The Utility of E-Commerce Companies or Online Shops for Teachers in an Elementary School in Hermosa, Bataan, the Philippines.

Abstract

In a developing country context, what purpose do e-commerce companies or online shops serve? This study determined the utility of e-commerce companies or online shops for teachers in an elementary school in Hermosa, Bataan, the Philippines. The theory of the consumer and the institutional approach to the study of marketing were used for its framework. The needed data were obtained through an online survey of all 31 teachers of the elementary school on November 15-18, 2021. The study found that e-commerce companies serve either as merchant middlemen who create possession and place utilities, or as agent middlemen who bring buyers and sellers together and create place utility. The study also found that: (1) majority of the respondents purchased products online once in the past 12 months, and about half of them purchased products that were priced below Php 500; (2) majority of them bought online clothes and apparel; (3) Shopee was their top choice of e-commerce company because of lower prices and discounts; and (4) less than half of the respondents had problems with returns and refunds, actual items, and delivery. The study recommends concerned government agencies to compel e-commerce companies to have an efficient system of addressing returns and refunds, monitor the performance of logistics and payment platforms, and address internet connection and data security problems. The study also recommends e-commerce companies to avoid problem recurrence through total quality management adoption, and for future research to focus on determining the usefulness of e-commerce companies to other sectors such as agriculture and fisheries.