A Dissertation on

A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON CONSUMER PREFERENCES

TOWARDS SELECTED E-TAILER BRANDS

Submitted to
Amity University Madhya Pradesh

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of

Bachelor of Business Administration

in
Marketing

by
SHRUTI MODI

Under the guidance of

Dr. Monica Chauhan Bhadoriya
Assistant Professor

AMITY BUSINESS SCHOOL

AMITY UNIVERSITY MADHYA PRADESH

April 2020
 Amity Business School

DECLARATION

I Shruti Modi, student of BBA hereby declare that the dissertation titled “A COMPARATIVE
STUDY ON CONSUMER PREFERENCES TOWARDS SELECTED E-TAILER
BRANDS ” which is submitted by me to Amity Business School, Amity University Madhya
Pradesh, in partial fulfilment of requirement for the award of the degree of BBA has not been
previously formed the basis for the award of any degree, diploma or other similar title or
recognition.

Gwalior
Date Shruti Modi

i
 Amity Business School
CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the dissertation titled “A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON CONSUMER

PREFERENCES TOWARDS SELECTED E-TAILER BRANDS” which is submitted by
Ms. Shruti Modi to Amity Business School, Amity University Madhya Pradesh, in partial
fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the degree of BBA is an original contribution
with existing knowledge and faithful record of work carried out by him/her under my guidance
and supervision.

To the best of my knowledge this work has not been submitted in part or full for any Degree
or Diploma to this University or elsewhere.

Gwalior Dr. Monica Chauhan Bhadoriya

Date Assistant Professor

HOI / HOD

Amity Business School,

Amity University Madhya Pradesh, Gwalior

ii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I extend my deep sense of gratitude and sincere thanks to Prof. (Dr.) Anil Vashisht, Director,
Amity Business School for allowing me to take up this dissertation. I would also like to thank
Dr. Monica Chauhan Bhadoriya, Asstt. Professor - ABS for continuous support in my
dissertation. I also thank my parents for their continuous support, understanding and patience
without whose support and understanding this endeavour would never have been fruitful. I also
thank all my friends for helping me out in completing this dissertation and helping me in
solving various problems encountered during the progress of this dissertation.

SHRUTI MODI

iii
 ABSTRACT

Online shopping has created a revolution for consumers, growing rapidly year by year and
offering a Golden Age of shopping. We’ve changed the way we go shopping. In just a decade
online shopping – buying goods on the Internet – has gone from being virtually non-existent to
become worth billions of pounds each year. E-commerce is trading of services and products
with the help of internet. It introduced new possibilities in trading and attracted attention of
traders. E-commerce offers products and services through websites, a customer simply has to
visit an ecommerce website and browse various offering through browser catalogue, a customer
can select multiple offerings and can add them to the shopping cart, once the shopping is done
the customer can checkout and proceed to payment section where various online payment
options are available like internet banking, credit card, debit card etc. Books, CDs, clothes,
electronics, we go shopping online for them all, without ever leaving our living rooms. These
days we take shopping online for granted, an adoption that’s happened remarkably quickly. We
can even order groceries online with delivery the next day. The present research paper focuses
on the consumer satisfaction and perceptions of customers towards the services rendered by
different online marketers. An attempt has been made to critically examine the comparison of
customer satisfaction of few big e-tailers and those are Flipkart, Amazon, Myntra, Snapdeal,
Jabong. A comparative study of Customer satisfaction delivers the information about the
factors that impacts customer satisfaction to succeed in e-commerce market. This paper is an
attempt to analyze customer satisfaction level linking to their e-tailers preferences and
customer loyalty towards them.

iv
 CONTENTS
Front Page
Declaration by student i
Certificate ii
Acknowledgement iii
Abstract iv
Contents v-vi
List of Figures vii
List of Tables viii
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Online shopping…………………………………………………………1-10
1.2 E-Commerce ……………..…………………………………….............10-16
1.3 E-Tailing under e-commerce ……………………..……………….…...16-19
1.4 Company profile………………………………………………………..19-26
Chapter 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE
….…………………………………………………………………………..27-32
Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Method………………………...…………………………...….....33
3.2 Objectives of study………………………………………………………....33
3.3 Sampling………………………….…………………………………….33-34
3.4 Mode of analysis………………………………………………………..….34
Chapter 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
4.1 Discussion ………………………………………………………….............36
4.2 Data Analysis………………………………………………….………...37-46
Chapter 5: CONCLUSION AND FUTURE PROSPECTS
5.1 Conclusion………………………………………………………...…...47-48
5.2 Future Prospects………………………………….…………………….….48
Chapter 6: SUMMARY
6.1 Summary……………………………………………………………......…49

v
References
Appendix
Questionnaire
Plagiarism Report

vi
 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 4.2.1. Showing the customer views regarding online shopping Pg. 38
Figure 4.2.2 Most preferable shopping site Pg. 41
Figure 4.2.3 Best shopping site Pg. 41
Figure 4.2.4 Comparative analysis of most frequently purchased product Pg. 44
Figure 4.2.5 Comparative analysis of products mostly shopped during Pg. 46

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 LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.2.1 Showing the customer views regarding online shopping Pg. 37
Table 4.2.2 Comparative analysis of online shopping among Amazon,
Flipkart, Snapdeal, Myntra, Jabong Pg. 40

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 Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION

1.1. Online shopping

Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers
to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser.
Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the retailer directly or by
searching among alternative vendors using a shopping search engine, which displays the
same product's availability and pricing at different e- retailers. As of 2016, customers
can shop online using a range of different computers and devices, including desktop
computers, laptops, tablet computers and smartphones.

An online shop evokes the physical analogy of buying products or services at a regular
"bricks-and- mortar" retailer or shopping centre, the process is called business-to-
consumer (B2C) online shopping. When an online store is set up to enable businesses to
buy from another business, the process is called business-to-business (B2B) online
shopping. A typical online store enables the customer to browse the firm's range of
products and services, view photos or images of the products, along with information
about the product specifications, features and prices.

Online stores typically enable shoppers to use "search" features to find specific models,
brands or items. Online customers must have access to the Internet and a valid method of
payment in order to complete a transaction, such as a credit card, an Interac-enabled
debit card, or a service such as PayPal. For physical products (e.g., paperback books or
clothes), the e-tailer ships the products to the customer; for digital products, such as
digital audio files of songs or software, the e-tailer typically sends the file to the
customer over the Internet. The largest of these online retailing corporations
are Alibaba, Amazon.com, and eBay.

1.1.1 Advantages of Online Shopping to Customers

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• Time saving: This is the most important advantage of online shopping that consumers
do not need to go out for buying because almost everything is just a click away from them
while in offline shopping, consumers need to go out for making a purchase which is
sometimes tiring as well as time consuming.
• Freedom of choice: Customers have wider choices available while shopping online
than shopping from a nearby store. In online shopping, customers have information
available on a vast range of products on the websites and it helps them to find the suitable
product they are looking for.
• Cheaper Products: To attract more consumers and to increase their customer base,
some websites offer products at low cost than other websites and market selling rate.
Many a times during end of season sale, website anniversary offers and festival discounts
customers grab wider range of products at a very good deal. Therefore in this case, it
would be wise to shop online to save some money.
• Convenient: Searching a product online is much easier than looking for it in the local
store as most of the products are found on a single website, but in offline shopping,
customers have to physically look for each and every product at one in different stores. In
online shopping products are delivered at the doorstep of the customers.
• Easy return and exchange: Websites keep their exchange and return policy simple so
as to attract buyers to purchase from their websites without any worry of their money
being wasted. Many websites also offer pick up facility for return and exchange. Also, if
customer does not want to buy anything in exchange of returned product their money will
either be fully returned or credited in the form of points in their website accounts which
can be used later.
• Rare products: Some e-commerce websites have monopoly of selling particular
products which are not available on any other websites and not even in local stores. Such
rare products are available only on their websites.
• Choice in mode of payment: Websites also offer different modes of payment to
customers for their convenience while shopping online. A customer may make payments
on delivery by cash, via debit cards/ credit cards, net banking and through various e-
wallets, etc.

