Online shopping is the process whereby consumers directly buy goods or services from a seller in real-time, without an intermediary service, over the internet. It is a form of electronic commerce. An online shop, e-shop, e-store, internet shop, web-shop, web-store, online store, or virtual store evokes the physical analogy of buying products or services at a bricks-and – mortar retailer or in a shopping center. The process is called business-to-consumer (B2C) online shopping. When a business buys from another business, it is called business-to-business (B2B) online shopping. In fact, the recently concluded Google's Online Shopping Festival (GOSF) saw some 16 million Indians shopping online within four days. Yet, while online shopping is an easy way for comparison of different products on the basis of their features and specifications—without going from shop to shop, many consumers do find it difficult to choose the best and safest sites for making. The present study reveals the impact of online shopping.
INTRODUCTION
Internet is changing the way of consumers shopping and buys goods and services, and has rapidly evolved into a global phenomenon. Online shopping is the act of purchasing product or services over the internet. Online shopping has grown in popularity over the years, mainly because people find it convenient and easy to bargain shop from the comfort of their home or office. Companies also use the Internet to convey, communicate and disseminate information, to sell the product, to take feedback and also to conduct satisfaction surveys with customers. Customers use the Internet not only to buy the product online, but also to compare prices, product features and after sale service facilities they will receive if they purchase the product from a particular store.Online shopping is the process through which the consumers purchase products or services over the internet. An online shop, e-shop, e-store, internet shop, web shop, web store, online store, virtual evokes the physical analogy of buying products or services at a bricks-and-mortar retailer or in a shopping mall. Internet shopping is shaping up. However, today internet shopping is really significant part of the retail sector. Internet shopping is the new shopping experience of the future.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Online shopping has gained a lot of importance in present marketing conditions. Due to advancement of technology and internet, customers are finding it easier to buy product online from home at their own leisure. A large number of people prefer online buying to direct buying. At the same time they are concerned about privacy & security, mode of payment, quality of goods, delay in getting product, after sales services etc. On the above presented issues, my study is based on knowing the problem faced by e-customers, consumers’ satisfaction and towards online shopping and to determine the factors that influence customers to shop online.
NEED AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
In recent years, online shopping has become very popular. The growth of technology has made these a part and parcel of everyday lifestyle. The advent of plastic money or the debit /credit card and the smooth access to the World Wide Web has brought the shops from around the world to the desktop. Now days many people are surfing through various online shopping sites and purchasing things. Student community has become so strong that even the parents seek the help and advice of their children before doing big purchases.The study is very relevant because it can give a clear picture of the future of online markets in India and the emerging trends in this particular field. The various factors that influence online shopping habits and its merits and demerits are also dealt with. The study also tries to have a comparison of online shopping habits among different age group as well as income group.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study has been conducted within the confines of Thiruvananthapuram city only. It analysis the reason behind consumers in the city prefer online buying instead of direct buying, then finds the level of satisfaction while purchasing online product. It helps the online shop to carry out their business successfully by understanding customer’s perception taste and preference towards products and services offered at the online shops. The present study will help people to know about the online shopping and its advantages and also propel customers to adopt online buying.
OBJECTIVES
- To identify the factors influencing online shopping.
- To examine the level of consumer satisfaction on online shopping.
- To study the problems faced by consumer on online shopping.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
- Sources of data: Primary and secondary source were used for collecting the data.
- Primary source – Questionnaires, interviews and discussion with consumers
- Secondary source – Books, Journals, Articles, Research papers and Websites.
SAMPLE DESIGN
Sample unit
For studying consumer buying behavior, samples are selected from Trivandrum city.
Sample media
The medium used in the study was face to face interview (personal interviews) with respondents.
Sample size
The present study has a sample size of 100 respondents.
Sampling Technique used
Tools used for data collection
The data processing and analysis were done manually. Mathematical tool used for analysis was percentage. Tables were also used for comparing the data collected through questionnaire. Tools like graphs and diagrams were used to simplify the presentation of data.
