Project report

On
CONSUMER PERCEPTION TOWARDS
ONLINE SHOPPING
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR THE
AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 2011-14
UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

SUBMITTED BY:

Dr. Smita Mishra

KRITI JOSHI

Assistant Professor

Roll no 00280301713
BBA 3rd SEM, (B)

RUKMINI DEVI INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED STUDIES

AFFLIATED TO GURU GOBIND SINGH
INDRAPRASTHA UNIVERSITY

NAAC

Accredited, A Grade
Category A+ Institute
High Grading 83% by Joint Assessment
An ISO 9001:2008 Certified Institute
Approved by AICTE, HRD Ministry, Govt. of India
1

Affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University,

Delh

STUDENT UNDERTAKING

This is to certify that I have completed the Project titled Consumer Perception
towards Online Shopping u n d e r t h e g u i d a n c e o f M s . K r i t i J o s h i
i n partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of degree
of Bachelor of Business Administration at Rukmini Devi Institute of Advanced
Studies, Delhi. This is an original piece of work & I have not submitted it earlier
elsewhere.

Name of the Student

Kriti Joshi
Roll no 00280301713

CERTIFICATE FROM THE INSTITUTE

This is to certify that the project titled Consumer Perception Towards Online
Shopping is an academic work done by Kriti Joshi submitted in the partial
fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the degree of Bachelor Of Business
Administration from Rukmini Devi Institute of Advanced Studies, Delhi, under my
guidance & direction. To the best of my knowledge and belief the data & information
presented by him/her in the project has not been submitted earlier.

Name of the Faculty Guide

Dr.Smita Mishra

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Success of my project depends upon two factors Internal and External factor includes
sincere efforts, dedication to the work and good potential whereas internal factors
includes cooperation and supports of potential customers who patiently hears about
the schemes and plans of products and then gives response.
Good guidance and cooperation from others are such external factors, which
affects the percentage of success. Though in completing this project I tried my level
best but it could not be possible without proper guidance of my mentor.
I wants to give my thanks to Ms.Kriti Joshi for his valuable guidance and
suggestions, which I sincerely value and appreciate.

Executive Summary

Since the late 1990s, the Internet has attracted considerable attention from retailers as
a potentially important and lucrative market space in which their marketing and retail
activities can be conducted both efficiently and economically. Considerable numbers
of businesses and persons wishing to supply information or sell goods and services
to the public have been attracted to the Internet, extending daily activities, including
shopping, to an unlimited virtual world.
Initial predictions were that the combination of technological sophistication,
equipment power, and ease of use, in conjunction with the supporting infrastructure,
would make electronic purchasing widespread in the United States. However, after a
brief spurt, the rate of growth of Internet retailing declined, with many pure-players
failing and falling out of this new virtual market space altogether. Internet retailers
have been striving for increased sales and portability since. Until now, the portability
of e-retailers has not been substantial enough to improve their stock prices, although
Internet shopping is now a mainstream activity. Widespread and instrumental
adoption of the Internet as a shopping
medium is the key that will ultimately drive online sales and portability. However, the
interactive and widely connected web-based market space enables todays consumers
to be even more demanding. It is far more challenging to attract and retain customers
in the online environment than in the traditional one. Therefore, there is a growing
need for a better understanding of consumers behaviour in the commercial online
setting.
The research examines consumers adoption of the Internet as a shopping medium
through an integrated perspective of innovation adoption and the consumer decisionmaking process. This research proposes a conceptual framework describing the types
and degree of consumer adoption of the Internet as a shopping place and how
interrelated factors impact such adoption.

Index
Table of CONTENTS
Student declaration..i
Certificate from Guide.ii
Acknowledgementiii
Executive Summary..iv
Chapter Schemev

CHAPTER- 1
1.1 Purpose of the study...1-4
1.2 Research Objectives of the study....5-9
1.3 Research Methodology of the study....10-11
1.3.1

Research Design...........................12-14

1.3.2

Data Collection ................................................15

1.3.3

Limitation .......................16

CHAPTER -2
About the Organization / Company Profile.....17-39
CHAPTER -3
Findings and Analysis..40-55
CHAPTER -4
Suggestions.................56-57
CHAPTER -5
Conclusion and Limitation. 58-63
Bibliography
Annexure
Evaluation / Attendance Sheet

CHAPTER- 1
INTRODUCTION

1.1 Purpose of the study

If you know where you are going, any road will take you there

Before the start of any research, it is very necessary to define the objective of the
study i.e. what we are going to study:

To check the consumer awareness & perception of online shopping in

India.
Impact of advertising on online shopping.
To study sales promotional techniques to boast online shopping in

India.
To find out influence of online advertising on the buying behaviour of

the customer.
Satisfaction level at various components of online shopping.

Internet Usage in India

India stands 4th in the world with more than 10 crore Internet users, more
Internet users than population of Germany, France and U.K.

Out of 3.56 cr Internet users in Indian metros, Delhi and Mumbai covers 35
and 25 lakhs respectively.

Internet users Growth rate per Year in India 1500%

28%

Market studies
We launched this fact-finding market study on 29 April 2006, under section 5 of the
Enterprise Act 2002. Market studies2 are a tool to help identify and address all aspects
of market failure, from competition issues to consumer detriment and the effect of
government regulations. Although many of our studies explore specific economic
markets, they can also review practices across a range of goods and services, as well
as the channels through which these products are sold.
Our studies also vary in their focus and purpose. Some assess well-established
concerns, to identify whether and how an apparent problem might be resolved while
others, such as this one, seek to explore issues to establish a greater knowledge base
for future policy.

1.2 Research Objectives of the study

Why we conducted the study
This study reports the findings of our fact-finding research, which identified and
explored a broad range of issues raised by the growth of domestic and cross-border
internet shopping.
The growing importance of the internet to the economy and retailing is, in itself, a key
reason why we chose to undertake the study: to review whether internet shopping
introduces new issues which we should be considering in our role. Furthermore, as a
sales channel, the internet is very dynamic with new technology and business models
emerging and evolving all the time (for instance, the growth of mobile commerce)
with potentially important implications for the protection of shoppers.
The regulatory framework is also fast changing, with new developments such as the
Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (CPRs), which from 2008
could have important implications for buyer protection online as well as offline. It
was also timely for us to look at internet shopping, because our work coincided with
the review by the European Commission of eight Directives for protecting consumers
(known as the consumer acquis), one of which is the Distance Selling Directive. Our
study has already helped to inform the UKs position.
Finally, although we did not start this research with specific concerns in mind, we had
identified some particular issues that we felt warranted exploration. In particular, we
set out to consider public confidence in the internet as a retail channel, as well as
whether the current protections for shoppers meet whatever new challenges might be
raised by the development of internet shopping. This report therefore addresses:
Attitudes: how confident are individuals and businesses in the internet as retail
channel, and why? What impacts do attitudes and confidence have on internet
retailing?
Behaviour: how and why do consumers and businesses use the internet to buy and
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sell goods?
Experiences: what do individuals and businesses experience when buying and
selling online? What problems do they encounter and how well can they resolve
these?
Rights awareness: how well do shoppers know their rights, and businesses know
their obligations, when using the internet as a retail channel?
Regulations: to what extent are the current regulations fit for purpose now, and
looking to the future?
Enforcement: how well can the current enforcement regime cope with any new
challenges raised by internet shopping?
Self-regulation: what role can initiatives such as codes of practice play in raising
confidence and providing protection?
Because the potential range and scale of issues raised by internet shopping is vast
and fast moving, we necessarily restricted our focus to some key aspects. Therefore,
while this report covers many issues, it is not a comprehensive review of every
conceivable issue that may be raised by the growth of internet shopping.