2
1.1.2. Disadvantages of Online Shopping to Customers

• Delivery time: People do not receive the product immediately in online shopping. They
have to wait until the product arrives. It may be few hours or few days depending on the
product and website. Sometimes a product does not arrive within the specified time or
may get damaged during delivery process which may mess up the plans of the buyers.
And sometimes customer wants to have an item instantly; in such case online shopping
does not help.
• Shipping charges: Though items are generally cheaper in an online web store but
sometimes the addition of shipping charge to the product price makes the total price
similar or more expensive than the nearby local store. This is even more damaging when a
customer wants to buy a product of lower value and addition of shipping charges may
hike the price nearly double of the actual product price. Thus, shipping charges are one of
the main disadvantages of shopping online.
• Unavailability of delivery in a particular area or city: Sometimes it becomes a
reason of disappointment for a customer that the product they want to buy is available on
the website but its delivery is not available in the area or city where customer resides.
• Inferior products: Sometimes the actual product delivered differs from the description
of the product on the website. As a result customer might end up with inferior quality
products, because at the time of placing an order, they were unaware of the actual quality
of the product due to lack of physical quality evaluation of product in online shopping
medium.
• Scams and Frauds: Nowadays online shopping is trending, but the number of cases of
online scams and frauds are also increasing. This is why a buyer should always buy from
trusted websites only, because trusted websites would take care of any fraud to maintain
their reputation and goodwill.
• Privacy issues: Due to increase in the cases of cheating and frauds, sometimes buyers
do not feel comfortable in sharing their personal and financial details on the websites
while shopping online. As it is said that every coin has two sides, so as online shopping
has its benefits to customers as well as sometimes it cause trouble to them. But as

3
discussed, the positive aspects of online buying have the potential to overcome its
limitations.

1.1.3. TERMS AND TERMINOLOGIES IN E-SHOPPING

• AVS (Address Verification Service) : A service used to check that the billing
address and zip code supplied by the customer match the address where credit card
statements are sent that is on record at the card-issuing bank. AVS is supported in the
US only. The purpose of AVS is to decrease the fraud and the discount rate is also
usually lower.
• Authorization -A request to the payment processor, First Data Merchant Services
(FDMS), to approve the reservation of funds in a customer's account. The request can
have several transaction types, including Auth, Pre-Auth, Post-Auth, Re-Auth, and Re
Pre-Auth.
• Auth - A transaction type in which a transaction is preauthorized and post authorized
in one step. Auth is used only to process purchases of goods or services which do not
require physical shipment, e.g., donations, registrations, or "soft" goods that are
delivered electronically. An Auth is referred to as a Sale.
• Batch -A group of transactions that have been captured and are waiting for settlement.
• Billing Address -The address to which a customer's credit card billing statement is
mailed. It is used to help verify so that the customer is the actual owner of the credit
card he/she is using it.
• Captured -The status of a transaction that has gone through Auth or Post-Auth and is
waiting for settlement.
• Card-Not-Present -Pertaining to a credit card transaction which does not require the
cardholder and card to be physically present. Internet transactions are all card-not-
present transactions.
• Card-Present -Credit card transaction in which the cardholder and the card are
physically present. The credit card passes through a card reader and the cardholder
signs a receipt and the discount Rate for Card-Present transactions is lower than the
4
 Discount Rate for Card-Not-Present transactions.
• CVM (Card Verification Method) -A method used to verify that a credit card being
used in a purchase is in the possession of its owner. The CVM security code is a 3 or 4
digit code imprinted on the physical credit card, but not encrypted in the magnetic
stripe. The code is a 3-digit number located on the signature strip on the back of Visa
and MasterCard cards, after the card number and on the front of American Express
cards, and it is 4 digits long.
• Chargeback -The reversal of a previously Settled transaction in which the merchant
bank debits the amount of the sale from the merchant's account.
• Clear Commerce Hosting Engine -MIT software uses to process credit card
transactions through FDMS (First Data Merchant Services).
• Credit -Transferring funds to the cardholder's account to refund a customer's money
for an order that was previously settled, that is returns or overcharges.
• Customer -An individual who purchases the goods or services from a merchant.
• Digital Receipt -An electronic mail acknowledgement of an order placed from a
commerce enabled web site sent to the customer placing the order. It is for the
convenience and assurance of the customer and has no legal standing since email can
be lost or forged.
• Discount Rate (or Fee) -The fee a merchant pays to FDMS for getting the merchant's
transactions. The fee is a small percentage of each purchase and these rates are
negotiated between CAO (Computer Aided Office) and FDMS (First Data Merchant
Services). The actual rate differs depending on several factors such as the type of card,
how the order is placed, and has CVM (Card Verification Method) and AVS (Address
Verification Service) are used.
• Entity -Clear commerce refers to many things by their entity number.
• FDMS (First Data Merchant Services) -For accepting and processing credit card
payments by the merchants, the bank uses the MIT contracts.
• Merchant -The organization or enterprise or business accepting payments for the
goods or services they provide.
• Merchant ID (MID) -A number issued to a merchant by FDMS to identify a specific

5
 merchant in credit card transactions. Each store in clear commerce must have its own
Merchant ID.
• Order -A record of a request for goods or services started by a customer.
• Order ID -A unique identifier given to a customer order in clear commerce.
• Partial Shipment -A process in which a store provides some of the goods or services
in a single order. Thus the Post Auth amount would be less than the amount of the
approved Pre-Auth for the order. The configuration for each clear commerce store
shows how partial shipments and their associated Pre-Auth’s are handled.
• Point-of-Sale -Merchant using a web form facility to enter a new customer order in
clear commerce. It is used for customer by the merchant, who may initiate the order in
person, by phone, fax, or other method.
• Post Auth -A transaction for settlement which puts a Pre Auth transaction into a
captured state. The Post Auth amount may be less than the Pre Auth amount. In the
case of partial shipments, it can be initiated only after the purchased goods have been
shipped.
• Pre Auth -A cardholder's account is verified to be in good standing. The card is valid
and has not reached its limit is a pre auth transaction. Applicable Address Verification
Service checks have been performed and approved. The total amount of the order is
taken from the cardholder's account. Pre Auths are used for physical shipping and the
merchant must first verify whether the order can be fulfilled. A post auth follows a
pre-auth which makes the settlement.
• Refund -Transferring money to the cardholder's account. This is typically used to
refund a customer's money for an order which was previously settled. Eg: returns or
overcharges.
• Sale -A transaction is preauthorized and post authorized in one step is referred as a
sale. Auth is used to process purchases of goods or services which do not require
physical shipment. E.g: Donations, registrations, or "soft" goods that are delivered
electronically.
• SSL (Secure Socket Layer) -SSL is computer software to prevent criminals from
eavesdropping on customer. Ecommerce team's applications use SSL to keep credit

6
 card numbers confidential when transmitted over computer networks. When a web
page URL starts with "https", it uses SSL to encrypt the web request as well the
response on the browser. Never enter credit card number, when a web form that is not
on an https URL, instead send them by unencrypted email.
• Settlement -This is the process in which money is transferred between a merchant and
a cardholder. MIT settles all transactions in clear commerce once a day at midnight
automatically.
• Store-Merchant's organization in clear commerce that accepts and processes
payments.
• Terminal ID (TID)-A number assigned by FDMS to identify a specific point-of-sale
terminal and to each merchant web site or business unit.
• Transaction-A record of each action that is taken on an order. It may have multiple
transactions. e.g., a Sale and a Credit.
• Transaction Type-A label identifying and determining the nature of the transaction.
A Pre-Auth transaction reserves funds and the common types are Auth, Pre-Auth,
Post-Auth, Credit, and Void.
• Void -Transaction that cancels itself which has not been settled.

1.1.4 REASONS FOR SHOPPING ON INTERNET

As there are numerous benefits in online shopping, people prefers online shopping over
conventional shopping. It is important to understand the psyche of the online shoppers to
flock the customers to online store. It is essential to make the customers to leg up by
catering their desires and fantasies. Online stores plug their thinking to meet the
consumers desires through their competitive intelligence, pricing, customer services and
so on. The following comments of the customers highlight the positive aspects of online
shopping than to shop in their pyjamas or to convenience the elder and disabled person.
Some reasons for buying online are wider choice, better prices, good for the environment
and so on.

7
1) Convenience-
• Even at midnight we can do shopping.
• No need to wait in a queue or till the shop assistant helps in purchases.
• Even in a busy schedule, shopping can be done in minutes by avoiding crowds
and saving time.
• We can shop online 24*7 with no pollution‟ shopping.

2) Better Prices –
• Without the involvement of the middlemen, online stores gives the customers
cheap deals and better prices from the manufacturers directly.
• Online shops offers discount coupons and rebates.
3) Variety-
• Several brands and products from different sellers can be got in single place.
• Without spending money on travel one can get latest international trends.
• Without any limitations of the geographic area, one can purchase any goods from
any part of the country or even the world from online retailers.
• Finding colour and sizes that you want to have can be done with these stores.
• You can take your business in another online stores if the product is out of stock
in a particular online store.
4) Fewer Expenses-
• When we opt for conventional shopping we tend to spend a lot of shopping
expenses like eating out, traveling, impulsive shopping etc.
5) Comparison of Prices-
• Comparison and research on products and prices is possible in online stores.
• It gives the shopper a prior knowledge with feedbacks.
6) Crowds-
• To avoid the crowds, one can do online shopping.
• Crowd forces to do a hurried shopping and create a problem in finding a parking
place.
7) Compulsive Shopping -
• While shopping, because of the shopkeepers‟ upselling skills, customers tend to
8
 end up in buying things which are not required.
• Customers have to compromise on the choices because of the lack of choices in
those shops.
8) Discreet Purchases-
• Without embarrassment, online shops enables the customers to purchase
undergarments and lingerie or adult toys.
• Some shopping are better done in privacy.

