(Prepared byT.Y.B.B.AGLSIBA2011-12) (    ON LINE SHOPPING)

A

Research and survey

On

Online shopping

Presented by:

T.Y.B.B.A.

Students of

GLS-INSTITUTE OF UNDER

GRADUATE BUSINESS

ADMINISTRATION

Submitted By:

KOMAL DULAM

Affiliated to Gujarat University

For the year 2011-12

Index

Sr. No.

Contents

Page no.

1

What is online shopping?

6

2

The online shopper’s checklist

9

3

Executive Summary

12

4

Why do people prefer online shopping?

13

5

Statement of Objective

15

6

Methodology

16

7

Types of Data and Sources

18

8

Data collection Method

20

9

Sampling Decisions

22

10

Questionnaire

23

11

Data Analysis

32

12

Findings

44

13

Recommendation

46

14

Limitation

47

15

Conclusion

48

16

Bibliography

49

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

A project without proper guidance is like ship without a navigator. A successful story is incomplete without paying tribute to those who inspired it. We would like to express our gratitude towards all those people who guided is for preparing this project, which was a great learning process for us.

We are heartily indebted to Prof. Kavita shah and Prof. Minal Joshi who guided us throughout project and gave up valuable suggestion and encouragement.

We also express our sincere thanks to the Director Mr. V.B.Patel, who gave an opportunity to learn from the practical training.

Once again we would like to thank all those people who gave their valuable support by helping us in this project which is a great learning experience.

Thank you………

PREFACE

A child’s very first breathe questions his ability to adapt from one environment to another that is dramatically changed. This element of ‘change’ dominates the world and adds a flavor of dynamism to it. It is a constant process. In fact change is the only thing which remains unchanged in the world.

A business doesn’t live in vacuums. There are external and internal factors which comminutes business scenario and thus they causes a twister called ‘change’ which affects the business environment.

WHAT IS ONLINE SHOPPING?

Online shopping is the process of buying goods and services from merchants who sell on the Internet. Since the emergence of the World Wide Web, merchants have sought to sell their products to people who surf the Internet. Shoppers can visit web stores from the comfort of their homes and shop as they sit in front of the computer

Consumers buy a variety of items from online stores. In fact, people can purchase just about anything from companies that provide their products online. Books, clothing, household appliances, toys, hardware, software, and health insurance are just some of the hundreds of products consumers can buy from an online store.

Many people choose to conduct shopping online because of the convenience. For example, when a person shops at a brick-and-mortar store, she has to drive to the store, find a parking place, and walk throughout the store until she locates the products she needs. After finding the items she wants to purchase, she may often need to stand in long lines at the cash register.

In contrast, online shopping helps consumers avoid these disadvantages. With online shopping, a person logs onto the Internet, visits the store's website, and chooses the items she desires. The items are held in a virtual shopping cart until she is ready to make her purchase. The shopper can remain in her pyjamas as she does her shopping, and the process can be conducted in the wee hours of the morning or late into the night. Online stores never close — they're open 24 hours a day.

Despite the convenience of online shopping, not everyone chooses to purchase items and services online. Some people like the idea of physically going to a store and experiencing the shopping process. They like to touch the merchandise, try on clothing, and be around other people. Online shopping doesn't permit shoppers to touch products or have any social interaction. It also doesn't allow them to take the merchandise home the same day they buy it.

Other people may worry about shopping online because they fear their credit card information will be compromised. Since it's necessary to provide credit card information when purchasing products online, people worry they may become the victims of identity theft. This discourages some consumers from participating in online shopping.

Another reason some consumers avoid shopping online is the fact that they worry that the products they purchase are not accurately portrayed in the website's picture. They worry that the picture of the item may appear one way, but the actual item may look completely different — perhaps of lesser quality. It's also impossible to try on apparel when conducting online shopping.

A consumer has to rely on body measurements in order to make sure the clothing will fit properly. If the clothing arrives in the mail and it's too small, the consumer has to return the item. This is a potential inconvenience that some shoppers may not wish to face.

THE ONLINE SHOPPER'S CHECKLIST

There are lots of benefits to shopping online—you can save time, effort and sometimes even money. But online shopping is different to purchasing face-to-face. People can planned purchase against the following points to help ensure people have an easy and safe online purchase.

· The seller

Before people buy anything online, get to know the seller people need to know their contact details in case something goes wrong a reputable business should make this information easy to find. A reputable business should also have good customer feedback - friends, family or other customers rate them highly.

