Dissertation report on Changing trends in online travel in India

7/29/2019 Dissertation report on Changing trends in online travel in India

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Dissertation Project Report

On

A study on Consumer perception of e-retailing in india

By

ABBAS MEHDI

A0102211149

MBA- M&S Class of 2013

Under the Supervision of

PROF P.K BANSAL

Department of Marketing

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Business AdministrationMarketing & Sales

At

AMITY BUSINESS SCHOOLAMITY UNIVERSITY UTTAR PRADESH

SECTOR 125, NOIDA201303, UTTAR PRADESH , INDIA

2013


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CERTIFICATE

I, PROF P.K BANSAL herby certify that ABBAS MEHDI student of Masters of

Business Administration M&S at Amity Business School, Amity University Uttar Pradesh

has completed the Project Report on A study on consumer perception of e-retailing in india.

PROF P.K BANSAL

Department of Marketing


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DECLARATION

Title of Project

To study consumer perception of e-retailing in india

(a) That the work presented for assessment in this Dissertation Report is my own, that it has

not previously been presented for another assessment and that my debts (for words, data,

arguments and ideas) have been appropriately acknowledged.

(b) That the work conforms to the guidelines for presentation and style set out in the relevantdocumentation.

ABBAS MEHDI

Date:.. A0102211149

MBA-M&S Class of

2013


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Table of content

Chapter 1: Introduction.4-10

1.1 Onlineshopping.

1.2 Online shopping in india

1.2 Advantages of internet........................

Chapter 2: LiteratureReview11-18

Chapter 3: Research Methodology............19-22

3.1 Researchmethodology

3.2 ResearchDesign..

3.3 DataCollection..............

3.4 Software used ..

3.5Sampling.

3.6Scaling.....

3.7 PilotSurvey.

3.8 Limitations ofstudy..

Chapter 4: DataAnalysis23-47

Chapter 5:Conclusions.......48-49

Chapter 6:Limitation..............50

:Annexure.51-56

Chapter 7:Bibliography..57


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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Retailing consists of those business activities involved in the sale of goods and services to

consumers for their personal, family or household use. It is the final stage in a channel of

distribution, which comprises all of the businesses and people involved in the physical

movement and transfer of ownership of goods and services from producer to consumer.

2.1. A TYPICAL DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL IS SHOWN BELOW:

In a distribution channel, retailing plays an important role as an intermediary between

manufacturers, wholesalers, and other suppliers and final consumers. The retailer collects an

assortment of goods and services from various sources and offers them to consumers. This

procedure is called the sorting process. To maximize their efficiency, many manufacturers would

like to make one basic type of item and sell the entire inventory to as few buyers as possible.

Yet, many customers want to choose from a variety of goods and services and purchase a limited

quantity. Through the sorting process, the retailer bridges the gap between manufacturers and

final consumers. Another distribution function that retailers perform is to communicate with their

customers and with their manufacturers and suppliers. Customers are informed about the

availability and characteristics of goods and services, special sales etc. via ads, sales personnel

and store displays. Manufacturers and wholesalers are informed about sales forecasts, customer

complaints, defective products etc. from retailers. Many goods and services have been modified

as a result of retailer feedback to suppliers.

Over the last twenty years, retailing has changed as a result of following developments:

The development of a 'motor car economy'. This has led to one stop shopping where

families buy all of their supplies at one shop.


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Own branding- large retailers have developed brands of their own made by large leading

manufacturers,

New technology at the checkout and in the packaging and preserving of food has been

developed, which has speeded up the checkout process and reduced the delivery times

from suppliers.

Faster transport links across the world, which has made available a wider range of goods.

The growing sophistication of the customers and a general rise in the standard of living,

which has led to the fierce competition in the market.

New technology in the home, which may cause a revolution in the shopping methods in

the future.

1.1ONLINE SHOPPING

If theres any doubt about how the Internet is changing the way consumers buy

products, consider a few numbers associated with the July release of the popular childrens book

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. According to various reports, Barnes & Nobl e sold about

100,000 of 500,000 initial copies through its Web site following the books July 8 release,

helping the company to its biggest weekend of salesever. Amazon.com received 350,000

preorders before the book was released, with 18% of total orders coming from new site

customers. The online business also trickled down to FedEx, which said it would deliver 250,000

copies for Amazon.com on July 8, using 100 regularly scheduled flights, 9,000 employees, and

vehicles from 700 stations. This example isnt typical, but it does demonstrate the evolution ofe-

retailing, or shopping online. According to a July eConsumer Shopping Report, U.S. online

shoppers will total 63.4 million this year and reach 106 million by 2003, when three of four

Internet users will make purchases online. Research company eMarketer estimates that 820,000

U.S. firms will do business online this year. Considering teenage and senior citizen markets

havent been substantially tapped into yet and wireless Internet access will become more

prevalent, the numbers are likely to grow higher. The e-retailing boon hasnt necessarily meant


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financial success for all dot coms; several have failed to turn a profit. Many have been unable to

secure additional venture capital from investors or have fallen prey to competitors. Stock values

initially soared in early 1999, but since then, the overall trend for e-retailers on the NASDAQ

market has been one of slippage, especially since April 2000. Even for all its online success,

Amazon.coms stock fell from a December 1999 high of $113 to around $38 in late July.

According to The Standard, 16 major e-retailers have gone out of business since December 1999.

It appears the Internet is forever changing the way consumers and retailers do business.

1.2ONLINE SHOPPING IN INDIA

. According to the study, mostly the products like music/video cassettes and books that aresold on the Internet. "Sixty per cent of the total purchase of products on the Internet, comprisescassettes and books," the study said. Movie and travel tickets, CDs and computer related itemsmake for 25-35 per cent of the purchase, while apparel, household goods/general appliances,electronic goods, toys, flowers, payment of bills and groceries sell the minimum (10 per cent), itsaid.

