Factors Affecting Online Shopping Intention in the Shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic: AliExpress as a Case Study in the Sultanate Oman

Abstract

In the COVID-19 pandemic situation, many customers have preferred online shopping to avoid injury in this pandemic. Many online shopping platforms have been created on the Internet, such as Amazon, eBay, and AliExpress. Any society has its own culture that changes or affects its intentions. This research examines online shopping intention in AliExpress's in Oman. This paper aims to determine the essential factors affecting their choices to purchase AliExpress during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, most of the factors have been chosen and adopted on questionnaires from previous related work, such as Product Quality, Privacy and Security, Offers and Discounts, Customer Service, and Ease of Use. We conducted this research within AliExpress in Oman's online community, with 509 respondents between July 30th, 2021, and August 12th, 2021. Three of the research factors in this study results indicate that the AliExpress website security, shipping, and Product quality were negatively impacted. In addition, four factors positively impacted AliExpress's online shopping intention: Discounts, Ease to Use, Payments Method, and Ordering Method.