· The product or service

Read and look at the advertisement carefully—make sure that it is exactly what people want. Consider the features and specifications such as make, model, dimensions, condition, age, functions, customer service and support. If people are unsure about something, ask the seller for more detail before committing them self.

· The terms and conditions

Before buying, understand exactly what is involved in the purchase. The terms and conditions of people for purchase should be outlined by the seller—they may be located on a separate web page to the advertisement. They should be clear and outline any extra warranties offered by the seller, or policies covering security, privacy and returns.

· The process

People must be clear about the payment and delivery processes including method and important dates. The seller should have a complaints procedure in place for if things go wrong. They should provide customer support for any queries or problems.

· The total cost

Make sure people know the total cost of people planned purchase. Like they should mention whether they include the advertised price include delivery, insurance and handling cost  or there any taxes or duties.

· The payment

Only go ahead with the purchase if people are comfortable with the payment method. If paying electronically, make sure that the seller uses a secure payment system that encrypts your financial details. Look out for a padlock symbol and the web address starting with https:// —this indicates a secure payment process is being used. However, be aware that scammers may be able to reproduce symbols to give you the impression that a fake website is secure. If you have doubts, it is safer not to proceed.

· The paperwork

The copy of any forms, emails, documents or WebPages have filled in, read or received—they are a record of the sale and will come in handy if something goes wrong. This includes the advertisement, pictures, any policies (privacy, security or refund), the terms and conditions, buyer questions, receipts and payment forms.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Now a day, online shopping has become popular among people, they have become techno savvy and feel very comfortable in using internet. So online shopping has becoming a trend that is why we thought to make a study on online shopping usage.

In the course of study various interesting facts were arrived. A questionnaire was prepared having pointed an interesting information having options. Our group visited people of different age groups to get the questionnaire filed. We helped them understand some questions so they could give us correct information. The information gathered was compiled and analyzed to arrive at the very purpose of study.

However we did not fine difficulty in getting the questionnaire filled by various segments as questions touched their heart. People were filling questionnaire very keenly.

It is interesting to know that people in the age group of 15 to 30 years use online shopping more as compared to other age groups. Normally in this age group students and professional people fall. It came to know that people frequently visit the snap deal and flip kart for online shopping.

WHY DO PEOPLE PREFER ONLINE SHOPPING

Some reasons given below why Online Shopping is liked by many:

· Convenience

The convenience of this method of shopping is what like best about it. Where else can people do shopping even a midnight wearing your night suit? People do not have to wait in a line or wait till the shop assistant is ready to help people with the purchases. People can do shopping in minutes even if they are busy apart from saving time and avoiding crowds. Online shops give us the opportunity to shop 24 hours.

· Better Prices

Another thing which fascinates people is the cheap deals and better prices they get from online stores because products come direct from the manufacturer or seller without middlemen involved. Many online shops offer discount coupons and rebates.

· Variety

The choices people can get for products are amazing. One can get several brands and products from different sellers at one place. People can get in on the latest international trends without spending money on airfare.

· Send Gifts

Online Shopping makes sending gifts to relatives and friends easy, no matter where ever they stay.

· Comparison of Prices

Online shops make comparison and research of products and prices possible. Online stores also give people the ability to share information and reviews with other shoppers who have firsthand experience with a product or retailer.

· Compulsive Shopping

Many times when people go out on Shopping people end up buying things which we do not require because of the shop keepers up selling skills. Sometimes we even compromise on our choices because of the lack of choices in those shops.

STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVE

There are multiple principle goals of online shopping which are determined by the end user.

General Goal:

Time and Energy saving

It is time saving and energy saving. Person can easily login to online site while sitting at home. So by this we can say that it is time as energy saving.

Availability

People while sitting at one place, can reach to number of products with different varieties and can order them and would get them at their door step.

Comparison of Products

Online shopping gives the benefit of comparing the products on the various attributes like pricing, texture, substitution of products etc….

Thus, our aim of our project is to have understanding about the online shopping behavior among different age-shoppers.

METHODOLOGY

1. Deciding the subject of Research

Initially we had a lot of ideas for survey-based project. Then it was mutually decided that the survey sample should be huge. So we decided to take a subject in which we can get wide range of sample size.

In order to face 21st century internet prepares people of different age groups to adapt to social and technological changes that are taking place at an unprecedented rate. In this context internet especially is a resource for continued education for the acquisition of new knowledge and skills, for gaining information through media. Online shopping is an example of internet

2. Framing appropriate Questionnaires

The initial steps of our project was to frame a less complicated questionnaire so that our sample have a clear idea what is being required from them and save their precious time .

