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Introduction
Online shopping, also known as internet shopping, electronic shopping, online purchasing or internet buying, can be defined as the process of purchasing goods and services over the internet ([39] Mastercard Worldwide Insights, 2008). [48] Kim (2004) defined online shopping as examining, searching for, browsing for or looking at a product to get more information with the possible intention of purchasing on the internet. Alternatively, according to [13] Chiu et al. (2009), online shopping can be considered as an exchange of time, effort and money for receiving products or services. In recent years, shopping online has become the norm and all over the world consumers prefer to shop online as it has many advantages. On the consumer's side, online shopping has eliminated such traditional shopping inconveniences of battling crowds, standing in long checkout lines and fighting for parking spaces at a busy mall. This has been supported by [82] Rowley (1996), who states that customers are able to compare the available products and their prices from a variety of different outlets through the internet, without spending a lot of time searching. These comparison shopping sites may save customers' time and money because they can see which retailer has the best price without visiting many web sites. In addition, it allows consumers to browse online shopping web sites in the privacy of their home. On the business's side, the internet is significantly changing the way retailers present, advertise, sell and communicate with consumers. Furthermore, it offers retailers a global marketplace that extends well beyond the traditional geographic markets serviced by their physical stores.
A Nielsen Global Online Survey on internet shopping habits ([1] Nielsen, 2008) provides relevant descriptive statistics on the growth and potential of online shopping. This survey reported that more than 85 percent of the world's online population has used the internet to make a purchase, thus increasing the market for online shopping by 40 percent in the past two years. Furthermore, according to the same survey, in Malaysia, seven in ten consumers claimed to have made a purchase over the internet before. Despite the remarkable growth and optimistic outlook in online shopping, there is evidence to suggest that there are many consumers shopping with intent to buy at retail web sites but...