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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements...........(ii)

Table of Contents.(iii)

Executive Summary.(iv)

Symptom Definition..(v)

Type of Research Method.(v)

Sampling..(vi)

Analysis of Data.(viii)

Observations(xi)

Recommendations...(xii)

Questionnaire.(xiii)

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 Executive Summary
Through this project on the research about slow growth of Souq.com, we are trying to find the
possible reasons and suggest improvements for the same. We have performed exploratory
research, through means of primary research on a sample of 100 Souq.com users. Our analysis
and the results of the research are explained in detail in the following pages.

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 Symptom Definition:
To analyse the slow growth of souq.com in the UAE market viz. its growth in other countries of
its operations. Also, a look at how third party initiatives can boost its growth, like mobile wallets,
promotion of digital economy and addressing the shortcomings.

Symptom Problems/ Decision Objective Research Hypothesis

Reasons Statement

Slow Customer Factors Which factors People do not trust

Growth of Trust affecting affect the online shopping.
Souq.com Charges for customer trust consumer Low quality of products
Cash on Impact of COD trust the most is the main reason to
Delivery charges To find out not use Souq.com
Payment Discounts as a which Charges on COD
Pricing factor of economic Payment affect buying
growth sector is decision of people with
Bargaining affected the low income.
option to the most by Bargaining option
consumer charges on affects the buying
cash on decision the most.
delivery People are not
To study if completely satisfied
the increased with Souq.com
discounts will
lead to better
sales and
growth
To study if
bargaining
option will
help growth
of sales

The survey is supported Primary Data: Survey conducted on its consumers

Type of Business Research Method

The method followed during the research is Exploratory research. This type of research is
generally used to study the nature and behavior of anything i.e. a group of people or an event. It
includes fact finding and data collection. But it is not limited to data collection only. It needs
basic assumptions and interpretation at every point in the project or problem statement.

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Characteristics
The general characteristics that justify that the research we are conducting on souq.com and
online buying behavior is exploratory in nature are,
It is designed to gather information about the present and existing conditions.
After collecting the data through surveys or questionnaire, then analysing the data
through different tools and answering the problem in hand.
The research has no control over the future behaviour of population. The research cannot
be used for analysing over a long period of times. This means that behaviour of customer
towards online shopping may change over time.
It provides the platform for the final decision making.

Sampling
The selection of number of individuals which represents the larger group from which they were
selected, for the study of the whole group.

Study Population

Sample

Target Population

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Population:
The larger group from which individuals are selected to participate in a study, representing the
population itself.
Sampling Frame:
A sampling frame is the list of all the elements and/or the units consisting elements in a
population.

Stages in the Selection of a Sample:

Target Population

Selection of Sample Frame

Determination of Sampling method

Probability/Non Probability

Planning of procedure for selecting Sampling Units

Determine Sample Size

Selection of actual Sampling Units

Conduct Field Work

Estimated Sampling Size:

ZS
N = ( E )2

This method can be used to find out and decide the sample size.

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Sampling:
We have followed Non-Random, Non-Probable Convenience Sampling Method in our
quantitative research. It is the process of including someone into the sample, whosoever happens
to be available or easy to reach out to.
The disadvantage of this method is that it is very difficult to determine how much of the actual
effect results from the cause i.e. if the and how much does the dependent variable relies on
independent variable.

We will first hold a FGD i.e. Focus Group Discussion and then from that we will make our
questionnaire. Then well follow the convenience sample method by floating the questionnaire
online and by getting them filled from DIAC and Dubai Mall.

We have gathered data from 100 respondents through the survey, as well as 8 participants in the
FGD, who were all Souq.com users.

Analysis of data

We will use SPSS as a tool to analyze our data. The Frequencies method (Analyze, Descriptive
stats, frequencies) can be used to calculate the total number of votes for tick any type that apply
type of questions. Ranking type questions will also be analyzed using frequency method but by
using median instead of sum as in previous case. Median or mode, frequency tables and cross
tabulations will be used for ordinal variables (e.g. 1= strongly agree, 2= agree, etc.). Results will
be shown in the form of bar graphs and tables.

Descriptives
Online_Shopping_Trust_Effect
N Mean Std. Std. 95% Confidence Interval for Minimu Maximu
Deviation Error Mean m m
Lower Upper Bound
Bound
Below
1 4.00 . . . . 4 4
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18-25 85 3.38 .873 .095 3.19 3.56 1 5
26-40 13 3.15 1.068 .296 2.51 3.80 1 5
41-60 2 2.50 2.121 1.500 -16.56 21.56 1 4
Total 101 3.34 .920 .091 3.16 3.52 1 5

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As we can see the sum of means here is 3.34, which states our null hypothesis being People do
not trust online shopping has been rejected.

