Abstract:
With the advent of online shopping platforms, customers started to change their
buying habits by adopting it. Yet, while many have adopted it, there are many who
still hesitate or refuse to take one step into it. Due to the unavailability of online
shopping in Yemen, this study was initiated to determine whether Yemeni nationals
residing in Istanbul – Turkey have used online shopping platforms or not yet. If not,
what factors have affected their preferences for it? This study is a qualitative case
study using interviews to amass data. Self-administered and pre-tested open-ended
questions were made. 9 Yemeni participants were interviewed using an in-depth
case study. The research model was analyzed using narrative techniques. Findings
showed that the factors affecting their preferences for online shopping were trust,
risk, and convenience. Findings also showed the majority of interviewees prefer
traditional shopping to online shopping, for its safety, physicality and certainty etc
