CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
1.1 INTRODUCTION OF THE STUDY

In the era of globalization electronic marketing is a great revolution.

Over the last decade maximum business organizations are running with
technological change. Online shopping or marketing is the use of technology (i.e.,
computer) for better marketing performance. Generally speaking the trend of e-
commerce has been increased rapidly in the recent years with the development of
internet and due to the easy accessibility of internet usage. Easy access to internet
has driven consumers to shop online. Through electronic marketing and internet
communication business firms are coordinating different marketing activities such
as market research, product development, inform customers about product features,
promotion, customer services, customer feedback and so on. Online shopping is
used as a medium for communication and electronic commerce, it is to increase or
improve in value, quality and attractiveness of delivering customer benefits and
better satisfaction, that is why online shopping is more convenience and day by
day increasing its popularity.

E-commerce is concerned with the buying and selling information,

products and services over computer communication networks. E-commerce helps
to conduct traditional commerce through new ways of transferring and processing
information. Information is electronically transfers from computer to computer in
an automated manner.

In the modern world the popularity of online marketing is increasing.

The customers using online purchase are also increasing. There are many reasons
or behavior of consumers to purchase through e-commerce.

As a consumer we are all unique and this uniqueness is reflected in the

consumption pattern and process of purchase. The study of consumer behavior
provides us with reasons why consumers differ from one another in buying using
products and services. We receive stimuli from the environment and the specifics
of the marketing strategies of different products and services, and responds to these
stimuli in terms of either buying or not buying product. In between

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the stage of receiving the stimuli and responding to it, the consumer goes through
the process of making his decision

Studying the online buying behaviour of customer, to see that

consumer attitudes towards the online shopping. Therefore we have also decided to
study consumer’s attitudes towards online shopping and specifically studying the
factors influencing consumers to shop online.

This research has been conducted to gain an insight into the online
buying behavior of consumers. The objective is to explore the factors which
influence online purchase, the psychographic profile of the consumer groups and
understanding the buying decision process.

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1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Primary Research Objective

 To determine the factors which influence online buying behaviour of

consumers
Secondary Research Objectives

 To compare traditional shopping and online shopping

 To know the economic class of people who make online purchase
 To find out the short comings of online purchase
 To determine the average spending and frequency of purchase over the
internet by a consumer

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1.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

An increasing number and variety of firms and organizations are

exploiting and creating business opportunities on the Internet. Above mention
statistics indicate the rapid growth in the field of virtual shopping. With this
emerging field of shopping the interest of marketers is also increasing in studying
what actually motivates consumers to shop online. Fierce competitions among
online sellers have forced them to gain the competitive edge in the field of virtual
shopping.
In order to gain competitive edge in the market, marketers need to know
the consumer behaviour in the field of online shopping. So it is important to
analyze and identify the factors which influence consumers to shop online in order
to capture the demands of consumers Other than the factors which influence
consumers to shop online, online shopper’s demography in terms of Age, gender,
income and education is equally important to define their strategies accordingly.
As online shopping is a new medium so the consumer behaviour in the field of
online shopping is also pretty diverse in nature compare to traditional consumer
behaviour, so it is equally important for one to identify what factors influence
consumers to shop online. In order to reach towards purchase decision, it consists
of several factors which influence consumers to shop online. These factors are
important for retailers to compete in the market and to make their product more
compatible.
The existence of a company to a large extend depends on satisfaction of
customers. This is also true in online marketing. In e-commerce scenario people
prefer to buy branded and good quality products online. Some products are not
available in one local market. More over customers can buy products at their own
convenience at sitting at their home. The popularity of online marketing is
increasing day by day especially among youth. In this context it is highly essential
to understand behavior of customers towards online marketing as to build up a
solid customer’s base

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1.4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

We will attempt to find the main factors that influence the online
consumer when making an online purchase. In order to broaden our own
understanding of the subject we conducted our research in literature on consumer
behaviour and e-commerce. We reviewed studies that had similar aims and paid
particular attention to their results.

Research method

Our research regarding Consumer’s attitude towards online shopping

is a descriptive research because we just want to draw a picture of our topic as
what are the factors that influence consumers to shop online. In general two types
of research methods are being used quantitative and qualitative. We would like to
go for quantitative method in our research as it is a precise way. Research projects
normally done for academic reasons are limited to time as our research is also
being done for academic purpose and is time limited so that is why we are going to
prefer quantitative approach.

Data Collection Method

For purpose of analyzing the data it is necessary to collect the vital

information. There are two types of data, they are;

 Primary data
 Secondary data

Primary Data

Data comes from primary source is called primary data. It is direct data.
In this study data the main source of data is;

 Structured questionnaire

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Secondary Data

Secondary data refers to the information of facts which are already

available. For this study the main source of secondary are;

 Books and publications

 Company website
 Information from internet

Sample Size

Decide to take the sample of 50 people. Questionnaires were distributed

by and by hand to respondents and enough time given to respondents to fill the
questionnaire to reduce sampling error.

