The Role of Ecommerce in Enhancing Quality Of Life

1.0.Introduction

Nowadays, technology penetrates many areas of life, with both positive and negative consequences. In the business environment, ecommerce has become the most influential technology revolutionizing consumers buying goods and services from online stores. Khan (2016) defines ecommerce as the buying of products and services through the Internet. Similarly, Kabugumila, Lushakuzi, and Mtui (2016) define ecommerce as the buying of goods and services through telecommunication and telecommunication-based tools like the Internet. The term ecommerce was initially believed to describe the process of performing business transactions through electronic devices from the electronic data interchange (EDI) and electronic funds transfer (EFT) (Kabugumila, Lushakuzi, & Mtui, 2016). These technologies emerged into the public domain for the first time in the late 1970s, and they permitted communication and implementation of electronic transactions between enterprises, generally in the form of electronic buying orders and invoices (Kabugumila, Lushakuzi, & Mtui, 2016). Therefore, EDI and EFT were the foundation for the emergence of ecommerce.

Shopping is considered very vital in human life since it enables consumers to access essential goods and services to satisfy their needs. There are two types of shopping with both attached to their advantages and disadvantages. Traditional shopping refers to buying products and services by physically appearing at the physical shops and have face-to-face interaction with the retailer (Adjaino, 2019). It, therefore, means that traditional shopping is mainly familiar to consumers who want to have physical interaction with retailers, perhaps if they need verbal instructions on how to use the product to be bought. For example, a patient may be compelled to physically visit the pharmaceutical shop if they are needed for verbal prescriptions on how to use the drugs. Therefore, traditional shopping makes the consumers incur an extra cost of transporting themselves to the physical shops or retail stores, which is time-consuming.

The other type of shopping is called online shopping, which entails buying goods and services from the Internet through websites of the business of the organization (Adjaino, 2019). Gabriel et al. (2016) classify online shopping as an ecommerce since it involves completing transactions through online platforms. Online shopping emerged due to technological inventions seeking to save consumers from the burden of physically appearing before the retailers to buy goods and services.  Its inventor, Michael Aldrich, came up with the idea in 1979, and the following year he opened Redifon’s Office Revolution, which created an online platform where the buyers and retailers can get connected (Adjaino, 2019). Online shopping is suitable for consumers who hardly need the retailer’s verbal explanation on how to use the product. Furthermore, it will suit those who are always committed and lack time to visit retail stores to buy goods physically.

A consumer’s journey is complicated since it is under the influence of several factors, including personal, social, environmental, psychological, and technological factors. Before making any purchases, the consumer has to consider different aspects of the goods and services needed, such as quality, price, availability of substitutes, convenience, among others. However, traditional shopping posed a lot of restrictions on consumers, leaving them with fewer options to make when buying goods and services (Saluja, Soni, & Vardia, 2018). For example, customers may find it an inconvenience to physically present themselves at the retail store when they are committed to other duties, and there is no need for verbal instruction from the retailer. According to Das and Sarkar (2017), online shopping saves consumers from physically visiting the brick and mortar shops, push each other with other buyers in case it is a festive season, miss a parking space due to congestion, among other challenges. A study by Adjaino (2019) revealed the percentage frequency of unpleasant experiences with traditional shopping in Benin City in 2018, see chart 1.

Chart 1: Percentage frequency of unpleasant experiences with traditional shopping in Benin City in 2018

(Source: Adjaino, 2019)

With the long list of unpleasant experiences with traditional shopping in Benin City presented in chart 1, it seems that the emergence of ecommerce through online shopping would save many consumers from facing these problems. In 2019, global e-commerce sales surpassed $3.5 trillion, which is a remarkable increase of 18 % compared with 2018. While this amount is only 14% of the overall retail industry, it represents a rapidly growing sector of the retail market across the globe (Winkler, 2020). This is attributed to the fact that ecommerce has enhanced life by allowing consumers to simply request and buy products as well as services over the Internet without physically visiting stores. Furthermore, it has saved consumers from crowding at the retail stores, wasting time while locating the retail store, noise from other customers, among others.