The awareness of online shopping sites was 91 percent with Rediff.com having 81 percentawareness, followed by sifymail.com and fabmart.com at 59 per cent each.

The findings of study reveal that e-shopping was on the increase, thus implying a good potentialfor B2C sites. The survey findings were also in Sync with Nasscom estimates, which predict amulti-fold growth in B2C e-commerce transactions and an increased spend on online advertising.

Commenting on the increase in Internet based transactions, Brandquiver CEO, Mr. Ranjyoti

Barooah, said, "The B2C e-commerce transactions are bound to go up with consumers getting

more familiar with the Internet and the concept of shopping on the net." The study said male

online shoppers out-number female shoppers in the ratio of 82:18; in the U.S., a more evolved

market, the figure stood at 49:51 in favor of women. "How long it will take for the scales to tiltin India, is anyone's guess, but female netizens have buying power, are well-off and wealthy," it

added.

A total of 1,328 respondents participated in the search, of which the effective sample size was


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904. Most respondents were working adults (77 per cent belonged to the age group 21-40 years

and 74 per cent were working). It claimed more than 90 per cent of the respondents belonged to

Sec (socio-economic category) A, while nine per cent belonged to Sec. B with no participation

from Sec. C.

The study also revealed that 60 per cent of those who shopped online had made purchases three

or more times, while 20 per cent bought twice and 13 per cent bought on the net just once. It

indicated that a person engaging in an online transaction was very likely to shop again. A

majority of transactions studied were in the price bracket of Rs. 1,000 and below and close to 10

per cent exceeded Rs. 5,000.

The survey showed that the single largest driving factor for online shopping was convenience,

followed by good bargains. However, people still have some apprehensions about buying online

that include fear of poor quality and a sense of insecurity with regards to credit card numbers.

1.3ADVANTAGES OF INTERNET

1. A Leading-edge Image

Presenting the company or organization as a leading edge shows ones customers and

prospective clients that is are financially strong, technologically savvy, and ready for the 21st

century and that the firm cares enough for the clients to take advantage of new technologies for

their benefit. And finally that one has the resources to support the clients in the most beneficial

manner possible. More and more advertisers on television, radio, magazines, and newspapers are

including a Web address (remember www.cricinfo.com). Now is the time to avoid playing,

catch-up later.


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2. Improved Customer Service

One is available to the clients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Internet never sleeps.

Whenever a customer needs information about the company, products or services, he/she can

access your Web Page.

3. Market Expansion

The Internet is a global system. Latest estimates are that there are about 40 million people

(NASSCOM estimates are much higher) who have an access to the Internet, and this number is

growing every day. By simply posting a Web Page, the firm is also opening up International

markets.

4. Low Cost Marketing

Imagine developing a full color brochure without having to incur the costs of proofs, printers,

waste paper, long lead times between revisions and more. Then imagine a full color, products' or

services' brochure that is interactive and which incorporates text, graphics, audio, and/or video.

One that can be immediately updated without incurring the usual cost of product material

updates. For a minimal initial investment, your company or organization is presented to millions

of Internet users worldwide. It's like a virtual electronic brochure in everyone's hand without the

associated costs.

5. Low Cost Selling

Without the cost of direct selling, potential clients can get detailed information about your

products or services at any time. And they can easily order ones products over the Internet, or

request additional information to be sent to them via a request form on the Web page.


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6. Lower Communication Costs

Ones time and ones employees' time is valuable. Most businesses and organizations spend time

answering the same questions over and over again. With a website with a Frequently Asked

Question (FAQ) section one can make the answers available to everyone immediately. One can

also update ones Web page with new information, quickly and easily.

7. Value Added Marketing

One could use your Web page to provide useful information about ones particular industry,

product or its uses. Any type of information that one believes will be valuable to the customer

base can be included in the Web page to encourage visitors to ones site. One can also provide

easy links to other sites with information that would be of value to the clients.


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CHAPTER2 LITERATURE REVIEW

1.According to Monsuwe, Delleart and Ruyter (2004), there are five external factors to

understand consumer's intention to purchase in the internet which is the consumer personality,

situational factors, product characteristics, previous online shopping experiences and the trust in

online shopping. Consumer's trait includes their demographic factors such as age, income,

gender and educational level will lead them to have the intention to shop online. For age factor,

consumers that are aged under 25 has more potential to shop in online because of their interest in

using new technologies to search for product information and compare and evaluate alternatives

(Wood, 2002). For educational level, higher educated consumers are more likely to use the

internet for their shopping medium because they are more computer literate (Burke, 2002).

2.This is the second part of a study on consumer preferences and attitudes towards the internet

technology and e-Commerce activity in Greece. In this second part the authors build up on the

results of the first part which investigated the role of the internet technology and the frequency of

its use in everyday life in the country. More electronic transactions related issues were studied

i.e. the ease and comfort of using plastic money, the types of products and/or services most

preferred to be purchased or hired online, the obstacles that block almost the whole internet user

population in the country from engaging such transactions. Unfortunately the results are notpositive of the current situation in the country and the projects seem to be rather pessimistic at

least for the near future of e-Commerce in the country.

In the first part of this study the authors discussed about the role of the internet in everyday life

in Greece and the frequency of the use of the new technology. This investigation was necessary

in order to enable the authors draw conclusions as to what are the reasons behind the stagnation

of e-Commerce growth in the country. The result of this research was two-fold. One, the

majority of individuals (about 67%) uses the internet on a weekly basis whereas only 33% of

them use it on a monthly basis. This fact verified the growth of the information society so far

encouraging the motivation for its further development. The second, however, revealed a general

confusion among the internet users and non-user alike as to the actual role of the internet in

everyday life, be it an informative or a working tool. The above results look quite promising.

