online shopping

CHAPTER-I

INTRODUCTION AND DESIGN OF THE STUDY

Online shopping

Online shopping is the process whereby consumers directly buy goods or services

from a seller in real-time, without an intermediary service, over the Internet. If an

intermediary service is present the process is called electronic commerce. An online shop,

eshop, e-store, internet shop, webshop, webstore, online store, or virtual store evokes the

physical analogy of buying products or services at a bricks-and-mortar retailer or in a

shopping mall. The process is called Business-to-Consumer (B2C) online shopping. When a

business buys from another business it is called Business-to-Business (B2B) online shopping.

Both B2C and B2B online shopping are forms of e-commerce.

The act of purchasing products or services over the Internet. Online shopping has

grown in popularity over the years, mainly because people find it convenient and easy to

bargain shop from the comfort of their home or office. One of the most enticing factor about

online shopping, particularly during a holiday season, is it alleviates the need to wait in long

lines or search from store to store for a particular item.online shopping is a way to let the

consumer to buy the goods without going to outside.

Significance of online shopping

Convenient

Convenience includes the overall ease of finding a product, time spent on shopping,

minimization of overall shoppoing effort (Schaupp & Belanger, 2005). Online shopping

allows consumers to shop at the convenience of their own home, and to save traveling time to

retail stores and spend their time on other important tasks and hobbies. Researchers idenfity

convenience as a 'fundamental objective' related to online shopping (Schaupp & Belanger,

2005). This is relevant to 72% of online shoppers' claim that they would rather surf online

than go to retail store to attain information about a product (Lokken et al., 2003). According to

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http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/store.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/line.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/need.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/holiday.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/office.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/shop.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/internet.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/services.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/product.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/purchasing.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/act.html

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

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shopping_mall

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retailing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick_and_mortar_business

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_(economics)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_(business)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webstore

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_commerce

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet

a study, 72% of online shoppers chose convenience over privacy (Bhatnagar, Misra, & Rao,

2000). In addition to ease of finding products online and shopping time reduction, consumers

can shop without time limitation with 24-hr access at their convenience because the World

Wide Web never closees. Lokken mentions 24-hr access as a beneficial characteristic of

online shopping (Lokken et al., 2003). Also, consumers can exchange information online

through chatting and discussion forums to help them make wise consumer decisions.

No need for vendors and no pressure to buy

Online shopping benefits both the society as a whole and individuals. The society can save

human resources when consumers help themselves by browsing freely online instead of

asking for assistance from vendors. In addition, consumers are freed from the pressure to buy

from the vendors and can spend more time to make wise purchase decisions. But it is

imorpant that Web sites have good product descriptions because it is one of the significant

condition that satisfy consumers (Limayem, M., Khalifa, M., & Frini, A., 2000).

"Infinite shelfspace" available

Consumers desire a variety of products because they look for the right product that

will fully satisfy them. There is infinite variety of products available online because online

shopping allows consumers to browse through products that are made all around the world

without geographical boundaries.

Able to compare product price and features

With the online tools that enable product comparison, consumers can compare product prices

and features to make a better decision with less effort. More details are included in solutions

section.

Online shopping is accessible round the clock. You can buy whatever you want even

at 3 a.m. in the morning. You can choose from a wider variety of things available for

you to shop which may not be available in the local brick and mortar stores. You also

have the benefit to do all from the comfort of your own home. When you buy from

online store you have the comfort to take your time while checking for the things of

your choice, this will lead you to a simple and quick way to perform price comparison

unlike the dissatisfied and hurried shopping you do in the local stores.

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http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~jinnie/solutions.html

In addition, unlike local stores, you can avail discount coupons and get a thing at a

lower rate when shopping online. Besides, when shopping online you can also avoid

long lines to wait in and the unnecessary contact with cranky people. If you feel

uncomfortable dragging your kids for shopping, online shopping is the best way to

counter that. Most of us are sometimes concerned with private shopping; online

shopping offers you a great platform to do so with comfort. Also, when you are buying

gifts, online mode is the perfect way to send your distant friends or relatives the gift

you wanted to send.

When it comes to payment, you can use anyone's credit card when shopping online. A

lot of us are concerned about the identity theft when hear about online shopping.

Identity theft cases take place in reality in brick and mortar store itself and not online.

Websites are secure these days with powerful encryption procedures that keep your

identity safe and secure. Although there are a few where your information may not be

secure, you can take a peaceful breathe when dealing with the vast majority of online

shopping website. Consider websites that offer free shipping and this is definitely the

way to go. As the price of gas is increasing, shipping and handling might be cheaper

anyway.

Hindrance of online shopping

Enjoyment of retail shopping lost

Many enjoy shopping with others and it is often a good way to make social connections.

When shopping independently online, the enjoyment is lost.

Privacy and security issues

Privacy is the number one reason that non-online shoppers do not shop online. Almost 95% of

Web users have declined to provide personal information to Web sites at one time or another

when asked (Hoffman, Novak, & Peralta, 1999). Another recent study has found that privacy

was the top concern of customers while security ranked bottom (Schaupp & Belanger, 2005).

This proves that many do not trust the privay of the Internet and are concerned with their

credit card fauds, unwanted solicitation, and use of their information for other purposes.

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Security of Web sites is not the top concern because many shop on Web sites that they trust so

that other factors appear to be more important than security.

Access to the Internet and computer necessary

Because one needs money to buy a computer and to have internet connection, online shopping

seems to be limited people of reasonable amount of income. Also, since it is harder to learn

computer at an older age, the elderly people tend shop at traditional retail stores.

Product category risk

Product category risk is related to functional products such as apparel, perfume, and

electronics, that have functions that cannot fully be expeirenced online. Online shopper are

worried that the products will not be what they have expected by viewing online. This is a

clear disadvantage of onlins shopping because it shows that "[t]he likelihood of purchasing on

the Internet decreases with increases in product risk" (Bhatnagar, Misra, & Rao, 20000).

Apparels in particular had negative rating in online shopping because of it is difficult to feel

and see the texture of color online that is incomparable to going to a retail store, even with

magnifying tools online. Also, one cannot try on a clothing before buying it online, so it

would be very inconvenient if the size did not fit the person and he/she had to return it.

Too many choices

Although having access to a very large number of products is highly desirable, consumers

have limited cognitive resources and may simply be unable to process the potentially vast

amounts of information about these alternatives (Haubl & Trifts, 2000). Online stores need to

provide the variety in an organized way that will facilitate shopping online.

The advent of technology brought many benefits along with it, but the dark aspects are

also not hidden. Activities that used to take a great deal of time are now cut down to a

few clicks you perform online though the internet. When it comes to shopping, the

online mode of it has brought about ease and comfort to a great extent. Shopping

online looks like the easiest thing you can do when you are in a rush to get things.

There you shopped and here you receive your items shipped to you in less than 24

hours time.

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If you are thinking this is all what online shopping has brought about, then you

certainly have ignored the other part of the story. Here are some advantages and

disadvantages of online shopping.

Although online shopping is 24/7 available, you cannot feel or touch items rather can

just see what is present on a webpage whereas in brick and mortar stores you can see

many things at a glance and buy after you feel or touch the product. As the term

suggests, online shopping is only possible through the internet, therefore, the

connection speed matter a lot here. Unlike conventional stores which don't close

unexpectedly, online stores incurs frequent malfunction.

The most common grumble people have with online stores is regarding warranties and

some sort of guarantees, which they fail to offer in most cases. Apparently, these

would mean nothing if the online store went bankrupt. Similarly returns are also very

much difficult on online stores than in local stores.