The studys remit

Much attention is increasingly paid to addressing the impact of fraud, scams and spam
on the internet in general. While we consider the impact of these issues on confidence,
our main focus in this report is on Business to Consumer (B2C) internet shopping. We
explore why consumers and businesses use, or do not use, the internet to buy and sell
products; their experiences of using the internet as a retail channel; and what happens
when things go wrong.
Our definition of internet shopping covered transactions by consumers with
businesses that enabled them to order online (whether or not the subsequent payment
or delivery took place online).6 We concentrated on legally-sold goods and services
ordered online by UK shoppers from UK and non-UK businesses, over the internet.
We did not explore in any detail:

 Business to Business (B2B) transactions

Issues that relate to distance selling generally, such as the nature of the provision and
market for delivery services
The infrastructure of the internet (such as cabling) or the supply of access to the
internet
The management of the internet itself (such as the oversight of communications
interoperability and address systems), or the regulation of network operators / Internet
Service Providers (ISPs)
Peoples ease of access to the internet generally (such as social exclusion and the
digital divide), and ease of use issues (such as accessibility for users with partial
vision, etc)
Criminal activities on the internet (such as sale of illegal material)
Ethical issues raised by the selling of certain items (such as animals)
Internet activity involving no direct B2C purchase of goods or services, such as
public services (for instance e-government); web communities such as MySpace or
YouTube; user activities such as blogs, podcasts; and free information provision (such
as news sites) We excluded products or issues where other regulators typically lead
(such as utilities, financial products, food standards, communications, broadcasting).
We also excluded the provision of auxiliary services, such as consumer credit.
In the time available, we focused on consumer protection issues while remaining
aware that competition can be a factor in these issues. We did not investigate the role
or activities of particular companies, or assess competition within specific retail
markets. An assessment we commissioned in 2006, of the economic literature on
internet shopping did not identify significant new competition concerns arising that
could not be addressed under the Competition Act 1998. However, the report did
identify the growing importance of new phenomena prompted by the internet, such as

search intermediaries and online auctions, which are developments our study has
explored.

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1.3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Need
The need of this research is to identify and get insight into what main factors the
online consumer takes into consideration when most he buy products on internet what
affects their shopping behaviour, basic need of this research is to find out what are the
main factors affect the online consumer when considering and making a purchase
over Internet.

Data Source
Market research requires two kinds of data, i.e., primary data and secondary data.

In

dealing with any real life problem it is often found that data at hand are inadequate,
and hence, it becomes necessary to collect data that are appropriate.

Primary data: These are those data which are collected afresh and for the first
time, and thus happen to be original in character. I will be using the structured
questioners.

Secondary data: These are those which have already been collected by
someone else and which have already been passed through the statistical
process. I will collect it from the sources like internet, published data etc.

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Objective of the study

To study the online shopping behaviour of customers

To study the factors influencing online shoppers and consumers

To study the customers level of satisfaction with regard to online shopping

To examine whether customers prefer online shopping to physical stores.

1.3.1 Scope of the Study and Methodology

Scope of the study
At any given time there are millions of people online and each of them is a
potential customer for a company providing online sales. Due to the rapid
development of the technologies surrounding the Internet, a company that is
interested in selling products from its web site will constantly has to search for
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an edge in the fierce competition. Since there are so many potential

consumers, it is of the out most importance to be able to understand what the
consumer wants and needs. The importance of analyzing and identifying
factors that influence the consumer when he or she decides to purchase on the
Internet is vital. Since the Internet is a new medium for there have been new
demands set by the consumer. That is why it is crucial for the online retailers
to know what influences the online consumer. Analyzing consumer behaviour
is not a new phenomenon. The renowned marketing expert Philip Kotler has
published several works on the topic of consumer behaviour theories. These
theories have been used for many years not only to understand the consumer,
but also create a marketing strategy that will attract the consumer efficiently
Hence, understanding and identifying the consumer is closely related to the
directions a company will take with their marketing strategy. These theories
can also be applied to identify the online consumer and to create certain
consumer segments. However, some distinctions must still be made when
considering traditional consumer behaviour and online consumer behaviour.
Since online retailing is a new retailing medium and online consumer
behaviour is diverse from traditional consumer behaviour, one must identify
what influences the online consumer. Analyzing the process that the online
consumer goes through when deciding and making a purchase over the
Internet, shows some factors that consumers consider these factors need to be
identified and taken into account by online retailers in order to satisfy
consumer demands and compete in the online market.

Research Methodology
Data for this study was collected by means of a Survey conducted in the College. The
sample size was 100. .The Questionnaire (shown in Annexure) was used mainly to
test the model proposed for Attitude towards online shopping. The type of research
was both exploratory as well as Descriptive. Liker five point scales ranging from
Strongly Agree to strongly disagree was used as a basis of Questions. We took around
eleven different factors by studying the existing models of consumer attitudes that
play an important role in online purchase, and then proposed a model leading to
13

online shopping. This model was then tested in our research by the mode of factor
analysis in SPSS.

Research Strategy
When collecting data to approach the purpose of a research there are two ways in
which the data can be collected. In order to acquire a General knowledge about the
topic, secondary data is primarily used and is one of the ways by which data can be
collected. The second way to collect data is the primary data collection. Usually when
a study is
Conducted, secondary data is not sufficient enough and needs to be completed with
primary data which is collected by the research.

Descriptive Research Method

We will conduct our research in order to collect primary data and reach the objective
of the Dissertation. We will also be discussing which different types of Methodologies
that were used. Since our research is of descriptive character our primary intention
was to collect secondary data and analyze it. By doing so we found the factors Price,
Trust and Convenience. We then collected primary data through a survey. The main
purpose of the survey was to collect data about Online Consumer Behaviour and the
significance of the established factors, Price, Trust, and Convenience In order to be
able to find and establish Online Consumer Segments, Consumer Traits and Online
Behaviour had to be identified. The segments were used in order to further identify
what impact the factors Price, Trust, and Convenience have on Online Consumer
Segments.

Sample Design
The factors that we intended to examine can be applied to and investigated at any
population that uses the Internet and buys online products Online. Since there are time
14

and resource restraints, a specific Population had to be identified in order to

generalize and create relevant segments. We decided that the sample size should
contain over 100 respondents and we collected answers from100 respondents. The
populations for this research are university students at the
College of the University was chosen on a convenience basis. Convenience sampling
involves using samples that are the easiest to Obtain and is continued until the
sampling size that is need is reached. We will attempt to collect as many respondents
as possible but since we will be studying students we assume that there will be little
variation in the population making it more approved to generalize the response rates.
The sampling method for students took also place on a Convenience basis since the
students and faculty that agree to answer the questionnaire are those that were chosen.

Type of Research:
Descriptive Research.

Sample Size:100

15

1.3.2 Data Collection

Rather than address every type of market trading over the internet, we selected some
case study examples of how the internet is being used to sell specific products. We
used these case studies to target our research and to draw wider, transferable lessons
for the rest of internet shopping. Findings for these sectors therefore appear
throughout this report, which is not a study of each sector in its own right. While they
also raised some issues of their own, which we highlight in this report, our focus was
on the nature of the online transactions for the products in these sectors.

We used three product sectors for our case studies:

Domestic electrical goods
Travel (specifically airline tickets with or without accommodation)
Music (hardcopy sales, such as online sales of CDs, as well as downloads)
We chose these because together they account for a large proportion of online trade.
We estimate that, in 2005, around one quarter of online sales to households were of
electrical items, flights, music and videos. They also represent a range of different
types of goods and services.
To these three case studies, we added a fourth online auctions. These electronic
marketplaces raised issues of their own.

