Study On Customer Persecption About Online Shopping.docx

A Project Report on “STUDY OF CONSUMER EXPECTATION & PERCEPTION TOWARDS ONLINE SHOPPING”

Submitted by NIKITA PRASAD Roll No. 4

Under the Guidance of Prof. SADAF KHAN Designation: Faculty [Co-coordinator]

Department: Bachelor of Management Studies Oriental College of Commerce & Management

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI

ORIENTAL COLLEGE OF COMMERCE & MANAGEMENT BACHELOR OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES ANDHERI (WEST), MUMBAI. DECEMBER 2016 – 17

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CERTIFICATE

I PROF. SADAF KHAN hereby certify that Miss. NIKITA PRASAD of Oriental College of Commerce & Management of TYBMS [Semester V] has completed his project, titled “CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE ANALYSIS IN ONLINE SHOPPING” in the Academic year 2016 - 17. The information submitted herein is true & original to the best of my knowledge.

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Signature of the Principal

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Signature of Internal Examiner & Coordinator [Mrs. Sadaf Khan]

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Signature of the Project Guide

Signature of External Examiner

[Mrs. Sadaf Khan]

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DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project titled “STUDY OF CONSUMER EXPECTATIONS & PERCEPTION TOWARDS ONLINE SHOPPING” is an original work prepared by me & is being submitted to the University of Mumbai in partial fulfillment of BMS for the academic year 2016 – 17.

To the best of my knowledge, this project has not been submitted earlier to this University or to any other affiliated college for the fulfillment of BMS Degree. The contents of the project are not copied from any other source such as Internet, Earlier Project, Text book, etc.

Signature of the student:

Name of the student: NIKITA PRASAD

Roll No.: 4

TYBMS Semester V Examination Seat No.:

Place: Date:

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

A successful completion of job is based upon the chain of factor combining together to make an integral Outcome. The cooperation of the factors mixed with sincere effort can lead to best performance. Our Project is also no exception to this. So it becomes necessary to mention this before we start writing the study report.

We take the opportunity to express our deep sense of gratitude to all those who have contributed significantly by sharing their knowledge & experience in the completion of this project work.

We would like to place on record, our sincere gratitude to Mr. Vipul Vyas (Principal of our College) for giving us support, guidance & opportunity to make this project. Lastly, our wholehearted Thanks go to all those people who indirectly or directly helped me.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Online Shopping market in India has enjoyed phenomenal growth of almost 50% in the last five years. Although the trend of Online Shopping has been making rounds in India for 15 years, the appropriate ecosystem has now started to fall in place. The considerable rise in the number of internet users, growing acceptability of online payments, and the proliferation of internet enabled devices and favorable demographics are the key factors driving the growth story of Online Shopping in the country. The number of users making online transactions has been on a rapid growth trajectory, and it is expected to grow from 11 million in 2011 to 38 million in 2015.

Venture capitalists (VC) and private equity players have demonstrated their faith in the growth of Online Shopping in the country. This is amply substantiated by the significant increase in the total investments (US$305 million in 2011 against US$55 million in 2010).

Online travel has traditionally been the largest Online Shopping sub-sector (by revenue) in India. Nevertheless, online retail is catching up fast and is expected to match online travel revenues by 2015. To improve margins, online travel players are diversifying their offerings to include hotel reservations, along with the regular ticketing services. To make the most of this move, players will need to develop skill sets that are different from the ones required in the ticketing segment. They will have to manage challenges associated with a diverse supplier base, technological constraints, customer experience, authenticity of information and grievance redressed.

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The online retail segment has evolved and grown significantly over the past few years. Cash-on-delivery has been one of the key growth drivers and is touted to have accounted for 50% to 80% of online retail sales. Players have adopted new business models including stockand-sell, consignment and group buying; however, concerns surrounding inventory management, location of warehouses and in-house logistics capabilities are posing teething issues.

Classifieds, the earliest entrant in the Online Shopping space in India, is undergoing a shift in operational model from vertical to horizontal offering. Players now offer a gamut of services ranging from buying/selling cars to finding domestic help/babysitter. To ensure that Online Shopping maintains the steam that it has gained in recent years, the government needs to focus on the regulatory front. Unlike many other countries, India still does not have dedicated Online Shopping laws.

The Sales Tax laws need to be revised, as they are posing issues for online retailers while they decide warehouse location. Online Shopping is set to continue on its growth path on the back of the stabilization of the ecosystem and interest demonstrated by VC players, combined with support from the Government of India (GOI).

