Customer Perceptions and Adoption of E-Marketing in Zimbabwe

As of January 2021, Southern Africa had the highest internet penetration rate in Africa, at 62 per cent. The share of people using the internet in this area of Africa was even above the world average (59.5 per cent) (Statista, 2021). The internet has brought several opportunities, especially for fast-moving consumer goods retailers. This study, therefore, examines customer perceptions of e-marketing used by FMCG retailers in Zimbabwe. This study aims to unpack the opportunities and challenges in the Zimbabwean environment, given that there are significant investments in internet Infrastructure (Potraz, 2021). Data were collected using a questionnaire, and the results affirmed the varying but significant degrees of influence of customers in rural and urban locations, gender, education and computer literacy levels, online shopping infrastructure, online shopping risk, online fraud, internet data costs and lack of online regulations on customer perceptions on adoption and implementation of online shopping among FMCG goods retailers in Zimbabwe. The findings of this study can assist retailers in developing new marketing strategies that will increase the adoption of online shopping. The study results are also important for the government, which is responsible for providing the necessary laws and regulations to adopt and implement e-marketing strategy.