However, a nice-looking and well-structured building may satisfy the people that invested in it,


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those that built it and the passersby gazing at it. However, until and unless consumers and/or

companies use it, it will remain an investment waiting to be paid back and it will not be too long

before the specter of bankruptcy knocks on the door. This, of course, is also true of the

information society grown in Greece during the period 2000-2006

3. Situational factors will also lead a consumer to have the intention to shop in the internet such

as time pressure, lack of mobility, geographical distance, need for special items and

attractiveness of alternatives (Monsuwe, Delleart and Ruyter, 2004). Time pressure can be the

insufficient time for consumers to shop in traditional stores because of their hectic lifestyle.

Consumers are able to shop any time of the day or night in the comfort of their home; especially

for consumers who have little amount of free time because of extended working hours

(Wolfinbarger, et, al,. 2001). For consumers that lack of mobility might be caused by their

inability to reach the traditional store. Geographical distance is referred to as the far distance

between the consumer's residential area and the shopping mall. Need to special items could be

the consumer's needs of customized products to suit their demand (Monsuwe, Delleart and

Ruyter, 2004).

4.Product characteristic is also another factor that will influence the consumer's intention to

purchase in the internet. Product characteristic can be tangible or intangible; standardized or

customized. In an online context, lower tangibility of a product is caused by the lack of physicalcontact and assistance in the shopping process; consumer's intention to shop on the internet will

be low when there is a need to seek advice from a salesperson regarding the considered product

(Monsuwe, et. al., 2004). Products such as car, computers, perfume, perfume or lotion has the

lower potential to be purchased by the consumer because it requires more personal knowledge

and experience (Elliot, et. al., 2000).


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5.Another factor that influences the consumer's intention to purchase in online is the previousonline shopping experiences. Consumers will continue to shop in the internet in the future isbecause they are satisfied with the online shopping experience and it was evaluated positively(Shim, Eastlick, Lotz and Warrington, 2001). Consumer's perceived risk will tend to reducewhen they are satisfied from the shopping experiences (Monsuwe, Delleart and Ruyter, 2004).

The last factor that will influence consumer's intention purchase in online is the trust in onlineshopping. According to Lee and Turban (2001), reasons that consumers choose not to shoponline is because consumers lack of trust in online shopping. Attitude towards securitytransaction such as payment security, consumer information privacy, return policy, and productshipping guarantee predicts online purchasing intentions for apparels product (Kim, et. al.,2003). Similarly, consumer's trust towards online shopping is based on the level of security andprivacy.

Price attractiveness

Price is a form of monetary that people use for any transactions. It is predicted that price of aproduct differs in online and offline shopping. According to Xia and Monroe (2009), consumerswill save in monetary when there are price promotions on specific products. In an online context,consumers are more likely to depend on the price cues to determine the quality of a product

which are presented in the web site because they cannot see or touch the actual product (Jiangand Rosenbloom, 2005).

The study of So, Wong and Sculli (2005) resulted that when there is the presence of promotionaloffers, consumers will have higher intention to purchase in web-shopping; purchasing decisionsand choice making from alternative evaluations can be made easily when there is the presence ofpromotional offers.

.According to Xia and Monroe (2009), their study resulted that consumers with a shopping goalare more responsive towards promotional messages such as "pay less" and "discount" whileconsumers without shopping goal are responsive towards promotional messages such as "savemore" and "free gift". Xia and Monroe (2009, p.691) cited from (Monroe, 2003) that pricepromotion have several benefits such as to increase demand, adjust fluctuations in supply anddemand, and increasing consumers' purchasing over time.


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As we know that online shopping requires shipping fees for product delivery. It is expected thatsome consumers intention to purchase a particular product because they have to pay extracharges for the delivery service. But according to Jiang and Rosenbloom (2005), e-tailers can usecharges for shipping and handling as a tool to attract patronage by matching consumers' deliveryneeds; for example, some consumers who would prefer a quick delivery will have to pay highercost while others may prefer to wait if they pay lower shipping and handling charges.

According to Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1988), perceived quality and price are thought ifas a cue to assume a product's value. Xia and Monroe (2009) viewed that at a certain point,perception of lower quality of the product will evoked when there is a price reduction or therewill be questions on the retailer's intention to reduce the price. Price will be a primary factorwhen consumers search product in a web and this would show that customer behavioral intentionare related to the price cues that are more readily accessible from memory (Jiang andRosenbloom, 2009).

According to Liu, He, Gao and Xie (2008), it is important for e-tailers to provide varied types ofmerchandise and preferential price because customer satisfaction is still based on product priceand product variety; to create competitive advantage, small e-tailers should offer more productchoices for the consumers and offer competitive prices.. In online shopping, consumers are ableto compare prices on the internet in different web sites and they will have the material benefitbecause they can analyze and compare prices based to enhance their decision to purchase (Liu,He, Gao and Xie, 2008)

. According to Jin and Kim (2003), diverse consumer groups with various motivations andeconomic conditions can be satisfied through discount stores that are available in Korea.Pricing factor will also contribute to the shopping convenience. Price perception is positively andstrongly correlated with shopping convenience (Jiang and Rosenbloom, 2005). Similarly agreedby Jayawardhena and Wright (2009), shoppers who value convenience can obtain the benefits ofproduct and services with less money spent and this would have a positive relationship withshoppers' excitement; increasing search efficiency by eliminating travelling costs andpsychological costs brings convenience in e-shopping.


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Time saving

Time is also perceived as one of a factor that relates with intention to purchase in a shoppingcontext. It is believed that consumers have their own perception of time, whether or not to shopfrom the internet. According to Hansen and Jensen (2009), accomplishing the shopping trip assoon as possible refers to the time-saving oriented consumers and they prefer store choicesfavoring quick shopping; people who dislike shopping and approaching for time saving retailstores refers to the economic shoppers or known as "problem-solvers".

