An Evaluation of the Factors Affecting the Online Shopping Intentions of Consumers in China

Introduction

There are a growing number of people choosing online shopping and this growing trend has emerged all over the world over the last few decades. Online shopping is defined as “The act of purchasing products or services over the Internet” (Business dictionary, 2012). Similarly, iResearch (2011) defines it as “The process of transferring commodities or services from the merchant/seller to individual users (consumers) via the Internet. Such a process is called online shopping if any of its capital flow, logistics, or information flow involves the Internet.” Benefiting from the rapid economic growth and the development of the Internet, online shopping has become increasingly prevalent in China. The amount of transactions in online shopping, accounts for 1.1% in 2008 rising to 3.3% in 2010 of China’s total retail sales of consumer goods (CNNIC, 2011). Moreover, the latest report illustrates that up to December 2012, the number of net citizens in China reached 513 million, of which online shoppers are 194 million and the figure has kept a steady development trend with an increase of 20.8% compared to the end of 2011 (CNNIC, 2012). It can be seen that online shopping in China has experienced a robust growth and demonstrates a great potential when compared to mature online shopping markets, such as the USA, UK and Japan.

However, the development of China’s online shopping has encountered some obstacles, such as the limitations found within delivery and payment systems (Liu, He, Gao and Xie, 2008, p.925 & p.932). Moreover, most research into online shopping has focused on western countries, but very little research has been done in the Chinese context (Kau, Tang and Ghose, 2003, p.140; So, Wong and Sculli, 2005, p.1225; Liu, He, Gao and Xie, 2008, p.921). Therefore, in order to reach its potential and to maintain the steady growth tendency of online shopping market in China, it is important to attempt to comprehend the issues influencing the online...