It very normal that many online stores don't accept cash or checks, although some sites

do, you still have to use the credit cards. When purchasing online, billing errors are the

common things you may encounter whereas in local stores these errors are nearly

impossible.

The very big disadvantage an online website may have is the credit card security issue,

despite the fact that how secure the website claims to be, you can not always trust

them. There have been many cases where people realized that their credit card number

has been stolen and has been used by others.

The bottom line is, online shopping is the ultimate solution people are finding today,

but conventional stores are still here to stay.

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OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

To analyse the various factors influencing the customers to go for online shopping.

To study the various risks involved in the online shopping.

To study the level of satisfaction of the customers towards online shopping.

To find out the awareness level and consumer perception in utilizing the online

shopping.

To study the drawbacks faced by the customers in online purchasing.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The study focuses only Erode city. The result may or may not be applicable to other

areas.

The samples were restricted only with 100 samples due to time constraint.

The bias in samples could not be controlled because of their busy schedule in the

respondents.

The study is based on the availability of facts and figures.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem by

applying various research techniques along with the logic behind the problem.

RESEARCH DESIGN

A Research design is the specification of methods and procedures for acquiring the

information needed. It is the operational pattern or framework of the project that stipulates

what information is to be collected from which sources and by what procedures.

The researcher has adopted the descriptive research for collection and analyzing data.

Because of the research is to report about the existing (or) present scenario as it is i.e. the level

of satisfaction level.

Descriptive research design is one that describes something demographic characters of

consumer who use the product. The Descriptive study is typically concerned with determining

frequency with which something occurs and how two variables vary together.

Here the researcher has no control on variables. In this research the researcher tries to

find causes for functioning of shipping agency and satisfaction level in utilizing the solar

water heater.

SAMPLING DESIGN

Sampling is utilization of a limited of items regarding the population or universe for

studying the characteristics of the whole population or universe.

Convenience sampling technique has been adopted by the researcher in selecting the

respondents for data collection.

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SAMPLE SIZE

100 samples have been selected out of the total population in erode for the study.

DATA COLLECTION

A collection of facts from which conclusions were drawn is called as Statistical Data.

There are two types of methods for collecting the data. They are Primary data collection and

Secondary data collection.

Primary Data

The Primary Data are those, which are fresh data, and collected for the first time and

that data will be original in character. The present study is based on the Primary data collected

from respondents directly as first stand information through questionnaire method. A

questionnaire consists of a number of question sprinted in a definite order on a form. The

questionnaire is distributed to respondents who are expected to. Read and understand the

questions and write down the reply in the space mean for the purpose in the questionnaire

itself. The respondents have to answer the question on their own.

Secondary Data

The secondary data are those which have been already collected by someone and

which are secondary in nature and which have already been passed through the statistical

process. Details of company and relative areas are collected from the previous studies in this

research work and especially from the company website.

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TOOLS USED FOR ANALYSIS

Simple percentage Analysis

Percentage analysis refers to a special kind of ration percentages used making

comparison between two or more data and to describe relationships. Percentage can also be

used to compare the relation terms the distribution of two or more sources of data.

Number of respondents

Percentage of respondents = ---------------------------------x100

Total respondents

Chi-square test (x2)

The chi-square test is the one of the simplest and most widely used non-

arithmetic test in statistical work.

(O – E) 2

Chi-square = -----------

E

O = Observed frequency

E = Expected frequency

Degrees of freedom = (R-1) (C-1) where

C = No of columns

R = No of rows

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REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Bigne, Enrique.(2005) In his study explained the current literature on consumer online

purchasing decisions has mainly concentrated on identifying the factors which affect the

willingness of consumers to engage in Internet shopping. In the domain of consumer

behaviour research, there are general models of buying behaviour that depict the process

which consumers use in making a purchase decision. These models are very important to

marketers as they have the ability to explain and predict consumers’ purchase behaviour.

The classic consumer purchasing decision-making theory can be characterized as a

continuum extending from routine problem-solving behaviours, through to limited problem-

solving behaviours and then towards extensive problem-solving behaviours The traditional

framework for analysis of the buyer decision process is a five-step model. Given the model,

the consumer progresses firstly from a state of felt deprivation (problem recognition), to the

search for information on problem solutions. The information gathered provides the basis for

the evaluation of alternatives. The development and comparison of purchasing evaluation

criteria result in the actual decision to buy. Finally, post-purchase behaviour is critical in the

marketing perspective, as it eventually affects consumers’ perception of

satisfaction/dissatisfaction with the product/service.

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Bigne, Enrique.(2005) The Impact of Internet User Shopping Patterns and Demographics on

Consumer Buying Behaviour. Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, VOL. 6.

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Jarvenpa and Todd [1997] Consumers' attitude towards online shopping is a

prominent factor affecting actual buying behaviour. Proposed a model of attitudes and

shopping intention towards Internet shopping in general. The model included several

indicators, belonging to four major categories; the value of the product, the shopping

experience, the quality of service offered by the website and the risk perceptions of Internet

retail shopping. In the research conducted by Vellido et al. [2000], nine factors associated

with users' perception of online shopping were extracted. Among those factors the risk

perception of users was demonstrated to be the main discriminator between people buying

online and people not buying online. Other discriminating factors were; control over, and

convenience of, the shopping process, affordability of merchandise, customer service and ease

of use of the shopping site. In another study, tested a model of consumer attitude towards

specific web-base stores, in which perceptions of the store's reputation and size were assumed

to affect consumer trust of the retailer. The level of trust was positively related to the attitude

toward the store, and inversely related to the perception of the risks involved in buying from

that store. Them concluded that the attitude and the risk perception affected the consumer's

intention to buy from the store.

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Jarvenpa and Todd [1997] Consumer reactions to electronic shopping on the world wide web.

International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 1, 59–88

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Peterson, R. A., Balasubramanian, S., & Bronnenberg, B. J. (1997) in their study

explained that Consumers’ perceived risks associated with online shopping have a critical

effect on their decision making. Risk perception refers to the “……trustor’s belief about

likelihoods of gains and losses outside of considerations that involve the relationships with the

particular trustee”. Although some early research suggests that risk perception may play a

minor role in the adoption of online shopping, recent results from several studies have

identified that consumers’ risk perception is a primary obstacle to the future growth of online

commerce. Consumer risk perceptions and concerns regarding online shopping are mainly

related to aspects involving the privacy and security of personal information, the security of

online transaction systems and the uncertainty of product quality.

Trust is interwoven with risk. One of the consequences of trust is that it reduces the

consumer’s perception of risk associated with opportunistic behaviour by the seller. Lack of

trust is frequently reported as the reason for consumers not purchasing from Internet shops, as

trust is regarded as an important factor under conditions of uncertainty and risk in traditional

theories. identified four categories of trust related issues: “personal information, product

quality and price, customer service, and store presence” As a new form of commercial

activity, Internet shopping involves more uncertainty and risk than traditional shopping.

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Peterson, R. A., Balasubramanian, S., & Bronnenberg, B. J. (1997). Exploring the

implications of the Internet for consumer marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing

Science, 25, 329–346.

