An Exploratory Study on E-commerce in the Sultanate of Oman: Trends, Prospects, and Challenges

Abstract

Despite being the most understudied and underutilized study area, the Sultanate of Oman has the potential to become a major player in e-commerce due to its strategic location and increasing internet penetration. Compared to other GCC countries, we face a low internet penetration of only 22% limits on e-commerce opportunities. However, as the number of internet users grows, it will open up new opportunities for Omanis and make it easier for them to be introduced to new services. This exploratory used a cross-sectional descriptive survey design to investigate Omani customers’ practices and attitudes toward e-commerce development in the Sultanate of Oman. A total of 133 people were chosen from eleven governorates in the country using cluster sampling and an online questionnaire in the Sultanate of Oman. The findings indicate good e-commerce practices and positive attitudes toward e-services/e-shopping. The top challenges identified by the study were: low consumer income, lack of control over internet usage, weak or slow network, lack of a clear legislative framework for regulating this type of trade, and the high cost of Internet access. The study recommends that the Sultanate of Oman consider good practices in e-government, e-services, and e-commerce and address the wide range of challenges.