Consumer’s behaviour towards online shopping during covid-19: a study among students in Universiti Malaysia Kelantan

Sector of online shopping is rapidly expanding due to the government's introduction of MCOs, seller is flocking to sell in online shopping as they are unable to sell goods to customers from stores. As a result, many sellers use online shopping facilities to do business. This gives many advantages to sellers. However, doing business in cyberspace is not easy. Sellers must know the factors that affect the behaviour and intentions of customers. In order to meet customer needs, it is necessary to evaluate and discover the elements that encourage customers to purchase online. The purpose of this study is to identify the potential of online sales on Shopee by investigating consumers’ attitudes towards purchasing goods and intention through online shopping as an alternative to visiting the physical shop. To conduct this study, the researcher developed a research framework by using Reasoned Action Theory with attitude as the dependent variable and intention as the moderate variable. A total of 150 respondents among students of Universiti Malaysia Kelantan participated in this study. An online questionnaire was conducted to collect data. The results of the study showed that factors and attitudes were perceived to have a significant effect on consumer’s intention to buy online. Relationship between attitudes and intentions of online shopping, perceived benefits (time, cost, convenience) of online shopping influence consumer attitudes towards online shopping during COVID-19, previous e-commerce experience influences consumer attitudes towards buying -online side during COVID-19, consumer lifestyle influences consumer attitudes towards online shopping during COVID-19 and trust in merchants influences consumer attitudes towards online shopping during COVID-19. This study is important for online retailers especially Shopee who want to understand the attitudes and intentions of customers. When buying online, to improve marketing strategies thus increasing the number of loyal and potential users in their business companies.