Most of the current literature has focused on how ecommerce revolutionizes the retail industry as well as finding a new opportunity for international economic growth. However, the impact of ecommerce on the population’s quality of life as a whole is an area that has dramatically been ignored. In this case, the inspiration for this research emanates from the desire to study whether ecommerce has a role to play the general population’s quality of life. Therefore, the purpose of the proposed research study is to describe the role of ecommerce in enhancing the quality of life. The qualitative methodology will be used to guide the proposed research study since it places the researcher at the center of data collection, thus able to examine the authenticity of the data (Mohajan, 2018). Netnography will be used to guide the proposed study. It is a research design suitable for a researcher seeking to conduct qualitative research on the Internet (Costello, McDermott, & Wallace, 2017). The primary source of data will be online product reviews since it is supported by netnography. Another source of data would be journals, periodicals, and magazines discussing topics related to the purpose of the study. Finally, descriptive coding will be used for data analysis.

2.0.Literature Review

2.1.Trends in Internet Access and Usage

Since the start of the millennia, the Internet has become a significant driver of the change in many areas of social, economic, political, and environmental realms. The Internet has played a critical role in the increasing application of ecommerce by creating global virtual marketplaces such as Alibaba and eBay, where customers can shop online (Ghazali et al., 2018). Unlike in the earlier days before the inception of ecommerce, customers today do not need to incur expenses to physically visit the shops to buy goods and services. Another credit goes to the electronic devices used to access the Internet. They have made application of ecommerce easy since customers are able to easily access online shops to buy goods and services instantly regardless of their location (Kabugumila, Lushakuzi, & Mtui, 2016). The most critical impacts of the Internet lie in communication and information access across the world.

The global trends in internet access and usage are increasing at an alarming rate. According to “Internet Usage Statistics,” (2020), the global percentage penetration rate as of March 3, 2020, stands at 58.7 %, which represents a percentage growth rate of 1,167 % between 2000 and 2020. Additionally, there are more than 3.8 billion social media users across the world (“Global digital population,” 2020). As of 2019, 3.26 billion people access the Internet and social media on mobile devices, representing a 10% increase or 297 million new users in comparison with 2018 (Kemp, 2019). While social media sites and search engines dominate the most visited online platforms, Kemp (2019) notes that ecommerce platforms such as U.S.’s Amazon, China’s Taobao, Tmall and others are among the top 20 most visited sites across the world. In this case, while the Internet remains a platform for accessing information, it becomes a significant platform for buying and selling goods and services through e-commerce.

2.2.The Size of the Ecommerce Industry

Electronic commerce currently accounts for 14% of the retail industry across the world. Most people nowadays prefer to buy goods and services over the Internet, and while this is a small percentage of the retail industry, its annual growth shows that it will continue to become enshrined in the society.  In 2019, $3.5 trillion of goods and services were transacted through e-commerce, and this represents a rise of $2.93 trillion compared with 2018 (Young, 2019). While this 17.9% rise represents a slowdown from the 20.7% growth experienced in 2018, the e-commerce sector shows signs of significant growth rates (Winkler, 2020). It is projected that by 2023, the e-commerce industry will represent 22% of total global retail sales, and this indicates that the segment will continue to become more critical and enshrined in the economy and social areas of society.

2.3. Summary of the selected research papers

Ecommerce is a topic that attracted the attention of many scholars in the past. Therefore, reviewing several studies conducted in the past will provide a platform for viewing the topic of the study from different dimensions, which will be valuable in giving a constructive conclusion and identify areas that require further research in the future. A total of six research papers were reviewed, the results of the study stated, and how each article will contribute to the proposed study mentioned.

