INTRODUCTION

Objectives: To identify the factor affecting consumer preference towards shopping online To determine the different product purchased online To identify the most preferred online shop

Scope of the study: The main purpose of the study is know the customer attitude and preference towards online shopping and also access factors, which influence the customers. The study is confined only to the customers of Cochin City.

Historical Background: Online shopping starts with the beginning of online banking in 1994. The Stanford Federal Union was the first bank to allow online internet banking, while other banks had been experimenting with other types of home banking for about a decade before this. A popular pizza restaurant Pizza Hut that was the first company to offer online shopping. Their restaurant in Santa Cruz, California allowed people to order pizzas online, and it was not long before this option was available for Pizza Huts throughout the USA. Both Amazon.com and eBay started in 1995, and they are still the two largest online stores. According to Alexa, Amazon.com is the 7th most popular site on the internet, and eBay is at number 21 (http://www.alexa.com/topsites). Since then, hundreds of thousands of businesses have added online shopping or e-commerce functions to their website. They offer numerous ways to pay, from electronic transfers, to credit cards, to vouchers. These types of sites and businesses really have made a huge change in the way we purchase things.

Methodology: Use of Observational Techniques: The study has been carried out covering the following phases: Data source: PRIMARY DATA: Data was gathered in form of a survey through Questionnaire. SECONDARY DATA: INTERNAL SOURCE: company websites. EXTERNAL SOURCE: Newspaper (latest news update on online shopping companies and customer preference) and magazines. A comparative analysis of the survey is done with the survey conducted by The Indian Council for Market Research (ICMR). SAMPLING DESIGN SAMPLING METHOD- Questionnaire SAMPLING FRAME-the area under study is Kochi city SAMPING SIZE-50 respondents

LITERATURE REVIEW Hoffman and Novak(1997) pointed out that personalisation is the essence by which Internet firms valorise the Internet as a unique consumer market .Apart from the above ,there are several studies which reveal that peoples behaviour online is influenced by high speed connection. Know and Lee(2003) explored consumers concerns about payment security and its relationship to online shopping attitude and actual purchases. They observe a negative relationship between attitude towards online shopping and concerns about online payment. Consumers with a positive attitude seems to be less concerned about payment security. Kotler and Armstrong(2000) pointed out that a persons bu ying choices are further influenced by four key psychological factors: (1) Motivation; (2)Perception; (3)Learning; and (4)Attitude. In most families,
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women

are

the

chief

decision

makers(Dholakia,1999).Men are more motivated towards utilitarian benefits of products and give lesser importance to social relations and personal contacts (Steenkamp et al.,1999).Younger generation has always exhibited a positive disposition towards adoption of a new innovation (Schiffman and Kanuk,2003) and understands the technological changes and complexities optimistically than the elderly segment (Wotruba and Pribova,1995). Gurvinder and Zhaobin (2005) found that website design,website

reliability/fulfilment,website customer service website security/privacy are the four dominant factors which influence customer perceptions of online purchasing. The Indian Council for Market Research (ICMR) carried out a survey among Indian consumers in the age group of 18 years and above. The aim of the survey was to understand the penetration and scope of e-commerce in India. The survey was conducted in five cities across India namely Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai. From the survey we can analysis that Booking tickets (both for travel and recreation) topped the list of purchases. This was followed by other kinds of purchases-apparels, books, electronics and flowers. The main reason to buy online is that buying is cheaper and convenient from a brands website. Variety, better service, loyalty and warranty/guarantee were the other factors why consumers prefer buying directly from the brand/manufacturer. Though e-commerce/based activities have taken time to pick up and become popular with the Indian consumer, What is interesting is that 62% of respondents rated there online experience as good while a decent 18% said it was excellent a mere 8% of respondents complained of having a poor experience with the respective purchasing online. A preview of the presentation: The following pages are the findings and analysis of the survey. First comes the analysis of the factors determining preference towards online shopping and comparing the age with the preference. Second is the analysis of the products which are been purchased the most through online shopping and comparing with the reasons of the preference. Third is the analysis of the websites most preferred and comparing with the reasons of the preference. Conclusions drawn from these comparisons form the bases for recommendations.

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

1.

Factors affecting consumer preference towards shopping online The below given pie chart are the factors affecting preference towards online shopping. Factors like saves time, Home delivery and discounts are the attributes. The examination revealed the following results. Fg 1 : What factors affect the preference towards online shopping

(Source: Primary data) The above pie chart shows that out of 50 samples taken 66% of the sample preferred online shopping because it provides home delivery. The rest 20% prefers discount and 14% prefers save time. Clearly these observations suggest that maximum of the respondents do online shopping because online companies offer home delivery.

A. Comparison of factors affecting online shopping based on age:

The objective of this analysis is to understand if there is any difference in factors that influence customers based on their age.