In online shopping, it requires less effort and better decision making for consumers who opt topurchase at the e-store (Jiang and Rosenbloom, 2005). Shoppers may save their time in e-shopping because they do not have to go through any effort on travelling to a mall or saving theirtime in other psychology factors such as traffic jam etc. Online shopping increases searchefficiency by eliminating travelling costs and psychological costs brings convenience in e-shopping (Jayawardhena et. al., 2009). Comparing online and traditional shopping, Alreck andSettle (2002) found that internet shopping was viewed as saving more time.

Shoppers who value convenience can obtain the benefits of product and services with less effortand this would have a positive relationship with shoppers' excitement (Jayawardhena et. al.,2009). Ordered products are directly delivered to the door is the greatest interest to manyconsumers because online shopping does not requires us to leave the hours or office (Chen and

Chang, 2003). According to Monsuwe, Delleart and Ruyter (2004), the main drive of onlineshopping is that the internet is time saving and accessible 24 hours a day. Shopping in theinternet saves time and effort because consumers are able to shop any time in the comfort of theirhome; especially for consumers who have little amount of free time because of extended workinghours (Wolfinbarger and Gilly, 2001).


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Enjoyment and excitement

Consumer also associate shopping with enjoyment and excitement which they would think is afun activity to them regardless in an online or offline context. Enjoyment is defined as the extentto which online shopping is perceived to be personally enjoyable and fun (Chiu, Chang, Cheng

and Fang, 2009, p.767). Shoppers nowadays tend to be more leisure driven compared to theshoppers in the early 1990's (Nicholls, Li, Kranendonk and Roslow, 2002). For some consumers,shopping for apparels is fun, enjoy, relaxing, pleasure or leisure. In offline shopping, consumersmay associate enjoyment and excitement in the shopping mall environment with their friends orfamily. According to the research of Dennis (2002), he suggests that offline shopping will bemore enjoyable than online shopping as regarded by the consumers. Hunter, (2006) suggestedthat retailers should increase the level of positive emotions in their shopping mall by creating anexciting and happy experience.

The research of Millan and Howard (2007) resulted that Hungarian shoppers visited shoppingcenters for both utilitarian and experiential reasons; some viewed shopping as a leisure activityaccompanied by somebody and enjoyed looking around while accomplishing their shopping task.Rajamma, Paswan and Ganesh (2007) suggested that there is a higher importance to theenjoyment aspect of shopping for consumers who prefer to shop in offline stores compared tothose consumers who feel comfortable purchasing from the internet. Otieno, Harrow and Lea-Greenwood (2005) stated that women enjoyed shopping because of the fashion, trends, fun, forbrowsing, felt special, looked good on the apparels, claimed to be "shopaholic", retail therapy,forget other problems, love for clothes, etc.

While in online shopping, consumers is expected to relate enjoyment and excitement with theexperience absorbed in the purchasing process and the excitement level is expected to ariseduring the product delivery process. According to Broekhuizen and Huizingh (2009), onlineshopping causes enjoyment which is fun and playful rather than from shopping task completion;


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customers may regard the purchase of goods in online shopping as an experience and theperceived entertainment will be regarded as enjoyment to them.

Consumers tend to browse more, engage in more unplanned purchasing and seek out morestimulating products when they feel pleasant and aroused in the shopping environment(Monsuwe, Delleart and Ruyter, 2004). Consumer's intention to return should increase as theextent a consumer associate excitement with an e-tailer increase; as the psychological costreduces, the online shopping experience will be more enjoyable and therefore creates excitement(Jayawardhena and Wright, 2009). Consumers will have more positive attitude when they enjoythe experience of online shopping and are more likely to adopt internet as a shopping medium;potential of entertainment of online shopping will reflect consumers' enjoyment (Monsuwe,Delleart and Ruyter, 2004). From the research of Jayawardhena and Wright (2009), it resultedthat the assessment of the e-tailing environment leads the customers to enjoy the shopping

experiences; they also found that positive word of mouth will be created when it is influenced bythe excitement positively.

High Interactivity

Interactivity is defined as the degree to which two or more communication parties can act oneach other, on the communication medium, and on the messages and the degree to which suchinfluences are synchronized (Liu and Shrum, 2002, p.54). According to McMillan and Hwang(2002), interactivity is defined as direction of communications, user control and time.Interactivity can be applied in online and offline shopping. The terms of interactivity in an onlinecontext is based on the detailed information given, easy-to-read or descriptive information isavailable (Park and Stoel, 2005) and also the degree of communication between the buyer andthe seller. In an offline context, interactivity will be based on the atmosphere of the shoppingmall and also the interaction between the consumer and the shop's promoter.

To highlight the term of "atmospheric", consumer's purchasing probability is enhanced throughpurposefully design the buying environment to produce specific affective responses in shoppers(Kotler, 1973-1974). When purchasing on the internet, perceived trustworthy will be higherwhen the web site has greater interactivity (Merrilees and Fry, 2003). A citation has been done


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on Hoffman and Novak (1996) by Ballantine, (2006, p.463), there are two main types ofinteractivity are considered to be applicable to the web. The first, person-interactivity, is theability for a person using the web to communicate with other individual. The second, machine-interactivity, refers to the ability for an individual to access hypermedia content.

Consumers are then able to make better purchasing decision because of the increased availabilityof information provided in the web site, causing a consumer to be more knowledgeable. (Cookand Coupey, 1998). The research of Ballantine (2006) resulted that the satisfaction of customerincreases when the level of interactivity provided by an online shopping environment increase;and similarly the consumer's satisfaction is also increased when the greater number of attributesprovided on a per-product basis; similarly, Dholakia and Zhao (2009) agreed that the shopperswere more satisfied when there are higher interactivity level compared to lower interactivitylevel web site.


