ONLINE SHOPPING:

DEALING WITH PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED BY CUSTOMERS

Catacutan, Cris Allea M.

College of Business and Accountancy

University of Batangas, Hilltop, Batangas City, Philippines

Email: crisallycatacutan@icloud.com Phone Number:09179370074

Dimaano, Lyka Jane

College of Business and Accountancy

University of Batangas, Hilltop, Batangas City, Philippines

Email: lykajanedimaano@gmail.com Phone Number:09503177070

Dimailig, Randell

College of Business and Accountancy

University of Batangas, Hilltop, Batangas City, Philippines

Email: dimailigrandell@gmail.com Phone Number:09550853632

Festijo, Kaira Mae P.

College of Business and Accountancy

University of Batangas, Hilltop, Batangas City, Philippines

Email: kairafestijo@gmail.com Phone Number:09213895068

Pioy, Riena Rizannette

College of Business and Accountancy

University of Batangas, Hilltop, Batangas City, Philippines

Email: pioyrizanette@gmail.com Phone Number:09392040552

Address: Hilltop Road, Brgy. KumintangIbaba, Batangas City 4200, Philippines

Telephone Numbers: +63 43 723 1446 | 980 0041
Website: www.ub.edu.ph
 ABSTRACT

Most people, especially the regular visitors of the internet, prefer to shop online because of the
benefits of online shopping really said it all. Convenience was its first asset. It offers comfort to
customers so it they will feel at ease. Another reason why customer shop online is that is has fewer
expenses they could benefit.

The research project studies the problems that encountered by the costumers of online shop. The
study aimed to provide a proposed service guide for online shop to promote the product. The researchers
wanted to distinguish the problems during pre-purchase, actual purchase and post purchase, after they
distinguished they can provide guide to help both the seller and the buyer.

The researchers found out that the problems faced by the customers during pre-purchase includes
trust issues, unavailability and overpriced price of products, expensive shipping fees, lack of products’
information and complicated websites. The problems faced by the customers during the actual purchase
include the problems in payment transaction such as mode of payment and where and when the
customers must pay. The problems that the customers encountered during post-purchase include delay
delivery, damaged, dysfunctional and low quality products and inability of the customer to report
complains and to receive feedbacks. The problems faced by the customers have minimal effect on the
customers’ satisfaction.

At the end of this study they discovered that one online shop must be aware of to the verdict of
their customers. As an online shop owner, he should know how take his customer satisfy so that their
transaction will continue.

Keywords:Pre-purchase, Actual Purchase, Post purchase, Online shop, problems Encountered,

Customers

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In today’s time, Internet can be considered as the greatest thing man has ever invented. When we
look around, almost all people nowadays use Internet, regardless of age, gender, religion, status, etc.
People use Internet for different purposes. Way back then, Internet was only used as medium for
communication. It is used to connect one computer to another to send message and/ or information. Due
to the rapid development of technology, Internet was enhanced and its function is not limited as means of
communication. Internet can now also be used in research, education, financial transactions, real time
updates, social networking, leisure and entertainment, booking, job search, blogging and many more.
Likewise, the use of Internet in business and shopping today is unprecedentedly growing.

Electronic Commerce or e-commerce is a term for any type of business or commercial

transactions that involves the transfer of information across the Internet. It covers a wide range of types
of businesses, from consumer based retail sites, through auction or music sites, to business exchanges
trading goods and services among corporations. It allows consumers to electronically exchange goods

Address: Hilltop Road, Brgy. KumintangIbaba, Batangas City 4200, Philippines

Telephone Numbers: +63 43 723 1446 | 980 0041
Website: www.ub.edu.ph
and services with no barriers of time and distance (“What Is E-commerce”, 2014). On the other hand,
Rouse (2007) defined e-commerce as the buying and selling of goods and services, or the transmitting of
funds or data, over an electronic network, primarily the Internet. These business transactions occur either
as consumer-to-consumer (C2C), consumer-to-business (C2B), business-to-business (B2B), or business-
to-consumer (B2C).

C2C e-commerce takes place within online satisfied ads, forums or marketplaces where
individuals can buy and sell their goods. On the other hand, in C2B e-commerce, consumers post a
project with a set budget online and companies bid on the project then the consumer reviews the bids and
selects the company. Meanwhile, B2B e-commerce involves companies doing business with each other
online. B2C consists of businesses selling to the general public through shopping cart software, without
needing any human interaction (Arline, 2015).