Hypothesis : Ho( null hypothesis): There is no significant relationship between the age and factors which determine consumer preference towards online shopping.

H1(alternative hypothesis): There is significant relationship between the age and factors which determine consumer preference towards online shopping. For testing this hypothesis, Chi-square analysis was conducted and the results are shown below: Table1 1 : Frequency table showing comparison of Age with that of Factor affecting online shopping

Age

Factor saves time 18-25 25-35 35-45 45-55 55-65 above 65 100.0% 12.0% 68.0% 20.0% 11.5% 21.4% Home delivery 65.4% 71.4% 80.0% 66.7% Discounts 23.1% 7.1% 20.0% 33.3% 100.0%

Total

100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

Total

Table 2: Chi-Square Tests Value Df Asymp. sided) Pearson Chi-Square 8.176 10 .612 Sig. (2-

The significance value is 0.612 which is greater than 0.05 (alpha value) so accept null hypothesis. That is there is no significant relationship between the age and factors which determine consumer preference towards online shopping. From the table it is significant that majority of consumers irrespective of their age prefer online shopping because of home delivery facility. The maximum number of people who prefer online shopping because of home delivery facility, are in the age group between 2535 (71.4%). Normally this age group are all young working people who are very busy in their work and do not get enough time to go and do shopping.

2.

To determine the different product purchased online:

The below given pie chart are the different products purchased online like software, clothing, books and home electronics. The examination revealed the following results: Fg 2: Different products purchased online

(Source: Primary data)

From the above pie chart we can infer that majority of the respondents are preferring to buy books online (54%). 22% of the respondents buy cloths, 18% of the respondents prefer home electronics and only 6% of respondents buy software through online. Clearly these observations suggest that maximum of the respondents purchase books online.

A. Comparison of different products purchased with that of possibility of getting exact item ordered:
The objective of this analysis is to understand if there is any difference in the products purchased and possibility of getting the same item:

Hypothesis : Ho( null hypothesis): There is no significant relationship between the products purchased and possibility of getting the same item

H1(alternative hypothesis): There is significant relationship between the products purchased and possibility of getting the same item. For testing this hypothesis, Chi-square analysis was conducted and the results are shown below: Table 3:Frequency showing comparison of getting an exact item: products with that of possibility of

Products

Getting exact Item Always most of time Never 33.3% 36.4% 5.9% 100.0% 70.0% 16.0% 14.0% 54.5%

Total

Software Clothing Books home electronics Total

66.7% 9.1% 94.1%

100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

Table 4: Chi-Square Tests Value Pearson Chi-Square 43.144a Df 6 Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) .000

Fg3: Comparison of different products purchased with that of possibility of getting exact item ordered

(Source : Primary data)

The significance value is 0.00 which is lesser than 0.05 (alpha value) so reject null hypothesis. That is there is significant relationship between the products purchased and possibility of getting the same item. From the table and the bar graph it is significant that majority of respondents always get the exact Books (94.1%) what they order. There is not even one respondent who said they never get the exact books they have ordered. This may be the reason why the books are mostly purchased online. But 54% of the respondents have never got the exact cloths they order. This can be the reason for the cloths to be purchased the least.

3.

To identify the most preferred online shop:

The below given pie chart are the different online companies preferred for shopping like Myntra.com, zovi.com, flipkart.com, ebay.com, snapedeal.com and jabong.com. The examination revealed the following results:

Fg 4: Different website companies preferred for shopping online

(Source: Primary data)

From the above pie chart we can infer that most of the respondents (52%) prefer Flipkart.com. As we know books are been purchased more online, flipkart.com is the classic site for purchasing books. Other websites like jabong.com, ebay.com, zovi.com, myntra.com and snapedeal.com are very less preferred by the respondents.

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A. Comparison of different websites preferred and factors determining the purchase:

The objective of this analysis is to understand if there is any difference in the c

Hypothesis : Ho( null hypothesis): There is no significant relationship between the websites preference with that of different reasons for buying online.

H1(alternative hypothesis): There is significant relationship between the websites preference with that of different reasons for buying online. For testing this hypothesis, Chi-square analysis was conducted and the results are shown below:

Table 5: Frequency table showing different Factors for choosing a Website Factors Website myntra saves time Home delivery 8.8% Discounts Total 6.0% 8.8% 10.0% 8.0% Zovi Flipkart 50.0% 58.8% 30.0% 52.0% Ebay 16.7% 11.8% 10.0% 12.0% 5.9% 10.0% 6.0% snapdeal Jabong 33.3% 100.0% 5.9% 100.0% Total

40.0% 100.0% 16.0% 100.0%

Table 6: Chi-Square Tests Value Df Asymp. sided) Pearson Chi-Square 10.884a 10 .367 Sig. (2-

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The significance value is 0.367 which is greater than 0.05 (alpha value) so we accept null hypothesis. That is there is no significant relationship between the websites preference with that of different reasons for buying online. From the table it is significant that majority of respondents prefer flipkart.com as majority of them believes that shopping via flipkart.com saves time, proper home delivery, and offers good discounts that is 50%, 58% and 30% respectively. Jabong.com is been preferred my respondents mainly because of the discounts they offer (40%) which is even higher than flipkark.com. Other websites are more or less been preferred less and preferred for the same reasons by less number of respondents.