16

1.3.3 Limitations to primary data

One has to recognise that unstructured interviews have limitations such as the
possibility of being biased as the interviewer selects questions to investigate and may
inhibit comparability of responses. Moreover, the convenient sampling used for this
study is considered to be the least reliable non-probability sampling technique,
because the respondents are not given zero chance of being randomly selected.
Individuals differ in their inclinations to respond depending on their background,
attitudes, culture, social desirability, willingness of subjects to tell us the researcher
what he or she wants to know etc. Furthermore, the author suggests that individuals
can be aware of the research being conducted about them and are not therefore purely
passive subjects; they can react to the results of research and change their behaviour
accordingly. Due to time restrictions of the study it can only focus on a small target
audience. Therefore, this study is restricted in several ways, e.g. it only focuses on
marketing experts that wrote about endorsement in a certain area and time span in
relation to marketing by the only one mean of communication. Besides these
limitations, the personal limitations of the researcher should be also taken into
account. For example, the personal judgement of researcher could be biased by
systematic tendency towards a lack of objectivity, fairness, or impartiality, which is
often based on personal preferences and inclinations. Furthermore, the study could be
distorted by a systematic error in the assessment instrument and procedures, or in the
interpretation and evaluation process.

17

CHAPTER- 2
ABOUT ONLINE SHOPPING

18

About Online Shopping

India has more than 100 million internet users out of which one half opt for online
purchases and the number is rising sharply every year. The growth in the number of
online shoppers is greater than the growth in Internet users, indicating that more
Internet users are becoming comfortable to shop online. The capability of purchasing
without leaving your place is of great interest to many consumers. Not only does
online shopping offer really good deals, but also brings optimum convenience to the
consumers. Moreover, the use of Internet tools for price searching and comparison
provides an additional advantage in consumers final decision, as they can purchase
their desired products in the lowest available price. This project focuses on the
understanding of perception of online purchase in India. For this purpose the data
from

100

respondents

was

collected

in

the

form

of

questionnaires.

With nearly half of the Indian population being young and net savvy, there has been
an extra ordinary rise in the numbers of online shoppers. The recent growth in the
mall culture in the country has in fact made consumers more aware about different
options and encouraged them to search and eventually purchase online. India has
more than 100 million internet users out of which one half opt for online purchases
and the number is rising sharply every year. The growth in the number of online
shoppers is greater than the growth in Internet users, indicating that more Internet
users are becoming comfortable to shop online. Until recently, the consumers
generally visit online to reserve hotel rooms and buy air, rail or movie tickets, books
and gadgets and gizmos, but now more and more offline product like clothes - saris,
kurtis, T-shirts - shoes, and designer lingerie, consumer durables are being purchased
online. At present the market is estimated at Rs.46000 crore and is growing at 100
percent per year. The two most commonly cited reasons for online shopping have
been convenience and price. The capability of purchasing without leaving your place
is of great interest to many consumers. Not only does online shopping offer really
good deals, but also brings optimum convenience to the consumers. Moreover, the use
of Internet tools for price searching and comparison provides an additional advantage
in consumers final decision, as they can purchase their desired products in the lowest
available price .On the contrary, privacy and security have been the great concerns,
resulting many people to browse the Internet for informational matters than for buying
online.
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A process in which images or listings of goods and services are viewed remotely via
electronic means, e.g., a vendor's Web site, items are selected for purchase, and the
transaction is completed electronically with a credit card or an established credit
account. Various encryption schemes may be, and usually are, used to reduce the risks
of sending sensitive information, such as credit-card numbers, over the Internet or
other telecommunication facility.
IN
A wallet is a small software program used for online purchase transactions. Many
payment solution companies, such as Cyber Cash, offer free Wallet software that
allows several methods of payment to be defined within the wallet (for example,
several different credit cards). Here's how it works: When you order something, the
order is sent to the merchant. The merchant(actually, the merchant's server) sends
back an invoice and asks the consumer to launch the Wallet in his computer (or to
download it quickly if the consumer doesn't have it yet).When the consumer selects
"Pay," the Cyber Cash software on the merchant server sends a message back to the
consumer's PC that activates the "Wallet" software. The consumer selects one of the
cards defined in the Wallet and clicks. The transaction includes real-time credit card
authorization. Cyber Cash says" Soon we will incorporate an electronic "Cash" and
"Coin" system to use for transactions that are considered small for credit cards. Online
shopping is the process consumers go through to purchase products or services over
the Internet. An online shop, e-shopping, e-store, internet shop, web shop, web, online
store, or virtual store evokes the physical analogy of buying products or services
at a bricks-and-mortar retailer or in a mall. The metaphor of an online is also used, by
analogy with mail catalogs. All types of stores have retail web sites, including those
that do and do not also have physical storefronts and paper catalogs. Online shopping
is a type of electronic commerce used for business-to-business (B2B) and business-toconsumer (B2C) transactions. The term Webshop also refers to a place of business
where web development, web hosting and other types of web related activities take
place (Web refers to the World Wide Web and shop" has a colloquial meaning used
to describe the place where one's occupation is carried out).

20

Background
The scale and growth of internet shopping is impressive. In 2005, the most recent year
for which reliable figures are available, sales to households were over 21bn a
fourfold increase during the previous three years. It is benefiting millions of people
and thousands of businesses. Over 20 million UK adults shopped online in 2005, with
56 per cent of internet shoppers we surveyed having spent over 500 each during the
year. In the same year, an estimated 62,000 UK businesses were selling online to
households. We found that people shopped online because they find it convenient, it
increases their choice and helps them to hunt for lower prices. Retailers sell online to
reach more customers, to sell around the clock and in reaction to competition from
rivals.
However, the rapid growth of internet shopping means it is more important than ever
that online retailers know their obligations to their customers, and that shoppers can
feel confident about addressing any problems. In our fact-finding research, we
therefore looked at why people and businesses use, or do not use, the internet to buy
and sell products; their experiences; and what happens when things go wrong.
Shoppers need to know, when they buy, that they have the right to cancel, so that they
do not unnecessarily keep products that on examination they do not want. However,
we found that more than half (56 per cent) of the internet shoppers we surveyed
online did not know about their right to cancel and many (29 per cent) also did not
know where to turn to get advice on their rights.
We also found that a lot of traders had a weak awareness of the law themselves. For
example, in our survey of UK-based online traders, 28 per cent said that they were not
aware or only slightly aware of the laws applying to internet shopping, and two-thirds
(66 per cent) had never sought advice on them. One fifth of online electrical retailers
did not think that buyers had a right to cancel, and more than half wrongly thought
that they could withhold the cost of outward delivery when refunding shoppers.
When we looked at websites, we found that one in ten (12 per cent) of electrical sites
and nearly four in ten (39 per cent) of music retailers sites selling CDs did not appear
to mention the cancellation period. Furthermore, there was evidence that some sites
21

might be trying to impose conditions that could prevent or at least deter consumers
from exercising their cancellation rights. For instance, 59 per cent of electrical sites
stated at least one condition on consumers rights to cancel and receive a refund which
may have led to a breach of the regulations. Furthermore, more than one fifth of sites
we looked at may have been breaching the regulations by not providing an email
address.
Businesses told us that guidance on the key legal requirements should be clearer and
have a higher profile. While many different sources of advice are currently available,
most tend to address separate issues, such as general consumer rights, distance selling
obligations, the law on privacy or guidance about online threats and safety. Many
organisations said that they would welcome a single clear dedicated source or
signpost, to cover all the information needs for internet sellers and shoppers.
We asked internet shoppers if they had experienced any problems when shopping
online. Nearly a quarter (23 per cent) told us that they had experienced a problem in
one of their online transactions in the previous year, equivalent to an estimated one in
58 purchases. It was difficult accurately to compare their responses with the
experience of shopping through other channels, but our data suggest that the volume
of consumer complaints does not appear unusual when compared to other distance
selling channels, and that the types of complaints match those for mail order.
Shoppers and online traders told us that delivery was where most problems cropped
up: indeed it accounted for nearly half (48 per cent) of all the problems people said
they had experienced (most typically as late or non-delivery). While we did not
explore delivery problems in detail, because they are common to distance selling
generally, it is clear that they have important economic implications. The annual
economic detriment from unresolved delivery problems for online sales could be as
much as 25 million to 55 million per year, excluding time and effort spent on
resolving problems. Better communication between the main parties involved in
delivery could be key to addressing some of the problems experienced. Businesses
told us of measures being put in
place to meet the rapidly increasing demand for delivery services resulting from the
growth
of internet shopping.
22