The questionnaire was constructed to mirror many of the queries that have been asked in previous studies of online shopping, internet usage (i.e. between 15-30 years, 30-45years, 45-60 years)

Space boundaries

Space boundary means the area that we have covered for the survey. In this research, the scope for the survey was Ahmadabad, Rajkot, and Gandhinagar.

This aspect focuses on how the youth people have change their buying method and has become techno savvy.

TYPES OF DATA SOURCES

Basically there are two types of data:

1) Primary data

2) Secondary data

1) Primary data:

Primary data are those data which are collected for the first time, taking a sample, representing a population. It is not a published data, it is problem specific data collected by the researcher, and it becomes the secondary data for everybody, other than the researcher. It can be collected in five ways:

1. Observational research

2. Focus groups research

3. Survey research

4. Behavioral data

5. Experimental research

For this project we used primary data only. We adopted the survey method to collect the primary data. Once the decision of collecting primary data is taken, one has to decide about mode of collection. We took the help of a structure questionnaire to collect the information from the readers.

2) Secondary data:

Secondary data are those data, which are already published. It may be useful for many other persons than the researcher who published it. There are various sources of secondary data collection. They are:

1. Government sources

2. Commercial sources

3. Industry sources

4. Miscellaneous sources

As our subject is based on psychology of the people, we do not have any secondary data.

DATA COLLECTION METHODS

A market researcher has a choice of three main research instruments in collecting data namely:

1. Questionnaires

2. Qualitative measures

3. Mechanical devices

-We have chosen questionnaires as the research instrument.

-A questionnaire consists of a set of questions presented to respondents.

-Because of its flexibility, the questionnaire is by far the most common instrument used to collect the primary data.

-Questionnaires need to be carefully developed and tested before they are administrated on a large scale.

-In preparing questionnaire, a researcher carefully chooses the questions, their formation and working sequence. The formation of questions can influence the response.

-Market researcher distinguishes between close-end and open –end questions. Close-end questions specify all the possible answers and provide answers that are easier to interpret. Whereas open-end questions allow respondents to answers in their own words and often reveal more about how people think. They are useful in exploratory research, where the researcher is looking into how people think rather than measuring how many people think in a certain way.

SAMPLING DECISIONS

We have undertaken target -oriented method for sampling. Our target research included library, bookstores, households, schools and colleges and public places.

Sample size:

Our sample is 360. We surveyed 360 samples, which were bifurcated into 208 are male and 152 are female who use the internet for purchase.

Sample space:

The sample space of study consisted of 360 men, women, belonging to different occupations, reading habits, qualification and monetary status.

Questionnaire

(We would like to know more about how you use online shopping. You can help us to learn more by filling out the questionnaire. We do not share your answers with anyone else so they remain confidential if you have any questions please ask your presenter.)

1. Name :________________________________________

2. Address :________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

3. Contact No:_______________________________________

4. E-mail Id:_________________________________________

5. Gender :

· Male

· Female

·

6. Age-group:

· Below 15

· 15-30

· 30-45

· 45-60

7. Place of residence

· Rajkot

· Ahmadabad

· Gandhinagar

· Other please specify_____________________________

8. Occupation:

· Student

· House-Wife

· Government Employer

· Business

· Others

9. Monthly Income

· Below10000

· 10000-25000

· 25000-35000

· 35000-45000

· 45000-above

10. Do you use internet?

· Yes

· No

11. How long you have been using internet?

· Less than 1year

· 1-3 years

· 3-5years

· More than 5 years

12. On an average how much time you spend on surfing the web?

· 0-5hrs

· 6-10hrs

· 11-15hrs.

· 16-20hrs

· More than 20hrs

13. For what activities you use internet?

· Social networking

· Information gathering

· Entertainment

· Finance

· Shopping

14. Where do you most often access the internet?

· Home

· Office/ college

· Cyber Café

· Others please specify__________________________

15. Have you done online purchase?

· Yes, continue to buy,

· yes, but discontinued,

· Never

16. Which one is better for shopping as per your view?

· Online shopping

· Manual shopping

17. What would you purchase through online shopping?

· Clothes

· Electronics

· Jeweler

· Accessories

· Other please specify______________________

18. What would be your main motivation for buying through online shopping? (Rank from1 to5, 1 is highest)

· saves time

· Easy of purchase through online

· Avoided hassles of shopping in store

· Price

· Superior selection/ Availability

19. Overall, were you satisfied with your experience of online shopping?

· Yes

· No

· Can’t say

20. What according to you is most alarming barrier to purchase online?

· I am worried about giving my credit card no.