Shahjee (2015) conducted a study to investigate how ecommerce affects business operations. The author identified different ways in which ecommerce can affect business operations. These include organizations find it easier to manage their information system by incorporating problems arising at the entry and exit points of the systems. They can conduct the recruitment process through online platforms. The HR managers can complete office work even from home, an organization such as banks can adopt on-line banking which helps to facilitate online payment of goods, on-line processing of the product is very fast as compared to if it were done manually. Finally, ecommerce has provided a virtual platform for advertising their goods and services (Shahjee, 2015). The results of this study will help determine how the operational of business been affected since the inception of ecommerce.

A study by Kabugumila, Lushakuzi, and Mtui (2016) examined how the quality of the online services offered by the ecommerce Websites affect customer satisfaction. The study results show that customer satisfaction and perpetuation of ecommerce technology rely on both information quality as well as the quality of online service (Kabugumila, Lushakuzi, & Mtui, 2016). The results of this study will be helpful when linking ecommerce to customer satisfaction, thus justifying that, indeed, ecommerce enhances the quality of life. Furthermore, the results of this study will be beneficial when constructing research questions to examine the relationship between customer satisfaction and the quality of online service.

A study by Khan (2016) investigated the significance and problems associated with ecommerce in an emerging economy. The main benefits of ecommerce to consumers include the cheap cost of transaction in the exchange market, it is less time consuming, expose consumers to fast and unlimited access to the information on a variety of goods and services, consumers found it easier to change from one retailer to another if not pleased with the products and services offered, customers can buy goods which cannot be found at the local market, and the consumers can read the review comments from previous buyers of the same product they want to buy to help them decide on the purchase (Khan, 2016). These results will help to determine how ecommerce has changed the lives of consumers.

According to Khan (2016), the main benefits of ecommerce to retailers include electronic transaction have cheap operation and maintenance cost which reduce expenses, retailers can improve customer loyalty thus reducing the number of customers lost to the competitors, retailers are also able to develop consumer-retailer relationship quickly through Internet, the process of selling goods and service take place very fast, retailers can improve communication within and outside the business premises, and ecommerce enables the retailers to create the image and brand of their business premises easily (Khan, 2016). These results will help to determine how ecommerce has changed the life of online shop retailers.

A study by Khan (2016) also mentioned some of the challenges posed by the ecommerce both to the consumers and retailers. The study shows that ecommerce disjoints private and public business entities thus making it challenging to bring credibility within the consumers, security issues related to data breaches, technical glitches, and communication problems between the consumer and the retailers are very common in electronic transactions, implementing ecommerce becomes difficult for financial institutions such as banks to join as an intermediary in places where the use of credit cards is not common, it is difficult for an ecommerce business to flourish in developing nations where the culture of bargaining the prices of goods and services is still prevalent, some consumers find it challenging to build trust in online shopping without having physical contact with the retailer, finally, new transactions methods, tools, and business face the challenges when seeking legal definition, acknowledgment, and consent to engage in ecommerce (Khan, 2016). These results will help to widen the scope of the study by also looking at the challenges posed by ecommerce.

Adjaino (2019) conducted a study to assess consumers’ experience with other traditional and online shopping in Benin City. The results show that courtesy and excellent customer service provided by the retailer was the most pleasant experience by traditional shoppers. On the other hand, discount or promotion was the best pleasant experience for online shoppers. Similarly, the most unpleasant experience for traditional shoppers was the rise of fake and substandard goods in the market. On the other hand, delayed delivery of goods and receiving goods different from what was displayed on the website were the most unpleasant experiences for consumers shopping from online stores. The study recommended that online retailers should consider customers’ specifications before delivering the goods to avoid cases of delivering products different from the one pictured on the website (Adjaino, 2019). Results from this study will provide enough ground for comparing experiences with the ecommerce to traditional shops then recommend solutions for each.

A study by Saluja, Soni, and Vardia (2018) investigated factors motivating customers to choose shopping in traditional stores or from online stores. The motivating factors include saving time, 27/7 operation, a wide range of goods, receiving discounts, convenience shopping, easy to make a comparison while shopping, favorable return policies, delivery of goods at the doorstep, cheaper products, and easier financial transactions (Vardia, 2018). The results of this study will help to behavioral intentions pushing most consumers to prefer online shopping to traditional shopping.