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Stephen F. King en Juhn-Shiuan Liou, in his study explain that Developed a model which

combines traditional marketing philosophy on consumer motivation to buy and the trust

model. In this model, trust propensity; which is a personality trait possessed by buyers; is an

important antecedent of trust. In Internet shopping, there is not much information available to

the buyer regarding the seller, prior to purchase. A buyer with a high propensity to trust will

more likely be a potential customer than a buyer with a lower propensity. Proposed that

ability, benevolence and integrity constitute the main elements of trustworthiness. Ability

refers to skills, competencies and characteristics that a seller has in a specific domain. In this

context, sellers need to convince buyers of the competence of their companies in the Internet

shopping business. Benevolence is the extent to which the seller is perceived by the buyer as

wanting to ‘do good’. Sellers have to convince buyers that they genuinely want to do good

things for buyers, rather than just maximize profit. Integrity refers to the buyer’s perception

that the seller adheres to a set of principles which the buyer finds acceptable. A high level of

trust by buyers has been found to stimulate favourable attitudes and behaviour.

A consumer’s trust in an Internet store can be thought as the consumer’s trust directly

in the store. They argued that the effectiveness of third-party trust, certification bodies and the

public key encryption infrastructure for ensuring financial security, are the central success

factors for building consumer trust in Internet shopping. Kini and Choobineh [1998]

suggested that trust in the Internet business is necessary, but not sufficient, for an Internet

buying behaviour to take place. The consumer must also trust the transaction medium for

online shopping.

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Stephen F. King en Juhn-Shiuan Liou, "A framework for internet channel evaluation",

International Journal of Information & Management 24 (2004), 473–488

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Falk, Louis K.; Sockel, Hy; Chen, Kuanchin. (2005) in their study explained that The

impact of perceived ease of using the website and of transactional control, vary with the type

of task the consumer is undertaking. The effects of three perceived channel utilities;

communication, distribution and accessibility; and four types of consumer shopping

orientations; recreational, experiential, convenience and economic. Their results showed that

online buying behaviour was affected by a mix of consumer shopping orientation and

perceived channel utilities. They proposed that two broad categories of behaviour in which

consumers engage during the phase of pre-purchase on the Internet are goal-directed and

experiential behaviour. They also indicated that the flow experience is a crucial antecedent of

online purchase behaviour. When shoppers are in the flow state, irrelevant thoughts and

perceptions are screened out and they are immersed in the interaction with the websites. As

flow experience occurs during network navigation, an issue E-marketers must consider is

whether consumers’ skills are competent to meet the challenges of the virtual environment.

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Falk, Louis K.; Sockel, Hy; Chen, Kuanchin. (2005) "E-Commerce and Consumer's

Expectations: What Makes a Website Work." Journal of Website Promotion, (65–75)

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CHAPTER-II

AN OVERVIEW OF ONLINE SHOPPING

Electronic commerce has become one of the essential characteristics in the Internet era.

According to UCLA Center for Communication Policy (2001), online shopping has become the

third most popular Internet activity, immediately following e-mail using/instant messaging and

web browsing. It is even more popular than seeking out entertainment information and news,

two commonly thought of activities when considering what Internet users do when online. Of

Internet users, 48.9 percent made online purchases in 2001, with three-quarters of purchasers

indicating that they make 1-10 purchases per year (2001). When segmented into very versus less

experienced Internet users, the very experienced users average 20 online purchases per year, as

compared to four annual purchases for new users

Online shopping behavior refers to the process of purchasing products or services via

the Internet. The process consists of five steps similar to those associated with traditional

shopping behavior (Liang and Lai 2000). In the typical online shopping process, when

potential consumers recognize a need for some merchandise or service, they go to the

Internet and search for need-related information. However, rather than searching actively, at

times potential consumers are attracted by information about products or services associated

with the felt need. They then evaluate alternatives and choose the one that best fits their

criteria for meeting the felt need. Finally, a transaction is conducted and post-sales services

provided. Online shopping attitude refers to consumers’ psychological state in terms of

making purchases on the Internet.

There have been intensive studies of online shopping attitudes and behavior in recent

years. Most of them have attempted to identify factors influencing or contributing to online

shopping attitudes and behavior. The researchers seem to take different perspectives and

focus on different factors in different ways. Ho and Wu (1999) discover that there are

positive relationships between online shopping behavior and five categories of factors, which

include e-stores’ logistical support, product characteristics, websites’ technological

characteristics, information characteristics, and homepage presentation. Schubert and Selz

(1999) examine the quality factors of electronic commerce sites in terms of information,

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agreement, and settlement phases. They also review those factors related to e-commerce

community.

These studies have all made important contributions to our understanding of the

dynamics of online shopping field. However, there is a lack of coherent understanding of the

impact of relevant factors on online attitudes and behavior and an inconsistent identification

of relevant independent and dependent variables. This makes comparisons of different

studies difficult, applications of research findings limited, and the prospect of synthesizing

and integrating the empirical literature in this area elusive.

The objective is synthesize the representative existing literature on consumer online

shopping attitudes and behavior based on an analytical literature review. In doing so, this

study attempts to provide a comprehensive picture of the status of this subfield and point out

limitations and areas for future research.

I systematically searched the following nine primary Information Systems (IS)

journals: Communications of the ACM, Decision Support Systems, e-Service Journal,

International Journal of Electronic Commerce, International Journal of Human-Computer

Studies, Information Systems Research, Journal of the Association for Information Systems,

Journal of Management Information Systems, and, Management Information Systems

Quarterly. In addition, we searched three primary IS conference proceedings volumes:

International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS), Americas Conference on

Information Systems (AMCIS), and Hawaii International Conference on Systems Science

(HICSS). We also checked the reference sections of the selected articles to identify and

include additional prominent articles in this area.

A Taxonomy of Consumer Online Shopping Attitudes and Behavior

Bellman, Lohse and Johnson (1999) examine the relationship among demographics,

personal characteristics, and attitudes towards online shopping. These authors find that

people who have a more “wired lifestyle” and who are more time-constrained tend to buy

online more frequently, i.e., those who use the Internet as a routine tool and/or those who are

more time starved prefer shopping on the Internet. Bhatnagar, Misra and Rao (2000) measure

how demographics, vender/service/ product characteristics, and website quality influence the

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consumers’ attitude towards online shopping and consequently their online buying behavior.

They report that the convenience the Internet affords and the risk perceived by the consumers

are related to the two dependent variables (attitudes and behavior) positively and negatively,

respectively.

Jarvenpaa, Tractinsky, and Vitale (2000) investigate how consumers’ perceived store

size and reputation influence their trust in the store, risk perception, attitudes, and willingness

to buy at the specific store. They discover that there is a positive relationship between

consumer trust in Internet stores and the store’s perceived reputation and size. Higher

consumer trust also reduces perceived risks associated with Internet shopping and generates

more favorable attitudes towards shopping at a particular store, which in turn increases

willingness to purchase from that store. Jahng, Jain, and Ramamurthy (2001) propose and

validate a Technology/Product Fit Model to describe and predict the relationship between

product characteristics, e-commerce environment characteristics, and user outcomes. They

classify products sold on the Internet as belonging to four categories based on social and

product presence requirements: simple, experiential, complex, or social. When a positive fit

is established between the e-commerce environment and the product requirements, favorable

user outcomes are generated that include user satisfaction, decision confidence, e-commerce

acceptance, and purchase intent.

After examining the 35 empirical studies, we identify a total of ten interrelated factors

for which the empirical evidences show significant relationships. These ten factors are

external environment, demographics, personal characteristics, vender/service/ product

characteristics, attitude towards online shopping, intention to shop online, online shopping

decision making, online purchasing, and consumer satisfaction. Five (external environment,

demographics, personal characteristics, vendor/service/product characteristics, and website

quality) are found to be ordinarily independent and five (attitude toward online shopping,

intention to shop online, decision making, online purchasing, and consumer satisfaction) are

ordinarily dependent variables in the empirical literature.