The next phase of growth would be marked by localized product offerings and making content available in various Indian languages. “Watch for the big problem – they may hide big opportunities” – Anonymous

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INTRODUCTION OF THE STUDY

 OBJECTIVE & SCOPE OF STUDY

This study also provides a clear picture of which shipping and post-purchase services enhance customer experience. Topics included are: 

What are the most/least important aspects of past online shopping experiences?

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What leads a site user to return to or recommend a site?

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What is important to consumers during the check-out process?

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What shipping services and options do consumers find most valuable?

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How important is tracking and what delivery services are preferred?

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What are consumers’ returns experiences and what aspects are important in a returns process?

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How do all of the services offer during and after the online purchasing experience impact the overall impression of that online retailer?

The study analyzes the data from a com Score survey of more than 3,100 U.S. online shoppers conducted in February 2012. All shoppers surveyed had to meet the criteria of making at least two online purchases in a typical 3-month period. Additionally, an online focus group was held on January 12, 2012. Participants met in a virtual online forum where they were asked about a

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series of topics related to online shopping and logistics, including shipping and returns. This forum allowed participants to respond to online discussion questions as well as other participants’ comments throughout the course of the focus group. This report will provide retailers with the necessary insights into what steps they must take to satisfy their customers, thereby increasing customer loyalty as well as the lifetime value of customers.

 Problem Statement There are millions of people online any time and they all are a potential consumer in the online market. Since there are so many providers, the most important thing for organizations is to understand what are consumer wants and needs in this competitive business environment. In the Internet shopping market since there is no face-to-face contact, analyzing and identifying factors that influence the consumer is vital. Moreover, consumers have new demands in the Internet medium. Therefore, it becomes more important to answer consumer's demands to retain the customer. Being aware that customers are performing a major role in marketing, finding out how the factors that are essentially affecting the purchasing intentions are important. Analyzing the process of shopping activities, how consumer decide and make purchasing over the Internet and what they buy need to be identified by online providers in order to satisfy and succeed in the competitive business environment. Customer behaviors are influenced by different factors such as culture, social class, references group relation, family, salary level and salary independency, age, gender etc. and so they show different customer behaviors. These differences are seen more specific when it is considered between two different consumer groups from different countries. Previous research streams on online shopping behavior, investigated main factors influencing online shopping adoption. However there has been limited number of studies on comparison two different countries. In this study, research has been made comparative online buying behaviors of consumers that are located two different countries which are United Kingdom and Turkey and studied on the findings of the research.

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INDEX

SR NO. CONTEXT

PAGE NO.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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2

OBJECTIVE

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CHAPTER 1 – LITERATRE REVIEW

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CHAPTER 2 – INTRODUCTION TO ONLINE SHOPPING

13 – 52

2.1 Concept of Online shopping 2.2 History of Online Shopping 2.3 Characteristics of Online shopping 2.4 Services Provided Under Various Modes of Online shopping 2.5 Benefits of Online Shopping 2.6 Drawback of Online shopping 2.7 Factors Responsible for the Growth of Online Shopping 2.8 Issues in Implementing Online Shopping & Their Solution 2.9 Myths of Online Shopping 2.10 The Impact of Online Shopping Website Made on Business 2.11 Mobile Commerce 2.12 Present Trends of Online Shopping 5

CHAPTER 3 – COMPANY PROFILE

53– 75

3.1 Introduction Of Amazon.in 3.2 Amazon’s Vision & Mission Statement 3.3 History of Amazon & Logos 3.4 Why Amazon.in is Betting on India 3.5 Amazon’s Logistics Service 3.6 Amazon.in knows Why Social Media is Important 3.7 Amazon Indian Advertising & their Power of Consumer Insight 3.8 Brands Associated with Amazon.in

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3.9 Amazon’s SWOT Analysis 3.10 Competitors of Amazon 6

CHAPTER 4 – RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

76

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CHAPTER 5 – DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION

78

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CHAPTER 6 – CONCLUSION

79

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CHAPTER 7 – SUGGESTION & RECOMMENDATION

80

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BIBLOGRAPHY

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ANNEXURE

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CHAPTER 1 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Online buying behavior is affected by various factors like, economic factors, demographic factors, technical factors, social factors, cultural factors, psychological factors, marketing factors and legislative factors. Customers choose an online-shop mainly based on references, clarity terms of delivery, graphic design and additional services. Problematical customers read discussions on the Internet before they spend their money on-line and when customers are incapable to purchase the product fast and with no trouble they leave online-shop.

