines about retailing as a sector of Oman occupies important
place in the socio-economic growth strategy of the country. Oman is witnessing retailing
boom being propelled by increasing urbanization, rising purchasing power parity (PPP) of
ever growing Oman’s middle class, changing demographic profiles heavily tilted young
population, technological revolution, intense globalization drive etc.
Akash (2011) states that Retail business in Oman, as anywhere else in the world, plays a
crucial role in an economy. Retail in Oman has the potential to add value over Rs 2,00,000
crore ($45billion) business in the coming years generating employment for some 2.5 million
people in various retail operations and over10 million additional workforce in retail support
activities including contract production and processing, supply chain and logistics, retail real
estate development and management.
Sahu (2012) describes that a rise in consumer confidence, improvement in profitability and
aggressive expansion plans signal better tidings for listed players in the organized retail pace.
Moreover, analysts believe listed retailers could attract foreign investments by spinning off
their subsidiaries into separate companies which can provide a great opportunity for the
improvement of this sector.
Namita Bhandari and Preeti Kaushal (2013) in their study on online consumer behaviour
using factor analysis and found the reasons for using online shopping like trust, information
about the product and services, convenience, effortless shopping
Anand Sriram, This study gives an in-depth analysis of e-retailing in Oman and gives a clear
picture, where Oman stands in e-retailing. The study depicts that Oman has got lot of
potential
to grab in this area. But we are still in the infancy stage due to infrastructure shortage and
security threats. This area has to be tapped properly for more foreign exchange
Sunil Dutta, It contains different internet business models, internet revenue generation
models and the success of different models. The article also depicts the prediction of the
growth of internet users during recent years.
Karim (2013) conducted a study on online shopping behaviour of customers and documented
that online vendors can assure their consumers for transaction security and avoid long delays
in completing online orders and the hassle of returning goods for better online shopping
experience.
Morris (2013) conducted a study on ‘More Consumers Prefer Online Shopping’ Shoppers
increasingly want what’s called a “seamless Omni channel experience,” meaning one in
which retailers allow them to combine online and brick and mortar browsing, shopping,
ordering and returning in whatever combo they would like.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research design
This is a descriptive research as it will clarify the doubts about E-Retailing in Oman.

Data collection
Secondary data: We collected secondary data from different and various sources like online
reports related to advertising
Primary data: we collected the primary data by Questionnaire, Personal Interview, and
Interview with Marketing Professional. This method of data collection helped in gathering
opinions of different ages, gender etc.
Sample universe

Basis of sampling:
 Sample should be a user of internet or should have knowledge about internet
 20 numbers in all
Sampling Technique:
Judgmental Non Probability sampling is being used to select the individual units for better
productivity of the questionnaire.
 CHAPTER-3
THEORETICAL FRAME WORK
 Introduction to Online Shopping/ E-Retailing