An example of this business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce is “Online Shopping” which is one

of the greatest aspects of the Internet today. It now allows the buyer to buy anything by just a click of a
mouse. People tend to buy online because of its advantages. Online shops offer convenience that breaks
time and location factors. It also rewards with a ‘no pollution’ shopping experience. It has more variety
of choices and can reach different parts of the country and even the world. It is also useful in avoiding a
crowded mall. Customers can also compare products’ prices easier (Anamika, 2016). Furthermore,
buying online increases sales. It also reduces costs of processing and retrieving, and online operation
reaches an individual from their various homes irrespective of distance or location (Yazdanifard & Wada,
2011).

Despite being advantageous, online customers, still, experience problems that arise from some
errors on either parties- may it be on the side of the business or on the customers’ side - or both. Most
common problems that consumers face are with the product/s they ordered such as “WIGINWIO” or
What I Got Is Not What I Ordered, damaged and/or inferior products. Moreover, some policies of the
online shops weren’t clear to its customers. Since online customers are the online shops’ market, it is
important to online stores to satisfy these customers, in-order to survive and last.

2.0 Methodology

This study used descriptive research method with the survey questionnaire as the major data
gathering tool. Informal interviews were also used for gathering data. The respondents of the study will
be chosen using the snowball or chain sampling. descriptive research is simply the attempt to determine,
describe and identify ‘what is’. It is used to describe characteristics and/or behavior of sample population.
Moreover, it is used to describe, explain and validate research findings.

This business research is to be conducted to know the problems experienced by online shoppers
and to deeply understand the effect of these problems to customer satisfaction. Moreover, it is made to
provide a service guide to online shops. This service guide contains proposed guidelines on how will they
improve their products, either goods and/or services, to satisfy their customers. In colleting data, the
researchers will conduct a semi-structured pen-and-paper questionnaire. After, the researchers will also
administer a face-to-face interview to the respondents for some clarifications and validations, regarding

Address: Hilltop Road, Brgy. KumintangIbaba, Batangas City 4200, Philippines

Telephone Numbers: +63 43 723 1446 | 980 0041
Website: www.ub.edu.ph
their answers in the questionnaire. The researchers will conduct survey to respondents within 2 weeks
only.

The respondents of the study are the frequent customers of online shops. Particularly, these
respondents must have at least purchased in online shopping websites thrice. Furthermore, some data will
be collected from books, magazines, related theses, articles, PDF Files, Internet and other resources. The
data to be gathered will be analyzed and evaluated after. The proposed service guide of the researchers
will be based on the gathered data.

3.0 Results and Discussion

Problems Encountered by Customers during Pre-purchase

The main problems that customers face during pre-purchase is the unavailability of products. Since
online shoppers weren’t able to physically examine the item/s-to-be-bought, the customers were just
relying on the information or description written. Lack of enough products’ information is another
problem that the online customers were facing. It is hard for them to buy an item if the description of the
product itself isn’t specific.

Table 1

Problems Encountered during Pre-purchase

Problems Encountered Problems Encountered

during Pre-purchase during Pre-purchase

Trust issues 20% Seller Credibility 10%

Availability of products 10% Lack of Products 25%

information

Scam 5% One Priced 10%

Double Purchase 5% Over priced (Product) 5%

Complicated Website 5% Others 5%

As shown in Table 1, there are many Problems encountered during pre-purchased, there are more
customers encounter the lack of information about a product which makes up 25% and trust issues make
up is 20% of the survey while the rest is the availability of the product, scam, double purchased,
complicated websites, seller credibility,one-priced, overpriced, and other is make up 5% to 10% of the
survey.

Address: Hilltop Road, Brgy. KumintangIbaba, Batangas City 4200, Philippines

Telephone Numbers: +63 43 723 1446 | 980 0041
Website: www.ub.edu.ph
 Also, customers first make sure that the online shop is safe and credible. The customers were
thinking twice before purchasing an item because they weren’t sure if the online shop where he or she
will buy is legit, trustworthy or just a scam. Other problems that the online shoppers experienced include
overpriced products, pricey than the physical stores’, and expensive shipping fees, which is sometimes
more costly than the price of the item the customer will buy and complicated websites. Some other
problem has nothing to do with online shops because it is on the customers’ side’s fault, which includes a
slow Internet connection. These problems indicated above may cause the customers to find either another
online shop or another product or alternatives.