Kotler, (2003) described Consumer buying method as learning, information-processing and decision-making activity divided in several consequent steps: Problem identification, Information search, Alternatives evaluation, Purchasing decision, Post-purchase behavior. Efthymios, identified the main constituent of the online shopping experience as follows: the functionality of the Web site that includes the elements trade with the site’s usability. The emotional elements planned for lowering the customer’s hesitation by communicating trust and credibility of the online seller and Web site and the content elements including the aesthetic aspects of the online presentation and the marketing mix. Usability and trust are the issues more regularly found to influence the online consumer’s behavior. Karayanni, 2 examined that discriminating of potential determinants between webshoppers and non-shoppers. Free shipping is a great motivator to purchase the products and customers are willing to pay nominal charges for getting their products. While compare online

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shopping with others shopping, consumers take product price and shipping charges almost equally into deliberation. There are some ways that retailers can do to improve the experience for their online shoppers. The first is to write the expected delivery date of the order, customers are willing to wait for their orders but want to know just how long that force is. Timely coming of product shipment encourages shoppers to recommend an online retailer. Consumers also want to track updates and delivery notifications to understand when their package is incoming. Online shoppers want flexibility in their shipping, mainly the ability to give special delivery instructions or schedule a delivery time .Customers are also want to get the address changing option for filling the wrong address when they are purchasing online. FICCI, (2012) stated that India’s large No. of middle class peoples, 300 million individuals want products through online. 500 million people under the age of 25 have contact to more money that has moreover resulted in independence, aspirations and a demand for product. The Indian retail sector accounts for over 20% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and contributes 8% to total employment. The cumulative foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in single brand retail trading, during April 2001to June 2011, stood at 68.26 million USD. The current status and estimated value of the Indian retail sector is about 500 billion USD and is pegged to reach 1.3 trillion USD by 2019-2020. The diffusion level of modern retail currently 5% will increase 6% from the current 27to 30 billion USD to 220 to225 billion USD in 2020.

The Indian retail sector is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10 to 20%. India is likely to have the second largest user base in the world, and the largest in growth, with 330 million to 360 million Internet users in 2015. India is on the verge of an Internet boom where users who access the Internet only through a mobile or tablet device will constitute around 70 percent of new users and 50 percent of the aggregate user base in 2015, leading to increasing demand. India has the latent to double its economic contribution from the Internet in the next five years from 1.5 percent of GDP at present to 2.9 to 3.4 % by 2015 in spite of the large current base of users the Internet currently contributes a modest, nearby 2percent to India’s GDP.

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CHAPTER 2

INTRODUTION OF ONLINE SHOPPING

The cutting edge for business today is Online Shopping. E-commerce stands for electronic commerce. It means Dealing in Goods & Services through the electronic media & internet. On the internet, it relates to a websites of the vendor, who sells products or service directly to the consumer from the portal using digital shopping cart or digital shopping basket system & allows through Cash on Delivery (COD), Debit Card, Credit Card, Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) payments. Online Shopping involves carrying on a business with the help of the internet & using the information technology like Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). More simply put, E-commerce is the movement of the business on the WORLD WIDE WEB.

Online Shopping has almost overnight become the dominant online activity. There is no single definition of Online Shopping, it means only commercial activities which is performed or linked to or supported by electronic communication. The effects of Online Shopping are already appearing in all areas of business, from customer service to new product design. It facilitates new types of information based business process for reaching & interacting with customers like online advertising & marketing, online order taking & online customer service. In now-a-days Ecommerce uses the WWW at least some point in transaction lifecycle.

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It can also reduce costs in managing orders & interacting with a wide range of supplier & trading partners’ areas that typically add significant overheads to the cost of products & service. For developing countries like India, Online Shopping offer considerable opportunity. In India it is still in nascent stage, but even the most-pessimistic projections indicate a boom. There has been a rise in the number of companies taking up Online Shopping in the recent past. Major Indian portal sites have also shifted are now selling a diverse range of product & services from flowers, greeting cards & movie tickets to groceries, electronic gadget & computers etc. With stock exchanges coming online the time for true Online Shopping in India has finally arrived.

2.1 DEFINATION OF ONLINE SHOPPING  Definition by U.S. Executive Office of the President Online Shopping is commercial interaction over the internet, which can lower costs

dramatically and facilitating new types of commercial transactions. As the Internet empowers citizens and democratizes societies, it is also changing classic economic paradigms. New models of commercial interaction are developing as businesses and consumers participate in an electronic marketplace and reap the resultant benefits. The Internet has the potential to revolutionize commerce and other areas. The Internet will revolutionize retail marketing. Shopping on the Internet could total tens of billions of dollars by the turn of the century.

(UNCTAD, 2000)  Definition by European Commission Online Shopping is about doing business electronically. It is based on the electronic

processing and transmission of data, including text, sound, and video (UNCTAD, 2000). It encompasses many diverse activities, including electronic trading of goods and services, online delivery of digital content, electronic fund transfers, electronic share trading, electronic bills of lading, commercial auctions, collaborative design and engineering, online sourcing, public procurement, direct consumer marketing, and aftersales service (European Commission, 1998). It involves products and services, traditional activities and new activities.