Retailers can be classified by retail store strategy mix, which is an integrated combination of
hours, location, assortment, service, advertising, and prices etc.
The various categories are:
 Convenience Store: Is generally a well situated, food oriented store with long operating
house and a limited number of items. Consumers use a convenience store; for fill in items
such as bread, milk, eggs, and chocolates and candy etc.
 Super markets: Is a diversified store which sells a broad range of food and nonfood
items. A supermarket typically carries small house hold appliances, some apparel items,
bakery, film developing, jams, pickles, books, audio/video CD's etc.
 Department Stores: A department store usually sells a general line of apparel for the
family, household linens, home furnishings and appliances. Large format apparel
department stores include Pantaloons, Ebony and Pyramid. Others in this category are:
Shoppers Stop and Westside.
 Specialty Store: Concentrates on the sale of a single line of products or services, such as
Audio equipment, Jewellery, Beauty and Health Care, etc. Consumers are not confronted
with racks of unrelated merchandise. Successful specialty stores in India include, Music
World for audio needs, Tanishq for jewellery and McDonalds, Pizza Hut and Nirula's for
food services.
 Hyper Markets: Is a special kind of combination store which integrates an economy super
market with a discount department store. A hyper market generally has an ambience
which attracts the family as whole. LULU hypermarket is good example of hypermarket.
Non Store Retailing
In non-store retailing, customers do not go to a store to buy. This type of retailing is growing
very fast. Among the reasons are; the ability to buy merchandise not available in local stores,
the increasing number of women workers, and the presence of unskilled retail sales persons
who cannot provide information to help shoppers make buying decisions
The major types of non-store retailing are:
 In Home Retailing: Where, a sales transaction takes place in a home setting - including
door-door selling. It gives the sales person an opportunity to demonstrate products in a
very personal manner. He/ She has the prospect's attention and there are fewer
distractions as compared to a store setting. Examples of in home retailing include, Eureka
Forbes vacuum cleaners and water filters.
 Telesales/Telephone Retailing: This involves contact between the prospect and the
retailer over the phone, for the purpose of making a sale or purchase. A large number of
mobile phone service providers use this method. Other examples are private insurance
companies, and credit companies etc.
 Catalog Retailing: This is a type of non-store retailing in which the retailers offers the
merchandise in a catalogue, which includes ordering instructions and customer orders by
mail. The basic attraction for shoppers is convenience. The advantages to the retailers
include lover operating costs, lower rents, smaller sales staff and absence of shop lifting.
This trend is catching up fast in India.
 Direct Response Retailing: Here the marketers advertise these products/ services in
magazines, newspapers, radio and/or television offering an address or telephone number
so that consumers can write or call to place an order. It is also sometimes referred to as
"Direct response advertising." The availability of credit cards and toll free numbers
stimulate direct response by telephone. The goal is to induce the customer to make an
immediate and direct response to the advertisement to "order now." Telebrands is a classic
example of direct response retailing. Times shopping India is another example.
 Automatic Vending: Although in a very nascent stage in India, is the ultimate in non-
personal, non-store retailing. Products are sold directly to customers/buyers from
machines. These machines dispense products which enable customers to buy after closing
hours. ATM's dispensing cash at odd hours represent this form of non-store retailing.
Apart from all the multinational banks, a large number of Indian banks also provide ATM
services, countrywide.
 Electronic Retailing/Online Shopping: Is a retail format in which retailers communicate
with customers and offer products and services for sale, over the internet. The rapid
diffusion of internet access and usage, and the perceived low cost of entry has stimulated
the creation of thousands of entrepreneurial electronic retailing ventures during the last 10
 years or so. Flipkart, Amazon.com, E-bay and Bazee.com HDFCSec.com are some of the
many e-tailors operating today.