Das and Sarkar (2017) conducted a study to highlight some of the differences between shopping online and shopping in traditional stores. The study revealed that consumers shopping from online stores enjoy 24/7 services, large amounts of discounts, and reading product reviews from previous buyers before deciding to buy the product. For consumers shopping from traditional stores, they get the opportunity to evaluate products through touch, smell, and sight, which is impossible when shopping from online stores. The authors noted that customers are likely to buy goods from both online and traditional stores based on which one has products matching their preferences at a specific time, which leads to basically different behaviors across the two shopping methods (Das & Sarkar, 2017). The results of this study will help to widen the scope of the research by considering the possibility of the consumer using both online and traditional shops rather than focusing on online shops only.

3.0. Theoretical framework 

The theoretical foundation will help explain the role of ecommerce in enhancing the quality of life by determining behavioral intentions driving consumers to shop online. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the theory of reasoned action (TRA) will be used to guide the proposed research study.

3.1. Theory of reasoned action

The theory suggests two factors determining the intention to exhibit specific behavior, namely attitude and subjective norms (Dakduk et al., 2017). Attitude can be defined as the level at which a person has a fortunate and unfortunate assessment of the behavior interest (Redda, 2019). The evaluation could lead to either negative or positive consequences. Therefore, attitude involves a consideration of the results doing the actual behavior. This means that personal attitude toward specific behaviors depends on two variables, that is, belief and consequences of the assessment (Redda, 2019). It, therefore, means that personal belief concerning the positive and negative effects of exhibiting a specific behavior will determine whether to develop a positive or negative attitude towards that behavior (Dakduk et al., 2017). In other words, a person’s anticipated probability that is exhibiting behavior will lead to consequence Z, and this forms the persons’ assessment of such consequence. For example, a consumer would develop a positive attitude towards ecommerce because shopping online save the time of visiting the physical shop.

On the other hand, subjective norms refer to the belief concerned with whether the majority of people will admit or discard a specific behavior. Subjective norms are associated with personal beliefs seeking approval of the particular behavior exhibited from essential people such as family members and friends (Redda, 2019). According to Dakduk et al. (2017), subjective norms stem from the perceived social pressure to exhibit specific behavior. For example, a consumer may believe that shopping online will make friends view him or her as a person living in the digital era, thus motivating the consumer to embrace ecommerce. On the other hand, physically visiting the shops is showing some level of “backwardness” or living in the past world, thus discouraging the consumer from physically visiting the shops.

However, it was later realized that intention and behavior were not directly related due to particular factors in between, for example, personal experience with the attitudinal object, how long the behavioral intention will last, social pressure from friends and family members, and the abilities required to exhibit the expected behavior (Dakduk et al., 2017). Based on these considerations, the theory of planned behavior was developed to include perceived behavioral control as a new variable determining the intention to exhibit a specific behavior. With the newly introduced variable, the theory of planned behavior was developed to show that perceived behavioral control indirectly influences behavior and directly influences behavioral intention (Dakduk et al., 2017).

3.2. Theory of planned behavior

Ajzen and Fishbein developed the TPB to envisage how, when, and where a person intends to exhibit a specific behavior. According to Dakduk et al. (2017), this theory was developed to overcome the weaknesses of the theory of reasoned action. The theory of reasoned action tries to foresee how the consumer will behave with the aid of normative and informational variables as the backgrounds of the consumers’ behavioral intention (Redda, 2019). The TPB shares the first two constructs with the TRA, that is, attitude and subjective norms (Redda, 2019). The third construct of the TPB is perceived behavioral control, which can be defined as a personal perception of the degree of difficulty in executing the expected behavior (Redda, 2019). Personal perception helps to predict the actual behavior of the consumers. Usually, personal perception varies depending on life scenarios, which helps to control behavior (Redda, 2019). The fourth contract of the TPB is the behavioral intention, which refers to the factors motivating a person to exhibit specific behaviors. The theory asserts that a person has a high chance of performing a task if he or she has a stronger intention towards it (Redda, 2019). This means that the intention to execute a specific task forms the immediate background of the actual behavior of a customer.