E-COMMERCE
Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce, is buying and selling of products and services by businesses and consumers over the internet. People use the term “E-commerce to describe encrypted payments on internet. E-commerce is the online transaction of business, featuring linked computer system of the vendor, host, and buyer. Electronic transaction involved the transfer of ownership or rights to use a good or service. Most people are familiar with business-to-consumer electronic business (B2C). Common illustrations include Amazon.com, EBay.com, flipkart.com, travelosity.com, and hotels.com. Internet sales are increasing rapidly as consumers take advantage of lower prices offer by wholesalers retailing their products. This trend is set to strengthen as websites address consumer security and privacy concerns.
E-commerce businesses may employ some or all of the following:
- E-commerce allows business transactions on the cross country bound can be more convenient and more effective as compared with the traditional commerce.
- Online shopping websites for retail sales direct to consumers
- Providing or participating in online market places, which process third-party business-to consumer or consumer-to-consumer sales
- Business-to-business(B2B) buying and selling
- E-commerce technology allows for personalization. Business can be adjusted for a name, a person's interests and past purchase message objects and marketing message to a specific individual
- Gathering and using demographic data through web contacts and social media
- Business-to-business electronic data interchange (EDI)
- Marketing to prospective and established customers by e-mail or fax (for example, with newsletters)
- Engaging in pre-tail for launching new products and service
- E-commerce technologies is an unusual feature, is the technical standard of the Internet, so to carry out the technical standard of e-commerce is shared by all countries around the world standard.
MODELS OF E-COMMERCE
1) Business-to-Consumer (B2C)
Common notion about e-commerce is that it is a business selling something through an online interface to a consumer. And this is the Business-to-Consumer (B2C) model. The most widely known ecommerce businesses, such as Flipkart, Amazon, etc. are ones where a retailer sells directly to a consumer.2) Business-to-Business (B2B)
Business-to-business (B2B) refers to a business (the e-commerce retailer) selling directly to another business. The seller can sell goods or services that are used by the recipient to run their business. It may be as fundamental to their business as selling iron to a construction company, or as supplemental as selling coffee to be consumed by employees. Wholesalers like subsidiaries of Alibaba and India MART typically sell B2B.3) Consumer-to-Business (C2B)
In a consumer-to-business (C2B) model, consumers sell products and services to businesses, instead of it being the other way around. Example - Freelancer websites elance.com, where the end-user lists jobs that businesses (either individual or larger businesses) can buy from them. In a way, job portals are also C2B as here, the ‘end-user’ (the prospective employee) lists their ‘product’ (resume) to attract businesses to hire them.4) Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)
In a consumer-to-consumer (C2C) model, the ecommerce website serves to facilitate the transaction between two consumers. Auction sites such as eBay (specifically when items are sold by individuals, rather than businesses listing products for auction) is a classic example of C2C e-commerce model.Apart from these 4 major models, there are 2 more models where one of the entities is Government. This model is B2G (Business to Government), G2B (Government to Business), G2E (Government to Employee), G2G (Government to Government), G2C (Government to Citizen), C2G (Citizen to Government).
GAINT PLAYERS IN ONLINE SHOPPING OR ONLINE RETAILERS
FLIPKART
Flipkart is an Indian e-commerce company which was founded by Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal in October 2007. Headquartered in Bangalore, the company has a market value of $5.54 billion as of November 2016, according to Morgan Stanley. Binny Bansal served as the chief operating officer of the company till January, 2016, following which he took over as its CEO. Sachin Bansal was replaced as CEO of the company in January, and currently serves as it executive chairman.
In April 2017, Flipkart raised a fund of Rs 9,000-crore ($1.4-billion) from Tencent, eBay and Microsoft. The deal was led by China's Tencent with an investment of $700 million while eBay Inc contributed $500 million and also received Flipkart stock worth $200 million in lieu of its Indian operations. Microsoft, which recently signed an agreement with Flipkart to make Azure the etailer's exclusive public cloud platform, has put in $200 million to round off the deal.