· I like to see the product in personal before buy it

· The process is expensive due to access

· Insecurity& Net connectivity trouble

21. Do you think online shopping is expensive or not in comparison of manual shopping?

· Yes

· No

22. In online shopping delivery of goods is more time consuming or not?

· Yes

· No

23. Did you face any problem while making online purchase?

· Yes

· No

24. If yes, what are the problem that you faced while making purchase transaction through online shopping?( more than one)

· Pages took too long to load that I gave up,

· Site was so confusing that I could not find the product

· Desired product was not available

· System logged off before compulsion

· Tried & failed to contact customer service

· Wrong/ Bad product arrived & could not return

· Others please specify _____________________________

_____________________________

25. What was the impact on your online shopping behavior in general?

· Stopped shopping online,

· Stopped shopping online but for only product or category of product,

· It had no impact what so ever,

· Others please specify _____________________________

26. Which is your favorite site for online shopping?

· www.skyshop.com

· www.shapdeal.com

· www.flipkart.com

· www.yebhi.com

· other please specify_______________________________

________________________________

27. What amount of your monthly salary do you spend on online shopping?

· 10%,

· 20%,

· 30%,

· 50%,

· more than 70%

28. If the product has the same price both in shops &on the internet, where do you prefer to buy it?

· Shops

· Internet

29. Any suggestions

____________________________________________

____________________________________________

____________________________________________

THANK YOU

DATA

ANALYSIS

Q. What Is Your Occupation?

Occupation

Male

Female

Total

Student

123

109

232

Housewife

0

24

24

Government employer

15

6

21

Business

43

4

47

Other

27

9

36

Total

208

152

360

Conclusion: Majority of the population in the sample are students i.e approximately 45% of the sample size are students with business people being the 2nd major occupation.

Q. How Long You Have Been Using Internet?

Years

Male

Female

Total

LESS THAN 1 YEAR

49

53

102

1-3 year

67

44

111

3-5 year

57

28

85

MORE THAN 5 YEAR

35

27

62

Total

208

152

360

Conclusion: Male consumption of internet is on yearly basis is highest than that of females. Around 35 males out 360 are enjoying the benefit of internet since last 5years with 27 that of females. 67 males have been using the internet service from last 3 years with 44 of females on the next end but since last 1 year the usage of internet among females have increased in comparison to males.

Q.Activities for Which Internet Is Using

Activities

Male

Female

Total

Social networking

115

103

218

Information gathering

120

98

218

Entertainment

91

50

141

Finance

34

10

44

Shopping

58

34

92

Conclusion: The activity for which internet is used majority is for gathering information i.e. through various websites and the second major activity is social networking. Around 115 men and 103 females used internet for enhancing their knowledge. Internet services for dealing in shares, investments, stocks are least only 34 from males and hardily 10 females use internet for activities relating to finance.

Q. Main Motivation for Buying Through Online Shopping.

Rank

Saves time

Easy of purchase through online

Avoided hassles of shopping in store

Price

Superior

selection/Availability

1

193

60

39

52

16

2

81

68

77

106

25

3

48

105

67

55

85

4

28

90

96

70

70

5

10

36

77

71

157

Conclusion: From the above we can say that majority of people think that online shopping helps in saving time of customers with easier purchasing being the next motivating factor.

Q. What according to you is the most alarming barrier to purchase online?

Barriers

Male

Female

Total

Worried about giving-out credit card no.+ personal info.

78

44

122

To see the product in personal, before buy it.

108

89

197

The process is expensive due to cost of access.

22

9

31

Insecurity + Net connectivity trouble.

22

21

43

Conclusion: When analyzed the major barriers of online shopping majority of males and females i.e. 108 males and 89 females considered product visibility i.e. to see the product in personal information being the 2nd .

Q. What is the problem that you faced while making purchase transaction through online shopping?

Problems

Male

Female

Total

Pages took too long to load that I gave up.

8

17

25

Site was so confusing that could not find the product.

24

28

52

Desired product was not available.

18

26

44

System logged off before compulsion.

8

10

8

Tried & failed to contact customer service.

14

18

32

Wrong/Bad product arrived & could not return.