Sampling Method

For this study decided to apply convenience sampling technique for the
purpose of collecting empirical material. Convenience sample is one that is
conveniently available to the researcher with its goodness of accessibility

Techniques Used for analyzing the data

 Percentage Analysis
 Tables And Graphs
 Chi-Square Test
 ANOVA

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1.5 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

 There are number of factors influencing online consumers. However, this

research will try to identify the main factors influencing the online
consumers.
 The time period given for the study was very limited.
 We will also limit our research to people at Kerala.
 Lack of getting enough primary data depend more on secondary data.
 Lastly the sample size is also not so much high as only sample of 50 online
shoppers is taken.

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 CHAPTER SHEME
1. Introduction

This chapter devotes attention to describe the topic taken for the study,
objectives of the study, research methodology, and the limitations of the study.

2. Review of Literature

It includes the summary of various studies conducted in this area.

3. Theoretical Background

This chapter deals with the theoretical aspects of consumer behaviour and
ecommerce.

4. Data Analysis and Interpretation

Simple statistical tools are used to analyze the data. Data are analyzed on
the basis of responses received from the respondents.

5. Summary, Findings, Conclusion and suggestions

It comprises of major findings and suggestions for improvement.

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 CHAPTER 2
REVIEWOF LITERATURE

Businesses probably began with electronic data interchange in the

1960s (Zwass, 1996). However, (Melao, 2008) suggests that it was only in the
1990s, primarily via the Internet, that e-Business has emerged as a core feature of
many organizations. In his opinion, the hope was that e-Business would
revolutionize the ways in which organizations interact with customers, employees,
suppliers and partners. Some saw e- Business as part of a recipe to stay competitive
in the global economy.

Christy M. K. Cheung, Lei Zhu, Timothy Kwong, Gloria W.W.

Chan, MoezLimayem,(2002)The topic of online consumer behavior has been
examined under various contexts over the years. Although researchers from a
variety of business disciplines have made significant progress over the past few
years, the scope of these studies is rather broad, the studies appear relatively
fragmented and no unifying theoretical model is found in this research area. In
view of this, provide an exhaustive review of the literature and propose a research
framework with three key building blocks (intention, adoption, and continuance)
so as to analyze the online consumer behavior in a systematic way. This proposed
framework not only provides us with a cohesive view of online consumer behavior,
but also serves as a salient guideline for researchers in this area.

Burke, R.R. (2002), Trust is a key factor that determines the

success of Business to Consumer (B2C) e-commerce transactions. Previous
researchers have identified several critical factors that influence trust in the context
of online shopping. This research focuses on available security measures which
assure online shopper’s safety and great sales promotions and online deals which
stimulate customers to shop online.

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 Abel Stephen (2003) in his paper represents the findings of
research studies that address e-commerce design and associated consumer
behavior. The innovation of e-commerce has affected not only the marketplace
through the facilitation of the exchange of goods and services, but also human
behavior in response to the mechanisms of online services. Researchers have
identified and hypothesized on relevant subject matters ranging from Web
usability, marketing channels and other factors influencing online buying behavior.
Though researchers have focused on what appear different aspects of online buying
behavior, their studies may be shown to be interrelated and interdependent, even to
the extent of revealing constructs upon which e-commerce, in terms of future
design and research, could be built.

Balasubramanian, S., Konana, P. and Menon, N.M. (2003), in this

environment, some traditional service quality dimensions that determine customer
satisfaction, such as the physical appearance of facilities, employees, and
equipment, and employees‟ responsiveness and empathy are unobservable. In
contrast, trust may play a central role here in enhancing customer satisfaction.
Model trust as an endogenously formed entity that ultimately impacts customer
satisfaction and we elucidate the linkages between trust and other factors related to
the performance of the online service provider and to the service environment

Rajeev Kamineni (2004) in his study finds that World Wide Web
can change human behavior and human interactions to a very large extent. Web
based shopping behavior is one major example to point out the trends in this
direction. This study is of a very exploratory nature and it intends to establish the
differences between several web-based shoppers from different parts of the world.
Several critical factors associated with online shopping behavior have been
explored. A cross cultural data set has been collected and an illustrative description
of the shoppers has been provided. As a final step the cross cultural differences
between several shoppers explored.

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 A survey undertaken by JuxtConsult, (April 2007), a Delhi-based
online research firm, on 10,000 households in 31 cities (of population sizes 20,000
plus) revealed some interesting facts about the Internet shopping scenario in India.
As per research findings, eBay (excluding online travel websites) is the most
preferred site for online shopping followed by Rediff, Google and Yahoo. eBay
leads with 34 per cent online shoppers still preferring to visit it the most. Rediff
follows at the second spot with 25 per cent online shoppers preferring to visit it.
However, both eBay and Rediff have lost usage share on preferred basis in the last
one year, while new entrant Futurebazaar along with Google have been the biggest
gainers. The top two of the top 10 products bought on the Net by online buyers are
train tickets (53 per cent) and air tickets (45 per cent). The research also showed
that three-fourth of all regular online Indians (76 per cent) search for products and
services online. This has shown a 60 per cent growth in the base of online shoppers
in last one year, making it 19.1 million. When it comes to the base of actual online
buyers, 43 per cent of all regular online urban Indians have bought online. This
means a growth of 76 per cent over the last year, making the online buyer base
reach a healthy 10.8 million mark. Despite such tremendous growth in the number
of online buyers overall, the base of really „active‟ online buyers (those who buy
online at least once a month) is almost stagnant at 2.2 million (same as last year).
However, the fact that online buying is penetrating among the smaller towns and
lower section groups do not necessarily mean that the economic profile of the
online buyers is lowering. The biggest „qualitative gain‟ about online shopping is
its improved perception on highly important and hardcore „market place‟ factors
like „wider choice and availability of products‟ and „better prices and bargains‟,
and not just on the „convenience‟ factors like saving of time and efforts, home
delivery and flexibility of buying anytime. Yet „product quality‟ and „delivery‟
concerns may be negating some of the gains made. Though misuse of a credit
card‟ is a non-issue among online buyers, the research reveals that „lack of a credit
card‟ is still a strongly perceived roadblock to growth of online buying.