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Findings and Conclusion

As per the research conducted by ICMR in the metro cities Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai, the results clearly portrayed that the consumers prefer online shopping mainly because they feel its cheaper and convenient. From this research, conducted in Cochin city, the consumers prefer online shopping mainly because Home delivery service offered by the online shopping companies and it is been preferred mainly by the age group between 25-35 as they are busy in their work and prefer to buy goods sitting at home. ICMR Study proved the highest product purchased online is for booking travel tickets. But this study projected that the books are been mostly preferred by the respondents because they always get the exact Books what they order. But few other respondents have never got the exact cloths they order. This can be the reason for the cloths to be purchased the least. As books are been preferred to be purchased online, website like flipkart.com have satisfied the customers by giving good services and offering all the books required by the respondents. Thus from our research we can make out that the flipkart.com are the master leaders in the online shopping industry.

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Recommendations

Based on the survey of 50 samples following recommendations are made to improve the effectiveness of online shopping .

1. companies like Zovi,myntra should concentrate more on efficient home delivery system and discounts similar to flipkart. 2.The company should concentrate more on selling books as majority of the consumer prefer books. 3.The company should take care of delivering exact clothing to the consumer. 4.companies like myntra,Zovi ,Jabong should concentrate more on advertisement .

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APPENDIX

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QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME: AGE: 1) Did you personally make influence or participate in any purchase on the internet in the past 6 months? Yes No GENDER:

2)Through which medium did you come to know about online shopping? TV Advertisement Word of Mouth Internet Advertisement

Magazines

News paper

3) What price range do you spend on online shopping? Rs 10 Rs 1000 Rs 2000 Rs 5000 Rs 1000 -Rs 2000

Rs 5000 & Above

4) What is the main reason to shop online? Saves time Home delivery

Return policy

Wide range of selections

Discounts

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5) Do you recommend good online stores to your friends and family?

Yes

No

Sometimes

6) What is the main reason for not shopping online? Risky Lack of full cost disclosure

Quality differences

Difficulty in using computers

Hesitation on giving personal details

7) What type of product do you purchase on the internet?

Software

Clothing

Books & magazines

Music DVD &CDs

Home Electronics

8) Which website do you prefer the most? Myntra.com Zovi.com

Flipkart.com

Ebay.com

Snapdeal.com

Jabong.com

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9) Do you spend more time buying things through online shopping?

yes

No

10)Do you get the exact item(same colour,same size) as shown in the online store?

Always

Most of time

Newer

11)From the following statements mark your preference: Strongly Agree Had a better shopping experience online Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

compared to conventional shopping Takes pleasure in finding novel offering online Shopping online accords you with adequate product information Online shopping permits you to easily have Information offering Punctual delivery of items is a strength of online shopping about an

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BIBILOGRAPHY
Books:
Kumar, R. Research Methodology- A Step by Step Guide for Beginners. London: Sage South Asia, 1996. Lovelock, Cristopher, Jochen Wirtz, and Jayanta Chatterjee. Services Marketing People. New Delhi: Pearson Education, 2012. Malhotra, Naresh K., and Satyabhusan Das. Marketing Research-An Applied Orientation. New Delhi: Pearson Education, 2013.

Journals:
Bell, David R, Jeonghye Choi, and Leonard Lodish. "What Matters Most in Internet Retailing." MIT Sloan Management Review, September 2012: 34-35. Cerejo, Lyndon. "Improving The Online Shopping Experience, Part 1: Getting Customers To Your Products." Smashing Magazine, September 2011: 40-44. Jha, Pradeep. Whats Pushing E-Commerce. 4Ps Business and Marketing, March 2013: 16-18. Webley, Kayla. "A Brief History on Online Shopping." TIME Business and Money, July 2010: 56-59.

Online Sources:
Anand, Pradeep. Highbeam Business. September 1, 2007. http://business.highbeam.com/437758/ article-1G1-169097768/influence-perceived-product-risk-consumers-etailer/ (accessed April 10, 2013). Kleinman, Susan. Pressroom Files. May 2012. http://www.pressroom.ups.com/pressroom/ staticfiles/pdf/fact_sheets/comScore_Customer_Experience_White_Paper.pdf (accessed April 12, 2013). Sarah. September2010. http://blog.afridesign.com/2010/09/a-short-history-of-online-shopping/ (accessed April 12, 2013).

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