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CHAPTER-3: RESEARCH METHODS & PROCEDURE

3.1Purpose of the study

. To study the different parameters used in online shopping which help the customer make

different mindsets for the product.

The aim of the study is to find how the modern internet user is keen to shop online rather

than going to retail outlets for shopping.

3.2 Research methodology

Research methodology is the arrangement of condition for collection and analysis of data in a

manner that aims to combine the relevance to the research purpose with economy in procedure.

Research is conceptual structure within which research is conducted. It is way to systematically

study and solve the research problems. The steps which complete the process are mentioned

below:

a) Problem Identification

b) Development of Approach to problem

c) Research design Formulation

d) Fieldwork and Data Collection

e) Data Preparation and Analysis

f) Report preparation and Presentation


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3.3: Research Design:-

A Research Design is a frame work or blue print for conducting the marketingresearch project.

My research is exploratory in nature. Explorative studies valuable means of finding out what is

happening to seek new insights to ask questions and to access phenomenon in a new light.

Exploratory research could be used for any of the following purposes:

Formulate a problem or define a problem more precisely.

Identify alternative course of action.

3.4 : DATA COLLECTION

Primary data:

The first hand information bearing on any research is the one which has been collected by the

researcher. The data in my research project is collected through:

1:-A structured questionnaire

2:-Personal interview of both retailer and consumers.

Secondary data:

The data which has already been collected, compiled and presented earlier by any agency may be

used for purpose of investigation. The data collected through:

1:-Various publications in form of annual reports, various papers and journals published from

time to time.

2:-Through internet and Books.


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SOFTWARES USED:-

1. Microsoft Excel:- Used for storing the data.

2. Microsoft Word:- Used for report preparation.

3. SPSS:- Used for analyzing data

SAMPLE AND SAMPLING TECHNIQUES

Sample basically means a subgroup of elements of population selected for participation in study.

And number of elements to be included in the study is known as sample size. Execution of the

sampling process requires a detailed specification of how the sampling designs decisions with

respect to the population, sampling frame, sampling unit, sampling technique, and sample size is

to be implemented. Sampling technique is broadly classified as:

Non Probability Sampling

Sampling technique that do not use chance selection procedures and rather they rely on the

personal judgment of the researcher.

In this study basically Convenience sampling.

Non Probability Sampling Technique is used. Convenience sampling attempts to obtain a sample

of convenient elements. The selection of the sampling unit is left primarily to the interviewer. In

this type of sampling technique often the respondents are selected because they happen to be in

the right place at the right time. Examples of convenience sampling includes

Use of students, church groups, and other members of social organizations.

Mall- intercepts interviews without qualifying the respondents.

Department stores using charge account lists.

Questionnaires included in a magazine.

Convenience sampling is the least expensive and least time consuming of all the sampling

techniques. The sampling units are accessible, easy to measure and cooperative. In spite of these

advantages, this form of sampling has serious limitations. Many potential sources of selection

bias are present, including respondent self-selection. Convenience sampling is not representative


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of any definable population. This study basically included mall-intercept as the sampling

technique.

The sample size for the study was taken in Delhi and it was 110 people.

SCALE USED:-

In the study the scales used are Ordinal scales like Likert scale, Dichotomous.

PILOT SURVEY:

The study constituted of the people those who purchase the product online and what is the reason

they shop online rather than going to retail outlet for shopping.

Limitations of the study:

Research is based on the collection of data from both primary and secondary sources.

There may be a possibility of biasness on the part of some respondents, but very much

care has been taken to make this report unbiased. Some respondents might not give the correct information due to their lack of interest and

shortage of time.

Time constraint.

All the information, which is taken, is biased on primary and secondary data that has its

own limitations


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Chapter 4: Data analysis and Findings

Surveyed data was collected and coded in statistical computer package Ms-Excel and then

further analyzed. The data has been analyzed with reference to the objective of the study.

During the analysis various techniques were used to segment and define of customer profiles.

Each question as asked to respondents with a purpose behind. The analysis will show how each

question and data collected through them depicts the purpose behind the study.

1. Where do you access the net?

Home

Friends Place

Work Place Cyber caf

School/College

Others


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The question talks about the number of net users those are present in India and the

amount of people who access the Internet from different places. The question is basically to

find out how many people access the Internet from the different locations such as home,

friends place, work place, cyber caf, school/college and any other place.

According to the study done results show that out of the total sample size, the maximum number

of users have accessed the web using cyber cafes (44%) followed by the educational institutes

studying (32%) and then followed by their own homes that have internet connections (17%).

The results show obvious results because the number of Internet connections in India is very low

than the number of Internet users. Therefore, maximum number of users access the web from

cyber cafes at a pay per use basis.

Home17%

Friends Place1%

Work Place5%

Cyber Caf44%

School/College32%

Others1%

Break-up of places used for accessing the Internet

Home

Friends Place

Work Place

Cyber Caf

School/College

Others


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Q2. How often do you access the net?

Twice a day

Once a day

Twice a week

Once a week or less

This question states the frequency of Internet usage by the person. The question is

important to show that different people are exposed to the websites for different periods and due

to this there is an effect of this type of qualitative exposure time. This influences the decision for

purchasing something online.


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Results from the study show that people who have access to the web via cyber cafes, educational

institutes, work place, home etc use the web at a maximum of once a day (55%) followed by

people who access the net twice a day (36%).

The number of users who use the web use it at one sitting and so the frequency depended on

logging in and then logging out taken as once and subsequently the frequency increased if this

was done so again. This shows that people used to access the web once at one sitting and so had

managed their time in this particular frame to do all kinds of activities.