The laws protecting online shoppers

The regulations giving online shoppers additional rights derive from European
Directives.
These laws appear broadly fit for purpose at present. We did, however, identify a
number of areas where they may need to be revised to take account of how internet
shopping is evolving. We have brought these to the attention of the European
Commission, who are currently reviewing how they might need to be improved.
We also looked at the role of the key regulations as they relate to online auctions.
These rapidly growing electronic marketplaces are a valuable development, with
millions of successful transactions every year, accounting for spend using payment
cards of 2.8 billion in 2005. But we found that about half (52 per cent) of the online
survey respondents who had bought items from an auction site in the last 12 months
had experienced at least one problem in the past year. Most of these problems
mirrored those of internet shopping generally, although some buyers perceived that
they had been victims of deceptions (such as counterfeiting or sellers bidding up their
items). While the value of the items involved was typically low and a high proportion
chose not to complain, of those that did complain, four in ten (39 per cent) had given
up trying to resolve the problem.
A range of regulations potentially protect users of online auctions, but consumers face
a number of uncertainties when buying on them. In particular:
Generally, users of online auctions are protected in much the same way as other
online purchasers. There is some uncertainty as to whether the DSRs apply, although
the ongoing EC Review may help to resolve this.
We found that 60 per cent of online survey respondents who bought items from an
online auction wanted to know whether they were buying from a business. This
affects both their confidence and their rights. However, it is not always clear whether
sellers are trading as a business, and buyers tend to use a range of indicators to try to
judge it (some of them less reliable than others). At the margins, even sellers may not
know if they are operating as a business.
23

 There are also examples where there can be no doubt that products are being sold in
the course of a business. While business sellers are required by the regulations to
provide their name and address, this does not always happen.
Auction platforms are typically not liable to consumers for problems with products
or sellers. They do not have liability for unlawful activity, such as sales of illegal
goods, unless they have actual knowledge of illegality. Given this, consumers need to
be aware of the risks involved in buying on such sites and to take sensible
precautions.

24

The internet brings challenges for enforcers

Our research suggested that enforcement officers face particular challenges in
addressing online shopping especially in tracing rogue traders. Traders can sell from
any location in the UK or abroad and quickly set up or shut down operations. The
rapid pace of technological change, coupled with the range of parties that may have
an involvement in a transaction can also make it a potentially complex environment in
which to conduct investigations.
There are already good examples of enforcement agencies and advisory bodies
providing advice to businesses and consumers about online shoppers rights. We also
found some promising examples of proactive work, for instance to assess compliance;
to liaise with the internet industry to obtain information on traders; and to co-ordinate
activities with other enforcers to achieve successful outcomes. However, despite these
efforts, awareness of and compliance with consumer protection laws specific to
distance selling could be better. We see potential for greater co-operation between
enforcers to ensure greater consistency in how enforcers assess and deal with
problems related to internet traders. Good practice should be spread across the whole
country.
There is currently no national risk-based approach to identifying problems and
aligning the most appropriate response. This needs to be considered within the
broader context of other current initiatives which form part of the governments better
regulation agenda that will have an impact on local enforcement in general. This
includes the establishment of the Local Better Regulation Office (LBRO) with its aim
to improve the effectiveness and consistency of local authority regulatory services.
We also considered the enforcement implications of international internet trade.
Online cross border trade is not as substantial as some might think accounting for
seven per cent of the online sales of the UK businesses we surveyed, and less than
one-tenth of UK shoppers online spend. Furthermore, most cross-border internet
purchases are from European countries and the buyers are therefore covered by a
common framework of protections.
However, outside Europe, the protections for consumers are less well established.
Some international agreements and networks exist, although these have tended to
25

address general threats to internet users, such as spam and scams. For instance OFTs
Scam Busters Group has been working closely with international enforcement
partners to combat mass marketing scams. These partnerships could provide a
valuable basis on which to focus more attention on protecting consumers rights when
buying from online traders abroad.

Shoppers have significant fears about security and privacy

Although internet sales have been increasing for years, this does not necessarily mean
that they are growing as much as they might. The latest reliable figures, from 2005,
suggest that online sales were still only three per cent of all retail sales, and only six
per cent of businesses were selling online to households. We found that there are
many reasons why businesses and shoppers might not want to use the internet to buy
and sell, including lack of internet access, products not being appropriate, or simply
no desire to use it. However, some were being deterred by concerns about using the
internet to buy, and although many people were willing to shop online, most had fears
about doing so. Confidence and trust are important to the success of internet
shopping. Forty-two per cent of businesses not selling online told us that increased
consumer confidence would make them more likely to. Furthermore, 79 per cent of
internet users we surveyed were very concerned about the risks to the security of their
payment details from online shopping. Indeed we estimate that 3.4 million people
were prepared to use the internet, but not willing to shop online because of a lack of
trust or fears about personal security. Their missed savings could amount to between
175 million and 350 million each year. Although online shoppers seem to gain
confidence over time, even experienced ones remained worried about their financial
security and privacy.
People told us that their fears stemmed from stories in the media or spread by word of
mouth, their receipt of spam and phishing emails, as well as advisory campaigns and
advertising. The organisations we spoke to told us that the publics fears about
internet shopping were understandable, given the relatively unfamiliar and fast
evolving nature of the internet, and were likely to be influenced by regular stories
about new threats. However, many also thought that shoppers worries about buying
online were excessively high.

26

There is a lack of reliable data on the prevalence and significance of the risks from
internet shopping itself. However, some of the dangers commonly associated with
internet shopping may be more a result of data lost offline or through general internet
usage, rather than the result of having shopped online.
Nevertheless, there are risks attached to using the internet, and to selling and shopping
online, which need to be taken seriously. To guard against risks to their businesses and
to address consumers concerns (which put some off shopping online altogether), it is
in traders best interests to consider the range of technical and other protective
measures they can take.
Likewise, online shoppers can reduce risks by taking precautions and watching for
warning signs. Provided they do so, it seems unlikely, at the time of writing, that they
will be at substantially more risk than if they use other means of buying at a distance.
Even if online shoppers experience the fraudulent use of their payment card details,
they have regulatory protections which mean that they are unlikely to have to pay
anything.
However, public awareness of these precautions and protections remains weak,
despite campaigns and numerous sources of advice. One in five (19 per cent) internet
users we surveyed never checked the security of a site and 34 per cent only do
sometimes. Many people also do not recognise that they need to take some
responsibility for their protection online, believing that this is solely the role of
businesses and other organisations. Awareness campaigns, as well as commercial
advertising may also be scaring people away from shopping online as much as they
are informing them. Some level of concern may helpfully encourage people to be
vigilant, but campaigns need to be balanced, so that shoppers know how to protect
themselves, without having excessive fears about online shopping.

Shoppers need to search effectively

The internet has enabled businesses to establish a new means of selling by setting up
their own websites, and adopting new business models to widen their reach. However,
the vast range of retailers and offers available to shoppers can make it hard for them
to locate and differentiate between competitors. We identified some large differences
27

in prices being charged for similar goods online for instance, by an average of 30 to
60 per cent of the lowest price for the music and electrical items we looked at.
Fortunately, provided they are used well, tools such as search engines and price
comparators can help consumers to make informed choices and save money.
However, we found that some consumers could benefit from searching more
effectively online, particularly given limits to the numbers and range of traders listed
by some price comparison sites. For instance, if a shopper used only one of ten price
comparison sites we looked at, they had a 50 per cent chance of finding one of the
lowest prices. We estimate that online shoppers who misunderstand how search tools
work and therefore limit their search, could miss out on potential savings of 150
million to 240 million per year. We also found that shoppers often experienced
charges added to the initial price. For instance, for 47 per cent of the flights we looked
at, the final check-out price was higher than the initial price. For these, the median
price increase was 19 per cent, but many increases were much more. For online sales
as a whole, we estimate that 1.2 million internet shoppers were unaware of these
charges during the buying process, but still went on with their purchase and paid 60
million to 100 million each year as a result.