Both theories of planned behavior and the theory of reasoned action have been used to guide previous studies conducted to investigate consumer behavior in ecommerce. The two theories have helped researchers in predicting intentions driving a consumer to shop online rather than physically visiting the shops. For example, Dakduk et al. (2017) combined the TRA, TPB, and the technology acceptance model to identify critical factors motivating consumers in Colombia to crowd online shops. Similarly, Redda (2019) used the TPB to investigate behavioral intentions among South African consumers towards online shopping. It is these behavioral intentions that will form the basis for explaining the role of ecommerce in enhancing the quality of life. Good intentions will be associated with enhanced quality of life. For example, when a consumers shop online because it is less time-consuming. It will, therefore, mean that ecommerce has enhanced quality of life by saving on time wasted to visit the physical shops.

4.0. Identification of the study gap

The impact of electronic commerce on social life is an area that has been dramatically neglected since few studies have focused on this issue. One of the studies is done by Sumanjeet (2017), who notes that ecommerce contributes to access to information, gender equality, employment opportunities, poverty alleviation, and even better health through the ease of access to essential medicine. However, Anjum & Tiwari (2011) find that ecommerce could have adverse outcomes in terms of threatening home-grown businesses as ecommerce platforms drive them out of business. While the above studies both reflect the positive and negative sides of ecommerce, it emerges that no recent studies have studied the social impact of ecommerce, and most importantly, on its effect on the quality of life of the society. Further research is also needed to explore the impact of electronic commerce on the economic growth of both consumers and retailers. This is an area that has not been given much attention.

5.0. Motivation and Scope of the Research

Electronic commerce is a significant technological development across the world, which is revolutionizing the retail industry and beyond in substantial ways. Despite the known impacts of e-commerce on the business sector and the economy, very little research has been done to assess its contribution to the quality of life of the members of the society. Whether it enhances or adversely affects the quality of life is an area that needs more research, especially at a time when e-commerce is becoming prominent in the world. Consequently, this research is motivated by the need to critically understand the impacts of ecommerce, both negative and positive, on the quality of life of the general population. Such understanding will play an essential role in enhancing the benefits and addressing the adverse effects, and ultimately, ensuring that ecommerce supports the improvement of the quality of life of societies and the world. In addressing the above concerns, this study will focus on the city of Dubai, which is a significant business and technology hub in the UAE.

6.0.Research Objectives and Questions

6.1.Research objectives

Research objectives help clearly define what precisely a study seeks to achieve (Dawson, 2019). The research objectives for the current study are:

1. To determine how e-commerce enhances social life
2. To learn how e-commerce enhances the economic growth of society

• To assess the adverse effects of e-commerce on the quality of life

6.2.Research questions

Ecommerce is a topic that attracted the attention of many scholars in the past. The gaps existing in the previous studies or where the result stated are not apparent will be used as the basis for developing the research questions. According to Dawson (2019), research questions help a researcher to define precisely the problem that a study seeks to address. In the current research, three research questions help explain what the study aims to address. The research questions are as follows:

1. How does e-commerce enhance social life?
2. How does e-commerce enhance the economic life of society?

• What are the adverse effects of e-commerce on quality of life?

7.0.Research Methodology, design, instruments, source of data, and data analysis

7.1.Methodology

The qualitative methodology will be used to guide the proposed research study. Qualitative methods refer to the research approach aiming at documenting personal views, life encounters, opinions, as well as behavior patterns (Jameel, Shaheen, & Majid, 2018). Moreover, qualitative methodology yield results that are allegedly objective as well as neutral by employing laboratory equipment, measurement scales, timing, structured survey, and meta-analyses (Jameel, Shaheen, & Majid, 2018). According to Mohajan (2018), the qualitative methodology focuses on how study participants will interpret and reason with their life encounters to enable the researcher to comprehend their social reality. Since the role of ecommerce in enhancing the quality of life will best be understood through examining that study participants’ life experiences, it, therefore, confirms that qualitative methodology will be suitable for the proposed research study.