Twice a day36%

Once a Day55%

Twice a week9%

Once a week or less0%

Frequency of Usage

Twice a day

Once a Day

Twice a week

Once a week or less


27/58

Q3. What is the purpose of access?

E-mail

Chat

Work/studies

News

Entertainment

Shopping

Any other

This question was set to see what exactly is the purpose of people who spend their time on the

Internet. The people who are basic net users spend their time doing lots of things like E-mail,

chat, entertainment purposes, news items, using it for their study purpose or shopping. There

may be many other uses too like conferences, searching for important stuff etc, but consideration

in the question was given to just some very few things.


28/58

The number of users who used the Internet did all kinds of activities, which included E-mail,

chat, work/study related activity, accessing the web for news features, for entertainment

purposes, and shopping. The results from the question showed that e-mail was the activity

people did most using the web followed by chat and then study related activities. The question

showed that the shopping activity was done by least number of people as a Internet activity.

This shows that the number of Internet users mainly rely on the Internet for communication of

messages followed by one of the most important leisure activity like chat. Shopping came as

one of the activities but was not taken into consideration as one of the main activities. Now this

may be due to the users having access to the Internet through cafes only, which means that

they try to optimize their time in the cafes for a maximum use of e-mails only and shopping

being one of the minimal of activities.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

email chat study news entrnt shppg other

Numberofres

pondents

Activity

Number of people using different Internet features


29/58

Q4. Please rate the sources you rely on to get information provided (1-5)

o Books/magazines

o Newspapers

o Radio/TV

o Friends & Family

o Internet

o Others

This question was posed on the sample to see what exactly is the source of information for

people in order to make a purchase decision about anything: apparels, books, music, groceries

etc. Different people have different sources of information that have different impacts on the

decisive behavior of the customers. The question revealed the importance of each source of

information provided above. This question could be used to see the most important source of

information and thus try to influence that particular information source to spread out the

message.


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The question showed some interesting results as to the weightage of each source of information

in influencing the audience to make a buying decision. The data collected showed that the users

took books, TV and Internet as the main sources of information. A few users also rated

newspapers as one of the main sources of information and rated it No.1. No other source of

information was considered except books, newspapers, TV, friends and family, and Internet.

This shows that the Internet is also a potential source to advertise about products those are soldonline. However, it would be more feasible to advertise about products that sell online in Internet

as well as TV including magazines and other such leisure books. This is because most of the

people rely on these sources to gain information as well as for leisure.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

books npaper TV frnds internet other

Break-upofra

nking

Sources of information

Ranking of different sources of information

5

4

3

2

1

0


31/58

Q5. Have you ever purchased anything online?

Yes/No

This question was posed to see that out of the sample size how many people really use the

Internet to make shopping activities and have ever considered using it as a medium of shopping.

The question revealed that most of the people who had used the Internet had been in a minority

when it came to buy products online. There were about 27% of the total respondents who had

bought goods online. Seventy three percent of people who were a majority had not ever bought

of buying goods online

This shows that the trend of buying goods online was still in the nascent stage and had to gain

more popularity in order to be successful in the hugely successful era of the Internet. There may

be certain reasons for this kind of behavior that was probed into in the next set of questions.

No73%

Yes27%

yes/no

No

Yes


32/58

Q6. If yes, what did you purchase?

Clothes

Books

CDs/Tapes

Groceries

Consumer Electronics

Tickets

Others

This question was posed to see that how many people have used the Internet as a medium to buy

clothes in particular. This is because the web serves as a medium to buy other products too,

which can be easily bought. But buying sometime like apparels online is a very big risk because

it lacks the touch-and-feel experience, the most important aspect necessary for a purchase.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

tkts cloth books tapes grocery elec other

Numberofpeople

Products

Breakup of sample who have used Internet to buy different types ofproducts

Yes

No


33/58

The results from the question showed that most of the people who have bought anything from the

net have bought books first and then followed by tickets and then cloth. This shows that books

are the most popular items that one has ever bought on the Internet.

The question reveals the fact that books that were purchased would have been the ones that are

available only online like the limited editions ones. Tickets are amongst the highest because

people have used the web to buy tickets, which are railway tickets, cinema tickets, and other

kinds of tickets for different matches.

Q7. Which channels would you prefer for buying the following?

Internet Store Public Kiosk Mail order

catalogue

Clothes

Books

Consumer electronics

CDs/Tapes

Groceries

The above question would show a relative comparison of the different channels of buying a

product like Internet, Stores, Public Kiosks, and Mail Order Catalogues. The question was

framed to basically find out which channel does a person rely on while buying the products and

if so in case of apparel what channel is regarded as the best. There is a big difference in the

dynamics of the different channels and it depends on the product also what channel is preferred

by the person.


34/58

The question shows that the numbers of respondents who have given their preferences for buyinganything have quoted their choice of channel for that particular item. Out of this product-channel

combination most of the people

Have preferred to buy clothes from the store ad then by mail order catalogues than the

Internet.

Have preferred to buy books from the stores as the most feasible option

Have preferred to buy electronic items from the Internet higher than buying it from the

Internet or public kiosks or by mail.

Have preferred to buy CDs or music from stores as the best option.

Have preferred to buy groceries from stores rather than any other channel.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

frequency

Product-channel combination

Breakup of people prefering or not prefering the particular channel

with the product

Yes

No


35/58

This shows that stores are still more popular than any other medium. However, the study also

shows that people are starting to use Internet to buy products like electronic items. Another point

to be noted is that to buy clothes mail order catalogues are preferred rather than the Internet.

Buying on the Internet is nothing but a fact way of buying from a mail order catalogue itself. So

it the method is made web friendly and the trust of the people is gained the popularity of buying

clothes on the Internet is not a distant dream but will soon turn out to be reality.