1.1.5. E-SHOPPERS AND THEIR NEEDS:

Internet companies are updating their websites and double-checking their fulfilment
processes because of the predicted boom in online sales. Enhancing web based customer
support and creating online experiences attract and satisfy online shoppers which
increases the site loyalty. E-tailers recognize that all online shoppers are not created alike.
A few savvy e-commerce companies will break out the pack because they understand the
different goals and strategies of the web shoppers. There are six basic types of online
shoppers. They are:
• The 'New to the Net' Shopper -Shoppers new to the net are still trying to grasp
the concept of e-commerce. They use the web to research purchases, and likely to
start buying online with small purchases in safe categories. A very simple
interface, an easy checkout process and lots of validation to buy online is the
requirement for new to net shopper. Product pictures will convince and shopper-
to-shopper interaction will also provide a non-threatening way for web newbies to
gain the confidence level.
• The Reluctant Shopper-Shoppers with fear may use the web for research
purchases than to buy online. When security and privacy policies are clear, they
are comfortable with the web. These shoppers also need immediate online
customer support. Shoppers who report positive experiences of buying online will
reassure these shoppers.
• The Bargain Shopper -Shoppers use comparison shopping tools sporting with no
brand loyalty. These shoppers are just looking for the lowest price. Retailers must

9
 convince these shoppers that they are getting the best price. Sale-priced items
listed on the site are very attractive to these shoppers.
• The Surgical Shopper -Shoppers know what exactly they want before logging
online and purchase that item only. They seek information to match against the
criteria and purchase when they are confident. Product configurators and archived
opinions are essential to persuade surgical shoppers. They are also benefit from
quick access to insights from other shoppers' experiences.
• The Enthusiastic Shopper -Shoppers use shopping as a form of recreation and
purchase frequently. They are the most adventurous shoppers. It is important to
cater the fun-loving character of the enthusiast shoppers. To fuel the shoppers
enjoyment, websites offer them engaging tools to view the merchandise,
personalized product recommendations, and community applications such as
bulletin boards and customer feedback pages.
• The Powerful Shopper- Shoppers shop out of necessity and develop sophisticated
shopping strategies to find what they want, and do not waste time looking around.
They will be attracted by the sites that have excellent navigation tools and offer
lots of information on the available products, customer experiences, expert
opinions and customer service. They want instant access to information and
support, and expect highly relevant product recommendations that match their
criteria.

1.2 E-Commerce
It refers to the electronic commerce where the shopping and mercantilism of goods and
services takes place, transmittal of funds and information over the internet connection.
There are different modes of doing e-commerce like, B2B (Business to Business), B2C
(Business to Customers), etc. E-commerce and E-business both are quite similar terms as
they both includes E-transaction. With the increase in the EDI (Electronic Data
Interchange) the growth in the E-commerce sector has taken a hike, due to which it has
become easier and convenient for the consumers and traders to deal with products within
the boundary of their nation as well as outside the boundary. Internet has become the most
10
important tool across the world which has made the work more convenient and also the
availability and knowledge of internet has given rise to the E-commerce in the market.
With the increase in the utilization of e-commerce, with every passing year there has been
an improvement in this sector.

1.2.1 Types of E-commerce business models

• Online Subscriptions

• Exclusive Brand Stores

• Deals Websites
• Marketplace

We will look into them one by one -

a) Online Subscriptions- These websites work like an offline subscription. Here the
users can choose from subscriptions available on the website and subscribe according
to their needs. The payment for subscription can be made online and also the recurring
payments can be made in the same manner and the consumer can get the services.
Hence, online payment for the service is the pressure point here. This makes the
services more accessible and easier payment options make it more attractive to the
users. In India magazines like Frontline can be subscribed online and so can the
newspapers like The Hindu. Amazon.com has also started the monthly subscription
service where it provides the consumers the option of monthly subscription with
discounts from normal rates and the consumers can pay the subscription fees on their
website.

b) Online Exclusive Brand Stores- Here the brands create their own online brand
stores. The brand’s catalogue is uploaded on the website where the consumers see it
which is also available in their physical stores. Here the consumers get the advantage
of shopping from their trusted brands online without having to visit the physical
stores. Examples of online exclusive brand stores are HP, Samsung, Peter England,
Monte Carlo etc.

c) Deals Websites- There are various ecommerce websites which provide the best deals
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 to the consumers. Such websites give the consumers various deals available on other
websites or stores. For example coupondunia.in , cashkaro.in etc.

d) Marketplace- Here the consumers and sellers are provided with a platform to
interact with each other. Based on this there are various websites with different
models that they follow. These models are:

• Business to Consumer (B2C)- This is the most common business model that
usually people know about. Here the sellers of products or services, as well as the
buyers of such products or services, are present on an online platform. Virtual stores
give the consumers access to wider variety of products at cheaper rates. The best
example for this is Amazon.in, Flipkart.com, Myntra.com, Snapdeal.com etc where
the consumers can find almost anything be it books, electronic products like washing
machines, USB storage devices, clothes, shoes or personal care etc.
In India the B2C model is growing at a fast pace, however, there are still various
challenges. The major challenge is poor internet connectivity. Also most consumers
do not possess credit cards. Most consumers still depend on cash on delivery mode of
payment. In addition to this the ecommerce websites do not have very good customer
services leaving the consumers doubtful about using these websites and apps.

• Business to Business (B2B)- here both the parties are involved in business
activities. Here commercial transactions take place between both the parties. The
parties involved can be a manufacturer and wholesaler or a wholesaler and retailer. In
India the B2B model has 100% Foreign Direct Investment allowed through automatic
route, unlike the B2C model. However, this model is still in its nascent stage in India.
Online business transactions in India are limited and the market is less receptive.
However, the experts do believe that this situation shall change in coming times and
the B2B ecommerce space is expected to grow almost 2.5 times by 2020.

• Consumer to Consumer (C2C)- Here both the parties are individuals

12
 undertaking a business activity on a platform. Here the individual can sell something
they no longer need or can sell products made by them as they engage in a small home
based business activity like bags or some handicraft items. The best example of this
model in India is Ebay.in, OLX.com, Quikr.com etc. OLX and Quikr are almost alike
and provide a platform to the consumers to connect and buy and sell anything be it
land, flats, paying guest facilities, mobiles, laptops, bikes, bicycles etc. The companies
have become very successful and work as electronic classifieds.

• Consumer to Business (C2B)- In this model the consumer sell their products and
services to businesses. The best examples for this model are the job portals. In India
websites like Monster.com, TimesJobs.com etc. can be put in this category. Here the
consumer, the job seeker, puts her resume on the website in order to get a job offer
from employers. The ecommerce business models are selected by the companies as
per their objectives, desired results and target consumers. There can be modifications
done in these business models as per the requirement of the companies.

• B2A (BUSINESS TO ADMINISTRATION) - This piece of internet business

includes all exchanges led online amongst organizations and open organization. This
is a region that includes an expansive sum and an assortment of administrations,
especially in regions, for example, financial, government managed savings, work,
authoritative reports and registers, and so on. These sorts of administrations have
expanded significantly as of late with ventures made in e-government.

• C2A (CONSUMER TO ADMINISTRATION) - The Consumer-to-

Administration demonstrate includes every single electronic exchange directed
amongst people and open organization.

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1.2.2. FUNCTIONING OF E-COMMERCE
These are the common place elements of a web based business framework accessible both
on back office and front office:
• Registration
• Basket
• Payment
• Product Management
• Order Management
• VAT and Shipping Cost

a) REGISTRATION –Keeping in mind the end goal to make a buy, clients must enrol
with the site, giving all the data expected to transportation and charging. The
information will be put away on a database and will be accessible from the back
office.

b) BASKET –The bushel is a device that, similar to a shopping container, enables clients
to choose the items they need and after that go to the checkout for instalment. The
basket implies the following :-
• condensing client asks for inside the potential outcomes offered by the list.
• checking the bin and perhaps drop/alter the things put in it.
• beginning the instalment procedure for the chose items.

c) PAYMENT –The instalment framework is a component that encourages exchange

between the gatherings associated with money related exchanges: the bank, the store
and you with your Mastercard. In the wake of taking care of in the request, the client
enters his/her charge card number that movements along a channel exclusively open to
the bank. The bank checks the client's record and chooses whether or not to approve
the instalment. The task takes a couple of minutes. In the event that endorsed, the bank
plays out the exchange and exchanges the instalment to the record. In the event that

14
 denied the client is informed that the exchange can't be finished and his request is
dropped.