Jameel, Shaheen, and Majid (2018) claim that qualitative methodology would be suitable when the proposed study seeks to answer research questions that cannot be expressed numerically. All the research questions guiding the proposed study would require descriptive responses rather than numerical responses. For example, the research question seeking to determine how consumers will describe the effects of ecommerce of their social life can be answered in full details through descriptive or narrative responses. Therefore, the need for descriptive or narrative responses also renders quantitative methodology unsuitable for the proposed study. Another reason supporting the decision to choose qualitative methods is that it focuses on opinions, life encounters, and feelings of study participants yielding subjective data (Majid, 2018). A better understanding of how ecommerce enhances the quality of life will rely on opinions, life encounters, and feelings of study participants.

7.2.Research design

Netnography will be used to guide the proposed study. It is a research design suitable for a researcher seeking to conduct qualitative research on the Internet (Costello, McDermott, & Wallace, 2017). Moreover, netnography provides the researcher with a particular set of analytic methods as well as processes that can be used across a variety of online involvement to interact with the Internet community (Costello, McDermott, & Wallace, 2017). One reason for choosing netnography over other research design enables the researcher to collect detailed data from their natural setting. Furthermore, netnography can give an accurate representation of real experiences are often described as vibrant and naturalistic, and accurately depict the real customer experiences (Heinonen & Medberg, 2017). The actual customer online behavior will help explain how ecommerce has enhanced the quality of life. Another reason supporting the suitability of netnography in the proposed study is that it concentrates on communications among Internet users as well as social media platforms (Costello, McDermott, & Wallace, 2017). Some of the conversations among the Internet users will be retrieved from the customer review comments on the products they purchase from online shops.

7.3.Research instruments

The researcher will be the primary research instrument. In this case, researchers are considered as the active influencers of the qualitative research process (Bahrami et al., 2016). This is attributed to the fact that those researchers are the ones tasked with crucial roles in the research process, such as collecting data retrieved from various kinds of qualitative researches then valid their authenticity (Bahrami et al., 2016). Life encounters and competencies, potential to communicate, and formulating research questions are considered the most vital factors are influencing different ways in which qualitative research can be appropriately conducted (Bahrami et al., 2016). All these are the roles played by the researcher in a qualitative study. For example, it is the researcher who will take an active role in collecting customers’ review comments in different online shop websites and used them to determine the role of ecommerce in enhancing the quality of life.

The secondary research instrument will be a Likert scale, which is comprised of a series of statements describing a real or hypothetical scenario being studied (Joshi et al., 2015). The study participants are required to indicate the degree at which they agree or disagree with the series of statements on a metric scale (Joshi et al., 2015). If the metric scale run from zero to five, the responses will range from strongly disagree, with a score of zero, to agree, with a score of 5 strongly. In this case, all the statements, when integrated, will represent the particular dimension of the study participants’ attitude on an issue related to the study phenomenon, thus, inevitably connecting (Joshi et al., 2015). An example of a statement to include on a Likert scale is, “Do you agree that online shopping is suitable when there is an urgent need for a product?” The respondents will give answers ranging from strongly disagree to agree strongly, then the score for each response noted down.

7.4.Sources of data

The secondary source of data will be online product reviews, which will be obtained from the website of selected ecommerce websites. Usually, after shopping online, customers are asked to leave a comment on the product in the reviews section. According to Liu et al. (2020), customers have developed a tendency to assess the quality of products and services on ecommerce websites, which are later published to represent their verbal expressions on the Internet. Negative comments will signify the customer’s dissatisfaction with the product and services, while positive reviews with represent customer satisfaction with the goods and services. Therefore, the product reviews will become a reliable primary source of data that will provide information that will be useful to explain the role of ecommerce in enhancing the quality of life.