17

23

40

Conclusion: Around 20% of people feel that site is very confusing to find the right product. The other problems which are rated according to the people are that 10% feel that they do not get the desired product with wrong or bad product being the next problem.

FINDINGS

After completing all data analysis, we decide to compute X2 test to check whether the 2 attributes of our interest are independent or not. We test our null hypothesis at 5 % level of significance. Here in all chi-square procedure we considered as there is relation between two attributes of our interest.

Now if the P value is less than 0.05 the hypothesis will be rejected and there is a relation between two attributes and they are said to be dependent.

If P value is greater than 0.05 the hypothesis will be accepted and they are said to be independent.

Q. Products and occupation.

Occupation/product

clothes

electronic

jeweler

accessories

other

Total

Student

77

96

21

45

39

278

House wife

9

10

7

8

0

34

Government employer

7

12

0

8

0

27

Business

14

32

3

9

8

66

Other

9

25

3

4

3

44

Total

116

175

34

74

50

449

Ho: Products and occupation in online shopping are independent.

P value: 0.071298

So, P > 0.05

Therefore Ho is accepted.

Conclusion:

We may conclude that product and occupation in online shopping may be regarded independent.

RECOMMENDATON

· They should provide complete information about their products and should make site simple so that common people can understand how to make purchase

· As in online one purchase goods through credit cards but one can use the approach of cash payment during delivery

· One can use more animation through which they can attract more customers

· One can use the approach of credit points i.e. if one purchase for the first time they get credit points due to which if they purchase for the second time they can get discount of that much points. Due to which one increase the repurchase.

LIMITATION

In this project we have faced various difficulties, starting from setting the objective, collecting the survey sample, problem recognition, consulting target market and conducting the survey to complete the project.

· One of the major problems faced by us was time. Some people were not readily available for the survey

· Some responder were not able to share about their information regarding their credit card and personal information as it can be leaked

· Some people lack interest in giving feedback to our questionnaire

· Middle- age group and old age people prefer traditional method of buying

· There is a fear among consumers that while buying online there can be risk of getting their ordered products or might they can lose their money.

CONCLUSION

After having detail study on Online Shopping one can see a great change in the behavior of people in many manners like their attitude, buying pattern. In earlier times people use to do manual shopping but now as time changed people are becoming busy and due to which technology has brought a new revolution i.e. Online Shopping.

As we started doing survey it came to in notice that young age group people i.e. 15-30 uses or prefer online shopping because it is time and energy saving. But middle-age group does not prefer much because they have wrong perception that by seeing the product one can get the goods of proper quality. And even some people does not prefer using plastic money i.e. credit cards.

But online shopping has a great future but to be successful it is necessary to spread awareness about its benefit.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

-Google

-Philip Kotler

MALESTUDENTHOUSEWIFEGOVERNMENT EMPLOYERBUSINESOTHER1230154327FEMALESTUDENTHOUSEWIFEGOVERNMENT EMPLOYERBUSINESOTHER10924649

Internet using

less than 1 year1-3 yr3-5 yrmore than 5 year1021118562

MaleSocial activities Information gatheringEntertainmentFinanceshopping115120913458FemaleSocial activities Information gatheringEntertainmentFinanceshopping10398501034 Saves time1234519381482810 Easy of purchase through online1234560681059036Avoided hassles of shopping in store 123453977679677 Price1234552106557071 Superior selection1234516258570157Column112345male

Worried about giving-out credit card no.+ personal info. To see the product in personal , before buy it. The process is expensive due to cost of access. Insecurity + Net connectivity trouble.781082222Female

Worried about giving-out credit card no.+ personal info. To see the product in personal , before buy it. The process is expensive due to cost of access. Insecurity + Net connectivity trouble.4489921 Worried about giving-out credit card no.+ personal info. To see the product in personal , before buy it. The process is expensive due to cost of access. Insecurity + Net connectivity trouble.Male

Pages took too long to load that I gave up. Site was so confusing that could not find the product. Desired product was not available. System logged off before compulsion. Tried & failed to contact customer service. Wrong/Bad product arrived & could not return.8241881417Female

Pages took too long to load that I gave up. Site was so confusing that could not find the product. Desired product was not available. System logged off before compulsion. Tried & failed to contact customer service. Wrong/Bad product arrived & could not return.172826101823Column1 Pages took too long to load that I gave up. Site was so confusing that could not find the product. Desired product was not available. System logged off before compulsion. Tried & failed to contact customer service. Wrong/Bad product arrived & could not return.

2