Running Head: CONSUMER’S PERCEPTION ON ONLINE FOOD ORDERING 1

Consumer’s Perception on Online Food Ordering in Kathmandu

Suruchi Poon

BN 190198

Prof. Anuj Tiwari

BUS 605 Business Research Methodology

Westcliff University

July 29, 2019

Abstract

This paper is a research proposal to understand the consumer’s perception on online food

ordering. This paper explains about the research topic, its objective and how the research data

will be collected. It also consists of different literature review done to understand more on this

research topic and a conceptual framework has also been shown. Furthermore, the paper explains

about the method that will be used to analyze the data once it is collected.

Keywords: Consumer’s perception, online food ordering service, research objective,

literature review, research methodology.

Consumer’s Perception on Online Food Ordering in Kathmandu

In a world where technology is advancing every other day, mobile phone and laptops

have become human’s best friend. With the growing use of gadgets, the number of internet user

is also growing and along with that e-commerce business have created a different position for

them in the market. “As e-commerce industry is drastically rising, online food delivery business

has become one of the fastest growing segments in e-commerce as it has made consumer’s life

more easy and convenient” (Rathore & Chaudhary, 2018). Online food delivery is a business

platform where mostly the service provider becomes a middle man for the restaurant and

customers. The service provider ties up with different restaurants and sets up their food menu

online from which the customers can easily place their order according to their preferences and

the food will be delivered to the customer at their door-step (Singh, R, Kanade, & Pathan, 2018).

Similarly, another module of online food delivery service is where the service provider

themselves produce and deliver the food to its customers.

The growing trend of online food delivery service around the world has also entered in

Nepal and is popular in one of the most crowded city of the country, Kathmandu. Nepal’s online

food delivery business is booming with mostly young entrepreneurs looking to capture a slice of

the profitable market (Prasain, 2018). “Due to the busy routine that Nepalese people have these

days, they are eating out more often than not” (Tiwari, 2018). Viewing such scenario, online

food delivery service like Foodmandu, Bhoj Deal, Foodmario, Bhok Lagyo, Meals on Wheels,

and many more has been providing their online delivery service so that customers can save more

time by getting their food where they want.

Problem Statement
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As the popularity of online food delivery services is increasing and new ventures are

mushrooming continuously, the expectations of the customers from these service companies are

also increasing. With this growing competition in this industry and the young entrepreneurs

getting involved with hope of getting success, it is very important to know about the customer’s

view and opinions which can help them to improve their business and stay in the competition.

As mentioned by Rathore and Chaudhary (2018) , “customer’s preference is the primary source

for company owners to engage in online delivery services to further satisfy clients’ requirements

and needs.” Furthermore, despite the ongoing scenario of burgeoning internet boom, some of

the customers are still not involved in the online transactions with the concern of safety issues

and transfer of private information over the internet.

Research Objective

The main purpose of this research paper is to study how the customers perceive these

online food delivery companies. Similarly, this paper also seeks to find out the various factors

that influence customers to use this service and which is the most preferred online food delivery

service in Kathmandu. Moreover, through this research, the factors that hold back a customer to

use an online food delivery service will also be identified.

Literature Review

In context of Nepal, there has been very limited research on this topic as the online food

delivery industry has recently flourished. Hence, the literatures reviewed are mainly the research

done outside Nepal where this industry is already in a higher position.

Based on a research “Consumer perception towards 'Online food ordering and delivery

services': an empirical study” conducted by (Das, 2018) in Pune, he analyzed 153 respondents

and found out that 76% of them used food delivery services. One of the most important
CONSUMER’S PERCEPTION ON ONLINE FOOD ORDERING 5

parameter that encouraged people to order food through online delivery was its door-step

delivery policy followed by ease and convenience. It was also found out that if rewards and cash

backs are provided to the customers they get influenced to use a particular company’s service, in

this case Zomato. The research also concluded that past bad experience and people’s word of

mouth prevents them from using the online food delivery service.

A research “Customer Perception and Satisfaction on Ordering Food via Internet, a Case

on Foodzoned.Com, in Manipal” concluded that online food ordering services are highly

penetrated and most of the respondents were a frequent user of the service. The level of

satisfaction with the service was in higher side and they also found out that the buying decisions

were affected “by the opinions and experience of friends, family and discussions on online

forums” (Sethu & Saini, 2016). The research was conducted in Manipal which is an educational

hub for busy students. Similarly, Kedah conducted a research on (Key Success Factors of Online

Food Ordering Services: An Empirical Study, 2015), he discovered that main success factors that

can achieve customer’s loyalty for the online food delivery service was quality information,

website design, safety, easy payment method, efficient delivery, reliable customer service and

delivery.