Online shoppers and retailers would be a reliable source of data. However, they were not selected due to the Coronavirus causing the COVID 19 pandemic, which has affected most countries globally. With the increasing spread of the disease, choosing online shoppers and retailers would require either conducting focus group discussions or interviews, which is a risk factor. World Health Organization encourages people to focus on social distancing from each other a measure for reducing the risks of getting infected with the COVID 19 (Aljazeera, 2020). Moreover, John Hopkins University calls for cancellation of social gatherings that would bring people together, thus increasing the rate at which spread the virus spreads. Therefore, both online shoppers and retailers will not be used as sources of data due to the risks involved when directly interacting with study participants who might have been infected with the virus. Also, using secondary sources such as product reviews and research papers will be encouraging self-quarantine since their will no need to look for study participants (Aljazeera, 2020).

8.0.Data analysis

Descriptive coding will be used as the data analysis method in the proposed research study. It entails the use of descriptive nouns to analyze data. Qualitative data are usually collected either in written or verbal form and therefore, and therefore it would be easier to analyze such data by identifying nouns describing the study topic (Onwuegbuzie, Frels, & Hwang, 2017). Descriptive Codes can also be utilized for visual data (Onwuegbuzie, Frels, & Hwang, 2017). For example, if the customer uploads photos of the products bought and write some information next to it. Upon generating descriptive codes, MaxQDA software will be used at the data analysis tools to help the researchers determine the frequency of Descriptive Codes. Examining Descriptive Codes might help a reviewer to identify “keywords” to explore the topic (Onwuegbuzie, Frels, & Hwang, 2017). Satisfaction is an example of the descriptive noun, and when found in a sentence, it would be interpreted as a pleasant life experience. At the same time, dissatisfaction will be construed as facing challenges in life. Therefore, descriptive coding would be suitable for the proposed study since data collected will be descriptive in nature. For example, a product review where a customer describes the shopping experience with a particular online store.

9.0.Estimated costs of the resources

The study will run for approximately 24 weeks, during which the researcher will utilize several resources to achieve it as follows:

Labor: The researcher will be the only individual actively engaged in the study, including in the participants analyzing data, and so on.

Software

• MaxQDA software: Free
• Excel: Free
• Word: Free

Equipment

• Laptop: 1000Dhs

Printing

• 1500Dhs

10.0. Presentation of the Research Timeline

11.0. Conclusion

The purpose of the proposed research study is to describe the role of ecommerce in enhancing the quality of life. Ecommerce is a topic that attracted the attention of many scholars in the past. One of the types of ecommerce is online shopping, which has become popular due to the increasing use of the Internet. The Internet has played a critical role in the growing application of ecommerce by creating global virtual marketplaces such as Alibaba and eBay, where customers can shop online. The theory of planned behavior and the theory of reasoned action will be used to guide the proposed research study. It was found that studies conducted in the past neglected discussion on the impact of electronic commerce on social life and economic life. The qualitative methodology will be used to guide the proposed research study, while netnography will be used to research design.

The primary source of data will be online product reviews since it is supported by netnography. Another source of data would be journals, periodicals, and magazines discussing topics related to the purpose of the study. Descriptive coding will be used for data analysis. The study will be expected to run for approximately 24 weeks, during which the researcher will utilize several resources such as MaxQDA software, Ms. Excel, Ms. Word, and a laptop. The Coronavirus pandemic limited the study restricting the researcher from neither using interviews nor focus group discussion as a measure to reduce its spread. One of the benefits of online shopping is saving time, enjoy huge discounts, shop from any place, the ability to access the global market, availability of a wide range of products, among others. Some of the challenges of online shopping include no opportunity to inspect the goods before buying physically, the possibility of receiving goods different from what was displayed, data breaches, increased rate of unemployment, delayed delivery, among others. In conclusion, ecommerce has brought both positive and negative impacts on the lives of online shoppers.

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