A survey conducted by MasterCard worldwide, (2008), on 5037

respondents across 10 markets: Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan,

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Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, UAE and South Africa, revealed that Online
shopping in the Asia-Pacific region is accelerating at an annual rate of 23.3 percent
to hit US $168.7 billion by 2011, with the region's new markets such as China and
India fuelling this growth. MasterCard Worldwide published its latest Insights
Report, “Economic Crisis and Preference for Online Shopping in Asia/Pacific,
Middle East and Africa”, which shows that in India the average frequency of
online purchases increased to 2.9 in fourth quarter of 2008, up from 2.6 during the
same quarter in 2007. The survey showed that the Asia-Pacific region was found to
be an active one for online shopping, where 76 percent of respondents said they
intend to make a purchase in the next six months. The survey also highlighted the
rise of shoppers in the fast-growing markets of China and India. The rising
population of upper middle income urban elites is likely to boost the online
shopping markets in China and India underpinned by a paid pace of urbanization,
robust economic expansion and rising spending power. Activity from these
markets is expected to topple the current "preeminence" of Japan and South Korea
in terms of share of the total online.

In nutshell, in the age of shopping mall, many people use the

internet for their shopping requirements. Studies on on-line shoppers in India have
largely been limited to their time, usage, convenience and money spending pattern,
and preferences for a particular format. It has been found in the studies in other
countries that shoppers also differ in terms of their demographic profile. Therefore,
this study attempts to understand the impact of demographic factors of shoppers
that influence their disposition towards on-line shopping in India.

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 CHAPTER 3
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
3.1 CUSTOMER BEHAVIOUR

Consumer behaviour is the study of individuals, groups, or

Corganizations and the processes they use to select, secure, and dispose of
products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these
processes have on the consumer and society.It blends elements
from psychology,sociology, social anthropology, marketing and economics. It
attempts to understand the decision-making processes of buyers, both individually
and in groups. It studies characteristics of individual consumers such
as demographics and behavioral variables in an attempt to understand people's
wants. It also tries to assess influences on the consumer from groups such as
family, friends, reference groups, and society in general.

Customer behaviour study is based on consumer buying

behaviour, with the customer playing the three distinct roles of user, payer and
buyer. Research has shown that consumer behaviour is difficult to predict, even for
experts in the field. Relationship marketing is an influential asset for customer
behavior analysis as it has a keen interest in the re-discovery of the true meaning of
marketing through the re-affirmation of the importance of the customer or buyer. A
greater importance is also placed on consumer retention, customer relationship
management, personalization, customization and one-to-one marketing. Social
functions can be categorized into social choice and welfare functions.

Each method for vote counting is assumed as social function but

if Arrow’s possibility theorem is used for a social function, social welfare function
is achieved. Somes pecifications of the social functions are
decisiveness, neutrality, anonymity, monotonicity, unanimity, homogeneity and
weak and strong Pareto optimality. No social choice function meets these
requirements in an ordinal scale simultaneously. The most important characteristic
of a social function is identification of the interactive effect of alternatives and
creating a logical relation with the ranks. Marketing provides services in order to
satisfy customers. With that in mind the productive system is considered from its

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beginning at the production level, to the end of the cycle, the consumer (Kioumarsi
et al., 2009).

3.2 CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR PROCESS

In the field of Consumer behaviour research the classical model

of consumer buying behaviour is of utmost important. We as persons take actions
in purchasing and using products and services and actions are derived by mental
and social process. Behavioural science helps us to better understand why we go
for a certain product and why not, why we set priories while making decision.

Consumer decision process carries five stages, starting with Problem recognition
and following Information search, Evaluation of alternatives Purchase decision and
finally Post Purchase behavior. Problem recognition starts with the perception of
need and moves towards information search where consumer uses internal and
external sources to analyze given information and use that information in the next
step of evaluation of alternatives. While evaluating alternatives one assessing
values of the products by giving weights. Once you have successfully evaluated
alternatives you will move towards purchase decision where you may encounter
three possibilities, from whom to buy, when to buy and do not buy. Once you have
actually made the purchase now it comes to Post purchase behavior

3.3 E-COMMERCE

Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-

commerce or ecommerce, is a type of industry where the buying and selling of
products or services is conducted over electronic systems such as the Internet and
other computer networks. Electronic commerce draws on technologies such
as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet
marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data
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interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data
collection systems. Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide
Web at least at one point in the transaction's life-cycle, although it may encompass
a wider range of technologies such as e-mail, mobile devices, social media, and
telephones as well.
Electronic commerce is generally considered to be the sales
aspect of e-business. It also consists of the exchange of data to facilitate the
financing and payment aspects of business transactions. This is an effective and
efficient way of communicating within an organization and one of the most
effective and useful ways of conducting business.

