BARRIERS TO ONLINE GROCERY SHOPPING: A STUDY OF SOUTH ASIAN ECONOMY

Abstract

Purpose: The e-commerce sector of Pakistan is growing at an exponential rate and is expected to cross $100bn. However, the online grocery shopping sector has not shown significant progress, although there has been a heavy investment and an influx of start-ups in this sector. The aim of this study is to explore barriers to buying groceries online despite the busy schedules of people, heavy traffic on the roads, and long queues in shopping malls.

Method: This qualitative study used the thematic analysis method to analyze the responses of 16 participants collected through semi-structured interviews.

Results: People usually buy their groceries monthly and weekly from different types of stores and neighborhood shops. The main barriers were the negative influence of the immediate family members, lack of hedonic motivation, lack of experience in online shopping, disrupted power and internet connections, unable to see the complete range of products on the shopping website, and not receiving products within a few hours. People were deprived of exploring the products or finding out about new products when they buy online.

Conclusion: Businesses involved in online grocery shopping can increase their number of customers by fulfilling customer needs of hedonic pleasure in a trustable manner. The government can also support this sector by providing adequate improvement in internet connectivity and power supply.