Consumer Decision Aid and Purchase Perception for In-Store Shopping

Purchase abandonment is a common problem for businesses since it translates to loss of sales and loss of potential customers. A review of the literature suggests that there is yet a study on in-depth exploration of purchase abandonment in in-store shopping. Hence, this study aims to examine the nature of product abandonment in in-store shopping, explore the factors that influence purchase abandonment in in-store shopping, and understand how the difference in the features of product categories affect purchase abandonment in in-store shopping. This qualitative study involved in-depth interviews with consumers and the data was thematically analysed. The findings of this study provided new definitions for purchase abandonment in in-store shopping where the definitions differ in terms of the formation of purchase intention, and uncovered additional factors that lead to purchase abandonment in in-store shopping that were not identified in previous studies. This study also revealed how product abandonment differs across product categories where specialty products are more likely to be abandoned than convenience products and shopping products due to the perception that specialty products are usually not a 'need' product and that specialty products are expensive.