d) PRODUCT MANAGEMENT –This is the primary piece of the internet business

framework and gives every one of the highlights required to item arrangement,
arrange satisfaction, and so on.., key to the administration of online deals. In detail the
highlights in the framework are:
• Product Management - This makes it conceivable to characterize an item
through an arrangement of standard fields.
• Product code
• Category
• Sub-category
• Product name
• Zoom picture
• Size available
• Description
• Price
• Pieces in stock
The items can be sought by class and subcategory. The back-office highlight that
enables you to relate related items to additionally fortify online deals is extremely
helpful.

e) ORDER MANAGEMENT- the request is the card that condenses all the conveyance
and request data to empower amend conveyance. It incorporates:
• List of products purchased
• User information
• Details of delivery
• Delivery time information
• Payment of information
Dealing with the request implies crossing the data on the enrolment database, the
information in the crate, the conveyance data and check information identifying with
15
 the instalment FICO score. This data is abridged in a frame distinguished by a number
or reference code (arrange number).

f) LISTING ORDERS AND CUSTOMER DETAILS – From the back office of the
site you can hunt and sort arranges by:
• Customer
• Order status
• Date payment
Requests might be printed for connection to the shipment (pressing rundown).

g) VAT AND SHIPPING COSTS- Not withstanding the cost of items obtained, the
framework deals with the VAT and the transportation charges. The web based
business module can oversee VAT rates in nations inside and outside the EU. Delivery
costs both settled and variable in light of the weight and volume of the shipment.

h) DISCOUNTS – Rebates and advancements are overseen for a solitary item or item
class. This second period of the site requires a nitty gritty examination of your present
stockpiling and request administration frameworks with which it will be important to
coordinate.

1.3 E-TAILING UNDER E-COMMERCE

E-TAILING is the offering of retail products on the Internet. Another way to say
"electronic retailing," and utilized in Internet dialogs as right on time as 1995, the term
appears a relatively unavoidable expansion to e-mail, e-business and e-commerce. E-
tailing is the synonyms of B2C type of e-commerce.

Effective e-tailing requires solid marketing. Sites must draw in, effortlessly traversable
and routinely refreshed to meet shoppers' evolving requests. Items and administrations
need to emerge from contenders' contributions and increase the value of customers' lives.
What's more, an organization's contributions must be aggressively evaluated so customers
16
don't support one business over another in light of cost alone. E-tailors require solid
conveyance proficiency so buyers are not sitting tight significant lots of time for the items
or administrations they buy. Straightforwardness in business rehearses is additionally vital
so shoppers trust and remain faithful to an organization. As customers keep purchasing
from the business, income increments.
There are types of E-tailors -
• Pure play e-tailors – for example, Amazon, flipkart, myntra etc. that rose as the online
book shop. It is available just on the web and don't have any physical outlet for the
clients.
• Brick and Click e-tailors - for example, Dell, that offers PCs through the web and in
addition has the physical retail facade for the clients.

1.3.1. Steps involved in E-tailing

The shopping process through internet media happens in 5 steps generally-
• Customer visit: The customer accesses the website of the e-tailer through his/her
mobile or PC or laptop. This visit is very critical to the e-tailer because it is this
visit that would create an opportunity for a business. The simplicity of the site, the
arrangements of the products in the site and various other factors decide the first
impression of the customer.

• Choice of product: Once the customer visits the site he/she would choose a
product based on the image and valid information available on the web page. This
information can include the price tag, details about the product,
availability/deliverable time span and even customer reviews on the product.

• Payment online: Once the customer chooses the product the next step would be to
go through a secure process of data exchange. The e-tailer may provide a unique
user account to the customer to keep the transaction safe. Payments to the product
can be made online through credit or debit card or even cash on delivery basis
where the customer pays the e-tailer when the product is delivered to him/her.

17
 • Product delivery: Once the order is placed with the e-tailer the next process
would test the efficiency of supply chain network of the e-tailer. The delivery of
the product would be based on the availability of the product in the inventory
closest to the customer’s delivery address. This process may also involve shipment
of the product. There are different methods used in this process. Some e-tailers
just create a platform through a website where the business actually takes place
between the customer and a company (or business) who is a client to the e-tailer.
Here the e-tailer would just take the commission on each product sold. Typically
an e-tailer may also choose to buy products that have potential demand and then
display it on the site. In this case the e-tailer would have to take care of inventory
expenses and also the entire procurement and disbursement cycle.

• Customer feedback: Once the product is delivered to the customer the feedback
from the customer is very much important. This is primarily because of the
absence of a real shopping store environment. The entire experience of the
customer during the process would be an indicator of the efficiency of e-tailing.
This experience of the customer can be accessed through proper customer service
for feed backs and the problems faced by the customer should be corrected by the
e-tailer. Late delivery, wrong product, damaged product etc can be some of the
customer complaints which the e-tailer would have to sort out.

1.3.2. Advantages of e-tailing

• Through electronic retailing, clients can spare both the endeavors and time.
• The extensive variety of items is accessible on the web, so the correlation can be made
effortlessly before the buy.
• The client can shop whenever and from anyplace, the office is accessible 24*7
• The tremendous rebates can be profited while shopping on the web.

1.3.3. Disadvantages of e-tailing

• The clients may not make certain of the nature of the items offered on the web.

18
• It is the inclination of each person to deal before making the last buy, yet this
remainder is absent in electronic retailing.
• Also, the clients may not trust on the instalment doors and dread the abuse of Visas or
some other method of instalment.

1.4 Company profile

1.4.1. AMAZON.COM

Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon is an American electronic commerce and

cloud computing company based in Seattle, Washington, that was founded by Jeff Bezos
on July 5, 1994. The tech giant is the largest Internet retailer in the world as measured by
revenue and market capitalization, and second largest after Alibaba Group in terms of
total sales. The amazon.com website started as an online bookstore and later diversified
to sell video downloads/streaming, MP3 downloads/streaming, audiobook
downloads/streaming, software, video games, electronics, apparel, furniture, food,
toys, and jewellery. The company also produces consumer electronics—Kindle e-
readers, Fire tablets, Fire TV, and Echo—and is the world's largest provider of cloud
infrastructure services (IaaS and PaaS). Amazon also sells certain low-end products
under its in-house brand Amazon Basics.

Amazon has separate retail websites for the United States, the United Kingdom and
Ireland, France, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Australia, Brazil, Japan,
China, India, and Mexico. In 2016, Dutch, Polish, and Turkish language versions of the
German Amazon website were also launched. Amazon also offers international shipping
of some of its products to certain other countries.

In 2015, Amazon surpassed Wal-Mart as the most valuable retailer in the United States

19
by market capitalization. Amazon is the fourth most valuable public company in
the world (behind only Apple, Alphabet, and Microsoft), the largest Internet
company by revenue in the world, and after Walmart, the second largest employer in
the United States. In 2017, Amazon acquired Whole Foods Market for $13.4 billion,
which vastly increased Amazon's presence as a brick-and-mortar retailer. The
acquisition was interpreted by some as a direct attempt to challenge Walmart's
traditional retail stores. In 2018, for the first time, Jeff Bezos released in Amazon's
shareholder letter the number of Amazon Prime subscribers, which at 100 million, is
approximately 64% of households in the United States.

Amazon.com’s Corporate Vision Statement- Amazon’s corporate vision is “to be

Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover
anything they might want to buy online.” This vision statement underscores the business
organization’s main aim of becoming the best e-commerce company in the world. In this
regard, the following characteristics are identifiable in Amazon’s corporate vision
statement:
• Global reach
• Customer-centric approach
• Widest selection of products

Amazon.com’s Corporate Mission Statement- Amazon’s mission statement is “We

strive to offer our customers the lowest possible prices, the best available selection, and
the utmost convenience.” This corporate mission promises attractive e- commerce
services to satisfy target customers’ needs. The company focuses on the variables of price,
selection, and convenience. In this regard, the following characteristics are identifiable in
Amazon’s corporate mission statement:
• Lowest prices
• Best selection
• Utmost convenience

Products and services - Amazon.com's product lines available at its website include

20
several media (books, DVDs, music CDs, videotapes and software), apparel, baby
products, consumer electronics, beauty products, gourmet food, groceries, health and
personal-care items, industrial & scientific supplies, kitchen items, jewelry, watches, lawn
and garden items, musical instruments, sporting goods, tools, automotive items and toys
& games. Amazon is now gearing up in India to play a role in the grocery retail sector
aimed at delivering customer needs. Amazon.com has a number of products and services
available, including:

• Amazon Fresh

• Amazon Prime

• Amazon Web Services

• Alexa

• Appstore

• Amazon Drive

• Echo

• Kindle

• Fire tablets

• Fire TV

• Video

• Kindle Store

• Music

• Music Unlimited

• Amazon Digital Game Store

• Amazon Studios

• Amazon Wireless

21
1.4.2 Flipkart.com

It is an e-Commerce company founded in the year 2007, by Mr. Sachin Bansal

and Binny Bansal both alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. They had
been working for Amazon.com previously. It operates exclusively in India, where it
is headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka. It was registered in Singapore, and owned
by a Singapore based holding company. Flipkart has launched its own product range
under the name “DigiFlip”, Flipkart also recently launched its own range of personal
healthcare and home appliances under the brand “Citron”. During its initial years,
Flipkart focused only on books, and soon as it expanded, it started offering other
products like electronic goods, air conditioners, air coolers, stationery supplies and
life style products and e-books. Legally, Flipkart is not an Indian company since it
is registered in Singapore and majority of its shareholders are foreigners. Because
foreign companies are not allowed to do multi-brand e-retailing in India, Flipkart sells
goods in India through a company called WS Retail. Other third-party sellers or
companies can also sell goods through the Flipkart platform. Flipkart now employs more
than 15000 people. Flipkart allows payment methods such as cash on delivery, credit
or debit card transactions, net banking, e-gift voucher and card swipe on delivery.
Flipkart is presently one of the largest online retailers in India, present across more
than 14 product categories & with a reach in around 150 cities. Flipkart is currently
a 10,000 member strong team, with 3000 sellers on its platform and delivering 5
million shipments per month. It made its presence felt in online retailing by offering
path breaking services like Cash on Delivery (COD), 30 Day replacement Guarantee,
EMI options, Flipkart mobile app, etc. It offers products- toys, movies, watches,
luggage, beauty &healthcare, Home & kitchen, belts, bags, mobiles and cameras,
computer accessories, clothing, home & kitchen.

22
Vision Statement- “To become Amazon of India”.

Mission Statement-“Providing a delightful and memorable customer experience”.

Objective-“Completely hassle free shopping experience with best prices in India”.

1.4.3. Snapdeal.com

Snapdeal is one of India’s leading e-commerce companies with its headquarters located in
New Delhi. Snapdeal was launched in 2010, a time when the e-commerce market in India
was at a nascent stage. The company was co-founded by Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal.
Snapdeal currently offers more than 60 million products across various categories such as
mobiles & tablets, computers, office & gaming, electronics, home & living, men’s and
women’s fashion, sports, fitness & outdoors, daily needs, motors & accessories, books,
music, real estate, and financial services. The company has more than 3 lakh sellers on its
e-commerce platform that cater to millions of users. Snapdeal has a wide logistics
network and it delivers to more than 6000 cities and towns in India. Snapdeal launched
operations on February 4, 2010. At that time, the core business idea powering Snapdeal
was the daily deals platform. It allowed users to get the best deals every day, for example,
discounts at restaurants, hotels movie theatres, etc. Later, in December 2011, the company
announced its plans that it would be changing its business dynamics and transitioning to a
full-fledged e-commerce company. The move came as a surprise to investors, since the
company had a 70 percent share in the daily deals business. Investors were sceptical, but
Bahl was able to convince the board members. The decision has turned out to be
visionary, as Snapdeal is currently a leading e-commerce marketplace in India.

23
Snapdeal mission statement- “Snapdeal aims at making life fun for consumers. We have
a simple business philosophy; we just do not offer best prices, we offer great experiences!
You do not need to spend a fortune to enjoy what you love; we are just a click away.”

1.4.4. Myntra.com

Myntra.com is India’s top e-commerce company for fashion and lifestyle products,
headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka. It provides the widest range of brands and
products on its portal. Myntra.com also allows shoppers to choose apparel, accessories,
cosmetics, and footwear from over 500 leading Indian and international brands. They are
in the lead in changing the face of retail and shopping in India. The brand is attempting to
convey the energy of design to customers with a variety of the most recent and trendiest
items accessible in the nation. It also develops an in-house application Style Studio, a
virtual dressing room aimed at making online shopping interactive for shoppers. It is an
Indian fashion e-commerce company headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. The
company was founded in 2007 to sell personalized gift items. In May 2014, Myntra.com
was acquired by Flipkart. Established by Mukesh Bansal along with Ashutosh Lawania
and Vineet Saxena; Myntra sold on-demand personalized gift items. It mainly operated on
the B2B (business-to-business) model during its initial years. Between 2007 and 2010, the
site allowed customers to personalize products such as T-shirts, mugs, mouse pads, and
others. In 2011, Myntra began selling fashion and lifestyle products and moved away
from personalisation. By 2012 Myntra offered products from 350 Indian and International
brands. The website launched the brands Fastrack Watches and Being Human. In 2014
Myntra was acquired by Flipkart in a deal valued at ₹2,000
crore (US$280 million). Myntra functions and operates independently. Myntra continues

24
to operate as a standalone brand under Flipkart ownership, focusing primarily on
"fashion-conscious" consumers. In 2014, Myntra's portfolio included about 1,50,000
products of over 1000 brands, with a distribution area of around 9000 pincodes in India.
In 2015, Ananth Narayanan became the Chief Executive Officer of Myntra..

Vision: “To make the world a more stylish, colorful and happier place”.

Mission: “Use technology to democratize fashion & lifestyle and help people look good.
Myntra is a meritocratic, non-hierarchical and fun workplace. Our employees are
empowered with a high degree of ownership and accountability”.

Brands: Myntra understands its shoppers' needs and caters to them with choice of
apparel, accessories, cosmetics and footwear from over 500 leading Indian and
international brands. Prominent brands include Adidas, Nike, Puma, Catwalk, Inc 5,
United Colors of Benetton, FCUK, Timberland, Avirate, FabIndia and Biba to name a
few. You can also shop from some recently introduced labels such as - Roadster, Sher
Singh, Dressberry, Kook N Keech and ETC.

Myntra in-house-brands

25
1.4.5. Jabong.com

It is an Indian fashion and lifestyle e-commerce portal, selling apparel, footwear, fashion
accessories, beauty products, fragrance, home accessories and other fashion and lifestyle
products. The company is headquartered in Gurgaon. The site started operations in
January 2012.Jabong.com was an Indian fashion and lifestyle e-commerce portal founded
by Praveen Sinha, Lakshmi Potluri, Arun Chandra Mohan and Manu Kumar Jain. In
July,2016 Flipkart acquired Jabong through its unit Myntra for about $70 million. In
February, 2020, Flipkart formally shut down Jabong to shift focus completely on its
premium clothing platform Myntra.

Mission statement: “To deliver unparalleled assortment, a seamless shopping experience,

the most responsive customer service, and a caring workplace for the employees.”

26
 Chapter 2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Ahuja (2018) makes a study on customer perception towards the purchase of electronic
goods through Amazon and Flipkart. The study hovers around four basic aspects of viz.
Gender and satisfaction level towards Amazon, Gender and satisfaction level towards
Flipkart, Income and satisfaction level towards Amazon and Income and satisfaction
level towards Flipkart. The paper finds out that males are more interested in purchasing
electronic goods online than females. However, people get the interest to purchase
electronic goods online only when they are exposed to offers irrespective of their age and
income.

Balasubramanian & Isswarya (2017) in their research paper discusses on the customer
satisfaction level among e-tailer sites among the customers in an educational institution.
The data were collected from 179 samples who basically post graduate students and the
tools for analysis were simple statistical tools like a percentage. The study also ponders
upon investigating the major factors that ultimately impact customer satisfaction towards
Flipkart and Amazon. The questionnaire focuses upon the various domains which
customers generally emphasises upon while shopping online like order tracking and
delivery, website usage, product availability, payment procedures etc.

K Francis Sudhakar (2016), Internet became more powerful and basic tool for every
person’s need and the way people work. By integrating various online information
management tools using Internet, various innovative companies have set up systems for
taking customer orders, facilitate making of payments, customer service, collection of
marketing data, and online feedback respectively. These activities have collectively known
as e-commerce or Internet commerce. Online shopping made so easy for everyone with their
product variations and simple way to buy things. An attempt has been made to critically
examine various corporate and business level strategies of big e-tailers. Comparison have
27
been done considering e-commerce challenges, their business model, funding, revenue
generation, growth, survival strategies, Shoppers’ online shopping experience, value added
differentiation, and product value between internet and store shopping, and revisit the
relationships among past positive experience, perceived risk level, and future purchase
intention within the internet shopping environment.

Francis Sudhakar K, Habeeb Syed (2016), “A Comparative study between Flipkart and
Amazon India”, conducted a study to critically examine various corporate and business
level strategies of two big etailers and those are Flipkart and Amazon. Comparison have
been done considering e-commerce challenges, their business model, funding, revenue
generation, growth, survival strategies, Shoppers’ online shopping experience, value
added differentiation, and product offerings. Both these big players made their own mark
in India. The survey ended with Amazon as the winner, which satisfied the customer in
all the aspect.

DV et. al (2015), studies about the perceptions of customers towards the services offered
by different online marketers. The authors ponder mainly on the aspects like satisfaction
with the product and service offered, Preference to online shopping over traditional
shopping, satisfaction with the mode of payment, easy return facility, after sales service
etc. The paper suggests that the instalment system and proper display of the size and
specification of the goods on the website can be an added advantage to the organisation.
They are in the opinion that as the numbers of online shoppers are growing every day, the
online transactions portals should be safe and secure for every e-tailing website.

