Introduction
Background
Electronic commerce is the simultaneous transfer of relevant business information in the form of business opportunities for auction, retail, wholesale, and corporation trade (Bill 19). At present, seventy percent of medium business across the KSA has access to the internet (Gelb and Sundaram 23). The e-commerce platforms in Saudi Arabia are online shopping, electronic data exchange, and electronic funds transfer. Factually, online shopping is currently one of the most popular and efficient way of comparative shopping of items in the KSA market. At the beginning of its usage, e-commerce meant transaction electronically by use of Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and Electronic Data Exchange (EDI) in the early 90s in the KSA (Ira 46). E-commerce was introduced in the KSA in 1992 in the form of credit cards. In 1996, e-commerce platform was enhanced as more businesses begun to identify the potential of online trade. At present, nearly 60% of large, medium, and small businesses directly or indirectly depend on e-commerce in the KSA (Boone and Kurtz 28).
Threats and Opportunities
Safety and security over the cyberspace has become such an important issue in determining the success of e-commerce in the KSA. As technological advancement improves, e-commerce is likely to widen further. Consequently, it is cheap and easy to operate and open online stores “without a brick –and-mortar presence” (Lee and Emile 79). In addition, e-commerce offers entrepreneurial opportunities to persons in all business fields. The slow implementation of e-commerce in the last century can be associated with security concerns and negative attitude from customers who are unsure of how the model works (Ira 45). Besides, e-commerce presents opportunity for business expansion and increased revenues. In addition, e-commerce presents an opportunity for streamlining operations to guarantee efficiency in business operations.
Research Problem
Despite the immense progress that researchers from different business disciplines that have made on threats and opportunities in e-commerce, none of these studies have focused on the threats and opportunities in practicing e-commerce in the KSA. To address this research gap, the research will be based on threats and opportunities within the KSA e-commerce business environment (Bill 29). This proposal will develop a comprehensive matrix for purchasing patterns exhibited by customers within the KSA market in order to understand how the current e-commerce platforms could be modified into opportunities for business growth (Bowden 68). The scope of this research is to explore the current opportunities and threats of practicing e-commerce within Saudi Arabia business environment in order to propose the most appropriate strategies for improving this platform.
Research Objectives/Target
- To gauge and quantify the threats of practicing e-commerce within the KSA.
- To identify the underlying opportunities available within the e-commerce platforms in the KSA market.
- To identify the most preferable e-commerce business model based on the threats and benefits in the stratified market of the KSA.
Methodology
Research Design
Both descriptive and qualitative research methods will be used in this inquiry. Descriptive investigative research is anticipated to produce statistical information about threats and opportunities of e-commerce platforms for businesses that operate in the KSA. The population targeted by this study will consist of 70 randomly picked participants within the KSA market, currently associated with e-commerce. From this population, a research survey will be applied and questionnaires with close-ended questions given to each participant (Yin 22). The researcher will use the case study survey approach. The questionnaires will be formatted to include a five-item scale. T
Conclusion
The research expects to establish that the extent to which benefits and threats of e-commerce influence its usage or preference within the KSA. Besides, the research expects to establish that customer’s preference of the e-commerce models is dependent on the degree of perceived threats or benefits of each platform.
Works Cited
Bill, Horace. History of E-commerce: Your Expert Guide to E-Commerce, Online Retailing & Internet Marketing. K&A Press, 2009.
Boone, Louis, and David Kurtz. Contemporary Marketing. Cengage Learning, 2014.
Bowden, John. “The Process of Customer Engagement: A Conceptual Framework.” Journal of Marketing Theory & Practice, vol. 17, no. 1, 2013, pp. 63-74.
Gelb, Donald, and Samantha Sundaram. “Adapting to ‘word of mouse.” Business Horizons, vol. 45, no. 4, 2014, pp. 21–25.
Ira, Kalb. E-Marketing: What Went Wrong and How to Do It Right. K&A Press, 2010.
Lee, Kim, and Turban Emile. “A Trust Model for Consumer Internet Shopping” International Journal of Electronic Commerce, vol. 6, no. 1, 2009, pp. 75-91.
Yin, Ronald. Case study research: Design and methods. Sage, 2012.