Gone are the days when consumer needs to visit hyper markets and stores in order to make purchasing of groceries and other stuff. Now with the penetration of internet throughout the societies in the world, e-commerce has taken place of conventional business methods. E-commerce is the name given to business conducted by using internet. E-retailing is the concept of establishing an online retail store for the customers. Once the customer identify their needs, they can go to the store’s website and make purchases of their required items with the help of credit card.
In Saudi Arabia, e-retailing is relatively a new trend, and with the increase in usage of internet by the Saudi society, e-retailing has emerged as a facilitator of shopping experience. Why Saudi’s are attracted towards making purchases online is that it provides facility as the customers do not need to visit the store. At the same time, transactions made against the purchases of goods are secure and hassle free. The website of a retail store provides detailed information about the product and the customer can spend as much time as he or she want on studying and understand the idea of the product, its usage and after sales services details. Additionally, purchases made on e-retailing stores are delivered on the doorstep of the customer which further adds to the attraction of shopping online.
Given the popularity of online medium of retailing, the government in Saudi Arabia has also taken steps such as establishing cybercrime laws to make e-commerce related transactions safe, reliable and secure. Moreover, products offered on e-retailing websites are also provided with subsidies so as to ensure that maximum customers make use of online shopping experience. New and established businesses in retail sector are also considering the options of closing down their conventional business format and start an online retailing business as it helps them to cut down costs and increase profitability of the business.
List of References
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