Amit Saha (2015) revealed impact of the increasing trend of online shopping over the
various fixed shop retailers. This research study examined the various aspects about how
retail businesses are being affected and also the various recovery mechanisms they are
coming up with to counter those e-stores in their race of survival. This research study also
found the effect upon the profitability of the various concerns due to increasing trend for
online shopping.

28
Pooja Gupta (2015), The study tries to recognize that, how consumer measure channels for
their purchasing. Specifically, it progresses a conceptual model that addresses consumer
value perception for using the internet shopping versus the traditional shopping. Earlier
study showed that perceptions of price, product quality, service quality and threat strongly
impact perceived value and purchase intents in the offline and online network.
Observations of online and offline buyers can be evaluated to see how value is constructed in
both.

Saravanan S and Brindha Devi K (2015), “A Study on Online Buying behavior with
special reference to Coimbatore city” focused on online shoppers’ preferences and
problems on various online shopping marketers. Higher computer literacy makes internet
shopping smarter. Their awareness about the internet also makes them better positioned
to identify and take decision for products and services.

Prashant Singh (2014) examined that the main objective of the research is to find the
customer’s buying behaviour towards online shopping. The research stated that future of
e-retailers in India looking very bright. Nowdays e-retailers give customers the best way
to save money and time through purchasing online within the range of budget. These
leading e-retailers also offering some of the best prices and completely hassle-free
shopping experience. The research concludes that whole concept of online shopping has
altered in India in terms of customer’s purchasing or buying behavior.

Goyal (2014) studies about the perception of Indian customers towards online shopping.
The study focuses on discovering the factors that induce online sales and identify the
loopholes in it. Furthermore, the study also aims to find out the most and the least popular
categories of products that are purchased online. The paper finds out that though online
shopping is growing rapidly, yet there are many cases where people find the deals online
but prefer purchasing offline. The researcher also states there exist a reverse trend as well
where people touch and feel the product offline but purchase it online.

29
Dhevika V.P.T, Latasri O.T.V, S Karmugil (2014), in their paper “Factors Affecting
Online shopping of Customers” revealed that the most important factor influencing online
shopping is- security, followed by – trust worthy shopping and – website design/features
and the least important factor influencing is – bargaining shopping, there is no significant
association between security and website design/features of the respondents and their
overall online buying behaviour.

Ashish Pant (2014), “An Online Shopping Change the Traditional Path of Consumer
Purchasing” concluded in his research article that a successful web store is not the just a
good looking website with the dynamic technical features but is also emphasis on
building the relationship with customers with making money. The success of any e-tailer
company in India is depending upon its popularity, its branding image, its unique & fair
policies, and its customer relations etc.

Mohana Priya S and Anusuya D (2014), “A Study on Customer Preferences and

Satisfaction towards selected online websites” stated that online shopping has grown in
popularity over the years mainly because people find it convenient from the comfort of
their home or office. Most of the customers are satisfied by online shopping, but the only
hinder is that they are not fully secured. Government has to improve security laws related
to online websites so that the online customers feel secured in case of debit card, credit
card or online payments.

D.K.Gangeshwar (2013),” e-commerce or internet marketing: a business review from

Indian context”, international journal of u- and e- service, science and technology.
Concluded that the e-commerce has a very bright future in India although security, privacy
and dependency on technology are some of the drawbacks of e-commerce but still there is a
bright future to e-commerce.

Adrita Goswami et.al (2013), studied “Customer Satisfaction towards Online Shopping”
study concludes that online customers are satisfied in the aspects such as Price, Quality of
30
products, Ease of use in mobile platform and Timely Delivery at remote areas. This
research explicitly indicates that online marketer should give more importance on price
factor and after sale factor.

Abhijit Mitra (2013),” e-commerce in India-a review”, international journal of marketing

financial services & management research. Concluded that the e-commerce has broken the
geographical limitations and it is a revolution-commerce will improve tremendously in next
five years in India

Kanwal Gurleen (2012), “Customers satisfaction towards Online shopping”, discussed

that different options in internet encouraged people to search and eventually purchase
online, because there are more than 100 million internet users in India. People those who
are using internet from 5 to 7 hours a day were found to be adopter of online shopping.
Price consciousness, convenience and variety, easy payment options and challenges of
online shopping are the factors found to be a significant in online shopping.

Samadi and Ali (2010) compared the perceived risk level between internet and store
shopping, and revisit the relationships among past positive experience, perceived risk level,
and future purchase intention within the internet shopping environment.

Sharma and Mittal (2009) in their study “prospects of e-commerce in India”, mentions
that India is showing tremendous growth in the e-commerce. Undoubtedly, with the middle
class of 288 million people, online shopping shows unlimited potential in India. The real
estate costs are touching the sky. Today e-commerce has become an integral part of our
daily life. There are websites providing any number of goods and services. The e-commerce
portals provide goods and services in a variety of categories. To name a few: apparel and
accessories for men and women, health and beauty products, books and magazines,
computers and peripherals, vehicles, software, consumer electronics, household appliances,
jewelry, audio, video, entertainment, goods, gift articles, real estate and services. Ashish
gupta, senior managing director of helion venture partners and one of the first backers of
Flipkart as an angel investor: “Flipkart has been absorbing companies that have some

31
potential (letsbuy, myntra). In that process, some of the bets will go wrong, for sure. But
that is par for the course. The company (Flipkart) is consciously taking bets that allow it to
either grow or eliminate competition that reduces marketing spend and improves economics.”

Martin Dodges (1999), finding the source of Amazon.com: examining the hype of the
earth’s biggest book store”, center for advanced spatial analysis. Concluded that Amazon
com has been one of the most promising e-commerce companies and has grown rapidly by
providing quality service.

32
 Chapter 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research Method

In this study, the research methodology used is explorative study which is a combination
of both Primary & Secondary data has been used. Primary data is used in the form of
questionnaire method, which has been created using Google forms & distributed among
internet & social media users. In addition to it, secondary data has been used to support
the study.

3.2 Research Gap and Objectives of Study

3.2.1.Research Gap

• Questionnaires method is used only for data collection and the limitation of the
questionnaire method is applicable to the study.
• Another limitation was the relatively short period within which this research was
carried out.

3.2.2. Objectives of the study

• To recognize the most preferable shopping site.
• To evaluate when the people prefer to shop online.
• To determine the most frequently purchased products.
• To evaluate whether the online shopping is safe.
• To know the aggregate percentage of people, who prefer online shopping.
• To evaluate when the people prefer to shop online.
• To know whether online shopping price is less than traditional shopping price.

3.3 Sampling

33
• SAMPLE SIZE
The sample size chose are 50 customers of Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, Myntra,
Jabong . The subjects for the study were within the age group of 17 to 52 years. Thus,
the sampling unit includes students, job holders, professionals and business persons.
This age group is selected because it is seen that most of the internet users in India lie
within this age group.

• SAMPLE AREA
Gwalior is area from where all this information collected.

• DATA COLLECTION
Both primary and secondary data were used.
a) Primary data: Primary data is collected through observation or direct communication
with the respondent in one form or another. These are several methods for primary
data collection-
• Observation Method
• Interview Method
• Through Questionnaire
• Consumer panels
• Through Projective Techniques
• Dept interviews
• Contents Analysis
But as the time was limited I used the questionnaire and schedule method of data
collection .
b) Secondary data: The secondary data was collected from the existing data sources,
catalogues, internet.

The questionnaire was initially pilot-tested by trainer. The results of the pilot test proved
to be satisfactory, since all the respondents found most of the questionnaire items
understandable. Nevertheless, some wording mistakes and unwanted questions were
34
found, which were corrected in the questionnaire’s version that was finally distributed in
the field research.

3.4 Mode of Analysis

The instrument used for data collection was in the form of questionnaire. The
questionnaire was used as it facilitated the tabulation and analysis of the data to be
collected. The data collected was subjected to simple frequency distribution and
percentage analysis.

35
 Chapter 4
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Discussion
This research sought to explain and evaluate user tastes through various online shopping
websites in India and across common product categories for online transactions. For
Flipkart and Amazon, the trend appeared identical, all the multi-category pages being
studied with Gadgets being the most common category for the majority of respondents for
their favourite page, accompanied by categories of Apparel and Accessories that they get
on Myntra. Snapdeal was seen as similarly favoured for all these three groups, but for
Flipkart and Amazon the percentage for Gadgets was considerably greater. It was noticed
that Myntra and Jabong are viewed as a category-specific website with more than 50
percent of respondents reporting that they are the top option for online Apparel
transactions. Among the five listed online retail platforms amazon.com is the pioneer in
eleven attributes out of 16 attributes evaluated for this analysis. It delivers the widest
variety of premium goods of various variations in each product segment and even specific
pricing points according to the consumer's view. Snapdeal.com provides the best pricing
and has the enticing consumer answer platform while Flipkart.com is considered to be the
greatest consumer support services. Myntra is known on their website for delivering true
and genuine offers and best filters. Online shoppers say that firms can enhance the show
areas of initial items, product return policy, and product definition.