Problems Encountered by Customers during Actual Purchase

When paying for the item/s that the customers will purchase, one of the major problems buyers
are facing has something to do with the payment transaction. Students and teen respondents express that
this is one of the problems they are encountering when it comes to the payment transaction. They prefer
to pay cash rather than through credit cards because they have no such thing.

In some online shops, there was no clear information where and when the customers should pay. Is
it through money transfer establishments like LBC, Cebuana Lhuillier, Palawan Express, banks like BDO,
Metrobank or through COD (Cash on Delivery)?

Table 2

Problems Encountered During Purchase

Problems Encountered During Purchase Percentage

Payment Transaction (20%)

Sellers Behavior and attitude (30%)

Out of Stock (30%)

Assurance (10%)

None (10%)

As shown in table 2, there are 30% make up for the seller's behavior and out of stock of the product,
and 20% for payment transaction problems and assurance and none were 10% make up of the survey.

Address: Hilltop Road, Brgy. KumintangIbaba, Batangas City 4200, Philippines

Telephone Numbers: +63 43 723 1446 | 980 0041
Website: www.ub.edu.ph
Problems Encountered by Customers during Post- Purchase

After making an order and pay, post-purchase happen. It is when the customer receives the product
he or she ordered. Like pre- and actual purchase, customers also experience problems during post-
purchase.

Most of the respondents experienced a problem with the delivery of the ordered item/s. The products
weren’t delivered within the promised date of delivery. Some of the items were delayed for about a week
and worst for months. There are instances that the items-to-be-delivered were incomplete when delivered.

Also, customers experienced problems with the product they received. Some of the delivered items
weren’t the same as what is in the displayed pictures in the online shopping websites. Also, the items
weren’t what they were expecting. some received low-quality items.

Aside from these delayed items and problems with the product, another problem that the customers
faced is the inability to report and get feedback. There are times that the customers have complains about
the items the online shops delivered. Some customers aren’t sure about how they will contact the
business, or what they will do that’s why some are just letting it go.

Table 3

Problems Encountered by Customers during Post- Purchase

Problems Encountered During Post- Purchase Frequency

None 1 (10%)

Delay Delivery 5 (50%)

Not in Good Quality 2 (20%)

Tax 1 (10%)

Incomplete order 1 (10%)

As shown in table 3, there are problems encountered during post-purchase and most of the
respondents give about the Delay of delivery that makes up 50% and not in good Condition that they
received that make up 20% and other is 10% make up of the survey, those are the tax, incomplete order
and none.

Address: Hilltop Road, Brgy. KumintangIbaba, Batangas City 4200, Philippines

Telephone Numbers: +63 43 723 1446 | 980 0041
Website: www.ub.edu.ph
Effects of the Problems Encountered to Customer Satisfaction

The researchers asked the respondents to rate his or her experience in Online Shops, where 10 is
the highest and 1 is the lowest. These ratings will tell if the customers were satisfied or not. The table
below shows the results,

Table 4

Ratings of Online Shopping Experience done by the Respondents

Rating Rating
Respondents Respondents
(10 as the highest) (10 as the highest)

#1 8 #6 9

Depends upon the Online

#2 #7 7
Shop; Sometimes 7, 8, 10

#3 Sometimes 8; Sometimes 9 #8 8

#4 8 #9 9

#5 9 #10 10

Based on the gathered information, surprisingly, these problems faced by the customers have
only minimal effect on the customers’ satisfaction. Despite that the customers experienced many
circumstances before, during and after purchasing the products, the respondents rate their experience in
online shopping with 7, 8, 9 and 10, meaning, they are still satisfied.

According to the first respondent, she graded her experience in Online Shopping with eight
because the service of the online shops was actually good; she was satisfied. The remaining two was for
the problems that she had encountered while shopping. The second and third respondents rated their
experience with 7, 8 or 10 and 8 or 9, respectively, because according to them, it is based on the online
shops they buy. The 7th respondent gave the lowest grade of 7 on her experience, but still, she was
satisfied. The rest rated their experience with 8, 9 and perfect 10.

According to the respondents, these encountered problems may lead to the decision that customer
will not purchase an item on that specific online shop. Likewise, the buyers’ loyalty and trust to that shop
may also decrease.