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Few of the 35 studies examined cover all ten factors, and there is some inconsistency

in the empirical results of those that include similar factors. Nevertheless, for the sake of

discussion, we integrate these ten factors in a model (Figure 1) in which the expected

relationships among them are depicted. The five factors identified as antecedents are

normally independent variables, although some studies have treated Website Quality as a

dependent variable. These five factors directly determine attitude towards online shopping.

Attitude and intention to shop online have been clearly identified and relatively widely

studied in the existing empirical literature. Decision-making is the stage before consumers

commit to online transaction or purchasing, and is sometimes considered to be a behavioral

stage. The depicted relationships among attitude, intention, decision-making, and online

purchasing are based on the theory of reasoned action (Fishbein and Ajzen 1975), which

attempts to explain the relationship between beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and actual behavior.

Consumer satisfaction is considered to be a separate factor in this study. It can occur at all

possible stages depending on consumers’ involvement during the online shopping process.

The relationships between satisfaction, attitude, intention, decision making and online

purchasing are proposed to be two-way relationships due to the reciprocal influences of each

on the other. In addition, two of the antecedents, vendor/service/product characteristics and

Website quality, have been found to have direct impact on consumer satisfaction.

External Environment

External environment refers to those contextual factors that impact consumers’ online

shopping attitudes and behavior. It includes three dimensions. The first is the existing legal

framework that protects the consumers from any kind of loss in online transactions. The

second is the system of the Third Party Recognition in which many third party certification

bodies are working to ensure the trustworthiness of online vendors (Borchers 2001). These

two factors are positively associated with consumers’ trust attitude to the online stores. The

third factor is the numbers of competitors, which can be defined as “the number of Internet

stores that provide the same service and products” (Lee et al. 2000). Lee and colleagues

(2000) argue that the fewer the competing vendors, the greater the possibility of opportunistic

behavior on the part of existing vendors so as to maximize profits. This increases transaction

costs for the consumer, decreasing intention to revisit a specific online store.

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Demographics

Demographics include such variables as age, gender, level of education, income, and

time online. Bellman and colleagues (1999) report that “Internet surveys agree that the online

population is relatively younger, more educated, wealthier, although the gaps are gradually

closing”. They argue that demographics appear to play an important role in determining

whether people use the Internet, however once people are online, demographics do not seem

to be key factors affecting purchase decisions or shopping behavior. Bhatnagar and

colleagues (2000) provide evidence that demographics are not relevant factors in determining

which store to patronize or how much to spend, though men and women do tend to buy

different types of products or services via the Internet. In summary, the literature suggests

that the impact of demographics on Internet buying behavior is not strong.

Personal Characteristics

It can be defined as a group of specific customer features that may influence their

online shopping attitudes and behavior, such as their Internet knowledge, need specificity,

and cultural environment.

Li and colleagues (1999) found that customers who purchase Internet stores more

frequently are more convenience-oriented and less experience-oriented. These consumers

regard convenience during shopping as the most important factor in purchase decisions,

because they are time-constrained and do not mind buying products without touching or

feeling them if they can save time in this way. Potential consumers are often prevented from

shopping online by their concern for security (Han et al. 2001). However, perceived risk can

be reduced by knowledge, skill, and experience on the Internet, computer, and online

shopping (Ratchford et al. 2001; Senecal 2000; Sukpanich and Chen 1999; Ha et al. 2001). In

another study, Bellman and colleagues (1999) propose that people living a wired lifestyle

patronize e-stores spontaneously. These consumers use the Internet as a routine tool to

receive and send emails, to do their work, to read news, to search information, or for

recreational purposes. Their routine use of the Internet for other purposes leads them to

naturally use it as a shopping channel as well.

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Other factors found to impact consumers’ online shopping attitudes and behavior

include cultural environment, need specificity, product involvement, disposition to trust, the

extent to which they would like to share values and information with others, the extent to

which they like being first to use new technologies, and tendency to spend money on

shopping (Borchers 2001; Koufaris et al.2002; Lee et al.2000; Kimery and McCord 2002;

Bellman et al 1999).

Vender/Service/Product Characteristics

Vender/service/product characteristics refer to features of the Internet stores, the

products they sell, and the service they provide to support the transactions. These factors are

found to influence customers’ online shopping attitudes and behavior significantly.

Measures employed to value vender characteristics in the empirical studies include

(1) real existence of the store/physical location,

(2) store reputation,

(3) store size,

(4) reliability,

(5) number of Internet store “entrances”,

(6) assurance-building mechanisms (e.g., seals, warranties, news clips), and

(7) use of testimonials (van der Heijden et al. 2001; Liang and Lai 2000; Bhatnagar et

al. 2000; Kim et al. 2001; Lowengart and Tractinskky 2001; Grazioli and Wang 2001; Pavlou

2001; Jarvenpaa et al. 2000; Lee et al. 2000).

Among product features that impact customers’ online shopping behavior are

(1) variety of goods,

(2) product quality/performance/product uncertainty,

(3) product availability,

20

(4) price,

(5) social presence requirement,

(6) product presence requirement,

(7) dependability of product,

(8) possibility of customized products, and

(9) brand (Jahng et al. 2001; Liang and Huang 1998; Kim et al. 2001; Cho et al. 2001;

Lowengart and Tractinskky 2001; Muthitacharoen 1999).

In addition, researchers examine different aspects of service provided by the venders through

the online shopping process. Service factors related to online shopping attitudes and behavior

include

(1) customer communication channels/ease of vendor contact,

(2) response to customer needs,

(3) accessibility of sales people,

(4) reliability of the purchasing process/process uncertainty,

(5) timeliness of orders or services/waiting time,

(6) availability of personalized services,

(7) ease of return and refunds,

(8) fraud,

(9) delivery (speed, tracking and tracing),

(10) transaction costs,

(11) peripheral costs, and

(12) promotion (Ho and Wu 1999; Liang and Huang 1998; Lohse and Spiller 1998;

21

Liang and Lai, 2000; Bhatnagar et al. 2000; Kim et al. 2001; Cho et al. 2001; Li et al. 2001;

Muthitacharoen 1999).

Website Quality

Gefen and Straub (2000) investigate the impact of perceived ease of use (PEOU) and

perceived usefulness (PU) on e-commerce adoption using 202 MBA students as subjects.

They report that while PU affects intended use when a Web site is used for a purchasing task,

PEOU only has an indirect influence on online shopping behavior by directly influencing PU.

Lee et al. (2001) obtain the similar findings in their recent study of design factors affecting

consumer loyalty. In one study, Song and Zahedi (2001) classify website quality elements

into five categories according to their purpose: for promotion, service, informational

influence, self-efficacy, and resources facilitation. These investigators find that each of the

five significantly and positively reinforces the consumers’ perceptions in these factors, which

in turn positively influence consumer online shopping attitudes and behavior.

Zhang, von Dran, Small, and Barcellos (1999, 2000), and Zhang and von Dran (2000)

make an attempt to evaluate website quality from user satisfaction and dissatisfaction

perspective. Their studies show that website design features can be regarded as hygiene and

motivator factors that contribute to user dissatisfaction and satisfaction with a website.

Hygiene factors are those whose present make a website functional and serviceable, and

whose absence causes user dissatisfaction. Some of the categories of hygiene factors are:

Privacy and Security, Technical Aspect, Navigation, Impartiality, and Information Content.

Motivator factors are those that add value to the website by contributing to user satisfaction.

