CUSTOMERS’ PREFERENCE ON BUYING PRODUCTS:

ONLINE SHOPPING VS. TRADITIONAL SHOPPING

INTRODUCTION

E-commerce is the buying and selling of goods and services online or using the

Internet. It has been more than a decade since the e-commerce first emerged and it is

continuously becoming a trend (Nazir et. al, 2012). As the use of the Internet is growing

at a substantial rate, there is also an increase of potential market for electronic commerce

paving a way for it to continuously thrive (Lian et. al, 2014).

This development in electronic commerce emerged from the invention of the

Internet. The Internet created a platform and has opened a door for the creation of a new

way of shopping—which is online shopping. This in turn led to a market where customers

are no longer just tied to waiting for opening hours of stores, and physically visiting shops

at specific locations but are now also open to online purchasing or e-commerce—anytime,

anywhere. In addition, the number of online sellers is seen to have a rapid growth as well

(Nazir et. al, 2012).

The Philippines is observed to have an ideal market for online shopping as seen

in current statistical data of the Internet World Stats, which reported that around 67 million

Filipinos were active online in January 2018 indicating a 12% increase year-on-year. The

country also ranked first in the world in terms of social media use and amount of time
spent online, that is why businesses believe this makes the country an ideal place for e-

commerce to thrive. A report by Statista said that the Philippine e-commerce market

revenue grew to P44 trillion in 2018 from P36 trillion in 2017. Furthermore, revenue is

expected to grow about 10.5% annually leading to a market volume of P53 trillion pesos

by 2019 (Zialcita, 2019).

Electronic commerce has grown rapidly both globally and locally. There is an

observable growth in its potential market as well. However, surveys of online customers

continue to indicate that many remain unsatisfied with their online purchase experiences

(Jifeng et. al, 2012). Also, despite the given data on the preceding paragraph, Filipino

consumers still prefer shopping in brick and mortar stores over online platforms, favoring

the physical appeal of products despite the convenience of online purchases, according

to a study by digital research and consulting firm, Research and Tech Lab (RTL). They

have recorded the sentiments of online shoppers from July to September, that 68.61% of

Filipinos still favor traditional shopping (Francia, 2018).

Clearly, more studies and research are needed to better understand online

shopping, and consumer behavior towards shopping online and in-store (Jifeng et. al,

2012). To further understand the customers of online shopping, the proponents of this

research decided to conduct a research paper to determine the customers’ preferences,

and the factors influencing their preferences on online shopping and traditional shopping.
 For this research paper, only the traditional retail store and online shopping are

considered. Since, customers are now given the choice to shop via the Internet and/or

visit the nearby malls for traditional shopping, their decisions vary as well. The preference

of customers is influenced by various factors, and many of these customers shop using

both channels depending on these factors.

As for the significance of this study, the researchers believe that this research will

be helpful for businesses who engage in any shopping channels in their journey towards

improvement. It will also benefit the customers, wherein the result of this study identifying

their preferences and the factors that drive them to purchase, can help improve their

shopping experience in the future, as businesses will continuously innovate and improve

for their satisfaction. And lastly it will be helpful for the people of the academe, in which

the result of this study will provide additional information and can serve as a reference for

future researches.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This study was conducted to determine the customers’ preference on buying

products—whether via online shopping or traditional shopping.

Specifically, it aimed to answer the following:

1. What is the demographic profile of the customers who prefer buying products

online than in stores and vice versa in terms of:

 1.1 Age

1.2 Gender

1.3 Economic Status

1.4 Civil Status

1.5 Educational Attainment

2. What is the respondents’ preference in online or traditional shopping in terms of:

2.1 Price

2.2 Convenience

2.3 Accessibility

2.4 Reliability

2.5 Safety and security

2.6 Quality

2.7 Wide Product Range

2.8 Good Customer Service

3. Is there a significant relationship between the demographic profile of the

customers to their preferences?

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

General Objective: To determine the customers’ preference on buying products—

whether via online shopping or traditional shopping.

Specific Objectives:

1. To determine the demographic profile of the customers who prefer buying products

online than in stores and vice versa in terms of: (1) Age, (2) Gender, (3) Economic

Status, (4) Civil Status, and (5) Educational Attainment

2. To determine what is the respondents’ preference in online or traditional shopping

in terms of: (1) Price. (2) Convenience, (3) Reliability, (4) Safety and security, (5)

Accessibility, (6) Quality, (7) Wide Product Range and (8) Good Customer Service.

3. To determine if there is a significant relationship between the demographic profile

of the customers to their preferences.

Null Hypothesis

H0: There is no significant relationship between the demographic profile of the

customers— in terms of age, gender, economic status, civil status, and educational

attainment, to their preferences in online shopping or traditional shopping.

Methodology

This study was conducted in the City of Sta. Rosa Laguna, on September to

October 2019. A total of 100 questionnaires were distributed to the respondents of

different occupational categories, education and gender; and they were grouped

according to the following age ranges:18-25 years old, 26-33 years old, 34-41 years old,

42-49 years old, and 50 years old & above. The respondents were selected using the
convenience sampling method because of the unavailability of the list of the customers

of online shopping.

This study is a quantitative in nature since it used numerical data in interpreting

and analyzing the results of the study. The researchers used a 25 - item survey

questionnaire as the main instrument of the study. This questionnaire is divided into two

parts, the first identifies the demographic profile of the respondents, the second

determines the preferences of customers between two types of shopping channels—

online shopping and traditional shopping, limited to the price, convenience, reliability,

safety and security, accessibility, quality, wide product range, and good customer service.

The questionnaire is a 5-point Likert-scale, to be interpreted as shown in the table below.

Likert Scale Likert Description Value Allocation

1 Strongly Disagree 1.00-1.49
2 Disagree 1.50-2.49
3 Undecided 2.50-3.49
4 Agree 3.50-4.49
5 Strongly Agree 4.50-5.00
Source: (Moohammad, 2014)
Table I: Likert Scale Interpretation and Distribution of Values

The main statistical analysis used in this study was descriptive statistics, using the

measures of central tendency and variability such as mean and standard deviation to

describe the respondents’ profile and their preferences. Pearson product moment
 𝑛 ∑ 𝑥𝑦−∑ 𝑥 ∑ 𝑦
correlation coefficient method (Formula: 𝑟 = ) was used to
√[𝑛 ∑ 𝑥 2 −(∑ 𝑥)2 ][𝑛 ∑ 𝑦 2 −(∑ 𝑦)2 ]

assess if there is a significant relationship between the respondents’ demographic profile

and their preferences.

References
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