Advantages and Obstacles of Electronic Commerce in Sports Footwear

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to explore the perception of consumers regarding electronic commerce as a tool for sports footwear purchasing. Based on secondary sources, firstly, the authors define e-commerce and discuss its advantages and disadvantages. Then, the results of the empirical research are presented with the aim of (1) determining consumer perception of electronic commerce in the area of this specific product group, and (2) determining the difference between two generations of consumers. Two relevant age groups are compared: the younger population (18-39 years) and middle-aged consumers (40-59 years). The study was conducted on a sample of 202 respondents, of whom 110 are members of the young population and 92 are members of the middle age population. This research empirically confirmed that there are significant differences between generations when it comes to attitudes towards electronic commerce, thus this paper filling the existing gap in modern literature in retail and electronic commerce fields.