Five categories of motivation factors are: Enjoyment, Cognitive Outcome, User

Empowerment, Credibility, Visual Appearance, and Organization of Information Content. In

their continued effort, they further discover that the most important website quality factors

ranked by e-commerce consumers are hygiene factors (von Dran and Zhang 1999; Zhang et

al. 2000; Zhang and von Dran 2001a, 2001b; Zhang et al. 2001). Liang and Lai (2000)

review website quality factors influencing Internet buying behavior by categorizing them into

three groups, two of them are also named motivators and hygiene factors, and third media

richness factors. In their opinion, motivators are those who support the transaction process

directly while hygiene factors protect the consumers from risks or unexpected events in the

22

transaction process. Media richness factors “add more information channels or richness in

information presentation” (Liang and Lai 2000, p. 2). They suggest that providing good

transaction support will help Internet venders to beat their electronic competitors, while the

hygiene factors need to be paid attention if they want to attract consumers from traditional

stores.

Overall, the measures employed to value website quality by the researchers include

the websites’ information content, information presentation, interaction between customers

and venders, navigation, searching mechanism, security, site technical feature, media

richness, and so forth (Zhang and von Dran 2000, 2001a, 2001b; Grandon and Ranganathan

2001; Cho et al. 2001; Kim et al. 2001; Lohse and Spiller 1998; Koufaris et al. 2002; Ho and

Wu 1999).

A variety of factors related to website quality have been demonstrated to significantly

influence consumers’ online shopping attitudes and behavior. Better website quality can

guide the consumers complete transactions smoothly and attract them to revisit this Internet

store. In contrast, worse quality would hinder their online shopping moves.

Attitudes Towards Online Shopping

Consumers’ attitudes toward online shopping have gained a great deal of attention in

the empirical literature. Consistent with the literature and models of attitude change and

behavior (e.g., Fishbein and Ajzen 1975), it is believed that consumer attitudes will affect

intention to shop online and eventually whether a transaction is made. This is a

multidimensional construct that has been conceptualized in several different ways in the

existing literature. First, it refers to the consumers’ acceptance of the Internet as a shopping

channel (Jahng et al. 2001). Secondly, it refers to consumer attitudes toward a specific

Internet store (i.e., to what extent consumers think that shopping at this store is appealing) .

These first two dimensions are negatively associated with the third, customers’ perceived

risk. According to Lee and colleagues (2001), two main categories of perceived risk emerge

in the process of online shopping. The first is the perceived risk associated with

product/service and includes functional loss, financial loss, time loss, opportunity loss, and

product risk. The second is the perceived risk associated with context of online transactions,

23

and includes risk of privacy, security, and nonrepudiation. Among them, the influence of

financial risk, product risk, and concern for privacy and security is significant (Senecal 2000;

Borchers 2001; Bhatnagar et al. 2002). However, the fourth dimension of attitude,

consumers’ trust in the stores, can reduce perceived risk. In addition, perceived control/users’

empowerment, enjoyment/playfulness, and perceived real added-value from membership

have also been shown to be important dimensions of consumers’ attitudes towards online

shopping (Koufaris et al. 2002; Cho et al. 2001).

Intention to Shop Online

Consumers’ intention to shop online refers to their willingness to make purchases in

an Internet store. Commonly, this factor is measured by consumers’ willingness to buy and to

return for additional purchases. The latter also contributes to customer loyalty. Jarvenpaa and

colleagues (2000) assess consumers’ intention to shop online by asking a series of questions

assessing the likelihood of returning to a store’s website, the likelihood of purchasing from

the store within the next three months, the likelihood of purchasing within the next year, and

general the likelihood of ever purchasing from a particular store again.

Online Shopping Decision Making

Online shopping decision-making includes information seeking, comparison of

alternatives, and choice making. The results bearing on this factor directly influence

consumers’ purchasing behavior. In addition, there appears to be an impact on users’

satisfaction. Though it is important, there are only five studies that include it.

According to Haubl and Trifts (2000), potential consumers appear to use a two-stage

process in reaching purchase decisions. Initially, consumers typically screen a large set of

products in order to identify a subset of promising alternatives that appears to meet their

needs. They then evaluate the subset in greater depth, performing relative comparisons across

products based on some desirable attributes and make a purchase decision. Using a controlled

experiment, these authors discover that the “interactive tools designed to assist consumers in

the initial screening of available alternatives and to facilitate in-depth comparisons among

selected alternatives in an online shopping environment may have strong favorable effects on

both the quality and the efficiency of purchase decisions” (Haubl and Trifts 2000).

24

Online Purchasing

This is the most substantial step in online shopping activities, with most empirical

research using measures of frequency (or number) of purchases and value of online

purchases as measures of online purchasing; other less commonly used measures are

unplanned purchases (Koufaris et al. 2002) and Internet store sales (Lohse and Spiller 1998).

For example, in Lee and colleagues’ (2001) examination of the relationship between online

purchasing behavior, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived risk of the

product/service, and perceived risk in the context of the transaction, the measures used are

total amount spent and frequency in last 6 months.

Online purchasing is reported to be strongly associated with the factors of personal

characteristics, vendor/service/product characteristics, website quality, attitudes toward

online shopping, intention to shop online, and decision making (Andrade 2000; Bellman et

al. 1999; Bhatnagar et al. 2000; Cho et al. 2001; Grandon and Ranganathan 2001; Jarvenpaa

et al. 2000; Lee et al. 2000; Sukpanich and Chen 1999).

Consumer Satisfaction

It can be defined as the extent to which consumers’ perceptions of the online

shopping experience confirm their expectations. Most consumers form expectations of the

product, vendor, service, and quality of the website that they patronize before engaging in

online shopping activities. These expectations influence their attitudes and intentions to shop

at a certain Internet store, and consequently their decision-making processes and purchasing

behavior. If expectations are met, customers achieve a high degree of satisfaction, which

influences their online shopping attitudes, intentions, decisions, and purchasing activity

positively. In contrast, dissatisfaction is negatively associated with these four variables (Ho

and Wu 1999; Jahng et al. 2001; Kim et al. 2001).

25

CHAPTER-IV

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATIONS

TABLE NO. 1

Gender of the respondents

S. No Gender No of respondents percentage

1 Male 62 62%

2 Female 38 38%

INFERENCE

The above table shows that 62% of the respondents are male, 38% of the respondents

are female. So we conclude that majority of the respondents are male.

26

CHART NO 1

Gender of the respondents

percentage

62%

38%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Male Female

percentage

27

TABLE NO. 2

Age group of the respondents

S. No Age No. of respondents Percentage

1 Less than 20 07 08%

2 20 – 30 35 12%

3 30 -40 38 43%

4 40 and above 20 37%

INFERENCE

The above table shows that, 8% of the respondents belongs to the age group of

less than 20, 12% of the respondents belongs to the age 20 – 30, 43% of the respondents

belongs to the age group of 30 – 40, 37% of the respondents belongs to the age group 40 and

above. So we conclude that majority of the respondents belongs to the age group of 30 – 40.

28

CHART NO 2

Age group of the respondents

Percentage

8%12%

43%

37%

0%

5%10%

15%20%

25%

30%35%

40%45%

50%

Lessthan 20 20 – 30 30 -40 40 and above

Percentage

29

TABLE NO. 3

Occupation of the respondents

S.No Occupation No. of respondents percentage

1 Employee 28 28%

2 Business 32 32%

3 Student 06 06%

4 Professionals 30 30%

5 Others 04 04%

INFERENCE

The above table shows that 28% of the respondents are employee, 32% of respondents

are business, 06% of respondents are students, 30% of respondents are professionals and 04%

of respondents are others. So we conclude that majority of the respondents are doing business.