36
 4.2 Data Analysis

Table 4.2.1: Depicting the customer’s views regarding online shopping

Sl. No Particulars % of Agree % of
Disagree
1 Satisfied with the product and service offered 92% 08%

2 Prefer to shop online than multiplex 88% 12%

3 Satisfied with the mode of payment 96% 04%

4 Easy return facility 76% 24%

5 After sales service 46% 54%

6 Regular online customer 43% 57%

7 Safe shopping online 84% 16%

8 Online shopping price is less than traditional shopping price 80% 20%

37
 Fig 4.2.1: showing the customer views regarding online shopping

Interpretation:
1. Satisfied with the product and service offered: Online shopping provides branded
and best quality products to its customers and it offers service like free home delivery
service. This has led to satisfaction among the customers. As per the survey, 92% of the
online shoppers are satisfied with the product and service offered to them. And the rest
08% are not satisfied, because their phobia is that products which are shown on site are
comparatively different from the products which they receive.

2. Prefer to shop online than multiplex: In today’s busy life, people prefer to shop
online rather than that of multiplex as it saves much of their time. According to the
research conducted, 88% of the people prefer to shop online due to its ease and
convenience. And 12% prefer to shop in multiplex as they are addicted to traditional
shopping. some people also have the mindset that they would get the used products.

3. Satisfied with the mode of payment: Shopping sites provides various mode of
payment such as cash on delivery, instalment basis, credit card and debit card facility. As

38
per the analysis done, 96% of the customers are satisfied with the mode of payment
provided and 4% are not satisfied.

4. Easy return facility: If the customers are not satisfied with the product delivered to
them, they enjoy easy return facility. But only certain sites provide this facility. As per the
study, 76% shoppers agree that they enjoy this facility due to their own experience and the
rest of 24% do not agree with this, because some sites do not provide single window
solution.

5. After sales service: Various after sales service such as guarantee and warranty,
feedback facility, free shipping facility and many more. These facilities have helped to
create more demand for the products and increase sales. The data conveys that 46% of
the people are satisfied with the after sales service provided to them and 54% are not
satisfied with this facility. Because they have not experienced proper guarantee and
warranty facility. And even sometimes no proper reply is given to the feedback of the
customers.

6. Regular online customer: Internet access is increasing day by day and the improved
technology had made the people to shop regularly. But still some people rarely through
online and regularly through traditional way as they feel it a easy way to make purchase.
As per the data collected, 43% of the people are regular online customers, these are
mainly working people who do not have time to go to shop and make purchase and also
the younger generation are depended on online purchase as they seek variety of
alternatives for the same product. 57% of the people are not regular online customers
because the quality of the products cannot be known and some people are not flexible to
shop online.

7. Safe shopping online: As the private information of the customers such as contact
number, e-mail address, residential address, etc. are not revealed to other customers due to
the HTTP’s service provided which locks the personal information of the customers. By
this people feel safe and secure to shop online. The information collected conveys that
39
84% of the people feel safe and convenience to shop online due to the security provided to
them, which reduces the risk of hacking and security norms. And 16% people do not feel
safe to shop online, because some sites do not provide safe credit security.

8. Online shopping price is less than traditional shopping price: As the online sites
directly purchase products from the manufacturers, the price of the products are less
costly than that of multiplex price. The research conveys that 80% of the people agree that
online price is less costly as it provides discounts and offers and also reduces the
maintenance costs. But still due to the bargaining habit 20% of the people disagree with
this.

Table 4.2.2 : Comparative analysis of online shopping among Amazon, flipkart, snap
deal, Myntra, Jabong.
Particulars Amazon Flipkart Snapdeal Myntra Jabong
a) Most preferable shopping site 33% 27% 10% 25% 5%

b) Best shopping site 39% 25% 11% 21% 4%

c) Most frequently purchased

product
1. Clothing 18% 21% 9% 41% 11%

2.Footwears 21% 25% 8% 36% 10%

3.Electronics 35% 44% 21% 0% 0%

4.Kitchen & home appliances 29% 38% 23% 6% 4%

5.Accesories & cosmetics 36% 34% 9% 15% 6%

d) Mostly shopped during

1.Regularly 28% 34% 8.5% 25.5% 4%

2.offers & discounts 26% 38% 14% 19% 3%

3.occassions 24% 30% 18% 25% 5%

4.Rarely 34% 40% 26% 0% 0%

40
 5
Jabong

20 33
Amazon Amazon
Myntra
Fliipkart
Snapdeal
Myntra
10
Jabong
Snapdeal

27
Flipkart

Fig 4.2.2 Most preferable shopping site

4%
Jabong

21%
Myntra 39% Amazon
Amazon
Fliipkart
Snapdeal
11% Myntra
Snapdeal
Jabong

25%
Flipkart

Fig 4.2.3 Best Shopping Site

41
INTREPRETATION:

Most preferable and best shopping site- Online shopping stores have increased rapidly
within a few years. Tough competition exists between the companies to become the best
online shopping site. Almost all online shopping stores provide commodity at discounted
prices which greets the customer to buy more.

• Amazon: It is well-known for its Kindle, lightning fast shipping, and selling
virtually anything online. It has made everything simpler by offering various
products such as clothes, technology, beauty products, and home furniture. And
even the cost comparison can be made easily. As per the research conducted, 33%
of the people prefer to shop in this site and 39% of the people feel it as best
shopping site because people buy with confidence trusting the Amazon brand and
also you can upload multiple items at once using a special CSV file. But many
people disagree with this site because there’s no ability to add your own branding.

• Flipkart: Here you can buy almost everything ranging from books, toys, baby
care, belts, watches, television, cell phones to refrigerators, and a lot of various
items. Here you can get easy discounts, coupons and many other deals which will
keep you buying from Flip kart. As per the survey conducted,27% of the people
prefer to shop through this site and 25% of the people feel Flip kart is the best
shopping site due to its ease and convenience as well as due to above all reasons.
The main disadvantage of Flip kart is that the service is not up to the mark in
villages when compared to the urban areas.

• Snapdeal: It is India’s largest e-commerce website with respect to the number of

transactions in a single day. Products such as watches, hard drives, laptops, and
computers can be bought at a cheap price. It provides some heavy discounts on its
items. It operates in only a few numbers of cities but the transaction rate is very

42
 high. The data collected conveys that 10% of the people prefer to shop through
snap deal and 11% of the people choose Snap deal as best shopping site due to
these reasons. But some do not feel the same as returns are more difficult online
than in local stores.

• Myntra: It is aiming to redefine the fashion mantra of Indians, it offers

fashionable products such as T-shirts, jeans, watches, shoes, belts and other
fashion accessories. It literally takes the term of compare and shop to newer
definitions, where people can easily compare prices of different products with few
clicks. As per the survey conducted, only few people prefer to shop through this
site and only 21% feel that it is best. This site is preferred by 25% of people.

• Jabong: This site is gaining popularity day by day because of its efficient work
process and availability of number of branches in most parts of the country. As
per the analysis done, 5% people prefer to shop in this site and only 4% feel it as
best shopping site. Because it is not verified by any reliable sources, it is hearsay
and consolidated opinions of people. And it does not have anything on similar
lines, and is positioned as mainly an ecommerce store for apparel, footwear and
accessories.

43
 50%
44%
45%
41%
40% 38%
35% 36% 36%
34%
35%
29%
30%
25%
25% 23%
21% 21% 21%
20% 18%
15%
15%
11%10%
9% 8% 9%
10%
6% 6%
4%
5%
0% 0%
0%
Amazon flipkart snapdeal myntra jabong

clothing footwear electronics kitchen cosmetics

Fig 4.2.4. Comparative analysis of most frequently purchased product

Comparative analysis of most frequently purchased product-

Nowadays as almost all of the products are purchased through online, here a customer can
get every product whether it comes to a small soap to an electronic item. It shows that
need for online retailing has increased to a large extent. And the customers are very much
flexible in online purchasing. The survey says that most frequently purchased products
through online are clothing, footwear’s, electronics, kitchen and home appliances and
accessories and cosmetics.

• Clothing: As per the research conducted, 41% of the people purchase clothes
from because of their good quality and as different varieties are provided .21% of
the people purchase clothes from flipkart as its quality is not up to mark.18% of
the people purchase clothes from amazon as different varieties are not provided.
And only 9% & 11% of the people choose snapdeal and jabong respectively to
purchase clothes, due to low quality, lack in variety and fluctuations in prices.