3.4 TIMELINE:

A timeline for the development of e-commerce:

 1971 or 1972: The ARPANET is used to arrange a cannabis sale between

students at the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, later described as "the seminal act
of e-commerce" in John Markoff's book What the Dormouse Said.
 1979: Michael Aldrich demonstrates the first online shopping system.
 1981: Thomson Holidays UK is first business-to-business online shopping
system to be installed.
 1982: Minitel was introduced nationwide in France by France Télécom and
used for online ordering.
 1983: California State Assembly holds first hearing on "electronic commerce"
in Volcano, California. Testifying are CPUC, MCI Mail, Prodigy,
CompuServe, Volcano Telephone, and Pacific Telesis. (Not permitted to testify
is Quantum Technology, later to become AOL.)

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 1984: Gateshead SIS/Tesco is first B2C online shopping and Mrs Snowball, 72,
is the first online home shopper
 1984: In April 1984, CompuServe launches the Electronic Mall in the USA and
Canada. It is the first comprehensive electronic commerce service.
 1984: California becomes first US state to enact an Electronic Commerce Act
defining basic consumer rights online.[citation needed]
 1990: Tim Berners-Lee writes the first web browser, WorldWideWeb, using
a NeXT computer.
 1992: Book Stacks Unlimited in Cleveland opens a commercial sales website
(www.books.com) selling books online with credit card processing.
 1992: St. Martin's Press publishes J.H. Snider and Terra Ziporyn's Future Shop:
How New Technologies Will Change the Way We Shop and What We Buy.
 1992: Terry Brownell launches a fully graphical, iconic navigated Bulletin
board system online shopping using RoboBOARD/FX.
 1993: Paget Press releases edition No. 3 of the firstAppStore, The Electronic
AppWrapper
 1994: Netscape releases the Navigator browser in October under the code
name Mozilla. Netscape 1.0 is introduced in late 1994 with SSL encryption that
made transactions secure.
 1995: The US National Science Foundation lifts its former strict prohibition of
commercial enterprise on the Internet.
 1995: Thursday 27 April 1995, the purchase of a book by Paul Stanfield,
Product Manager for CompuServe UK, from W H Smith's shop within
CompuServe's UK Shopping Centre is the UK's first national online shopping
service secure transaction. The shopping service at launch featured W H
Smith, Tesco, Virgin Megastores/Our Price, Great Universal Stores

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 (GUS), Interflora,Dixons Retail, Past Times, PC World (retailer) and
Innovations.
 1995: Jeff Bezos launches Amazon.com and the first commercial-free 24-hour,
internet-only radio stations, Radio HK and NetRadio start
broadcasting. Dell and Cisco begin to aggressively use Internet for commercial
transactions.[citation needed]
eBay is founded by computer programmer Pierre
Omidyar as AuctionWeb.
 1996: IndiaMART B2B marketplace established in India.
 1996: ECPlaza B2B marketplace established in Korea.
 1996: Sellerdeck, formerly Actinic, the UK's first PC/LAN e-commerce
platform established.
 1998: Electronic postal stamps can be purchased and downloaded for printing
from the Web.
 1999: Alibaba Group is established in China. Business.com sold for US $7.5
million to eCompanies, which was purchased in 1997 for US $149,000. The
peer-to-peer filesharingsoftwareNapster launches. ATG Stores launches to sell
decorative items for the home online.
 2001: Alibaba.com achieved profitability in December 2001.
 2002: eBay acquires PayPal for $1.5 billion.[13] Niche retail
companies Wayfair and NetShops are founded with the concept of selling
products through several targeted domains, rather than a central portal.
 2003: Amazon.com posts first yearly profit.
 2004: DHgate.com, China's first online b2b transaction platform is established,
forcing other b2b sites to move away from the "yellow pages" model.
 2007: Business.com acquired by R.H. Donnelley for $345 million.

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 2009: Zappos.com acquired by Amazon.com for $928 million.[16] Retail
Convergence, operator of private sale website RueLaLa.com, acquired by GSI
Commerce for $180 million, plus up to $170 million in earn-out payments
based on performance through 2012.
 2010: Groupon reportedly rejects a $6 billion offer from Google. Instead, the
group buying websites went ahead with an IPO on 4 November 2011. It was the
largest IPO since Google.
 2011: Quidsi.com, parent company of Diapers.com, acquired
by Amazon.com for $500 million in cash plus $45 million in debt and other
obligations.[20] GSI Commerce, a company specializing in creating, developing
and running online shopping sites for brick and mortar businesses, acquired
by eBay for $2.4 billion.
 2012: US e commerce and Online Retail sales projected to reach $226 billion,
an increase of 12 percent over 2011.
 2012: US e commerce and Online Retail holiday sales reach $33.8 billion, up
13 percent.
 2013: Blucora, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCOR) buys Monoprice, an online provider of
self-branded consumer electronics and accessories in an all-cash transaction of
$180 million.
 2014: India’s e-commerce industry is estimated to have grown more than 30%
from a year earlier to $12.6 billion in 2013.
 2014: All the e-commerce websites provide or felicitate mobile applications
for buying and selling
 2015: in the month of January the use of mobile phones are 15% increase.