Conceptual Framework of E-Retailing and Online Shopping

E-Retailing/Online Shopping
Also known as e-tail from "electronic retail" or e-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. Alternative names are: e-web-store, e-shop, e-store, Internet shop, web-
shop, web-store, online store, online storefront and virtual store. Mobile commerce or m-
commerce describes purchasing from an online retailer's mobile optimized online site or app.
An online shop evokes the physical analogy of buying products or services at a bricks and-
mortar retailer or shopping center; the process is called business-to-consumer (B2C) online
shopping. In the case where a business buys from another business, the process is called
business-to-business (B2B) online shopping. The largest of these online retailing corporations
are Alibaba, Amazon.com, and eBay.
History of E-Retailing/Online Shopping
Michael Aldrich an English entrepreneur invented online shopping in 1979. His system
connected a modified domestic TV to a real-time transaction processing computer via a
domestic telephone line. He believed that videotext, the modified domestic TV technology
with a simple menu-driven human–computer interface, was a 'new, universally applicable,
participative communication medium the first since the invention of the telephone.' This
enabled 'closed' corporate information systems to be opened to 'outside' correspondents not
just for transaction processing but also for e-messaging and information retrieval and
dissemination, later known as e-business. His definition of the new mass communications
medium as 'participative' was fundamentally different from the traditional definitions of mass
Communication and mass media and a precursor to the social networking on the Internet 25
years later. In March 1980 he went on to launch Redifon's Office Revolution, which allowed
Consumers, customers, agents, distributors, suppliers and service companies to be connected
on-line to the corporate systems and allow business transactions to be completed
electronically in real-time.
During the 1980s he designed, manufactured, sold, installed, maintained and supported many
online shopping systems, using videotex technology. These systems which also provided
voice response and handprint processing pre-date the Internet and the World Wide Web, the
IBM PC, and Microsoft MS-DOS, and were installed mainly in the UK by large corporations.
The first World Wide Web server and browser, created by Tim Berners- Lee in 1990, opened
for commercial use in 1991. Thereafter, subsequent technological innovations emerged in
1994, online banking, the opening of an online pizza shop by Pizza Hut, Netscape's SSL v2
encryption standard for secure data transfer, and Intershop's first online shopping system. The
first secure retail transaction over the Web was either by NetMarket or Internet Shopping
Network in 1994. Immediately after, Amazon.com launched its online shopping site in 1995
and eBay was also introduced in 1995. Alibaba's sites Taobao and Tmall were launched in
2003 and 2008, respectively. Retailers are increasingly selling goods and services prior to
availability through pretail for testing, building, and managing demand.
International E-Retailing statistics
Statistics show that in 2012, Asia-Pacific increased their international sales over 30% giving
them over $433 billion in revenue. That is a $69 billion difference between the U.S. revenue
of $364.66 billion. It is estimated that Asia-Pacific will increase by another 30% in the year
2013 putting them ahead by more than one-third of all global E-Retailing sales. The largest
online shopping day in the world is Singles Day, with sales just in Alibaba's sites at US$9.3
billion in 2014.
Customers
Online customers must have access to the Internet and a valid method of payment in order to
complete a transaction. Generally, higher levels of education and personal income correspond
to more favourable perceptions of shopping online.
Product selection
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. Once a particular
product has been found on the website of the seller, most online retailers use shopping cart
software to allow the consumer to accumulate multiple items and to adjust quantities, like
filling a physical shopping cart or basket in a conventional store. A "checkout" process
follows (continuing the physical-store analogy) in which payment and delivery information is
collected, if necessary. Some stores allow consumers to sign up for a permanent online
account so that some or all of this information only needs to be entered once. The consumer
often receives an e-mail confirmation once the transaction is complete. Less sophisticated
stores may rely on consumers to phone or e-mail their orders (although full credit card
numbers, expiry date, and Card Security Code, or bank account and routing number should
not be accepted by e-mail, for reasons of security).
Payment
Online shoppers commonly use a credit card or a PayPal account in order to make payments.
However, some systems enable users to create accounts and pay by alternative means, such
as:
1. Billing to mobile phones and landlines
2. Cash on delivery (C.O.D.)
3. Cheque/ Check
4. Debit card
5. Direct debit in some countries
6. Electronic money of various types
7. Gift cards
8. Postal money order
9. Wire transfer/delivery on payment
10. Invoice, especially popular in some markets/countries, such as Switzerland
11. Bitcoin or other crypto currencies
Some online shops will not accept international credit cards. Some require both the
purchaser's billing and shipping address to be in the same country as the online shop's base of
operation. Other online shops allow customers from any country to send gifts anywhere.
The financial part of a transaction may be processed in real time (e.g. letting the consumer
know their credit card was declined before they log off), or may be done later as part of the
fulfilment process.
Product delivery
Once a payment has been accepted, the goods or services can be delivered in the following
ways. For physical items:
Shipping: The product is shipped to a customer-designated address. Retail package delivery
is typically done by the public postal system or a retail courier such as FedEx,UPS, DHL, or
TNT.
Drop shipping: The order is passed to the manufacturer or third-party distributor, who then
ships the item directly to the consumer, bypassing the retailer's physical location to save time,
money, and space.
In-store pick-up: The customer selects a local store using locator software and picks up the
delivered product at the selected location. This is the method often used in the bricks and
clicks business model.