36/58

Q8. Which attributes would you prefer/consider while shopping for clothes? (Please rate form

1-5 as least important to most important)

1 2 3 4 5

Ease of navigation _________________________

Pricing _________________________

Ease of Regulation _________________________

Variety _________________________

Mode of Payment _________________________

Customized search _________________________

Quality of service _________________________

Information about products

_________________________

The question has been framed to see the weightage of different attributes related to purchasing

on the Internet. There are some parameters that are very necessary and some are not so necessary

but the sample would show which according the people is the most important ones and what can

be used to make the website and the online shop more effective.


37/58

The question here shows that the most important factor according to customers when they buy

products according to descending order of preference is Mode of Payment

Quality of products

Variety available

Price


Ease of Navigation

Search options

This shows that there is a risk involved when buying clothes from Internet. This also

reveals the fact that people would like to be on the safe side in order to consider an option of

buying clothes online. The quality of products should be good in order to gain customer

satisfaction and confidence in the retailer. There should obviously be variety in the online store

because it is the main reason an online site has an edge over offline sites. Pride is not considered

as one most important thing as was the clich. This is because the Internet user is quite upwardly

mobile and has no problem in spending money over things that give a value-for-money in it.

Therefore, retailers should focus on the payment mode rather than pricing and producing

confusing information about products and other site development features as navigation and

advanced search options.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Number

ofrespondents

Attributes

Breakup of sample for different attributes

LeastImportant

Not Important

Neutral

Important

Most Important


38/58

Q9. What are the major reasons for not making a purchase decision for clothes on the

Internet? (Please rate form 1-5 as strongly disagree to strongly agree)

1 2 3 4 5

Confusing sites _________________________

Failure to find the intended product _________________________

Slow downloads _________________________

Unreliable delivery _________________________

Low security _________________________

Low information about the supplier _________________________

Absence of a credit card _________________________

High prices _________________________

Skill required for surfing _________________________

Absence of the feel-and-touch _________________________

experience

The above question was posed to see what are the negative factors that are associated with

consumers not preferring the site for buying products like apparels. There were many things that

concerned people buying on the Internet like security features, credit cards, and prices etc, which

were hindrances during shopping online. The question was intended to see what the actual reason

was and which factor was attributed the most.


39/58

The question revealed very different answers than intended. The answers showed that customers

had preferred the following factors in a descending order.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

7080

90

numberofresponses

Possible reasons

breakup of possible reasons for not buying online

Least Important

Not Important

Neutral

Important

Most Important


40/58

Feel-and-Touch experience

Low security

Failure to find intended product

Unreliable delivery

Product information

Slow downloads

Confusing sites

Absence of credit cards

Skill in buying

High Price of products

The answers produced were very different than expected. This was because again price was

not accounted as one of the main factors. This shows that the customers were still ready to pay a

price for any products that still gave value-for-money. This made it very clear that retailer should

not focus on the price aspect of the product too much. Even though this factor is an important

part while making a purchase decision, there are still different factors that have to be considered

before influencing the customer to buy a product. The feel-and-touch experience cannot be

created in the Internet until and unless there is a whopping advancement in technology to give

that feeling. Therefore, retailers should focus on other aspect as security in the transaction byfocusing to more on a reliable source of transaction method. This may be done so by using the

COD (Cash On Delivery) method to gain customer confidence as Redif.com does in its

transactions. The customer should be given the assurance that the product will be delivered using

a very reliable delivery method like a courier service which is acclaimed in its business and then

providing articulated product information.


41/58

Q10. Which modes of contact from the online shop would you consider? (Please rate form 1-5

as least important to most important)

1 2 3 4 5

Telephone __________________________

Personalized contact __________________________

E-mail __________________________

This was the last question that was presented in the questionnaire. In online retiling the reach of

the retailer is totally boundary-less. The retailer can reached to almost any part of the world by

the help of the website and to any consumer anywhere. This even gives the customer anotheroption of giving his feedback to the retailer very efficiently. This is not possible in an offline

store because of the time constraint by the customers and the shopkeeper. So the question gave a

picture of how people would like to be contacted personally in order to be more efficient in

handling customer problems.

6%

2%

16%

10%

66%

Contact by phone

Least Important

Not Important

Neutral

Important

Most Important


42/58

2% 4%4%

74%

16%

Contact in Person

Least Important

Not Important

Neutral

Important

Most Important

10%

28%

0%4%

58%

Contact by Email

Least Important

Not Important

Neutral

Important

Most Important


43/58

The customers who responded to this question preferred the phone and then the mail facility and

then in person contact as in descending order in order to be in touch with the online store for

making a transaction.

People took it very serious when they buy products and a phone gave a more intimate personal

touch and then he mail facility. The in person contact was chosen as last because people are

normally not available at a single place all the time and this makes it more untraceable for the

person in the online to make a personal touch. Phones (Cell phones) are best in such a case

because they are with the person all the time and so make the person traceable.


44/58

DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKUP OF THE SAMPLE

1. Age

The number of respondents varied from the age group of 20 years to 26 years, which was the

prime group out of the total Internet users in India. The Internet user base being from 15-35

years, which is, group which uses the Internet in a maximum amount. The respondents fell intothe 20-26 year group category out of which 63% were in the age of 24-26 and 37% in the age

group of 20-23.

63%

37%

Percentage of sample according to age

20-23

24-26


45/58

2. Gender

The gender break up was: Males- 61%

Female-39%

3. Family income

Percentage of sample size according to family income

14%

67%

8%

6%5%

15000-20000

20000-25000

25000-30000

30000-35000

35000-40000

39%

61%

Breakup of sample according to gender

Female

Male


46/58

The family income breakup came to around

Rs. 15000-20000 14%

Rs. 20000-25000 67%

Rs. 25000-30000

8%

Rs. 30000-35000 6%

Rs. 35000-40000 5%

The maximum number of respondents belonged to the Rs. 20000-25000 bracket followed by

Rs. 15000-20000 14% bracket.