30

CHART NO 3

Occupation of the respondents

28%32%

6%

30%

4%0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

Employee Business Student Professionals Others

percentage

31

TABLE NO. 4

Education of the respondents

S. No Education No. of respondents Percentage

1 School level 12 12%

2 Graduation 35 35%

3 Post graduation 53 53%

INFERENCE

The above table shows that 12% of the respondents are school level, 35% of

respondents are graduates, 53% of respondents are post graduates. So we conclude that

majority of the respondents are post graduated.

32

CHART NO 5

Education of the respondents

Percentage

12%

35%

53%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

School level Graduation Post graduation

Percentage

33

TABLE NO. 5

Income of the respondents

S. No Income No. of respondents Percentage

1 10000 – 20000 45 45%

2 20000 – 30000 30 40%

3 30000 – 40000 17 17%

4 40000 – 50000 08 08%

INFERENCE

The above table shows that 45% of the respondents are having 10,000 – 20,000 as

their income level, 40% of respondents are 20,000 – 30,000, 17% of respondents are 30,000 –

40,000 and 8% of respondents are 40,000 – 50,000. So we conclude that majority of the

respondents are having 10,000 – 20,000 as their income level.

34

CHART NO 5

Income of the respondents

Percentage

45%40%

17%

8%

0%

5%10%

15%20%

25%

30%35%

40%45%

50%

10000 – 20000 20000 – 30000 30000 – 40000 40000 – 50000

Percentage

35

TABLE NO. 6

Preference of online shopping of the respondents

S. No Prefer online shopping No. of respondents Percentage

1 Time saving 38 38%

2 Easy to buy 47 47%

3 Easy transaction 15 15%

INFERENCE

From the above analysis it is found that, 38% of respondents prefer online shopping

for time saving, 47% of respondents prefer online shopping for easy to buy and 15% of

respondents prefer that online shopping is easy transaction. So we conclude that majority of

the respondents prefer online shopping for easy to buy.

36

CHART NO 6

Preference of online shopping of the respondents

Percentage

Time saving38%

Easy to buy47%

Easy transaction15%

Time saving

Easy to buy

Easy transaction

37

TABLE NO. 7

Awareness of online shopping of the respondents

S. No Awareness No. of respondents Percentage

1 Friends 34 34%

2 Neighbours 29 29%

3 Relations 22 22%

4 Others 15 15%

INFERENCE

From the above table it is found that 34% of respondents are getting awareness

through their friends, 29% of respondents through their neighbors, 22% of respondents

through their relations and 15% of respondents are influenced by others. So we conclude that

majority of the respondents are influenced by their friends.

38

CHART NO 7

Awareness of online shopping of the respondents

34%29%

22%15%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

Friends Neighbours Relations Others

Percentage

Percentage

39

TABLE NO. 8

Factors influencing for using online shopping-Rank Analysis

Factors Rank Value Rank

product price 335 VI

available variety of prd 439 I

easy operation 420 II

time saving 415 III

24 * 7 service 403 IV

quality of the prd 375 V

40

CHART NO 8

Factors influencing for using online shopping-Rank Analysis

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

PERCDENTAGE

productprice

availablevariety of

prd

easyoperation

timesaving

24 * 7service

quality ofthe prd

PARTICULARS

INFERENCE:

The above ranking factor table shows that product price is 6th rank, available variety of

product is 1st rank, easy operation is the 2nd rank, time saving is 3rd rank, 24 hour service is the

4th rank and quality of the product is the 5th rank. So we conclude that highest ranking is for

availability of variety of products.

41

TABLE NO. 9

Risk of online shopping of the respondents

S. No Risk No. of respondents Percentage

1 Low quality 37 37%

2 Payment 47 47%

3 Easy to cheat 16 16%

INFERENCE

The above table shows that 37% of respondents are facing risk at low quality, 47% of

respondents facing risk at payment and 16% of respondents are facing risk of easy to cheat. So

we conclude that majority of the respondents are facing risk during payment.

42

CHART NO 9

Risk of online shopping of the respondents

Percentage

37%

47%

16%

0%

5%10%

15%20%

25%

30%35%

40%45%

50%

Low quality Payment Easy to cheat

Percentage

43

TABLE NO. 10

Types of products usually bought by the respondents

S. No Types of product No. of respondents Percentage

1 Medicine 23 23%

2 Food product 13 13%

3 Luxury products 25 25%

4 Oil products 39 39%

INFERENCE

The above analysis shows that 23% of respondents are using online shopping for

buying medicines, 13% of respondents for food products, 25% of respondents are buying

luxury goods and 39% of respondents are buying oil products. So we conclude that majority

of the respondents are using online shopping for buying oil products.

44

CHART NO 10

Types of products usually bought by the respondents

Percentage

23%

13%

25%

39% Medicine

Food product

Luxary products

Oil products

45

TABLE NO. 11

Product quality

S. No Product quality No. of respondents Percentage

1 Advertisement 40 40%

2 Know the product 12 12%

3 Already using the product 23 23%

4 Friends 25 25%

INFERENCE

The above table shows that 40% of respondents know about the products through

advertisement, 12% of respondents already know about the product, 23% of respondents are

already using the product and 25% of respondents know through their friends. So we conclude

that majority of the respondents are knowing about the product through advertisement.

46

CHART NO 11

Product quality

Percentage

40%

12%

23%

25%

Advertisement

Know the product

Already using the product

Friends

47

TABLE NO. 12

Paying money for online product

S. No Paying money No. of respondents Percentage

1 Bankers cheque 38 38%

2 Demand draft 25 25%

3 Debit / credit card 37 37%

INFERENCE

The above table shows that 38% of respondents are paying money through banker’s

cheque, 25% of respondents through demand draft, and 37% of respondents are using

debit/credit card. So we conclude that majority of the respondents are paying money through

Banker’s cheque.

48

CHART NO 12

Paying money for online product

38%

25%

37%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Bankers cheque Demand draft Debit / credit card

Percentage

Percentage

49

TABLE NO. 13

Advantages of online shopping

S. No Advantages No. of respondents Percentage

1 Time saving 25 25%

2 Door delivery 47 47%

3 Easy transaction 28 28%

INFERENCE

The above table shows that 25% of respondents believes that get online shopping

advantage is time saving, 47% of respondents feels door delivery, 28% of respondents feels

easy transaction. So we conclude that majority of the respondents feels door delivery as the

advantage of the online shopping.

50

CHART NO 13

Advantages of online shopping

Percentage

25%

47%

28%

Time saving

Door delivery

Easy transaction

51

TABLE NO. 14

Safe in dealing in online purchase

S. No Safe in dealing No. of respondents Percentage

1 Yes 53 53%

2 No 47 47%

INFERENCE

From the above analysis, the table shows that 53% of respondents believe that online

shopping is safer to deal and 47% of respondents not believing that online shopping are safe.

52

CHART NO 14

Safe in dealing in online purchase

Percentage

53%

47%

44%

45%46%

47%48%

49%

50%51%

52%53%

54%

Yes No

Percentage

TABLE NO. 15

53

Major drawback in online purchasing

S. No Major drawback No. of respondents Percentage

1 False reality in good 13 13%

2 Fake websites 21 21%

3 Online hacking 31 31%

4 Theft in password & bank account 15 15%

5 No customer service 20 20%

INFERENCE

The above table shows that 13% of respondents believe false reality in goods is the

drawback in online shopping, 21% of respondents believe in fake websites, 31% of

respondents believe Online hacking, 15% of respondents believe theft in password and bank

account and 20% of respondents believe no customer service is the most draw back. So we

conclude that majority of the respondents believe that online hacking is the major drawback in

the online shopping.