ATTITUDE TOWARDS ONLINE SHOPPING/E-Retailing

Consumer’s attitudes toward online shopping have gained a great deal of attention in the
empirical literature. It is believed that consumer attitudes will affect intention to shop online
and eventually whether a transaction is made. It refers to:
1) The consumer’s acceptance of the Internet as a shopping channel
2) Consumer attitudes toward a specific Internet store (i.e., to what extent consumers think
that shopping at this store is appealing).
INTENTION TO SHOP ONLINE
Consumer’s intention to shop online refers to their willingness to make purchases in an
Internet store. Commonly, this factor is measured by consumer’s willingness to buy and to
return for additional purchases. The latter also contributes to customer loyalty. Consumer’s
intention to shop online is positively associated with attitude towards Internet buying, and
influences their decision-making and purchasing behavior. In addition, there is evidence of
reciprocal influence between intention to shop online and customer satisfaction.

ONLINE SHOPPING DECISION MAKING

Online shopping decision-making includes information seeking, comparison of alternatives,
and choice making. The results bearing on this factor directly influence consumer’s
purchasing behavior. In addition, there appears to be an impact on user’s satisfaction. Though
it is important, there are only five studies that include it.
According to Haubl and Trifts (2000), potential consumers appear to use a two-stage process
in reaching purchase decisions.
Initially, consumers typically screen a large set of products in order to identify a subset of
promising alternatives that appears to meet their needs. They then evaluate the subset in
greater depth, performing relative comparisons across products based on some desirable
attributes and make a purchase decision.
ONLINE PURCHASING
This is the most substantial step in online shopping activities, with most empirical research
using measures of frequency (or number) of purchases and value of online purchases as
measures of online purchasing; other less commonly used measures are unplanned purchases
Online purchasing is reported to be strongly associated with the factors of personal
characteristics, vendor/service/product characteristics, website quality, attitudes toward online
shopping, intention to shop online, and decision making (Andrade 2000;Bellman et al. 1999)
CONSUMER SATISFACTION
It can be defined as the extent to which consumer’s perceptions of the online shopping
experience confirm their expectations. Most consumers form expectations of the product,
vendor, service, and quality of the website that they patronize before engaging in online
shopping activities. These expectations influence their attitudes and intentions to shop at a
certain Internet store, and consequently their decision-making processes and purchasing
behavior. If expectations are met, customers achieve a high degree of satisfaction, which
influences their online shopping attitudes, intentions, decisions, and purchasing activity
positively. In contrast, dissatisfaction is negatively associated with these four variables (Ho
and Wu 1999; Jahng et al. 2001; Kim et al. 2001).

Information on
Online shopping
Attitude
Intention
towards Decision Online
to shop
Security & Privacy online Making Purchase
online
shopping

Perceived
Usefulness

Perceived Ease of
use CONSUMER SATISFACTION

Perceived
Enjoyment
BARRIERS TO GROWTH OF E-Retailing/ Online Shopping
Consumer Bias
Consumers often display a bias for brands that they know well and have had a good
experience in the past. Thus products of brands with a favorable bias will score over the
products of less popular brands. A few would risk to buy expensive jewelry from an unknown
jeweler online.
Lack of ‘Touch –Feel-Try’ Experience
The customer is not sure of the quality of the product unless it is delivered to him and post
delivery of the product, it is sometimes a lengthy process to get a faulty or the unsuitable
product changed. Thus, unless the deliverables are as per the customers expectations, it is
hard to infuse more credibility in the e-Tailing market.
Mounting Competitive Pressures
To attract customers, the competing online players are adopting all means to provide products
and services at the lowest prices. This has resulted in making the consumers choice-spoilt,
who in turn surf various websites to spot the lowest price for the product. Thus, although the
number of transactions is increasing, the value of the products sold is continuously falling
owning to high competition and leaner margins.
Seasonality
eTailing Market is faced by seasonal fluctuations. As told by an Industry player, “August to
February is the peak seasons for sale, while March to July is the dry seasons for sale”. During
the peak season, occasions that drive the sales are Diwali, Rakhi, Valentines Day, New Year,
Christmas, Mother’s Day, Friendship Day etc are. On these occasions younger generations
prefers buying and sending gifts online.
Credibility in Payment System
Online frauds and breach are the biggest barriers to online sales. As a result, prospective
buyers prefer staying away from revealing their credit card and bank details.
Untimely Delivery of Products
It might take a few minutes to search, book and pay for products and services online, but the
delivery of the product may take unreasonable time.