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3.5 TOP ECOMMERCE COMPANIES IN THE WORLD

Ecommerce is already big in many countries around the world.

Following are the major ecommerce companies in the world.

Amazon.com

It is the largest internet based retailer in the U.S. the company was
established in 1994.initially it sold books online.

JD.com Inc.

This is the second largest ecommerce companies in china after

Alibaba. It was established by Liu Qiangdon aka Richard Liu in July 1998.The
Company launched its operation in 2004.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Established by Sam Walton in 1962.it is the largest retail chain in

the world. It is also one of the top buyers of Bangladesh’s readymade garments
products.

EBay Inc.

Founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995.It is another top earning

ecommerce website.

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Otto Group

The Otto group is a German company. Established in 1949, the

company currently has 123 companies with more than 50000 employees. It is
the largest mail order company in the world. The company started online
business in 1995.

Alibaba Group Holding Limited

It is the largest ecommerce company in china. It is established with

a goal to further improve the capability of the small businesses through internet.

Cnova N.V

It is a French ecommerce company and one of the largest in the

world.it has operations in Brazil, France, Colombia, Ecuador, Thailand,
Vietnam, Ivory, Belgium, Senegal, and Cameroon.

Tesco PLC

Is the British multinational grocery and general merchandise

retailer.The company was founded by Jack Cohen.

Rkuten

Established in 1997. It is a Japanese company.

Best Buy Co.

It is retail outlet selling consumer electronic goods. A traditional

brick and mortar store, it also has its online business.

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3.6 FACTORS INFLUENCING ONLINE SHOPING AMONG
CUSTOMERS

Though there are several factors that influence consumers to shop

online, but as mentioned above researchers have selected four factors after reading
literature in the field on consumer attitudes towards online shopping and these
factors are discussed below in the light of previous literature.

Convenience

Convenience factor refers that it is easy to browse or search the

information through online is easier than the traditional retail shopping. Through
online, consumers can easily search product catalog but if the consumer look
generally for the same product or item in a traditional store manually it is difficult
to visit physically and time consuming also. Convenience has always been a prime
factor for consumers to shop online. the major motivation for online purchasing is
convince in terms of shop at any time and having bundles of items delivered at
door step. Through online purchase consumers can easily compare the price than
the traditional purchase. So price comparison is also another convenience factor of
online shopping.

Time saving

Time savings is one of most influencing factors of online shopping.

Browse or search an online catalogue can save time and patience. People can save
time and can reduce effort by shopping online. Online shopping saves time during
the purchasing of goods and it can eliminate the travelling time required to go to
the traditional store. On the other side, some respondent think that it is also time
taken for delivery of goods or services over online shopping.

Website design/features

Website design and online shopping activity is one of the vital

influencing factors of online shopping. Website design, website

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reliability/fulfillment, website customer service and website security/privacy are
the most attractive features which influence the perception of the consumer of
online buying. The higher website quality, the higher consumer intends to shop
from internet.

Security
Security is another dominant factor which affects consumers to
shop online. However many internet users avoid online shopping because of credit
card fraud, privacy factors, non delivery risk, post purchase service and so on. But
transaction security on the online shopping has received attention. Safe and
secured transaction of money and credit card information increases trust and
decreases transaction risk.

Demographic factors

Online shoppers in terms of demography are another important aspect. We would

like to study demography in terms of age, gender, income and education as are
there any differences while consumers shop online, differences within the age
groups such as does online shopping attracts elder people or younger people.

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 CHAPTER 4
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
Table - 1

Gender wise distribution of respondents

No. of
Gender Percentage
respondents
Male 48 96

Female 2 4

Total 50 100
(Source: Primary Data)

.Figure – 1

Gender

4%

Male
Female

96%

Interpretation:

The table exhibits that there were 48 male and 2 female respondents. This
means that out of total respondents 96% were males and only 4% were females.
This indicates the very low participation of female customers in e-commerce.
Thus it is evident that female are not much attracted to the online shopping
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 Table - 2

Age wise distribution of respondents

No. of
Age Percentage
respondents
Below 20 2 4
20 – 50 46 92
Above 50 2 4
Total 50 100
(Source: Primary Data)

Figure – 2

Age

4% 4%

Below 20
20 - 50
Above 50

92%

Interpretation:

The table 2 provides the age category of respondents.

The table shows that 92% of the respondents are aged between 20-50 years and
only 4% respondents were aged below 20 and above 50.

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 Table - 3

Marital status of distributors

Marital status No. of Percentage

respondents
Single 40 80

Married 10 20

Total 50 100

(Source: Primary Data)

Figure – 3

Marital status

20%

Single
Married

80%

Interpretation:

The table 3 exhibits that the majority of respondents (80%) were unmarried. It
is further revealed that percentage of unmarried respondents is greater than married
respondents.

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 Table - 4

Monthly income of respondents

Monthly income No. of

Percentage
(in Rs.) respondents
Below 25000 17 34
25000 - 50000 17 34
Above 50000 9 18

NIL 7 14
Total 50 100
(Source: Primary Data)

Figure – 4

Monthly income

14%

34% Below 25000

18% 25000 - 50000

Above 50000
NIL

34%

Interpretation:

Table 4 exhibits that monthly income of majority of the respondents was less
than Rs.50000, the income of 18% of the respondents was above Rs.50000 and
14% of the respondents were not earning.