Likewise, a research on “Customer buying decision process using online platform for

online food delivery in Thailand” led by (Kitthanadeachaorn, 2016) found out that scenario of

food delivery industry has been altered by the internet platform. Consumers were conscious

about the various online internet food suppliers and would assess the value of the service based

on factors such as cost and quality referring to quick and safe service. It was also discovered that

perceived hazards could be reduced through sales promotion and word of mouth. Another

research “Improvement of Online Food Delivery Service Based on Consmer's Negative

Comments” done by (Lan, Ya'nan, & Shuhua, 2016) concluded that online food delivery

industry is still underdeveloped; some apparent issues can be seen from the adverse remarks of

customers. By taking legislation as the standard and together with the effort of government,

online food delivery industry, restaurants, and consumers, the issues can be fixed and a healthy

online environment can be created.

Research Methodology

Conceptual Framework

A basic framework has been prepared which serves as a foundation on which the research

paper will be based. With reference to the different journal article reviewed on “consumer’s

perception on online food ordering service”, below framework has been developed.

Independent Variables Dependent Variable

Time and
Delivery

Convenience

Consumer’s
Perception on Online
Easy
accessibility Food Delivery

Ease of
Payment

Promotions

Specification of variables
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Dependent variable: In this research the dependent variable is consumer’s perception.

Consumer’s perception mainly refers to the opinion that they have about the different online food

service company that exists in the industry.

Independent Variable: In this research independent variables are time and delivery,

convenience, easy accessibility, ease of payment, and promotions. Time and delivery refers to

the working hour for delivering the food to its customers. It also refers to on-time delivery.

Convenience refers to the fact that the customers can order food wherever and whenever they

want without visiting the restaurant. Easy accessibility means the application is easily accessible

from their smartphones and laptops and can order in few taps which helps them to reduce the

hassle of calling the restaurants and enquiring them. Ease of payment means the payment

options provided by the company to pay for the service. Finally promotion refers to the offers,

discounts, cash backs provided by the company.

Data Collection Approach

In order to make this research a success, an exploratory research will be conducted to

discover consumer’s perception about online food delivery service. Since many researches have

not been conducted in this topic in Nepal and as the research is only trying to understand the

people’s perception and not trying to provide any conclusive evidence, exploratory research will

be helpful (Dudovskiy, n.d.). Furthermore, an online questionnaire with close ended and open

ended questions will be prepared to collect primary data. The questionnaire will be designed

with the aim of collecting both qualitative as well as quantitative data. It will be circulated

among people through various social media since most of the people are active in social media

these days, and gathering respondents will be easier. For the secondary data, previous case

studies, journal article and online research will be referred.

Expectation

Once the data is collected, SPSS will be used to analyze the data. Similarly regression

analysis will be used to analyze the relationship between the independent variables and

dependent variable. Moreover, chart, graph and descriptive analysis will also be used to present

the collected data.

Conclusion

Due to the fact that online food delivery service is new to the Nepalese market, very few

researches has been done on this industry. But with the speedy rise of this industry, hopefully

more researches will be done in the future so that the businesses can furthermore improve their

service and meet its customer’s demand and expectations from them. With this research,

hopefully customer’s perception about this industry will be identified and along with it the

various factors that drive that perception can be recognized.

Personalized CLO Applied Learning Assignment

Article Name: A Glance of Business Research Methodology for Researchers

Journal Name: Journal of Business and Management Sciences

Author(s) Name: Farzaneh Haghighat Nia & Hossein Niavand

About the article and purpose

This paper provides a concept about the methodology of business research e.g. the

significance of studies, objectives, motivations and studies kinds. It explains about all the

fundamental concepts that a proper researcher should know about while conducting a research.

The main purpose of this paper is to explain its reader about the criteria of a good research and

identify the drawbacks of Iranian researchers and problems and issues experienced by them (Nia

& Niavand, 2017).

Support my argument

In the past 4 weeks, we have learned about the various concepts about research

methodology and how a research must be conducted and presented. This article basically sums

up the different topics that we have discussed and has clearly explained about it. From objective

of research, research methods, formulation of research problem, setting hypotheses, preparation

of research design, and etc., it covers up all the core essence of a research paper.