4. Educational Background

Out of the total respondents 38% were Professionally qualified, then 33% were Postgraduates

and 29% were undergraduates.

5. Occupation

According to educational background, everybody in the sample size was a student. This was

intended because students are the best and only target audience for using the web as the best

source for news, entertainment, chat, study purposes, E-mail, etc.

38%

33%

29%

Percentage of people with different backgrounds

Profesional degree

Post Graduates

Undergraduates


47/58

6. Ownership

The respondents who answered this question revealed that out of the total most of them owned

mobile phones and credit cards, which was around 84% and 83% respectively. Net banking

facility was used by only 27% of the respondents.

7. Trip Abroad

Out of the total respondents 62% respondents had been to abroad in the recent past.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

7080

90

crcard cell netbnkg

Frequency

Ownership parameters

Ownership of the sample size

No Yes

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

No Yes

No.ofrespondents

Number of respondents who had gone for a trip abroad


48/58

CHAPTER 5:-CONCLUSIONS

1. Most of the net users in India have access to the net from cyber cafes and therefore,

there are more number of Internet users in India rather than the number of Internet

connections.

2. The Internet is accessed by most of the Internet users only once a day out of which

the maximum users do it for checking and sending E-mails and chatting.

3. Sources of information for Internet users are books, Internet and TV/Radio.

4. Clothes are still preferred to be bought offline rather than online but electronic goods

are preferred to be bought online rather than online which was a new finding. Slowly

but steadily the Internet is also used for buying products online. Books are also being

bought in larger proportion in case and groceries are still preferred to be bought

offline.

5. The most important factor according to customers when they buy products is mode of

payment, quality of products and variety available. Pricing is not one of the factors in

case of online shopping, that which is actually considered as important in Indian

markets while buying online

6. The probable reasons that customers see for not buying online is preferably the Feel-

and-Touch experience, Low security, Failure to find intended product, and Unreliable

delivery. Slower Downloads and High Price was not considered to be an important

factor. Since almost everybody in the sample size owned credit cards, it was not

posed as a problem.


49/58

7. The reasons that customers quoted, as would be the parameters to be considered when

buying clothes online were low overall cost, variety, competitive evaluation and

convenience. Price was quoted low again in this case followed by status symbol and

quality. This was because people presumed that whatever is sold on the Internet has

to be of good quality.

8. For obtaining and confirming transactions when buying online respondents said that

they would prefer contact by phone and personal E-mails than by contact in person.


50/58

CHAPTER 6: LIMITATIONS

1. The sample survey is done with only a small group of people restricted within a small

locality in Delhi. This sample may not be the perfect sample and may not be possibleto produce the exact trend for the entire market. So the arguments and suggestions

that are given in this report are strictly on the basis of the results obtained from the

survey.

2. Convenience sampling was used in order to keep up with he time limit and collect as

the target sample.

3. A sample size of more than 100 i.e. of about 150+ would have proved to be a better

sample size but due to time constraints the sample size was restricted to 100 only.

4. Even though there may be definite process assumed in the report as a probable model

for Internet users to make a buy decision, it may not work in the way it is explained.


51/58

ANNEXURE

QUESTIONNAIRE

1 Where do you access the net?

Home

Friends Place

Work Place

Cyber caf

School/College

Others

2. How often do you access the net?

o Twice a day

o Once a day

o Twice a week

o Once a week or less

3. What is the purpose of access?

E-mail

Chat

Work/studies

News

Entertainment

Shopping

Any other

4. Please rate the sources you rely on to get information (1-5)


52/58

Books/magazines

Newspapers

Radio/TV

Friends & Family

Internet

Others

5. Have you ever purchased anything online?

Yes/No

6. If yes, what did you purchase?

Clothes

Books

CDs/Tapes

Groceries

Consumer Electronics

Tickets

Others

7. Which channels would you prefer for buying the following?

Internet Store Public Kiosk Mail order

catalogue

Clothes

Books

Consumer electronics


53/58

CDs/Tapes

Groceries

8. Which attributes would you prefer/consider while shopping? (Please rate form 1-5 as

least important to most important)

1 2 3 4 5


54/58

Ease of navigation

________________________

Pricing ________________________

Ease of Regulation ________________________

Variety ________________________

Mode of Payment ________________________

Customized search ________________________

Quality of service ________________________


_________________________

9. What are the major reasons for not making a purchase decision on the net? (Please

rate form 1-5 as strongly disagree to strongly agree)

1 2 3 4 5

Confusing sites ______________________

Failure to find the intended

product ______________________

Slow downloads ______________________

Unreliable delivery ______________________

Low security ______________________


55/58


56/58

11. Which modes of contact from the online shop would you consider? (Please rate form

1-5 as least important to most important)

1 2 3 4 5

Telephone __________________________

Personalized contact __________________________

E-mail _________________

More about yourself

Age __________________

Gender __________________

Family income __________________

Occupation __________________

Educational background __________________

Ownership (Pl. tick)

Credit cards

Cell phone

Internet banking

Have you recently gone for a trip abroad

Yes

No


57/58

CHAPTER 7:- BIBLIOGRAPHY

The data used in the study has been compiled and/or obtained from the following publications

and websites.

1. http://www.retailwire.com

2. http://www.indiainfoline.com

3. http://www.rediff.com

4. Journal of Retailing

5. Journal of Marketing

6. Journal of Marketing Research

7. Marketing Management, Philip Kotler

8. Marketing Research, Naresh Malhotra

9. Retail Management, Barry Berman & Joel R. Evans


58/58

Documents

Dissertation report on Changing trends in online travel in India