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 Table - 5

Regular usage of internet

No. of
Responses Percentage
respondents
Yes 50 100

No 0 0

Total 50 100
(Source: Primary Data)

Figure – 5

Usage of internet
0%

Yes
No

100%

Interpretation:

Table 5 shows that 100% of the respondents are using internet regularly.

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 Table - 6

Respondents using e-banking

No. of
Responses Percentage
respondents
Yes 40 80

No 10 20

Total 50 100
(Source: Primary Data)

Figure – 6

E-banking usage

20%

Yes
No

80%

Interpretation:

Table 6 exhibits that 80% of the respondents are using e-banking and only 20%
of respondents do not use e-banking.

Page | 28
 Table - 7

Respondents using credit card

Responses No. of respondents Percentage

Yes 17 34

No 33 66

Total 50 100
(Source: Primary Data)

Figure - 7

Credit card usage

34%

Yes
No

66%

Interpretations:

Table 7 shows demonstrate that majority of the respondents are not using credit
card. Only 34% of the respondents are using credit cards.

Page | 29
 Table - 8

Products purchased by respondents through internet

No. of
Items Percentage
respondents

Food and Beverages 2 2.35

Apparels 12 14.11

Electronic products 18 21.17

Books 17 20

Gifts 7 8.23

Tickets 18 21.17

Car and hotel rents 7 8.23

Pharmaceutical products 2 2.35

Others 2 2.35

(Source: Primary Data)

Page | 30
 Figure – 8

Others 2.35

Pharmaceutical products 2.35

Car and hotel rents 8.23

Tickets 21.17

Gifts 8.23

Books 20

Electronic products 21.17

Apparels 14.11

Food and Beverages 2.35

Interpretation:

Table 8 clearly shows the products which are purchased by respondents through
internet. From the table it is clear that electronic products, Tickets and books are
purchased more by respondents. Only a very few customers depend on online
shopping for other type of products.

Page | 31
 Table - 9

Comforts in buying products online

No. of
Response Percentage
respondents
Yes 50 100

No 0 0

Total 50 100
(Source: Primary Data)

Figure - 9

Comforts in buying products online

0%

Yes
No

100%

Page | 32
 Table - 10

Average amount spend for making online shopping

Response No. of Percentage

respondents
< Rs.500 2 5

Rs.500 – Rs.1000 19 38

Rs.1000 – Rs.2000 12 24

Rs.2000 – Rs.5000 10 19

>5000 7 14

Total 50 100

(Source: Primary Data)

Figure – 10

Average amount spend for making

online shopping
5%

14% < Rs.500

Rs.500 – Rs.1000
19% 38% Rs.1000 – Rs.2000
Rs.2000 – Rs.5000
24% >5000

Interpretation:

The table 10 clearly shows that 38% of the respondents spend average amount
of Rs.500 – Rs.1000 for making online purchases. Only 5% purchases below
Rs.500 and the remaining respondents purchase products cost more than Rs.1000.

Page | 33
 Table - 11

Web site used for online purchasing

Web sites No. of respondents Percentage

www.amazon.com 10 18.18
www.ebay.com 5 9.9
www.flipkart.com 20 36.66
www.myntra.com 10 18.18
www.indiatimes.com 5 9.9
Other 5 9.9
(Source: primary data)

Figure – 11

Web sites used for online purchasing

10%
18.88%
9.9% Amazon
e-bay
9.9% Flipkart

18.88% Myntra
India times
OTHER
36.66%

Interpretation:

From the table 11 it is clear that the most used website is flip kart. Myntra,
Amazon and e-bay are also mostly used by the respondents.

Page | 34
 Table - 12

Mode of payment for purchasing

Mode of payment No. of respondents Percentage

Net banking 33 36

Credit card 12 13

Debit card 21 23

Cash on delivery 26 28

(source: primary data)

Figure – 12

Mode of payment for purchasing

28%
36% Net banking
Credit card
Debit card
Cash on delivery

23%
13%

Interpretation:

The table 12 exhibits that the mode of payment selected by the majority of
respondents was internet banking and cash on delivery. Only 36% of the
respondents select debit card and credit card as their mode of payment.

Page | 35
 Table - 13

Opinion of respondents regarding safety of purchasing online

Response No. of Percentage

respondents
Yes 48 96

No 2 4

Total 50 100

(Source: primary data)

Figure – 13

Opinion regarding safety of purchasing online

4%

Yes
No

96%

Interpretation:

The table 13 reveals that 96% of the people were confident regarding the safety
of purchasing products online. Only a very few were not sure about the safety of
online shopping.

Page | 36
 Table - 14

Quality of products purchased online

Response No. of respondents Percentage

Yes 48 96

No 2 4

Total 50 100

(source: primary data)

Figure – 14

Quality of products purchased online

4%

Yes
No

96%

Interpretation:

The table 14 indicates that 96% of the respondents are positively answered as to
the quality of the products purchased through online. However, 4% respondents
are of the opinion that the quality of the products purchased through online is not
up to the mark.

