Information technology practices in the Jordanian retail sector: Employee and customer perspective

Abstract

This paper aims to discuss the adoption of information technology by retailers in Jordan and the impact on retail space, particularly in major urban areas of Jordan. Retailers such as Walmart, Amazon, and Metro are using advanced technologies to continue attracting and expanding consumers with the advent of internet of things (IoT), radio frequency identification (RFID) and point of sales (POS) hardware and software and retail. The study relied on the explanatory approach to achieve these objectives. The study sample consisted of 134 stores that were chosen randomly and 480 customers of these stores, which were also chosen randomly. A questionnaire was designed based on previous studies and distributed among the respondents. The statistical analysis program (SPSS) was used to analyze the data obtained from the sample and test the hypotheses. The study results showed that information technologies influence customer perceptions. However, RFID appears to have no impact on employee perception. Retailers’ attitudes and adoption of information technologies in the Jordanian retail sector are heavily influenced by external factors. RFID usage does not play a significant role in determining the retailers’ attitude towards adopting IT practices. The reason for such an outcome may be that sometimes the devices fail to read the various codes, and thus, it makes it difficult for the retailer to scan the products. AcknowledgmentThis paper is supported with a generous fund of the faculty of scientific research and graduate studies, Al-Hussein Bin Talal University. Fund decision number – 47/2021.