44
 Overall 100% of the people purchase clothes from online, as variety of products
are available in different range.

• Footwear’s: The study says that 36% of the people prefer Myntra to purchase
footwear’s as fashionable footwear’s are available for both men and women.25% -
21% of the people choose flipkart and Amazon to purchase footwear’s as the
fashion trend has not increased up to the mark. And only 8% and 10% of the
people prefer snapdeal and Jabong respectively.

• Electronics: As per the survey conducted, 44%-35% of the people choose flip kart
and amazon to purchase electronic items as safe and secure shipping facility is
provided and even discounts are provided. And 21% people purchase electronics
from Snapdeal as it does not satisfy customers needs in this section as compared to
flipkart and amazon. The study also reveals that Jabong and Fashion and you are
not much developed to make sales in this section. People purchase electronic items
such as computers, mobile phones, laptops, ovens, etc. from online.

• Kitchen and home appliances: As per the information collected, people purchase
kitchen and home appliances from online which are not easily available in shops
and also the other reason may be that the online price is less than ordinary
shopping price. And 38% of the people prefer flip kart , while 29%-23% prefer
amazon and snapdeal. And only 6% and 4% purchase from Myntra & jabong
respectively as the people are not convenient to purchase these products from
online.

• Accessories and cosmetics: As per the research, 36%-34% people prefer Amazon
and Flipkart to purchase these products may be due to the fashionable trend &
discounts provided by them. And 15% is purchased from Myntra. And only 9%-
6% of the people choose other sites to purchase these products, as they do not
provide branded items in this sector.

45
 45%
40%
40% 38%

34% 34%
35%
30%
30% 28%
26% 26% 26% 25%
24%
25%
19%
20% 18%

14%
15%

10% 9%
5%
4%
5% 3%
0% 0%
0%
Amazon flipkart snapdeal myntra jabong

Regulary offers&discounts occassions rarely

Fig 4.2.5 Comparative analysis of products mostly shopped during

Comparative analysis of products mostly shopped during

As per the survey the online shopping is most preferable by the customers when there is
availability of much offers and discounts. The customers modestly purchase the products
on regular basis and occasions.

46
 Chapter 5
CONCLUSION AND FUTURE PROSPECTS

5.1 Conclusion
In the past, consumers had sufficient time to visit shopping centres, searching for various
products. Many consumers prefer bargaining and decide the purchases after physical
examination of the commodities. The entire process can range from a few hours to weeks
depending on the product, quantity, quality and source of purchase. Today there is radical
change in the entire scenario. Everything in today’s world is Internet oriented like
Electronic Data Interchange, E-Mail, E-Business and E- Commerce. E-Commerce is
exchange of information using network-based technologies. In the present high cost
situation, e-Commerce can be used as a competitive strategy. It successfully includes the
entire online process of developing, marketing, selling, delivering, servicing and paying
for products and services. Of course, online shopping won’t ever completely eliminate its
physical counterpart. There are still areas where we prefer to go into a shop and select
items – they’re part of any community, from newsagents to supermarkets. But there’s no
going back, and online shopping will become an even more central part of our lives,
growing more sophisticated with each passing year. Online shopping is a vast growing
technology. If it is properly utilized with assured safety and security for the transactions, it
will thrive into a highly competitive and dynamic environment. Understanding customer’s
need for online selling has become challenge for marketers. Specially understanding the
consumer’s attitudes towards online shopping, making improvement in the factors that
influence consumers to shop online and working on factors that affect consumers to shop
online will help marketers to gain the competitive edge over others. In conclusion, having
access to online shopping has truly revolutionized and influenced our society as a whole.
This use of technology has opened new doors and opportunities that enable for a more
convenient lifestyle today. Variety, quick service and reduced prices were three
significant ways in which online shopping influenced people from all over the world.
However, this concept of online shopping led to the possibilities of fraud and privacy
47
conflicts. Unfortunately, it has shown that it is possible for criminals to manipulate the
system and access personal information. Luckily, today with the latest features of
technology, measures are being taken in order to stop hackers and criminals from
inappropriately accessing private databases. Through privacy and security policies,
website designers are doing their best to put an end to this unethical practice. By doing so,
society will continue to depend upon online shopping, which will allow it to remain a
tremendous success in the future. Most of the people are satisfied with the mode of
payment, easy return facilities are enjoyed by most of the people, even today majority of
the people prefer traditional way of shopping, due to privacy policies provided, almost all
the customers feel safe while shopping online, customers feel that products are delivered
to them on time, customers most frequently purchase clothing’s, footwear’s and
electronics from online.

5.2 Future Prospects

• Data has been collected for comparing leading e-tailers in India , the responses can be
used for future studies .
• For understanding consumer attitudes and preferences and latest choices and
preferences of Indian customers.
• Further studies can be carried out related to e-tailer preference on the basis of product
categories as people might prefer different e-tailers for different types of products.
• Comparative study could be make between traditional shopping and online shopping
with effect of 21st century technology.
• For studying customer satisfaction factors.
• For estimating factors which influence performance in e-tailing market.
• There is ample of scope to analyse other online websites and their services.
• Further there is a prospective to study the factors of online shopping of customer
preference and satisfaction of other online websites.

48
 Chapter 6
SUMMARY

6.1 Summary
The study consisted with all the work flows of major e-commerce players in India, Amazon,
Flipkart ,Snapdeal, Myntra and Jabong. How they are performing and how they are running
perfectly in the competitive world has been explained. The innovative thinking of them to
reach more and more consumers is appreciable. They increased their network as much as
possible with ultimate aim of reaching more and more customers. They made consumers
work more easy and comfortable. In this competitive market one has to be lead and rest
will follow. Based upon consumer’s survey , Amazon is most liked. Even though it is an
international company it understood Indians very well and made its roots stronger in India.
Flipkart is also giving very tough competition to Amazon even though it is new company
when compared to Amazon. May be it takes some time to overcome, but definitely they are
doing very well in Indian e-commerce market. Based upon consumer’s survey, consumers find
Myntra more reliable for clothing and fashion segment. Snapdeal and Jabong are lagging
behind as compared to these three.

49
 REFERENCE

Journals -
1) Ahuja, B. (2018, April). Customer Perception towards Online Buying Of Electronic
Products from Flipkart and Amazon. IOSR Journal of Business and Management (IOSR-
JBM),16(9), 90-96.
2) D.K. Gangeshwar. (2013).E-Commerce or Internet Marketing: A Business Review from
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Amazon India , International Journal of Research in Regional Studies, Law, Social
Sciences, Journalism and Management Practices, 1(8), 3-11.
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of Scientific and Research Publications,2013, 3(6).
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Financial Services & Management Research, 2(18), 4-7.
11) Mohana Priya S and Anusuya D (2014).A Study on Customer Preferences and Satisfaction
towards selected online websites , Indian Journal of Research, 3(11), 11-20.
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13) Saha A.(2015). A study on impact of the increasing trend of online shopping over the
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14) Samadi and Ali (2010). A study on perceived risk level between internet and store shopping,
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19) Balasubramanian S. (2017), Exploring the implications of the Internet for consumer
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http://www.academia.edu/14592680/Exploring_the_Implications_of_the_Internet_for
_Consumer_Marketing,.
 QUESTIONNAIRE

Dear Sir/Madam,
I am Shruti Modi pursuing BBA from Amity University. I am preparing a project on “ A
comparative study on consumer preferences towards selected e-tailer brands”. For this I have
designed a Questionnaire to know your views . Fill the given as per your thinking and
experience with this. I will be thankful to you for this.

Name ……………………………………………..
Profession ………………………………………..
Contact no. ………………………………………….

1. Age
a) < 17
b) 25- 35
c) 35-45
d) >52

2. Gender
a) Male
b) Female

3. Have you ever done online shopping?

a) Yes
b) No

4. How often do you shop online?

a) Once in month
b) Once in two month
c) More frequently
d) More often

5. Are you satisfied with the product and service offered?

a) Yes
b) No
6. Would you prefer to shop online than multiplex ?
a) Yes
b) No

7. Do you feel satisfied with the mode of payment?

a) Yes
b) No

8. Do you find return facility easy?

a) Yes
b) No

9. After sales service is good?

a) Yes
b) No

10. Are you a regular online customer

a) Yes
b) No

11. Do you find online shopping safe?

a) Yes
b) No

12. Online shopping price is less than traditional shopping price

a) Yes
b) No

13. Which site is mostly preferred by you?

a) Flipkart
b) Amazon
c) Snapdeal
d) Myntra
e) Jabong
14. Which is best shopping site according to you?
a) Flipkart
b) Amazon
c) Snapdeal
d) Myntra
e) Jabong

15. Which is the most frequently purchased product online?

a) clothing
b) footwears
c) Electronics
d) Kitchen & home appliances
e) Accessories & cosmetics

16. Mostly shopped during?

a) Regularly
b) offers & discounts
c) occasions
d) rarely
A comparative study of customer satisfaction and preferences in
leading e-tailers
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