An Empirical Study on Consumer Buying Behavior towards Online Shopping with special reference to Women Apparels in Malaysia

Abstract

Malaysia is rapidly developing, and if growth is to be measured, we cannot ignore the role of e-commerce in it. The increased penetration of the internet has fueled online retailing across the world and specifically in the emerging markets of developing countries. The Malaysian retailing market is evolving its business models into e-retailing models. Previous studies have shown that the online shopping growth rate of food, jewelry, ticketing, and perfumes/cosmetics is higher, and they all have higher women consumers, and these consumers play a significant role in the growth of the online shopping concept.

Aim: This study is focused on consumer buying behavior towards online shopping with special reference to Women's Apparels. The various factors will be identified that motivate female shoppers to buy women's apparels through online mode.

Method: This research study is exploratory research as the primary data is collected through a self-structured questionnaire and analyzed to identify the behavior of the customers towards online shopping of women's apparels. The structured questionnaire included Five Point Likert scale questions ranging from strongly agree to disagree. The respondents selected for this study are from the two popular metropolitan areas of Malaysia, i.e. the greater Kuala Lumpur and Klang Valley. Due to time constraints, the convenient sampling method was used to collect data, and 250 people were chosen for this study. The pilot survey was conducted prior to actual research in addition to Chronbach’s Alpha technique to check that all statements have positively correlated to each other or not. In this study, five factors were extracted through factor analysis from 24 variables from the responses of the respondents. Based on the variables included in each factor, we labeled the factors as availability of product attributes, Security and Safety, Easy to use website interface, low prices with discount offers, and awareness. All of the five factors have an influence on the customer's buying behavior towards the online purchasing of women's apparels. 

Result: It was suggested to the e-retailers that they should focus on the product attributes. that they should have all sizes, multiple color options, latest designs as these attract more buyers. E-retailers should focus on the safety and security of their customers by assuring them safe payment, delivery, return or refund options; they should also focus on making their website more user-friendly and easy to use for the customers. They should also create awareness among the users so that they can shop from their online shopping websites. The findings of this paper will provide small and large online retailers, marketing personnel, academics, and policymakers with deep insights into online retailing and consumer behavior toward online shopping.