Page | 37
 Table - 15

Opinion on superiority of online purchase over other purchase models

Response No. of respondents Percentage

Yes 36 72

No 14 28
Total 50 100

(Source: Primary Data)

Figure – 15

Opinion on superiority of online purchase over

other purchase models

28%

Yes
No

72%

Interpretation:

As data shown in table 15, respondents give 72% positive reply regarding the
superiority of online purchases over other purchase models.

Page | 38
 Table - 16

Savings of time in online shopping

Response No. of respondents Percentage

Yes 48 96

No 2 4

Total 50 100

(Source: Primary Data)

Figure - 16

Savings of time in online shopping

4%

Yes
No

96%

Interpretation:

The table 16 exhibits online shopping saves time than in-store shopping. From
the 50 respondents 48 answered online shopping saves time.

Page | 39
 Table - 17

Convenience of buying products through internet

Response No. of respondents Percentage

Yes 14 28

No 36 72

Total 50 100

(Source: Primary Data)

Figure – 17

Convenience of buying products through

online

28%

Yes
No

72%

Interpretation:

As shown in table 17, 72% of the respondents feel comfortable to buy all types
of products online. However, 28% of them feel it is not convenient to purchase all
types products online.

Page | 40
 Table - 18

Safety regarding the usage of credit card

Response No. of respondents Percentage

Yes 31 62

No 19 38

Total 50 100

(Source: Primary Data)

Figure – 18

Safety regarding the usage of credit card

38%
Yes
No

62%

Interpretation:

Respondents were also asked about the safety regarding online payment
especially with regard to usage of credit card. Survey shows that about two third
of the respondents are of the opinion that payment using credit card is safe. On the
other hand one third of the respondents are doubtful about the safety of credit cards
for payment.

Page | 41
 Table - 19

Defects of online purchasing

Response No. of Percentage

respondents
Yes 17 34

No 33 66

Total 50 100

(Source: Primary Data)

Figure – 19

Defects of online purchasing

34%

Yes
No

66%

Interpretation:

The researcher also enquired whether there are any defects associated with the
online purchasing. As per the data given in table 19, two thirds of the respondents
are confident about this new model of purchasing. They says that there are no
much defects connected with online purchasing.
Page | 42
 At the same time 34% of the customers mentioned certain defects. The
important among them are the following:-

 If it is in fake site your card may be misused.

 Quality cannot be predicted.
 Online purchasing is good when considering many factors but we have to be
careful while choosing the website for online shopping.
 It should be trust worthy and must have good track record. Otherwise fraud
websites may loot your money.
 Security issues sometimes, there is a possibility of getting defective
products...... Some products may not be as per specification. Even though
the sellers are always ready to replace the product, it is a tedious task it’s
difficult to judge the quality.

Page | 43
 Table - 20

Quality of the products from online purchase

Quality No. of respondents Percentage

Bad 0 0

Good 29 58

Average 14 28

Excellent 7 14

Total 50 100

(Source: Primary Data)

Figure – 20

Quality of the products

60%
50%
40%
30% 58%
20% Quality of the products

10% 28%
0% 0% 14%
Bad
Good
Average
Excellent

Interpretation:

According to this score, it can be interpreted that 58% of the respondents reply
good as the quality of products and the remaining as average and excellent. But
not even a single person give a negative report regarding the quality of the
products.

Page | 44
 Table - 21

Price of the products purchased online

Price No. of Percentage

respondents
Low 2 4
Reasonable 43 86
High 5 10
Total 50 100

(Source: Primary Data)

Figure – 21

Price of the products

90% 86%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
Price of the products
30%
20%
10% 4%
10%
0%
Low
Reasonable
High

Interpretation:

From the table 21 it clearly shows 86% of the respondents say that the price of
the products purchased online are reasonable which means majority of online
customers are satisfied with the price. But a very few argues that the price is high
in online shopping.

Page | 45
 Table .23

Product purchasing behaviour of online shoping customers among different

age group

ANOVA TEST
Food
Electronic Pharma
Age and apparels Book Gift Ticket car others
products ceutical
beverage
Below
0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
20
20-50 2 8 5 10 6 10 2 2 1
Above
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
50

Table 24

ANOVA TABLE

SUM OF SUM OF
DEGREE MEAN SQUARE
VARIENTS SQUARE
Between sample SSC=40.8133 K-1=8 MSC=5.10
Within sample SSE=218.6867 N-K=19 MSE=27.34
Total SST=259.5 N-1=26 F=0.18

(H0)= There is no significant difference between product purchasing

behaviors among persons in different age group.
Interpretation
The calculated value is less than the table value(2.53) at 5% level of
significance. Hence we accept the null hypothesis.

Page | 46
 Table 25

Income level usage of e-commerce customers

CHI-SQUARE TEST

INCOME LEVEL REGULAR IRREGULAR SUM

Below 25000 6 11 17
25000 - 50000 10 7 17
Above 50000 6 3 9
NIL 6 11 7
Total 28 22 50

Calculated chi-square value =3.9287

Table vale =9.488

Significant level =5%level

(H0)=income level and usage of online shopping are independent

INTERPRETATION

Calculated value is greater than table value so we accept the null hypothesis.

Page | 47
 CHAPTER 5
FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS & CONCLUSION

FINDINGS

 96% respondents were males and only 4% were females.

