Impact of electronic commerce on retail performance: case study Nakumatt Supermarket Kampala (Uganda)
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Date
2011-11
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Kampala International University, College of Economics and management
Abstract
The purpose of the survey was to find out the impact of electronic commerce on retail performance of Nakumatt supermarket Kampala (Uganda). To achieve this, objectives were formulated which guided on examining the general objective of the survey. The specific objectives formulated were: first, to find out the type of e-commerce applications used in Nakumatt supermarket; second, to find out the efficiency ofNakumatt supermarket; third, to find out the relationship between e-commerce and retailing. The study was based on a survey design type of research where the research findings were recorded exactly as given by the respondents. It was a quantitative research which was descriptive in nature investigating on the impact of electronic commerce on retail performance of Nakumatt supermarket. The researcher carried out a descriptive analysis of the data collected to determine the current status of retailing and on the use of e-commerce, identify the key drivers behind e-commerce so as to deepen understanding and explanation of them as instruments of efficiency in retail performance. The target population consisted of Nakumatt' s executives, functional staff, customers and its suppliers thus the sample consisted of 15 respondents who were selected from executives, staff, customers and suppliers of Nakumatt Supermarket. This comprised of3 customers, 3 suppliers, 5 executives (Operations, procurement, IT, sales and Marketing) and 4 staff personnel (Store keeper, distributer, supervisor and cashier) ofNakumatt store. Simple random sampling technique was used to select Kampala (Uganda) town as the area of study due to cost and time constraints while Nakumatt supermarket was selected using purposive sampling technique where the acceptance of e-commerce was the criteria of selecting the supermarket. Convenience sampling technique was further used to select the supermarket clients' where only those clients who were willing to fill in the questionnaires on the spot or immediately after been requested by the researcher were given to complete them. Both primary and secondary data was used. The secondary data was collected from the library, magazines, journals, newspapers and the internet while primary data was collected through document analysis, structured schedules and questionnaires. The data collected was interpreted, analyzed using qualitative and descriptive techniques, and organized based on the research objectives using descriptive statistics. This was done through frequency counts, percentage distribution, mean, median and modes and was presented using crossing tabulation and frequency tables. The study established that the factors influencing the use of e-commerce are both positive and negative factors. Positive factors promote the use of e-commerce while negative factors hinder the use of e-commerce as has been identified in the summary above. In order to answer the research questions, the results were classified into different categories for analysis. The categories were: first, background factors which comprised of age and level of education; second, factors promoting the use of e-commerce among the supermarket clients and consisted of the acquaintances of e-commerce, uses of e-commerce and the advantages of using e-commerce among supermarket clients; third, factors hindering the use of e-commerce among supermarket clients and consisted of risks of using e-commerce in supermarkets, reasons leading to the low usage of e-commerce in supermarkets and the challenges faced by e-commerce clients in the supermarkets; and fourth, measures of overcoming the challenges of e-commerce among supermarket clients. The findings also revealed that e-commerce applications enhance business value and ecommerce remains a legitimate way for businesses to make money and to save money. The survey revealed that the most important use of e-commerce is to make business more efficient, competitive and even collaborative, improve relationships with trading partners and, expand business activities either globally or into new markets, increase sales, manage the existing supply chains as well as make operations more effective and efficient.
Description
A dissertation submitted to the School of Business and Management in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Award of Bachelor’s Degree in International Business Administration of Kampala International University
Keywords
Electronic commerce, Retail performance