In just a few years, the internet has had a profound impact on UK retailing, enabling
businesses to sell and shoppers to buy products from anywhere in the world at any
time. Internet shopping is bringing huge benefits to millions of consumers and
thousands of businesses.

28

Our fact-finding study, however, also identified some areas where more could be done
to ensure people get the most from buying online, and can feel confident and
protected when doing so.
Our findings include:
Awareness of online shoppers rights is low for businesses and consumers. Many
businesses are not fully complying with laws to protect shoppers. In part, this reflects
a need for higher profile guidance. There are many advisory services, but no single
overall dedicated source especially to help businesses to be aware of all they need to
know when selling online.
The anonymity, speed of change and borderless nature of the internet, can pose
particular challenges for the enforcers of shoppers rights. However, new
developments in the powers, roles and relationships between enforcers provide an
opportunity to bring more co-ordination to how they can overcome these problems. In
some areas, the laws that protect online shoppers also need some modernising.
Shoppers have significant fears about security and privacy, which put some off
buying online altogether. Internet users who are too worried to buy online could be
missing savings of 175m to 350m each year. There are risks from using the internet
generally, but it is not apparent that such high levels of fear about shopping online are
warranted, provided shoppers and businesses take sensible precautions. However,
awareness of these precautions, as well as the remedies available if something goes
wrong, remains weak. Advice to shoppers needs to inform without scaring them.
By searching more effectively, shoppers can find big savings. We estimate these
could amount to 150m to 240m each year. But they may also be hindered by
unexpected additional charges which are sometimes added in the latter stages of a
purchase. These charges annoy shoppers, and lead to some paying more than they
might. We estimate that shoppers pay 60m to 100m a year in unexpected additional
charges. The backdrop to internet shopping is changing at a dizzying pace, with
developments such as mobile phone commerce, targeted advertising, digital delivery,
Web 2.0 and virtual worlds.

29

Furthermore, the law and its enforcement are evolving with the recent implementation
of the Consumer Protection Co-operation Regulation (CPC), the introduction of the
Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2007 (CPRs); as well as the
establishment of the Local Better Regulation Office (LBRO), and possible future
changes from the review of European consumer protection legislation by the
European Commission.
In a little more than a decade, the internet has revolutionised the lives of millions of
its users. Our study explores one aspect of this revolution: its growing use by
businesses and individuals as a retail channel.
In 1995, someone wanting to buy an old Betamax video recorder could spend weeks
scouring specialist shops and markets, placing adverts in collectors magazines or
calling individual dealers. If they wanted to buy a flight, they could visit or call their
local travel agents and wait to receive the tickets in the post or collect them in person.
If they wanted to buy a former hit song, they could travel to the nearest record shops
and hunt for it, or order it and pick it up some time later. They could then drive to a
local car boot sale, to trawl through the items on offer from other individuals, before
driving home with some bargains.
A decade later, without moving from their seat, the same person might find and buy
the video recorder in minutes, possibly in another country. Within the same hour they
could have compared flight prices and times from many providers, bought and already
received their electronic tickets. They could then click on a music download site and
be listening to their favourite song in the same time that it would have taken to get
ready to go to the shops.
Finally, they might take delivery of the bargain they bought at an online auction and
leave some comments on the site, to let other shoppers know whether they were
satisfied with the transaction.
The scale and growth of internet shopping is impressive. In 2005, sales over the
internet by UK non-financial businesses to households were over 21bn a fourfold
increase in only three years.1 But it also raises new questions about risks and
30

shoppers confidence when buying at a distance, as well as the relevance and

effectiveness of the laws protecting them, many of them developed before the recent
growth in internet shopping. As a public authority, whose role is to make markets
work well for consumers, the Office of Fair Trading needs to consider these issues.
This report helps to meet that need.

31

ONLINE SHOPPING WEBSITES

Some important online shopping websites.

www.fabmart.com
www.skumars.com
www.indiagifts.com
www.indiastores.com
www.indbazaar.com
www.indiashop.com
www.malamall.com
www.chennaibazaar.com
www.futurebazaar.com
www.indianpurchase.com
www.buy.com
www.ebay.com
www.americangreetings.com
www.amazon.com
www.mypoints.com
www.egreetings.com
www.coolsavings.com
www.bargainsbazaar.com
www.rediffshopping.com

32

ABOUT THE COMPANIES

Shopping.Rediff.com
ReviewCORPORATE PROFILE
Rediff.com (NASDAQ: REDF) is one of the premier worldwide online providers of
news,information, communication, entertainment and shopping services.Rediff.com
provides a platform for Indians worldwide to connect with one another
online.Rediff.com is committed to offering a personalized and a secure surfing and
shoppingenvironmentRediff.com additionally offers the Indian American community
one of the oldest and largest Indian weekly newspapers, India Abroad Founded in
1996, Rediff.com is headquartered in Mumbai, India with offices in New Delhi,
Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and New York, USA.
Mission in the Internet Space:
To provide world-class online consumer service offerings to Indians worldwide.
PRODUCT AND SERVICE OFFERINGS
INDIA ONLINE BUSINESS:
-

The Rediff.com India website consists of information, communication and

content services, free and paid community features and products, including ecommerce and mobile services.

Information and Content:

-

Information and content channels currently include news, business, movies,

cricket/sports and several other topics of interest.Rediff.com additionally
offers the Indian American community one of the oldest and largest
Indian weekly newspapers, India Abroad. Founded in 1996, Rediff.com is

33

headquartered in Mumbai, India with offices in New Delhi, Bangalore,

Chennai, Hyderabad and New York, USA.
News content
Includes:
Current affairs and breaking news:
Rediff provides breaking news focused on events of interest to Indians, including
feature news stories, interviews and online chats with leading Indian personalities.30
Business:
This channel covers the happenings of corporate India, stock market quotes and
analysis, regular columns and feature stories, as well as personal portfolio tracker.
Movies and Entertainment:
For latest news and trends from Bollywood and Hollywood. Box office information,
regular columns, feature stories, interviews with movie personalities, movie reviews
and slide shows.
Sports and Cricket:
Provides coverage of Indian and global sporting news. There is in-depth coverage of
cricket news from India and around the globe, with statistics, scores and schedules,
regular columns, feature stories and interviews.
Community Features and ProductsA key focus for Rediff.com is using world-class technology to drive community
building. Through a single login facility, Rediff.com provides a combination of free
and paid community features and products to consumers and businesses. These
include e-mail, instant messaging, Search, Chat, Blogs, Message Boards, Social
Networking, Mobile services, online shopping and auctions.
Rediffmail:
Rediffmail

is

the

flagship

product

of

Rediff.com.

It

is

one

of

the

most popular web email service used by Indians worldwide. Rediffmail offers users ac
34

omplete outlook desktop experience with features like unlimited storage, instant
mail preview, quick attachments of up to 10 MB, Drag & Drop facility to manage
your folders and auto address completion. It supports eleven Indian languages and
also comes with the integrated web-messenger allowing all Rediff mail users to chat
in real-time with all their Rediff (Instant Messenger) users within their inbox.

Job Search
is vertical search product which allows users to search for jobs across various job sites
in India under several categories and locations in India.
Rediff Product Search
allows users to compare products across brands, features, price points, user ratings
and check availability of the products in their city at local stores with complete
contact details. The service covers more than 16 product categories under electronics
and also covers Cars and Bikes as new categories.