Founded in 2004 with only Rs. 400000 now in 2014 tuned over 60,000 Crore company. You can not only buy books online through Flipkart, but also mobile phones & mobile accessories, laptops, computer accessories, cameras, movies, music, televisions, refrigerators, air-conditioners, washing-machines, Clothings, Footwears, Accessories, MP3 players and products from a host of other categories. After takeover of letsbuy.com now flipkart is largest player of e-commerce of India.
- Flipkart Coupons
- Flipkart Deals & Offers
MYNTRA
Myntra is an Indian fashion e-commerce marketplace company headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. The company was founded in 2007 by Indian Institute of Technology graduates - Mukesh Bansal along with Ashutosh Lawania and Vineet Saxena - with a focus on personalisation of gift items. By 2010, Myntra shifted its focus to the online retailing of branded apparel. In May 2014, Myntra.com merged with Flipkart. Myntra allows its users to choose varieties of dress. One can choose any type of dress of any brand from Myntra. The best thing about Myntra is its product quality and service. Now, Myntra is merged into Flipkart to compete Amazon, but myntra.com is still running as a separate website and entity. Buying clothes and gifts online can be best done via Myntra.
Myntra.com is leading online retailer of lifestyle and fashion products. Myntra offers T-shirts, Shoes, watches and more at discounted price.
- Myntra Coupons
- Myntra Deals & Offers
AMAZON
Amazon is an American e-commerce company founded by Jeff Beroz, the chairman, president and CEO, in July 1994. Named Cadabra, Beroz changed it to Amazon in the year after its establishment. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, it is the largest online retailer in the world in terms of sales. Although the company began its journey as an online bookstore, it later expanded in offering a wide variety of products - including its own brand called Amazon Basics. Over the years, Amazon has expanded to several countries - including India, and is now looking at 'revolutionize' shopping-in-store experience.
In 2016, Amazon created headlines by opening Amazon Go for its employees in Seattle, and on a trial basis. Making use of numerous sensors, the store charges a shopper's Amazon account as he/she picks and carries items out of the store. The company promises to cut back time spent in lines and checkouts, in a move that signals a shift from Amazon's base online.
World leader in e-commerce market recently started operation in India, Now Indians can buy Books, CDS and Electronic at cheaper price from Amzon.in. For limited time they offering free shipping.
- Amazon Coupons
- Amazon Deals & Offers
EBay
EBay Inc. is a multinational e-commerce corporation, facilitating online consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales. It is headquartered in San Jose, California. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995, and became a notable success story of the .com bubble. The company manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide. It previously offered online money transfers (via PayPal), which was a wholly owned subsidiary of eBay from 2002 until 2015. The website is free to use for buyers, but sellers are charged fees for listing items and again when those items are sold.
After almost 6month of dominating at number 1 eBay has come down at number two on indiafreestuff.in list. eBay.in is the Indian version of the popular online shopping portal eBay.com - world's online marketplace. eBay has a diverse and passionate community of individuals and small businesses. eBay offers used and fresh items with a wide network of international shipping.
- eBay Coupons
- eBay Deals & Offers
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
1. CLASSIFICATION OF RESPONDENTS ACCORDING TO THEIR MOST PREFERED ONLINE RETAILER
Table 1-Preference of Online Retailers
Table 1 shows the preference of customers in different online retailers. It reveals that 55 percent of the respondents prefer Flipkart, 20 percent choose Amazon, 15 percent prefer Myntra, 7.5 percent choose Snap deal and 2.5 percent prefer other online shopping sites.
2. FACTORS INFLUENCING ONLINE SHOPPING
Table2-Factors Influencing Online Shopping
Table 2 shows the influencing factor of online shopping. 57.5 percent of the respondents believe online retailers quote reasonable price for products, 10 percent buy online due to quality products, 6 percent influenced by good customer service and 2.5 percent induced to buy online by quick delivery, 19 percent respondent are like all of the above mentioned factors and 5 percent who are not interested in online buying.