54

CHART NO 15

Major drawback in online purchasing

Percentage

13%

21%

31%

15%

20%

False reality in good

Fake websites

Online hacking

Theft in password & bankaccount

No customer service

55

TABLE NO. 16

Most attractive in online purchasing

S. No Most attractive No. of respondents Percentage

1 On door delivery 25 25%

2 Variety of goods can be seen in online 20 20%

3 Compare in price range in various dealer 26 26%

4 Easy to buy 16 16%

5 One click purchase 13 13%

INFERENCE

The above table shows that 25% of respondents feels on door delivery is the most

attractive in online purchasing, 20% of respondents feels that variety of goods can be seen in

online, 26% of respondents feels that comparison in price range in various dealer, 16% of

respondents feels that it is easy to buy and 13% of respondents feels that one click purchase

is most attractive in online shopping. So we conclude that majority of the respondents feels

that comparison in price ranges among various dealers is the most attractive in online

shopping.

56

CHART NO 16

Most attractive in online purchasing

Percentage

25%

20%

26%

16%

13%On door delivery

Variety of goods can beseen in online

Compare in price range invarious dealer

Easy to buy

One click purchase

57

TABLE NO.17

Opinion about Quality of the product of by the respondents

S.No Quality of the product No. of respondents Percentage

1 Highly satisfied 16 16%

2 Satisfied 28 28%

3 Neutral 30 30%

4 Dissatisfied 18 18%

5 Highly dissatisfied 08 08%

INFERENCE

The above table shows that 16% of respondents are highly satisfied with quality of the

product, 28% of the respondents are satisfied, 30% of the respondents are neutral, 18% of

respondents are dissatisfied and 8% of respondents are highly dissatisfied with quality of the

product. So the majority of the respondents are neutral with the quality of the product in the

online shopping.

58

CHART NO 17

Opinion about Quality of the product of by the respondents

Percentage

16%

28%

30%

18%

8%

Highly satisfied

Satisfied

Neutral

Dissatisfied

Highly dissatisfied

TABLE NO 18

59

Opinion about cost of the product of by the respondents

S.No Cost of the product No. of respondents Percentage


2 Satisfied 25 25%

3 Neutral 28 28%



INFERENCE

The above table shows that 15% of respondents are highly satisfied with the cost of

the product, 25% of the respondents are satisfied, 28% of the respondents are neutral, 20% of

respondents are dissatisfied and 12% of respondents are highly dissatisfied with the cost of the

product. So majority of the respondents are neutral with the cost of the products in online

shopping.

CHART NO 18

60

Opinion about cost of the product of by the respondents

Percentage

15%

25%28%

20%

12%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Highlysatisfied

Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied Highlydissatisfied

Percentage

TABLE NO. 19

Opinion about online shopping procedure of by the respondents

61

S.No Online shopping procedure No. of respondents Percentage


2 Satisfied 28 28%

3 Neutral 33 33%



INFERENCE

The above table shows that 23% of respondents are highly satisfied with online

shopping procedure, 28% of the respondents are satisfied, 33% of the respondents are neutral,

10% of respondents are dissatisfied and 08% of respondents are highly dissatisfied with online

shopping procedure. So majority of the respondents are neutral with the procedure of the

online shopping.

CHART NO 19

Opinion about online shopping procedure of by the respondents

62

Percentage

23%

28%

33%

10%

8%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

Highly satisfied

Satisfied

Neutral

Dissatisfied

Highly dissatisfied

Percentage

TABLE NO 20

Opinion about kind of service of online shopping by the respondents

63

S.No Kind of service provided No. of respondents Percentage


2 Satisfied 24 24%

3 Neutral 36 36%



INFERENCE

The above table shows that 20% of respondents are highly satisfied with the kind of

service provided, 24% of the respondents are satisfied, 36% of the respondents are neutral,

15% of respondents are dissatisfied and 05% of respondents are highly dissatisfied with the

kind of service provided. So majority of the respondents are neutral with the kind of service

provided in online shopping.

CHART NO 20

Opinion about kind of service of online shopping by the respondents

64

Percentage

20%24%

36%

15%

5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Highlysatisfied

Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied Highlydissatisfied

Percentage

TABLE NO 21

GENDER AND LEVEL OF SATISFACTION OF THE

RESPONDENTS (TWO-WAY TABLE)

65

.

Null Hypothesis (H0) - There is no significant relationship between

Gender and customer satisfaction towards online

shopping customers.

Alternative Hypothesis (H1) - There is close significant relationship between

Gender and customer satisfaction towards online

shopping customers.

TABLE NO - 22

GENDER AND LEVEL OF SATISFACTION OF THE

USERS (CHI-SQUARE TEST)

66

Gender

Level of Satisfaction

TotalHighly

SatisfiedSatisfied Neutral Dissatisfied

Highly

Dissatisfied

Female 10

(10.26)

20

(18.24)

5

(6.4)

3

(2.28)

-

(0.76)38

Male 17

(16.74)

28

(29.76

12

(10.54)

3

(3.72)

2

(1.27)62

Total 27 48 17 6 2 100

VariableCalculated 2

ValueTable Value D.F Remarks

Gender 2.381 9.488 4 Significant at 5% level

INFERENCE

It is found from the above analysis that calculated chi-square value is less than the

table value at 5% degree of freedom and null hypothesis is accepted. So, we conclude that,

there is close significant relationship between the Gender and Customer satisfaction towards

online shopping customers.

TABLE NO – 23

AGE GROUP AND LEVEL OF SATISFACTION OF THE RESPONDENTS

(TWO-WAY TABLE)

67

20 – 25

years

4

(3.28)

3

(3.2)

1

(0.8)

-

(0.56)

-

(0.16)8

26 – 35

Years

3

(4.92)

3

(4.8)

3

(1.2)

3

(0.84)

-

(0.24)12

36 – 45

Years

20

(17.63)

14

(17.2)

5

(4.3)

3

(3.01)

1

(0.86)43

Above 46

Years

14

(15.17)

20

(14.8)

1

(3.7)

1

(2.59)

1

(0.74)37

Total 41 40 10 7 2 100

Null Hypothesis (H0) - There is no significant relationship between

age group and customer satisfaction towards





TABLE NO - 24

AGE GROUP AND LEVEL OF SATISFACTION OF THE

USERS (CHI-SQUARE TEST)

68



Age Group 16.868 21.026 12 Significant at 5% level

INFERENCE



there is a close significant relationship between the age group and Customer satisfaction

towards online shopping customers

TABLE NO - 25

OCCUPATION AND LEVEL OF SATISFACTION OF THE


occupation Highly Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied Highly Total

69

Satisfied Dissatisfied

Employee 10

(11.76)

12

(10.92)

3

(3.64)

2

(1.12)

1

(0.56)28

Business `15

(13.44)

12

(12.48)

4

(4.16)

1

(1.28)

-

(0.64)32

Student2

(2.52)

2

(2.34)

2

(0.78))

-

(0.24)

-

(0.12)6

Professional13

(12.6)

12

(11.7)

3

(3.9)

1

(1.2)

1

(0.6)30

others2

(1.68)

1

(1.56)

1

(0.52)

-

(0.16)