35

E-COMMERCE
Rediff Shopping
It is an online marketplace where users can purchase products and services from
various merchants. Users can avail of a variety of payment options such as Cash on
delivery (COD), Internet banking, credit card and cheques.
Rediff Auctions
Is an e-commerce platform, which enables sellers to sell their products at dynamic
prices, based on supply and demand. This gives buyers a chance to buy their desired
products at competitive prices.
Rediff Books
is one of the biggest online book stores offering users the biggest catalogue of books.
Users can choose from over 2 million books or search for books from over 4000.
FutureBazaar.com-

About the Future Group

Future Group, led by its founder and Group CEO, Mr. Kishore Biyani, is one of
Indias leading business houses with multiple businesses spanning across the
consumption space. While retail forms the core business activity of Future Group,
group subsidiaries are present in consumer finance, capital, insurance, leisure and
entertainment, brand development, retail real-estate development, retail media and
logistics. Led by its flagship enterprise, Pantaloon, the group operates over 11 million
square feet of retail space in over 63 cities and towns and 65 rural locations across
India. Pantaloon Retail was awarded the International Retailer of the Year - 2007, by
the US-based National Retail Federation, the largest retail trade association and the
Emerging Market Retailer of the Year 2007 at the World Retail Congress in
Barcelona. Future Group believes in developing strong insights on Indian consumers
36

and building businesses based on Indian ideas, as espoused in the groups core value
of 'Indianness'. The groups corporate credo is, 'Rewrite rules, Retain values'.
FutureBazaar.com is owned and operated by Future Bazaar India Ltd. (FBIL). FBIL
is a part of the Future Group, Indias largest retail conglomerate. FBIL is the ecommerce arm of the Future Group. The company was incorporated in 2006 and
began business in 2007.As part of Indias largest retail chain, we enjoy the benefits of
buying in bulk for the entire group. Our aim is to get you a great range of products
at great prices.
Core Competency of the businesswhat makes us different from others!

A choice of more than 20,000 products.

Delivery across more than 1500 cities and towns in India covering around

16,000 pin codes.

Fast deliveries tie ups with world leaders in logistics & transportation

services.
A dedicated Customer Care helpline for any queries.
Always offering
Manufacturers
guarantee

as opposed to Sellers

guarantee, which most of the other online shopping sites offer.

Aggressive Prices

FutureBazaar.com has the benefit of leveraging the sourcing network of the

Future Groups retail chains. This sourcing network straddles a wide range of
product requirements, thus being able to offer us economies of scale therebyunbelievable prices to its customers.

Unmatched Selection of Products and Brands

We have more than 20,000 products which create the flexibility to offer a large
range of choices to customers. We also have partnerships with most of the brands
available in the country, which allows us to get the latest in the range to our
customers. We have been able to create some major popularity ripples with our
corporate clients with products like mobiles, electronics, laptops, MP3 players, Tshirts, Gift Vouchers and so on.
Seamless end-to-end Logistics Solution

37

We

pride

ourselves

in

having

built

anend-to-

nd logistics solution; right from stocking, dispatching, and delivery

confirmation up to post-sales support. Our back-end infrastructure enables us
to service around 15000 pin codes across India.
The FutureBazaar.com PromiseManufacturers warranties on all products
Future Bazaar sells only original products from authorized dealers; so all applicable
products carry the original manufacturers warranty. Customers can visit any of the
authorized service enters of the manufacturer if required. The invoice accompanying
the product is your warranty document, so please preserve it.
Guaranteed Delivery:
Future bazaar guarantees to deliver the exact product you selected, without defects. In
case you have received a different product, or if the product was damaged in transit,
please let us know and we will ensure that we replace the product or ensure that your
money is refunded. Please note that delivery times vary according to products. 95% of
our deliveries take place within the committed time period. For the occasional delays,
we will contact you and update you about the status.
Secure Payments
-

We are committed to ensuring that no payment misuse happens, so we work

with banks and payment gateways to ensure that your information is protected.
Payments are protected both buys and by the policies of your bank, and the
chances of fraud in these channels are actually very low. We also have a Risk
Management team that scrutinises all payments to ensure that there are no
fraudulent transactions. Our office address is also available for anyone who
wishes to contact us in person. Moreover, being part of Indias largest retail
company with a presence all over India, we are omnipresent!

Prompt Customer Support

Our Customer Care is manned by dedicated personnel, who can take decisions and
resolve your problems. They are empowered to solve your problems and are aware of
38

the processes and means to handle them. In case they cannot solve the problem at
their end, they will trigger the required action on your behalf or advise you the best
possible method to a successful fulfilment all your queries/issues. Be assured that
when you call us, your call is being taken seriously.
Amazon

Founded -1994Founder- Jeffery p.Bezos (CEO) Headquarter USAArea servedWorldwide Industry-Retail (Amazon.com, A9.com) Advertising Web banners and
video
Amazon.com, Inc.

( NASDAQ:AMZN) is an American electronic commerce (e-commerce) company in

Seattle, Washington. It is America's largest online, with nearly three times the internet
sales revenue of runner up Staples, Inc. Jeff Bezos founded Amazon.com, Inc. in 1994
and launched it online in 1995. It started as an on-line bookstore but soon diversified
to product lines of VHS, DVD, music CDs and MP3s, software, video, electronics,
apparel, furniture, food, toys, etc. Amazon has established separate websites in
Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, China, and Japan. It also provides
international shipping to certain countries for some of its products. On January 15,
2009, a survey published by Verdict found that Amazon was the UK's favourite music
and video retailer, and came third in overall retail rankings. Amazon was founded in
1994, spurred by what Bezos called "regret minimization framework, his effort to
fend off regret for not staking a claim in the Internet. While company lore says Bezos
wrote the business plan while he and his wife drove from New York to Seattle. The
company began as an online bookstore named "Cadabra.com", a name quickly
abandoned

for

sounding

like

"cadaver ";

while

the

largest brick-and-

mortar bookstores and mail catalogs for books might offer 200,000 titles, an on-line
bookstore could offer more. Bezos renamed the company "Amazon" after the
world's biggest river. Since 2000, Amazon's logotype is an arrow leading from A to Z,
39

representing customer satisfaction (as it forms a smile) and the goal to have every
product in the alphabet. Amazons initial business was unusual: the company did not
expect a profit for four to five years; the strategy was effective. Amazon grew steadily
in the late 1990s while other Internet companies grew blindingly fast. Amazon's
"slow" growth provoked stockholder complaints: that the company was not reaching
profitability fast enough. When the dot burst, and many e-companies went out of
business. The company remains profitable: 2003income was $35.3 million, $588.50
million in 2004; $359Amazon has announced plans to move its headquarters to the
South neighbourhood of Seattle beginning in mid-2010, with full occupancy by 2011.
This move will consolidate all Seattle employees onto the new 11-building campus.
Product lines:
-

Amazon has steadily branched into retail sales of music CDs, videotapes and
DVDs, software, consumer electronics, kitchen items, tools, lawn and
garden items, toys & games, baby products, apparel, sporting goods,
gourmet

food, jewellery,

watches,

health

and

personal-care

items, beauty products, musical instruments, clothing, industrial & scientific

supplies, groceries and more. The company launched Amazon.com
Auctions, its own Web auctions service, in March 1999. However it
failed to chip away at industry pioneer eBay's juggernaut growth. Amazon
Auctions was followed by the launch of a fixed-price marketplace
business called zShops in September 1999, and a failed Sotheby's/Amazon
partnership called sothebys.amazon.com in November. The list of products
registered for coverage by the trademark grew to include items such
as paints, carpets, wallpaper, hair accessories, clothing, footwear, headgear,
cleaning products, and jewellery.

40

CHAPTER -3
FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

41

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Q1. TO KNOW THE AGE OF THE REPONDENTS?

Age

No of respondent

% of respondents

15-20
20-25
25-30
30 and above

31
48
14
7

31
48
14
7

Figure 1

INTERPRETATION
The above diagram shows us the percentage in the age of respondents. As it shows
that from age 15-20 the number of respondents are 31 % and from age of 20-25 it is
48 % and from 25-30 it is 14% this is the above data which is shown by the this pie
chart.