Address: Hilltop Road, Brgy. KumintangIbaba, Batangas City 4200, Philippines

Telephone Numbers: +63 43 723 1446 | 980 0041
Website: www.ub.edu.ph
Proposed Service Guide that Promotes Customer Satisfaction

The objective of this study is to make a service guide for online shops. Based on the data
gathered from the respondents and through research, the researchers were able to propose the following
in order for the online shops to satisfy their customers:

Website

 An online shop must have a good User Interface. One of the main reasons why
customers shop online is convenience. The User Interface of the Web mustn’t be
complex. The customer must be able to use the website with ease so that they can easily
search, order and buy.
 The Website must have program or system that accepts reports, complains and
send feedbacks about their service and/or product. The online should have a mail
where customer can send requests and complains and likewise, can receive response and/
or feedback.
Payment Transaction

 An online shop must have clear instructions for the payment transactions. One
online shops must have vivid directions on how the customer must pay the item/s they
ordered. Is it through credit card? Through PayPal? Cash on Delivery? or others?
 Online shops must offer many options in paying for the item the customer will
purchase. The customers should be given a chance to choose whether he/she will pay
through cash or credit card. If cash, buy now, pay later or pay as you order.
Delivery

 An online shop must deliver the products within the suggested delivery time. Late
delivery of the product might cause dissatisfaction to customers which may also lead to
distrust,
 An online shop must try to fasten the number of delivery days. Online shops must try
to deliver the product as fast as possible.
Product

 The product description must be clear and complete. Since the customers cannot
examine the product physically, online shops must locate complete and clear information
so that the customers may able to imagine the products’ appearance and function.
 Make sure that the products-to-be-delivered are functioning well and complete.
Online shops must assure that the products that they will deliver to its customers were
working, in a good condition and must be complete as what is expected.
 The product must have a right price. The price of the item the customer will order
must not be too expensive. This could be little higher than the actual or original price but
not too much.

Address: Hilltop Road, Brgy. KumintangIbaba, Batangas City 4200, Philippines

Telephone Numbers: +63 43 723 1446 | 980 0041
Website: www.ub.edu.ph
  Make sure that the products are always on-stock. Customers sometimes buys online
in bulk. The online shop should always be ready with the number of items a customer
can order.
 More Variety of Choices. Aside from having different products, online shops
 should sell variety of items in terms of colors, designs, and sizes.

4.0 Conclusions and Directions for Future Use

This chapter presents conclusions and recommendations formulated by the researchers as
a result of this study. The objective of this study is to provide a proposed service guide for
online shops to promote customer satisfaction.
The researchers conclude that the problems faced by the customers during pre-purchase
includes trust issues, unavailability and overpriced price of products, expensive shipping fees,
lack of products’ information and complicated websites. During the purchase the customers
faced problems in payment transaction such as mode of payment and where and when the
customers must pay. Lastly during post-purchase there are delay delivery, damaged,
dysfunctional and low quality products and inability of the customer to report complains and to
receive feedbacks. It merely affects the customer’s loyalty, trust and retention towards the
website and it has a minimal effect with the customer’s satisfaction towards the product
delivered. Overall, the researcher conclude that there are many things to consider for the online
shops to be more credible.
Given the data presented the researchers advance the following recommendations:
For online shops, the researchers recommended that they must be aware on the problems
their customers are experiencing, improve their business in terms of their product, whether it is a
tangible item or an intangible service. Lastly they must use the proposed service plan in
sustaining the level of satisfaction of its customers.
The study aims to benefit the current online shop owners, future researchers and business
enthusiasts:
For the current online shop owners, the data presented will be a great help for them to
improve their online shops in terms of the products they sell and the service they offer.
For the business enthusiasts, who plan to have online shop someday, could also use the
information in this study as basis in running such business.
For the future researchers, it can be a guide for them to conduct another research in
relation with this topic.

Address: Hilltop Road, Brgy. KumintangIbaba, Batangas City 4200, Philippines

Telephone Numbers: +63 43 723 1446 | 980 0041
Website: www.ub.edu.ph
 Acknowledgement and References

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Address: Hilltop Road, Brgy. KumintangIbaba, Batangas City 4200, Philippines

Telephone Numbers: +63 43 723 1446 | 980 0041
Website: www.ub.edu.ph
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Address: Hilltop Road, Brgy. KumintangIbaba, Batangas City 4200, Philippines

Telephone Numbers: +63 43 723 1446 | 980 0041
Website: www.ub.edu.ph