HO CHI MINH NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND LAW

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Students:
Lê Tuấn Anh – K194081210
Hà Thế Hoàng – K194081219
Bùi Thị Trà My - K194020207
Đinh Quốc Thiện – K194081236
Đỗ Ngọc Huyền Trang – K194081242

Ho Chi Minh City, 05/07/2021

 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HO CHI MINH CITY
UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND LAW

Title

Factors affecting consumer behavior towards the rising online grocery shopping in Ho Chi
Minh City.

Background

Vietnam is one of the most highly appreciated retail markets in the region. Along with the
development of technology, integrating more online sales channels (e-commerce) and
launching online grocery shopping is crucial for retailers to enhance their competitiveness
and attract customers, especially in Ho Chi Minh City. With the Covid-19 outbreak, there
have been major shifts in the consumption habits of the residents. According to a survey
conducted by Statista, half of the respondents claimed that they have lessened the number
of times visiting grocery stores, supermarkets and wet markets. While 25% of respondents
reported having taken up more online shopping activities including online grocery
shopping. According to Candy Lee “The number of visitors coming shopping at the
Shopping Mall in HCMC and Hanoi, as noted by CBRE, decreased by approximately 80%
during the epidemic period”. Online grocery shopping is now facing the most potential
opportunity to expand itself and become individuals’ tendency during and even post
Covid-19 pandemic. Through discussion and research, potential factors influencing
consumer behavior toward online grocery shopping can be proposed as:

1. Product detail: The detailed information given about the products and services on the
internet is sufficient and clear.
2. Convenient payment method: Simplicity of purchasing process and easy refund and
purchase policy.
3. Attractive price/discount: Online grocery prices are lower than the actual prices and
provide special offers/discounts for purchasing.
4. Situational factor: Awareness of the community and personal safety during the Covid-
19 pandemic situation.
5. Delivery service: Home delivery ensures customer safety and saves time.
6. Technology factors: Internet and computer development, knowledge of technology.
7. Social influence: Social networking, friends and relatives influence, government
encouragement.

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 The research's long-term intention is to examine these factors influencing consumer
behavior in the face of expanding online grocery shopping and to provide a thorough
assessment of people's shifting consumption habits in Ho Chi Minh City. Moreover, the
findings would provide in-depth insights into factors that drive consumer behavior the
most, how they affect them, and their implications for consumers and the online grocery
shopping market.

Objectives

1. Providing solutions that will help researchers gain a better understanding of the
business efficiency of online grocery shopping;
2. Proposing better solutions for companies to develop sales strategy;
3. Assisting researchers in a deeper comprehension of the market values in Vietnam;
4. Confirming previous findings, clarify and explain more about past research's
ambiguous and inconsistent conclusions.
5. Granting newcomers an overview of the current market situation and customer
behavior, thus supporting them in making better decisions when entering a new field
of business (online grocery services).

Method

Carry out primary research through data collection based on two methods: quantitative
method (survey) and qualitative method (interview) based on Internet users of the three
biggest online grocery shopping apps in Ho Chi Minh City: Aeon, Go!, Co.op . As we
regard Generation Y (Born 1980 - 1995) as the major group of internet users with
purchasing power, those who have shifted to health and hygiene-focused lifestyles, with
these categories seeing the biggest jump in the purchased items. In the supermarket
business, it is necessary to negotiate with suppliers about discounts, as well as liquidity
and debt issues, in which new businesses in this field find difficulties. The research team
will also gather and select secondary data based on a comprehensive review of current
industry practices and academic researches

A questionnaire will be developed with questions based on factors 1-7 in the

Background section above. A hypothesis will be generated for each value and the
questionnaire's questions will attempt to analyse these hypotheses.

The research team will process collected data by using SPSS and valid data is analyzed
through the following steps: i) Descriptive statistics of the research sample; ii) Assess

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 the reliability of the scale; iii) Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Cronbach’s alpha;
iv) Analyze the correlation between the scales; v) Regression analysis to test the
research hypotheses so as to determine the factors affecting on consumer behavior
towards online grocery shopping.

References

Action.(n.d). Mo hinh sieu thi online va tiem nang thi truong Viet Nam. Retrieved from
Admarket website: https://admarket.vn/mo-hinh-sieu-thi-online-va-tiem-nang-thi-
truong-viet-nam.

Candy Lee (2020, May 4th ), E-commerce becomes the key factor in Vietnam retail
industry, Vietnam times. Retrieved from https://vietnamtimes.org.vn/e-commerce-
becomes-the-key-factor-in-vietnam-retail-industry-20002.html.

Pandey, Anurag and Parmar, Jitesh (2020, January 5th ), Factors Affecting Consumer's
Online Shopping Buying Behavior. Proceedings of 10th International Conference on
Digital Strategies for Organizational Success. Retrieved from SSRN:
https://ssrn.com/abstract=3308689 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3308689.

Statista. (2020). Impact on shopping and out-of-home activities due to coronavirus COVID-
19 among urban citizens in Vietnam in 2020. Retrieved from
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1102863/vietnam-impact-on-shopping-after-covid-

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