3. CLASSIFICATION OF RESPONDENTS ACCORDING TO DIFFERENT PRODUCT PURCHASED.
Table 3- Different Product Purchased By Respondents
Table 3 shows the different types of goods ordered by the respondents. It reveals that 40 percent buy Electronics & Mobiles, 25 percent clothes, 16.25 percent purchase Home Appliances, 8.75 percent buy books and 10 percent purchase other products. That means the most demanded item online is electronic products.
4 . CLASSIFICATIONOF RESPONDENTS ACCORDING
TO MODE OF PAYMENT
Table 4 - Mode of payment
Table 4 shows the different modes of payment of online shopping. It reveals that 65 percent of the respondents prefer cash on delivery as the method of payment and 35 percent of respondents use online payment systems for making payments. The study reveals that the majority of online buyers choose to make payment on delivery.
5. CLASSIFICATION OF RESPONDENTS ACCORDING
TO SATISFACTION LEVEL.
Table 5- Satisfaction level of Respondents.
Table 5 shows the satisfaction level of respondents from only shopping. It reveals that 52.5 percent respondents are satisfied with online shopping, 25percent are highly satisfied, 12.5 percent are neutral, 6.25 percent are dissatisfied and 3.75 percent are highly dissatisfied with online shopping.
6. CLASSIFICATIONOF RESPONDENTS ACCORDING
TO THE CHANCE DIFFERENT PROBLEMS AND ISSUES ON ONLINE SHOPPING.
Table 6-Problems and Issues of Online Shopping
Table 6 shows different problems on online shopping. 45 percent respondents say the major problem in online shopping is privacy and security, 20 percent respondents’ problem is inability to touch and feel, 12.5 percent fears quality issues, 10 percent say there is an additional charge in only shopping, 7.5 percent say WIGINWIO (What I Got Is Not What I Ordered) and 5 percent respond say other problems.
FINDINGS
- The study reveals that the majority of the respondents prefer flipkart, which is thus one of the leading online shopping websites in India.
- Low price is the major factor influencing customers to buy through online.
- Electronics & Mobiles and Cloths are the most preferred items of online buyers.
- Majority of the respondents were satisfied with the online buying.
- Major problems & issues of online shopping are privacy and security threats
- The greater number of respondents opt cash on delivery as their mode of payment.
SUGGESTIONS
- Online stores should improve consumers’ satisfaction through providing quality products at reasonable price, timely delivery and fulfill their expectations.
- The online retailers should make their website easy to access and operate in a hazard-free manner.
CONCLUSION
This study mainly focuses on the factors from the internet and examines those factors that affect the consumer’s online shopping behaviors. The research focuses on Internet shopping (including the nature of internet shopping, E-commerce website, and online security, privacy, trust and trustworthiness) and online consumer behaviours (Include background, shopping motivation and decision making process). Those factors were looked at, and examined to reveal the influence of online consumer behaviors. The information search is the most important factor that helps the customers to find the suitable products or services for their needs. Therefore, the online retailers have to enhance and improve the information supporting such as providing much detailed product information and use internal search engines in order to increase the efficiency of information search. For the evaluation stage, customers think a lot about the reputation from the E-commerce website, and the payment security for the purchase stage. At the post-purchase stage, the factor of after services which is the most concerning. Overall, the factors from the Internet that influenced or prevented online consumer behaviors need to be carefully concerned by the online retailers, who can utilize the appropriate marketing communications to support the customer’s purchase decision making process and improve their performance.BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Nikhilesh Dholakia, Wolfgang Fritz, Ruby Roy Dholakia, Norbert Mundorf,
- “Global E-Commerce and Online Marketing”, Quorum Books, 2002.
- Jim Pooler, “Why We Shop: Emotional Rewards and Retail Strategies”, Praeger, 2003
- Neeshu Sharma, Atul Sharma “E-commerce”,paperback,2014
- R. Gay and Charlesworth, “Online Marketing: A Customer-Led Approach”, paperback,2007
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