Advantages of E-retailing
 Save Time: - Do you have the specific list that you want to buy? With just a couple of
clicks of the mouse, you can purchase your shopping orders and instantly move to other
important things, which can save time.
 Save Fuel: - The market of fuel industries battles from increasing and decreasing its cost
every now and again, but no matter how much the cost of fuel are it does not affect your
shopping errands. One of the advantages of shopping online is that there is no need for
vehicles, so no purchase of fuel necessary.
 Save Energy: - it is tiresome to shop from one location and transfer to another location.
What is worse is that there are no available stocks for the merchandise you want to buy.
In online shopping, you do not need to waste your precious energy when buying.
 Comparison of Prices: - The advanced innovation of search engine allows you to easily
check prices and compare with just a few clicks. It is very straightforward to conduct
price comparisons from one online shopping website to another. This gives you the
freedom to determine which online store offers the most affordable item you are going to
buy.
 24/7 Availability: - Online shopping stores are open round the clock of 24/7, 7 days a
week and 365 days. It is very rare to find any conventional retail stores that are open 24/7.
The availability of online stores give you the freedom to shop at your own pace and
convenience.
 Hate Waiting in Lines: - When buying items online, there are no long lines you have to
endure, just to buy your merchandise. The idea of shopping online is cutting down those
bad habits of standing in a long line and just waiting. Every online store is designed with
unique individual ordering features to purchase the item.
 Too Ashamed to Buy: - There are times that you want to purchase something out of the
ordinary that can be a bit embarrassing when seen by other people. Items like weird
ornaments, sexy lingerie, adult toys, etc. In online shopping, you do not need to be
ashamed; your online transactions are basically done privately.
 Easy to Search Merchandise You Want to Buy: -You are able to look for specific
merchandise that includes model number, style, size, and colour that you want to
purchase. In addition, it is easy to determine whether the products are available or out of
stock.

Disadvantages of E-Retailing
If there are advantages, most likely there will be disadvantages. Despite the success of
purchasing through online shopping stores, there are still some disadvantages that most
people complain about. These include:
 Personally Check the Item – If you are one of those shoppers who want to touch, see,
and test the product personally, at online shopping, you are not able to do so. Online
stores are only showing product description and photos of the merchandise, which can be
a disadvantage for many online shoppers.
 Diminished Instant Satisfaction – Unlike buying at retail stores, you are able to use the
product instantly after you buy it, which can be satisfying. However, online shopping
requires patience to wait for the item to arrive at your door step about 2 to 3 times.
 CHAPTER-4
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
Q1: Gender of the respondents

Object 3

It was found from the chart that majority of respondents are males (50%) and the rest are
females (50%).
Q2: Age of the respondents

Object 5

From the above chart we analyzed that (67%) of the respondents are in the age group 18-25
years, followed by (28%) those who are in the age 25-35 years and the last (5%)who are in
age 35-45 years.

Q3: Educational of Respondents

Object 7

This chart about the educational level of respondents it was found that) 42% (of them had a
degree, and) 26% (of them had PUC.) 16 %( of the respondents had Below SSLC, and master
degree.
Q4: Occupation.

