DOI: 10.4018/JECO.2019100105
Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations
Volume 17 • Issue 4 • October-December 2019
Copyright © 2019, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.
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Structural Equation Modelling of the
Factors Infuencing the Adoption of
E-Commerce in Saudi Arabia:
Study on Online Shoppers
Abdullah Saleh Alqahtani, Deanship of Common First Year, Self-development Skills Department, King Saud University,
Riyadh Saudi Arabia
Robert Goodwin, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia
Denise de Vries, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia
ABSTRACT
This article presents findings from a study examining the diffusion and adoption of e-commerce in
Saudi Arabia. Although the country has the largest and fastest growing information and communication
technologies (ICT) sector in the Arab region, growth in e-commerce activities has not progressed
at a commensurate rate. In general, e-commerce online shopping has not kept pace with the global
growth of online retailing. The authors have conducted research to identify and explore key issues
that influence e-commerce in Saudi Arabia in deciding whether or not to adopt online channels. As
part of a larger research project using mixed methods, this article focuses on a quantitative analysis
of responses obtained from a survey of the online shopping users in Saudi Arabia.
KEywORdS
E-Commerce Adoption Factors, Online Shopping, Saudi Arabia
INTROdUCTION
The current era is often referred to as the Information Age, the Digital Revolution or the New
Technological Revolution, depending on the commentator’s perspective. These descriptors share
the common characteristic of being based on the widespread adoption of computing and computer
networking. The arrival of the internet and its rapid development into a globally ubiquitous resource
has not only accelerated earlier computer driven change in business and society, but has also introduced
additional major changes, including the use of the internet to facilitate, execute, and process business
transactions (Delone & McLean, 2004). E-commerce allows businesses to share information, undertake
transactions across networks and computer platforms, and work together over geographic boundaries
(Berners-Lee et al., 1994; Kalakota & Whinston, 1997). It encompasses business-to-consumer,
business-to-business, commerce-to-administration, customer-to-customer, and consumer-to-business
(Goel, 2007) activities.
Online shopping is a form of business-to-consumer e-commerce (Nosrati, 2011; Nemat, 2011).
It is more limited and exclusively describes the activity of selling and purchasing goods and services
online via an e-store (Islam, 2012; Sharma, 2013). Xu (2012) noted that online shopping describes