And for those people who do not trust online shopping have basically three kinds of factors.
Technical glitches, delivery problems and payment options being the three variables behaving as
the same factor. While Quality of products and Anonymous seller are two different factors that
affect the trust of its consumers.

Out of these factors and as a matter of fact, even for variables, Quality of products is the factor
that effects the buying decision the most. As low quality of product leads to lesser trust which
means lesser sales.

For our third hypothesis, i.e. COD charges people with lower income more:

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 Descriptives
COD_Charges_Effect
N Mean Std. Std. 95% Confidence Interval for Minim Maximu
Deviatio Error Mean um m
n Lower Bound Upper Bound
Below 10,000 39 4.03 .932 .149 3.72 4.33 2 5
10,001-35,000 34 3.47 1.080 .185 3.09 3.85 1 5
35,001-65,000 15 3.67 1.175 .303 3.02 4.32 2 5
65,001-
7 3.14 1.464 .553 1.79 4.50 1 5
100,000
Over 100,001 6 3.00 1.095 .447 1.85 4.15 2 5
Total 101 3.66 1.098 .109 3.45 3.88 1 5

COD-Income
5

0
Below 10,000 10,001-35,000 35,001-65,000 65,001-100,000 Over 100,001

Mean of Score on a scale of 1 to 5

So we see an overall downward trend of the effect of COD in terms of mean, as we go from lower
income level to higher income level. So lower income has more effect of COD charges.

Given a shot at bargaining, would it attract people more to shop online, is something popped out
during our FGD, so evaluating it with other factors that were discussed we found out

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that it is better discounts, that attracts the people most, though bargaining option has a positive
impact towards the attracting people.

Hypothesis five states, people are not satisfied with Souq.com, which has been rejected as we can
see Net Promoter Score for souq is 2.97, which is positive. 2.97 on a scale of 100 is very low
which suggests that souq can and should improve their services, but because it is positive, people
are satisfied with souq.
Promoters (5 on a 5 point scale): 27
Passives (4 on a 5 point scale):50
Detractors (1-3 on a 5 point scale):24
NPS: (% of promoters) (% of detractors)
(27*100/101) (24*100/101)
26.73 - 23.76
2.97

Observations
H1: 84% of respondents trust online shopping.
H2: Poor quality of products affects the buying decision the most (impacts
negatively).
H3: More than 90% of the respondents with monthly household income of AED 35000
or less are affected by COD Charges.
H4: Better discounts attract more people.
H5: NPS is positive, implying people are satisfied.

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 Recommendations
Souq.com should take certain initiatives to guarantee product quality, like
1. Providing warranty cards
2. 30-day exchange policy
3. Direct contact with sellers

COD Charge of AED 4 can be removed

A proper After Sales Service should be in place to boost consumer trust.
As the NPS is just 2.97, Souq.com needs to work on customer satisfaction.

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 SOUQ QUESTIONNAIRE
Personal Information:
1. Name: ________________________________________

2. What is your Gender? Male Female Other

3. Age Group? (in years) Below 18 18-25 26-40 41-60 Over 60

4. Latest Education Level: Primary or below Secondary University or

above

5. Occupation: Self Employed Professional

Student Retired

Other: _________________________

6. Household Income (Monthly in AED):

Below 10,000
10,000-35,000
35,001-65,000
65,001-100,000
Over 100,000

Shopping Behaviour:

7. How often do you shop online, in a month?

0
1-3
4-6
7-10
>10

8. Apart from Souq, name other online shopping portals in UAE that come to your mind:
Sukar.com
Cobone.com

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 MarhabaDeals.com
Jadopado.com
Other: _______________

9. How much do you usually spend when shopping online? (in AED)

<100
100-499
500-999
1000-1999
>2000

10.How do you find pricing of Souq.com products as compared to competitors?

Cheaper
Comparable
Higher

11.Do charges related to COD and Delivery affect your buying decision?
Highly Likely
Likely
Does not affect

12. On a scale of 1 to 5, How much do you trust online shopping? (1 being the lowest, 5 being
the highest)
1 2 3 4 5

13. Why do you not trust online shopping? (1 being the weakest reason, 5 being the strongest
reason)
1 2 3 4 5

Quality of Products

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 Anonymous Seller

Payment Options

Technical Glitches

Delivery Problems

Other: _____________________________________

14.How would you rate your overall satisfaction with Souq.com?

Highly Satisfied
Satisfied
Neutral
Dissatisfied
Extremely Dissatisfied
15.What would attract you more to shop with us? (rate the reasons with 1 being the weakest and
5 being the strongest)

1 2 3 4 5

Better discounts

Direct contact with seller

Bargaining option

Removal of COD Charge

Tracking of Product

16. Any other suggestion that you think may help Souq serve you better?

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