-

(0.28)4

Total 42 39 13 4 2 100

Null Hypothesis (H0) - There is no significant relationship between age

group and customer satisfaction towards online

shopping customers



online shopping customers

TABLE NO - 26

OCCUPATION AND LEVEL OF SATISFACTION OF THE

70

RESPONDENTS (CHI-SQUARE TEST)



occupation 5.695 26.296 16 Significant at 5% level

INFERENCE





TABLE NO - 27

EDUCATION AND LEVEL OF SATISFACTION OF THE


Education Highly

SatisfiedSatisfied Neutral Dissatisfied

Highly

DissatisfiedTotal

Upto school 5 3 2 1 1 12

71

level (6.12) (3.24) (1.92) (0.48) (0.24)

College level `18

(17.85)

12

(9.45)

3

(5.6)

2

(1.4)

-

(0.7)35

Professional28

(27.03)

12

(14.31)

11

(8.48)

1

(2.12)

1

(1.06)53

Total 51 27 16 4 2 100


group and customer satisfaction towards online

shopping customers




TABLE NO - 28

EDUCATION AND LEVEL OF SATISFACTION OF THE




Education 7.8005 15.507 8 Significant at 5% level

72

INFERENCE





TABLE NO - 29

INCOME LEVEL AND LEVEL OF SATISFACTION OF

THE RESPONDENTS (TWO-WAY TABLE)

Income level Highly

SatisfiedSatisfied Neutral

Dissatisfie

d

Highly

DissatisfiedTotal

Below 10,000 6 3 4 2 15

73

(6.45) (5.1) (2.55) (0.75) (0.15)

10,000 to

15,000

`10

(11.25)

8

(8.5)

5

(4.25)

2

(1.25)

-

(0.25)25

15,000 to

20,000

9

(9.9)

11

(7.48)

2

(3.74))

-

(1.1)

-

(0.38)22

Above 20,00018

(16.34)

12

(12.92)

6

(6.46)

1

(1.96)

1

(0.38)38

Total 45 34 17 5 1 100


group and customer satisfaction towards


Alternative Hypothesis (H1) - There is close significant relationship

between age group and customer satisfaction


TABLE NO –30

INCOME LEVEL AND LEVEL OF SATISFACTION OF THE




INCOME 12.555 21.026 12 Significant at 5% level

74

LEVEL

INFERENCE





CHAPTER-V

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSION

FINDINGS

It is identified from the analysis that most of the respondents (38%) belong to the middle-

aged group, i.e., 30 – 40 years.

It is divulged from the analysis that more than half of the respondents have post graduation

Here most no. of the respondents (32%) are doing business

75

It is learned from the analysis that most of the respondents (45%) have high wealth of

income 10,000 – 20,000

Most of respondents (47%) prefer easy to buy in online shopping

The study reveals that (34%) of the respondents are aware about the online shopping

through their friends

It is learned from the analysis that most of the respondents (47%) are facing risk at the

time of payment

It is pinpointed from the study that 39% of the respondents are frequently buying oil

products

It is lime lighted from the empirical analysis that 40% of the respondents are knowing

about the product through advertisement

It is learned from the analysis that 38% of the respondents prefer the mode of payment

through bankers cheque

Most of the respondents (47%) are in comfortable with the door delivery in online

shopping

It is identified from the analysis that 53% of the respondents are in favour of having

safety in dealing with online purchase

It is observed from the empirical analysis that 31% of the respondents are finding

online hacking as major drawback in online purchasing

This analysis point out 26% of the respondents are finding more attractive in

comparing the price range among various dealers

It is observed from the empirical analysis that 30% of the respondents are neutrally

satisfied with the quality of the product of online shopping

It is identified from the analysis that 28% of the respondents are neutral about the cost

of the product of online shopping

Most of the respondents (33%) are having neutral opinion about online shopping

procedure of online shopping

It is pinpointed from the study that 36% of the respondents are finding neutral about

the kind of service provided in online shopping

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SUGGESTIONS

The kind of services provided could be more better by the way of feedback, checking

of quality and quantity etc.,

Online shopper should concentrate on safer mode of purchasing

77

Online shopper has provide sample of the product, that will increase the customer

satisfaction level and create good image of the product

In order to create permanent online account to prevented from online hacking .

Online shopper should ensure that delivery of product and quality of product

CONCLUSION

The study has aimed to analysis the various customers needs and wants regarding

online shopping. It has made all important contributions to our understanding of the dynamics

of the online shopping field. It has been concluded that customers who purchase from internet

stores are more convenient oriented and less experience oriented customers who use internet

for other purposes leads them to naturally use it as a shopping as well. So the online shopper

78

should provide sufficient information to think customers it will enhance quality and number of

users. This study attempts to provide a comprehensive picture of the status of online shopping

and point out the areas for future research.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bigne, Enrique.(2005) The Impact of Internet User Shopping Patterns and

Demographics on Consumer Buying Behaviour. Journal of Electronic Commerce

Research, VOL. 6.

Jarvenpa and Todd [1997] Consumer reactions to electronic shopping on the world

wide web. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 1, 59–88

79

Peterson, R. A., Balasubramanian, S., & Bronnenberg, B. J. (1997). Exploring the

implications of the Internet for consumer marketing. Journal of the Academy of

Marketing Science, 25, 329–346.

Stephen F. King en Juhn-Shiuan Liou, "A framework for internet channel evaluation",

International Journal of Information & Management 24 (2004), 473–488

Falk, Louis K.; Sockel, Hy; Chen, Kuanchin. (2005) "E-Commerce and Consumer's

Expectations: What Makes a Website Work." Journal of Website Promotion, (65–75)

URL:

www.google.com

www.yahoo.com

www.wikipedia.com

Questionnaire:

Name :

Gender : ( ) Male ( ) Female

Age : ( ) less than 20 ( ) 20 - 30 ( ) 30 - 40 ( ) 40 & above

Education : ( ) school level ( ) Graduation ( ) post graduation

80

occupation : ( ) employee ( ) business ( ) student ( ) professional ( )others

Income : ( ) 10000 – 20000 ( ) 20000 – 30000 ( ) 30000 – 40000

( ) 40000 – 50000

1. Why did you prefer online shopping?

a) Time saving b) Easy to buy c) Easy transaction

2. How did you get awareness of online shopping?

a) Friends b) Neighbors c) Relations d) others

3. Rank the factors influencing online shopping?

No. Factors Rank

1 Product price

2 Available variety of products

3 Easy operation

4 Time saving

5 24*7 service

6 Quality of the product

4. What types of risk are you facing online shopping?

a) Low quality b) Payment c) Easy to cheat

5. Which types of product you are buying usually?

a) Medicine b) Food product c) Luxury products d) Oil products

6. How did you know the product quality through online?

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a) Advertisement b) Know the product

c) Already using those product d) Friends

7. How do you pay money for online product?

a) Bankers cheque b) Demand draft c) Debit / Credit card

8. What are the advantages of online shopping?

a) Time saving b) Door delivery c) Easy transaction

9. State the level of satisfaction towards following factors?

No FactorsHighly

satisfiedSatisfied Neutral Dissatisfied

Highly dis-

satisfied

1Quality of the

product

2Cost of the

product

3

Online

shopping

procedure

4Kind of service

provided

10. Do you think its safe in dealing in online purchasing?

a) Yes b) No

11. What is major drawback in online purchasing ?

a) False reality in good

b) Fake websites

82

c) Online hacking

d) Theft in password and bank account

e) No customer service

12. Which is most attractive in online purchasing ?

a) On door delivery

b) Variety of goods can be seen in online

c) Compare in price range in various dealer

d) Easy to buy

e) One click purchase

13. State your suggestion regarding online shopping.

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online shopping

Documents

online store

online shopping benefits

online shoppers

online tools

online mode

business b2b online

consumer b2c online

hurried shopping