OVERCOMING PERCEPTIONS OF UNCERTAINTY AND RISK IN E-RETAILING

Increasing development of the Internet and the use of information and communication technology contributed to the development of e-retailing in consumers‘ purchasing. The main purpose of this paper is to explore overall perceptions of e-retailing among Croatian consumers. In particular, the focus of the paper is on the areas which influenced the customer commitment and loyalty in e-retailing. In understanding whether the Internet and home shopping affected consumers‘ purchases and what is the level of acceptance of e -retailing comparing to traditional, brick-and-mortar stores, the quantitative study on the sample of 392 consumers was conducted. The on-line questionnaire was designed specifically to find out consumers‘ acceptance of e-shopping, factors affect ing their on-line shopping behaviour, consumers‘ perceived usefulness of e-retailing, etc. The findings of this research indicate that consumers use on-line purchasing more than two years ago but that they still do on-line purchasing activities with a significant level of uncertainty and distrust.