Important aspect of the article

According to (Al-Shatanawi, Osman, & Ab Halim, 2014), “Research is a systematic and

objective investigation of a subject or problem in order to discover relevant information or

principles which can be considered to be either primarily fundamental or applied in nature.”

Research is important for everyone including business person to scientist to engineers. “It plays

an important role in offering the intellectual fulfillment of knowing a few things just for the sake
CONSUMER’S PERCEPTION ON ONLINE FOOD ORDERING 10

of understanding and also has practical use to know for the sake being able to do something good

or more efficiently” (Nia & Niavand, 2017).

For a research to be effective, purpose of the research should be clear. The procedure

that is to be followed should be well-defined. The research’s procedural design should be

carefully planned to achieve maximum objective of the research. Data analyzes should be

adequately sufficient to disclose their importance and suitable analysis methods should be used.

Data validity and reliability should be closely verified. And conclusions should be limited to

those justified by the research data.

Findings and Conclusions

The researchers concluded that the lack of logical preparation in the research strategy

was an incredible impediment to the Iran’s researchers. Many of them carried out unreliable

research without understanding the techniques because unreliable information was generated

which was not useful for other researchers. There was lack of interaction between the research

departments of universities with the government and business/industry people. Unmanaged and

scattered data in the library was another problem faced by Iranian researchers where most of

their time and energy was spent on finding out the authentic and reliable data.

Hence, in order to improve the research quality in Iran above mentioned problem must be

mitigated. A researcher should always understand that good research is always systematic,

logical, empirical and reliable which is lacked in many of the research conducted by researchers

in Iran.

Industrial Example

As we know by now how important research is for business to gain a competitive

advantage and lead their way towards success, Apple is one of the examples of a company who
CONSUMER’S PERCEPTION ON ONLINE FOOD ORDERING 11

has been able to outrun big companies like Nokia and BlackBerry, with its research ability.

Innovation is one of their strength but that is not the only reason why Apple is successful, the

company uses market research to find out precisely what their clients wants from their devices;

then they figure out how to turn those want into reality. The various researches that they have

done have led to different modifications on their products which has turned out to be successful

(Ong, 2011).
CONSUMER’S PERCEPTION ON ONLINE FOOD ORDERING 12

References

Al-Shatanawi, H. A., Osman, A., & Ab Halim, M. S. (2014). The Importance of Market

Research in Implementing. International Journal of Academic Research in Economics

and Management Sciences, 3(2), 150-159.

Das, J. (2018). Consumer perception towards 'Online food ordering and delivery services': an

empirical study. Journal of Management, 5(5), 155-163.

Kedah, Z. (2015). Key Success Factors of Online Food Ordering Services: An Empirical Study.

Malaysian Management Review, 50(2), 19-36.

Kitthanadeachaorn, T. (2016). Customer buying decision process using online platform for

online food delivery in Thailand. Thammasat University, Thailand.

Lan, H., Ya'nan, L., & Shuhua, W. (2016). Improvement of Online Food Delivery Service Based

on Consmer's Negative Comments. Canadian Social Science, 12(5), 84-88.

Nia, F. H., & Niavand, H. (2017). A glance of business research methodogloy for researchers.

Journal of Business and Management Sciences, 5(2), 62-66.

Ong, J. (2011). Apple Initiating Customer Pulse Market Research Focus Group. Retrieved from

Apple Insider:

http://appleinsider.com/articles/11/05/05/apple_initiates_customer_pulse_market_researc

h_focus_group.html

Prasain, K. (2018). Voracious appetite for online food delivery in Ktm. Retrieved from The

Kathmandu Post: https://kathmandupost.com/money/2018/08/01/voracious-appetite-for-

online-food-delivery-in-ktm
CONSUMER’S PERCEPTION ON ONLINE FOOD ORDERING 13

Rathore, S. S., & Chaudhary, M. (2018). Consumer's Perception on Online Food Ordering.

International Journal of Management & Business Studies, 8(4), 12-17.

Sethu, H. S., & Saini, B. (2016). Customer Perception and Satisfaction on Ordering Food via

Internet, a Case on Foodzoned.Com, in Manipal. Proceedings of the Seventh Asia-Pacific

Conference on Global Business, Economics, Finance and Social Sciences, 15-17.

Singh, A., R, A., Kanade, V., & Pathan, S. (2018). Online food ordering system. International

Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET), 5(6), 374-378.

Tiwari, R. (2018). Top 7 Food Tech Startups in Nepal That You Should Check Out Today!

Retrieved from Techlekh: https://techlekh.com/food-tech-startups-nepal/