Object 9

We found that the majority ( 50% )of respondents are students, and) 30%( of our
Questionnaire respondents are lecturer or employee and finally) 20%( of the respondents are
Entrepreneurs .

Q5. Annual Income

.

Object 11

The chart depict that (75%) of the respondent says below 3000, (15%) of the respondent says
3001, 5000, (10%) of respond says 5,001-10,000and (0%) says 10,001 and above

Q6: How often you use Intern

 Object 13

The above table and figure defines that the how often a person use the internet facilities.
(24%) of respondents use the internet weekly. (37%) of people use internet monthly and
(16%) of people use the internet every day. (5%) of respondents they use internet Fortnightly.

Q7: where do you frequently access Internet?

 Object 15

The above table depicts about the where the Internet users access the web at most (50%)of
the respondent says use internet in college,(30%) of the respond says use the internet in home
,and(15%) says use internet in other place.

Q8: Influence for use of the Internet

Object 17

The above chart depicts that (50%) of the respond says advertisement, (22%) of respond say
friend and colleagues and the family and relatives and (6%) say the other reason.

Q9: Internet usage gives a lot of benefits to personal life

 Object 20

The table states that the satisfaction level of respondents in getting the benefits of
Internet use. .( 47%) of respondents moderate the benefits are there from internet use
and (32%)of respondents agreed that there is benefit of net use and( 16% ) of
respondents say there are benefits also with the demerits, and only( 5%) says that
internet usage is not a useful. And they say it’s better to depend on traditional market
method than these risky modern methods.

Q10: Product/commodity usually would you like to buy through

online
 Object 23

The above chart describes that (29%) of respondent says buy through online the groceries ,
(19%) of respondent says buy through online the other product and books ,(13%) of
respond says the cinema tickets/travel tickets , (10%)of respondent says buy the cloths and
furniture.

Q11: Maximum amount spent on online shopping

Object 25

The above chart depicts that (56%)of the respondent says the spent on online shopping less
than 1,00,(22%) of respondent says the spent on online shopping Above 1000,(17%) of
respondent says spent 1,00-5,00and (5%) says spent 5,00-1000.

Q12: Problems faced during online shopping (leave blank if not

applicable)
 Object 27

The above chart that (47%)of respondent says the more problems faced during online
shopping the delay in delivery ,(37%) of respondent says the problem faced during online
shopping the not delivered to convenient address,(11%) of respondent says product
mismatch/not as displayed ,and(5%)says cheap quality /damaged products.

Q13: Advertisement on online marketing

Object 30

The chart depicts that (50%) of the respondent says the advertisement on online marketing
good, (30%) of the respondent says very good, (20%) of the respondent says moderate and
(0%) not good.

Q14: strategies of online marketing

 Object 32

The above chart depicts that (45%) of the respondent says the strategies of online marketing
good, (30%) of the respondent says very good, (25%) of the respondent moderate, (0%) not
good.

Q15: Favorite online give rank

Object 34

The above chart depicts that (29%) of the respondent says the favorite online give rank the
snap deal, (26%) of the respondent says Amazon, (15%) of respondent says E-bay and
Alibaba (7%) says Olx, and (4%) says flipchart and Alibaba.

Q16: Accuracy of product quality

 Object 36

The above chart depicts that (35%) of respondent says the accuracy of product quality the
satisfied, (25%) of respondent says the highly satisfied, (20%) of respondent says accuracy of
product quality the moderate and not satisfied.

Q17: Timely delivery of products

Object 38

The above chart depicts that (45%) of respondent says the timely delivery of products the
moderate,( 35%)of respondent says the level of satisfied , (15% ) says level of highly
satisfied and( 5%) says level of not satisfied.

Q18: About product warranty/guarantee

 Object 40

The above depicts that ,(55%) of respondent says about product warranty /guarantee the
level of moderate ( 25%)of the respondent says satisfied (,15%) says level of highly
satisfied and (5%) says level of not satisfied .