42

Q2 TO KNOW THE GENDER OF THE RESPONDENTS?

Gender

Respondent

Male

86

Female

14

GENDER

Figure 2

INTERPRETATION
As our respondents are mostly from the hostel of College and the campus of
university itself, we use to get more data from males as they were ready to give their
experiences, it this graph itself is showing more percentage of males rather than
females, the percentage of male respondents is 86% and percentage of female
respondents is only 14%.

43

Q3 TO KNOW THE DEMOGRAPHY WHETER RESPONDENT LIVE IN

RURAL ORURBAN AREA?

Address

Respondent

Rural

76

Urban

24

Figure 3

INTERPRETATION
The above diagram is showing the percentage of demography of respondents and
what is the percentage of respondents who lives in rural or urban region, the above
diagram is showing that 76% of the respondents are from urban areas and 24% of the
respondents are from urban area.

44

Q4 TO KNOW THE OCCUPATION OF THE RESPONDENTS?

Occupation

No. Of Respondent

Student
Professional
Govt. Employee
Self employed
Others
Occupation

90
4
0
5
1

Figure 4

INTERPRETATION
This graph help us to know the occupation of the respondents, this is to know that
which segment of people are buying more products on the internet whether they are
the segment of students o government employees or professional, the above graph
shows that the segment of the students i.e. 90% of the students are using internet and
use to buy online products.

45

Q5. TO KNOW THE MONTHLY INCOME OF THE REPONDENTS?

Income of Respondents

% of Respondents

Less than 10000

10000-20000
20000-30000
30000-40000
40000 Above

94
3
3
0
0

Figure 5

INTERPRETATION
This above graph shows the percentage of monthly income of the different
respondents, and it show that less than 10000 income respondents have bought more
online products because most of them are students and they use to buy music Cds,
gadgets, laptops.

46

Q6 TO KNOW WHETHER RESPONDENTS HAVE THEIR OWN INTERNET

CONNECTION?

Internet Connection

% respondents having internet connection

Yes
No

65
35

Figure 6

INTERPRETATION
This graph show us the percentage of respondents who have their own internet
connections, its shows that 65% of respondents have their own internet connections
and
35% people dont have their internet connection.

47

Q7 TO KNOW WHAT MOTIVATES PEOPLE TO DO ONLINE SHOPPING.

What Motivates You To Buy Online

Easy Payment
No Hidden Cost
Wide Range Of Products
No Travel to Shop

% of Respondents
37
5
10
46-47

Figure 7

INTERPRETATION
This graph shows us what motivates the people to buy internet, as from above result
we found out that no travel to shop is the main thing which motivates the people to
buy products online.

48

Q8 TO KNOW WHETHER CONSUMERS ARE GETTING COMPETITIVE PRICE.

Do you feel that the online marketers are

providing competitive prices?

% of Respondents

Yes
No
Cant Say

67
27
6

Figure 8

INTERPRETATION
This diagram shows us that whether online marketers are giving competitive price or
not and result which is came is that most of the people thought that online marketers
are providing competitive prices than physical stores. And result shows 67% of people
say that it provides competitive prices and only 27% people says no.

49

Q9 WHAT PRODUCTS DO YOU BUY ONLINE?

What products you buy on internet?

Books
Music
T-Shirts
Mobile
Laptop

% of Respondents
24
25
12
23
20

Figure 9
INTERPRETATION
The above graphs gives result that most of time people use to buy books25% but the
margin with other things is very less as music Cds have percentage of 20 and
mobile23%So this graph shows us this useful data .

50

Q10 DO YOU FEEL THAT ONLINE SHOPPING IS BETTER THAN

SHOPPING AT PHYSICAL STORE?

Do you feel that online shopping is better

than shopping at physical brick mortar
store?

% of Respondents

Yes
No
Cant Say

45
28
12

Figure 10
INTERPRETATION
After analyzing the above graph shows that the people are in favour of that online
shopping is better than physical store, the percentage of people who says online
shopping is better is 45% and the people who say it not good is 38 %. Still the
percentage of people who says yes is more than other who says no.

51

Q11 WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING STORES HAVE YOU VISITED?

Which of the following stores have you
visited online?
e-Bay
Yahoo Shopping
Amazon
Best buy
Others

% of Respondents
35
16
40
10
4

Figure 11

INTERPRETATION
This graph shows that 35% people use to visit e-bay for online shopping,40% use to
go atamazon.com because % of people who buys books is more than any other
products so people mostly visits amazon.com, 16 % people do at yahoo shopping and
for other people use to visit at Best Buy and others.

52

12. WHAT FACTORS HELP YOU TO DECIDE WHICH SITE TO USE FOR
ONLINE SHOPPING?
What factors help you to decide which site
is use for online shopping?

% of Respondents

Search Engine
Personal Recommendation
Special offers on site
Online advertising
TV advertising
Others

18
10
20
32
17
3

Sear
Persona
Special
Onl
TV
Others
A
ine
dv
ch

Factors helping site

selection
l er
Engine
off
Adv
318
32
10
17
20

Recom
mendat
ion

Figure 12
INTERPRETATION
This diagram shows us what affects people to buy products on internet and it shows
that 32% people came to know about shopping sites through online advertisements.
And they attracted towards it and start getting products from there. And 20% people
decision disaffected by special offers by the offers and the discounts given by the
sites.

53

Q13 HOW YOU MAKE YOUR PAYMETS ON THE INTERNET?

How do you make your payments online?

% of Respondents

Credit card/ Debit card

Bank transfer
Pay pal
Any other

78
5
15
2

Figure 13

INTERPRETATION
This diagram shows that mostly people uses credit card to pay their payments
78%people use to pay by credit/debit card and 5% through bank transfer and 15%
through PayPal and 2 from PayPal.

54

Q14 HAVE YOU FACE ANY PROBLEMS WHILE SHOPPING ONLINE?

Have you face any problems while
shopping online?

% of Respondents

Yes
No
Cant say

48
28
14

Figure 14

INTERPRETATION

This graph shows that whether people faces any problem while doing online
shopping or not and the result shows that 48% people says that they have faced problem while
buying online and 28% people says that they dont face any problem and 14 says that
we cant say.

55

FINDINGS
The three segments that were found show a significant difference in the primary factor
of concern. The general distribution showed that the factor price was the primary
factor forth entire population sample, and that second factor was trust was closely
followed by convenience When we segmenting the respondents through the different
variables we found that segment one were mainly trust oriented and the respondents
had a high positive attitude towards purchasing books online. Other segment was
mainly price and convenience oriented therefore took the most consideration to the
opinions and experiences of the Reference groups. As they low disposable income and
were somewhat convenience oriented when acquiring information about low prices,
we chose to label them price easers. We found that most of the time youngster who
are from the age of 20-25 shops a lot on the net rather than other age limits. People
used to do online shopping because of its convenience rather than its pricing, but the
main thing which is very common in the most of the people about online shopping is
its risk of privacy i.e. hacking of account number getting passwords and all.

56

CHAPTER -4
SUGGESTIONS

57

SUGGESTIONS

Providing quality service at affordable prices and having different types of

products for different income customers is another advantage.

Online portals have endorsed very famous personalities which has
attracted a lot of customers. This has resulted in increase of sale
and the outdoor advertising techniques have also helped the online

portals.
Considering the fact that there are a lot middle class families in India, online
portals hashed a huge impact on the middle class section of India, the
prices, quality and sales strategy has helped in getting the middle income

groups getting attracted towards online shopping.

Yet another concern is about online security. If you are shopping
online, you have to take additional care about your credit cards so
that to protect from unauthorized usage. So various online shopping

portals has to provide the security on payment procedure.

Online shopping lacks the real world shopping experience that we get
shopping with relatives and friends offline. Even though online shopping has
several disadvantages, the advantages outnumber the disadvantages and thus

more and more people started buying online.