 92% of the respondents are aged between 20-50 years and only 4%
respondents were aged below 20 and above 50.
 Majority of respondents (80%) were unmarried.
 The monthly income of majority of the respondents was less than Rs.50000,
the income of 18% of the respondents was above Rs.50000 and 14% of the
respondents were not earning.
 100% of the respondents are using internet regularly.
 80% of the respondents are using e-banking and only 20% of respondents do
not use e-banking.
 Electronic products, Tickets and books are purchased more by respondents.
Only a very few customers depend on online shopping for other type of
products.
 All the 50 respondents agree that online shopping is very comfortable.
 Majority 38% of the respondents spend average amount of Rs.500 – Rs.1000
for making online purchases. Only 5% purchases below Rs.500 and the
remaining respondents purchase products cost more than Rs.1000.
 The websites used by most of the respondents are flipkart, Myntra, amazon
and e-bay.

Page | 48
 The mode of payment selected by the majority of respondents was internet
banking and cash on delivery. Only 36% of the respondents select debit card
and credit card as their mode of payment.
 Majority of the people was confident regarding the safety of purchasing
products online.
 The quality of the products purchased through online is good.
 Online purchases are superior to other purchase models.
 Online shopping saves time than in-store shopping.
 It is comfortable to buy all types of products through internet.
 About two third of the respondents are of the opinion that payment using
credit card is safe.
 The quality of the products purchased through internet is high.
 Majority of online customers are satisfied with the price of the products
purchased online.
 50% of the respondents are now using online shopping at the same time 50%
are also using traditional shoping.

Page | 49
SUGGESTIONS
 Consumers should be educated on online shopping procedures with proper
steps to be following while online shopping.

 Transactions should be safe and proper security should be assured to the

people making online purchases.

 Government should play a pivotal role in encouraging online shopping

 E-marketers must give a thought to secure, time saving, information about

product and services factors when they design their online product strategy.

 The study highlights that convenience, accessibility, scope, attraction,

reliability, experience and clarity are the important factors considered by the
online shopper.

 Banking should promote Debit card, Credit card facility in online shopping.

Page | 50
CONCLUSION

The most preferred product of online buying is travelling tickets,

electronics and books. Only a very few customers depend on online shopping for
other type of products. Among the payment options, Cash on delivery and internet
banking is the safest choice of payment, while credit card and debit card are next
preferred choice.

Online shoppers seek for clear information about product and

service, time saving, convenience, security and delivery on time are all important
factor for online shopping.Flipkart, Myntra, amazon and e-bay are the most used
websites for shopping online. The opinion regarding the quality of the products
purchased through internet is good. Online purchases are also considered to be
superior to other purchase models.Most of the consumers who have experienced
online shopping are very satisfied.

Page | 51
 APPENDIX

Decision making, 2006, Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia

Foundation, Inc. Available at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision_making#Decision_making_style

Moon Byeong-Joon (2004) Consumer adoption of the internet as an information

search and product purchase channel: some research hypotheses, Int. J. Internet
Marketing and Advertising, Vol. 1, No. 1.

Perner Lars the Psychology of Consumers – Consumer Behavior and Marketing.

Los Angeles, CA.

Buyer decision processes, 2006, Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the

Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Available at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buyer_decision_processes

Buyer behavior – decision-making process, Available at:

http://www.tutor2u.net/business/marketing/buying_decision_process.asp

E-commerce and its timeline, Available at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-commerce

Page | 52
 QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Name:
2. Gender: Male Female
3. Age a) Below 20
b) 20 – 50
c) Above 50
4. Marital status: a) Single
b) Married
5. What is your monthly income?
a) Below Rs.25000
b) Rs.25000 – Rs.50000
c) Above Rs.50000
6. Do you use internet regularly? Yes No
7. Do you use E-banking? Yes No
8. Do you own a credit card? Yes No
9. Which of the following type of products you buy through online?

a) Food & Beverages b) Apparels

c) Electronic Products d) Books

e) Gifts f) Tickets

g) Car or hotel rental h) Pharmaceutical Products

Any other product, please specify

10. Are you comfortable buying the products online? Yes No

Page | 53
11. What is the average amount that you spend for making online shopping?
a) < Rs.500 b) Rs.500 - Rs.1000

c) Rs.1000 - Rs.2000 d) Rs.2000 - Rs.5000

e) > Rs.5000

12. Which of the following web sites do You shop at?

a)www.amazon.comd) www.myntra.com
b) www.ebay.come)www.indiatimes.com
c) www.flipkart.comf)www.snapdeal.com
Any other, pleases pecify
13. How do you make payments while purchasing online?
a) Net Banking b) Credit card

c) Debit card d) Cash on delivery

14. Do you feel that it is safe to buy online? Yes No

15. Whether you get quality products while purchasing online? Yes No

16. Do you think that online purchase is better than other purchases? Yes No

17. Do you think that online shopping saves time than in-store shopping?
Yes No
18. Is it convenient to buy all types of products through internet? Yes No

Page | 54
19. Is it safe to use a credit card while shopping on the Internet? Yes No
20. Do you think that online purchases have any defects? Yes No
If yes specify them; _____________
21. How do you rate the quality of the product purchased online?
a) Bad c) Average
b) Good d) Excellent
22. In my opinion products purchased online are;
a) Low c) High b) Reasonable

23. What type of shopping you like?

a) Traditional shopping b) Online shopping

Page | 55