Q19: Satisfaction in online shopping than traditional marketing:

Object 42

The above chart depicts that (47%) of the respondent satisfaction in online shopping than
traditional marketing the moderate (26%)of respondent says level of satisfied ,( 16%) says
the level of highly satisfied ,and (11%)says the level of not satisfied

Q20: Additional features to be expected for the betterment of

online shopping
 Object 44

The above table chart depicts that (24%) more than of the respondent says the additional features
to be expected for the betterment of online shopping the service management and safety,(5%)
less than of the respondent says the products warrant /guaranty.

Q21: Interested to continue the online shopping in future:

Object 46

The above‫ ؟‬table figure states that 67% of respondents say that they are ready to continue
with the online shopping, as they are comfort with this and they are satisfied with the
services of E-retailers and the most the online marketing save the time spent on shopping
and also there is possibility of getting all kind of products and services within a span of time
with the access of internet through systems and avoid the time consumption for travel and
wandering for products at market places. But 33% of respondents said (No) they didn’t
likes to deal with E-Retailing
 Chapter-5
Summary and suggestions
FINDINGS
Following are the findings of the present study the results are presented here based on
the primary data collected and interpreted
 At the Oman the younger generations, most of the students were depending upon

online shopping

 It’s the modern era even all will use the internet through the accessing in mobiles

and tabs or other movable electronic gazettes so the use of internet was every day

and it makes the more attraction towards online shopping

 Most of the Customers use the Internet for the purpose of online shopping at the

home place rather than visiting for the nearest net zone

 Friends and Colleagues influence the customers to go for online shopping, even

the advertisements, influence of Family and Relatives and the other reasons like

the self-interest make the customer to go for online buying

 Use of internet facilities will be the advantageous for the users and agree that the

use of internet brings some benefits

 Most of the customers go for buying of Books and Electronics good like Mobiles,

other accessories

 Problems in E-Retailing are; the Delay in Delivery and not delivery to convenient

address, product mismatch, not delivered as displayed in website

 The E-Advertisement, E-Strategy of the E-Retailers were good and attractive as

per the response of the customers

 The quality, warrantee, Guarantee of the products and services delivered by the E-

Retailers were satisfied to the customers and which made the continuation of

online Shopping activities

SUGGESTIONS
Following suggestions were drawn after the findings of the present study, the suggestions
includes the some feedback for the Customers and also a review report for the E retailers in
related to the upgrading their services and make possible of 100% high satisfaction about
their marketing activities
 E-retailers should focus on the delivery model for the better services and reach the
last consumers at easy and flexible time so that the E-retailing will attract the more
and more customers for their products and services.
 The customers preference will be the Electronics products and most probably the
Online shopping may extended only with the supply of Electronic goods with more
and more affordable prices, there is need to advertise the domestic products
 Consumers Should assess the different web portals for the products and for the better
services need to focused on the branded web portals and avoided fake discounts
offered and fraudulent advertisements
 The access of internet made it avail at remote places of Oman but still people have
the insecure feel on buying of products through online because of the past facts of
accessing wrong and also the problems with delivery, the retailers need to come over
with the certain problems so that the online shopping makes more reliable.
CONCLUSION
Term changed as Customers is a king from the Supplier is a ultimate, now a days every
customers having his buying rights and negotiating rights, so the attraction of customers with
the products and services makes huge completion over the suppliers and each and every one
follow the different delivery models for their products, the booming channel in this period is
attracting the educators is E-Retailing which had its own impact over the consumers and
created more and more customers. The study on the perception towards the E-retailing in
Muscat city given a positive opinion on this model, the users of internet and users of
Retailer’s services are satisfied with the services and ready to continue with the same. Finally
conclude that the E-Retailing reached the customers of everywhere in the world even it
attracted positively towards the Oman , now the question for the future study is what will be
the impact on retailers in Oman who is having the petty and small shops depending on few
of the customers in their locality!