Delay in delivery and lower quality leads to dissatisfaction of customers. Due
to factors mentioned above online shoppers are not always satisfied,

this is not a positive for the shopping portals.

People are loyal towards brand as they are highly satisfied with the
quality and they have an assurance from the brand for their continued supply
of quality products.

58

CHAPTER -5
CONCLUSION &
LIMITATION

59

CONCLUSION AND LIMITATION

Conclusion
Online shopping is a different experience and you can make the shopping creative
over the internet as you get used to it. There can be lot of apprehensions about online
shopping when you get in to it for the first time.
As you experience more and more of it those apprehensions get disappeared slowly.
Remember that if you stick to the basics, online shopping become more enjoyable and
easier than real-world shopping.
In the conclusion part of my project, all people whom I have surveyed were interested
in shopping but, most of the people were having preference to shop offline and very
few were interested to go online for shopping. My survey indicates that the maximum
consumer make the purchase offline because of the lack of awareness towards online
shopping and shopping portals. On the basis of survey the major drawback of the
online shopping is lack of the security in the shopping payment through credit/Debit
card. Most of the people preferred online shopping because it is a time saving process.
WYSWYG (what you see is what you get)approach is not being followed whole
heartedly by online web portal as most of the people opined that the product purchase
through online portals differs significantly from its original form .The images of the
product are mostly inflated which affects the perception of consumers towards online
shopping.
Increased Internet penetration, a hassle free shopping environment and high levels of
Net savings see more and more Indians shopping online. But at the same time the
companies need to reduce the risks related to consumer incompetence by tactics such
as making purchase websites easier to navigate, and introducing Internet kiosk,
computers and other aids in stores.

60

The goal is not to convert all shoppers to online purchasing, but to show them its an
option. In addition to above, efforts need to be taken to educate the online
65 buyers on the steps that need to be undertaken while making an online purchase.
Moreover, the feedback of an online buyer should be captured to identify flaws in
service delivery. This can be done through online communities and blogs that serve as
advertising and marketing tools and a source of feedback for enterprises. I found that
it is a challenge for E-marketers to convert low frequency online buyers into regular
buyers through successful website design and by addressing concerns about reliable
performance. Thus, the online retailing raises more issues than the benefits it currently
offers. The quality of products offered online and procedures for service delivery are
yet to be standardized. Till the same is done, the buyer is at a higher risk of frauds.

61

LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

And necessary data to complete the project may not gather in proper manner. The
limitations which we observe were as follows:
With respect to actual population the sample size was too small. This might be effect
the final result.
Since the responses were only from some people of college, the report cannot be
generalized for whole Delhi.
Respondents may have given bias information.
The time limit for the research was small to collect adequate information for
inference for the consumer buying behaviour.
In the fast changing world the data collected soon become historic and research
findings based on them irrelevant.
Some customers problems dont lead to valid research conclusion.
Limitation of the study is the selection of the existing studies. Owing to time
limitation, I only searched a few number of journals. This may leave some other
prominent empirical studies out. In addition, owing to the multidisciplinary nature of
online shopping, it would be very interesting to compare IS literature to other
disciplines that study online shopping attitudes and behaviour.
Indian E-Comm. Report Finds Heavy Spenders Driving Sales By Devin Comiskey
August 16, 2007
A Survey by Indian research organization Juxtconsult found that more and more
Indian Internet users are opening their wallets online. While such hurdles as limited
broadband access and security concerns remain, the report finds there are currently
more than 10million shoppers online in India. While current trends point to increased
e-commerce growth in India, the online marketplace in the country of more than 1
billion people is still relatively small. Juxtconsult's survey found that 40 percent of all
urban Internet users buy online, while 42 percent of the sales originate through just
62

five percent of consumers. The survey was conducted in April 2007 and sampled
more than 30,000 users."This section of buyers spends 5,000 rupees or more per
month on the net," states the report. "It is interesting to note that two out of every
three heavy spenders are also 'netholics', those who are on the net for more than three
hours per day...Of all those who buy online, only 25 percent are spending more than
1,000 rupees per month while the(remaining) 75 percent bill less than 1,000 rupees
per month." (1,000 Indian rupees are currently equal to approximately $23 US.)The
report also found that buying and search patterns among Indians differ between
genders. "While 43 percent of male users buy online, only 31 percent of urban female
users are consumers as well. Women tend to search more. Defying their more
common attitude towards shopping, women are more guarded when it comes to the
online market, says Juxtconsult.Depending on the product type, nine percent to 25
percent are buying online, whereas 33 to 47 percent are searching the net for product
information," it says.

63

RECOMMENDATIONS

As we came to know after researching on this topic we recommend that, the online
sellers have to make their payment transparent, and as people are coming on their
sites and they are buying their products, so retailers have to give more discounts
to their customers so that they can visit again and again to their site, and it also helps
to make people more aware about the low rick shopping of the net, and one more
thing is that there should be
Transaction of money is very slow they have to make it fast so that customer dont
have to
Face much problem to pay for the product, if customer is going to face some
problem heist not going to visit our site and buy product .Following implications
should be followed

Discount prices
A transfer and reliable retailer
Fast transactions
Focus on customer satisfaction

64

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books:
Kotler, Philip; Keller, Kelvin Lane; Koshay, Abraham; and Jha, Mithileshwar;
MARKETING MANAGEMENT A SOUTH ASIAN PERSPECTIVE,
13th Edition.
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action=record&rec_id=32383&prevQuer y=&ps=10&m=or1m
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mainAction=search&action=record&rec_ id=10096&prevQuery=&ps=10&m=or [8
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9)http://www.inderscience.com/search/index.php?
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(International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising 2011 - Vol. 4, No.4pp.
30 2- 327)
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may2010](International Journal of Electronic Finance 2012 - Vol. 3, No.3 pp. 284

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66

QUESTIONNAIRE

Q1. Name ___________________

Q2. Age
1) 15-20
2) 20-25
3) 25-30
4) 30 above

Q3. Gender
1) Male
2) Female

Q4. Address
1) Rural
2) Urban

Q5. What is your occupation?

a) Student
b) Professional
c) Govt.employed
d) Self Employed
e) Other
67

Q6. What is your monthly income?

a) Less than 10000
b) 10000 to 20000
c) 20000 to 30000
d) 30000 to 40000
e) More than 40000

Q7. Do you have your own internet connection?

a) Yes
b) No

Q8. How frequently do you purchase online?

a) Once a week
b) More than once a week
c) Once a month
d) more than once in a month

Q9. What motivates to buy products online?

a) Easy payment
b) No hidden cost
c) No travel to shop
d) Wide range of products
e) Other [Please specify] ____________

68

Q10.Do you feel that the online marketers are providing competitive prices?
a) Yes
b) No
c) Cant Say

Q11. What products you buy on internet?

a) Books
b) Music CDs
c) T-shirt
d) Mobile
e) Laptop
f) Other [specify] ___________

Q12. Do you feel that online shopping is better than shopping at physical brick &
mortar store?
a) Yes
b) No
c) Cant say
Q13.Which of the following stores have you ever visited for shopping online?
a) e-bay
b) Yahoo shopping
c) Amazon
d) Best buy
e) Other [please specify]

69

Q14. What factors help you to decide which site to use for online shopping?
a) Search engine
b) Personal recommendation
c) Special offers on sites
d) Online advertising
e) TV advertising
f) Other_________
Q15.How do you make your payments on internet?
a) Credit card/Debit card
b) Bank transfer
c) PayPal
d) Any other______

70

MAHARAJA AGRASEN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

STUDIES
ATTENDANCE FOR PROJECT REPORT
Name of the student
Class
Roll No.
Name of the Supervisor
S.No.

Date

: Shreya Chugh
: BBA(G) 3rd B 2s
: 13961101711
: Mr. Jatin Vaid
Time

Progress
Report

10

71

Signature of
the student

Signature of
Supervisor