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2.2 HISTORY OF ONLINE SHOPPING WEBSITES

India had an internet user base of about 354 million as of June 2015 and is expected to cross 500 million in 2016. Despite being the second-largest user base in world, only behind China (650 million, 48% of population), the penetration of e-commerce is low compared to markets like the United States (266 million, 84%), or France (54 M, 81%), but is growing at an unprecedented rate, adding around 6 million new entrants every month. The industry consensus is that growth is at an inflection point. In India, cash on delivery is the most preferred payment method, accumulating 75% of the e-retail activities. Demand for international consumer products (including long-tail items) is growing much faster than in-country supply from authorized distributors and e-commerce offerings. Largest e-commerce companies in India are Flipkart.com, Snapdeal.com, Amazon India, and Paytm

MARKET SIZE OF GROWRH India’s consumer-facing Online Shopping market (B2C-C2C) grew at a whopping CAGR of 49.1% from 2007 to 2011 to reach a market size of US$9.9 billion. On the other hand, the B2B market is a small contributor to the overall domestic E-commerce market, and it was estimated at US$50.37 million in 2011. The country’s B2C E-commerce sector can be split into two broad categories — travel and non-travel. Online travel is the largest domestic B2C E-

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commerce segment, accounting for 81% revenues in 2011. The online non-travel market is further segmented into e-tailing, digital downloads, financial services and classifieds.

Amount (in billion) 12 10 8 6

Amount (in billion)

4 2

0 2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

Consumer-facing e-Commerce market size (US$ billion)

India’s Online Shopping market is shaping up and what it means for stakeholders. New opportunities are being generated out of the still-evolving ecosystem and Online Shopping market. We also analyze some deciding factors for stakeholders while formulating their market strategies. TIMELINE:

1971: The ARPANET is used to arrange a cannabis sale between students at the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, later described as "the seminal act of e-commerce" in John Markoff's book What the Dormouse Said. 1979: Michael Aldrich demonstrates the first online shopping system. 1981: Thomson Holidays UK is the first business-to-business online shopping system to be installed. 1982: Minitel was introduced nationwide in France by France Telecom and used for online ordering. 1983: California State Assembly holds first hearing on "electronic commerce" in Volcano, California. Testifying are CPUC, MCI Mail, Prodigy, CompuServe, Volcano

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Telephone, and Pacific Telesis. (Not permitted to testify is Quantum Technology, later to become AOL.) 1984: Gateshead SIS/Tesco is first B2C online shopping system and Mrs. Snowball, 72, is the first online home shopper 1984: In April 1984, CompuServe launches the Electronic Mall in the USA and Canada. It is the first comprehensive electronic commerce service. 1990: Tim Berners-Lee writes the first web browser, Worldwide Web, using a NeXT computer. 1992: Book Stacks Unlimited in Cleveland opens a commercial sales website (www.books.com) selling books online with credit card processing. 1993: Paget Press releases edition No.3 of the first app store, The Electronic AppWrapper 1994: Netscape releases the Navigator browser in October under the code name Mozilla. Netscape1.0 is introduced in late 1994 with SSL encryption that made transactions secure. 1994: Ipswich I-Mail Server becomes the first software available online for sale and immediate download via a partnership between Ipswich, Inc. and Open Market. 1994: "Ten Summoner's Tales" by Sting becomes the first secure online purchase through Net Market. 1995: The US National Science Foundation lifts its former strict prohibition of commercial enterprise on the Internet. 1995: Thursday 27 April 1995, the purchase of a book by Paul Stanfield, Product Manager for CompuServe UK, from W H Smith's shop within CompuServe's UK Shopping Centre is the UK's first national online shopping service secure transaction. The shopping service at launch featured W H Smith, Tesco, Virgin Megastores/Our Price, Great Universal Stores (GUS), Interflora, Dixons Retail, Past Times, PC World (retailer) and Innovations. 1995: Jeff Bezos launches Amazon.com and the first commercial-free 24-hour, internetonly radio stations, Radio HK and Net Radio start broadcasting. EBay is founded by computer programmer Pierre Omidyar as Auction Web. 1996: IndiaMART B2B marketplace established in India. 1996: ECPlaza B2B marketplace established in Korea.

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1998: Electronic postal stamps can be purchased and downloaded for printing from the Web.[13] 1999: Alibaba Group is established in China. Business.com sold for US $7.5 million to eCompanies, which was purchased in 1997 for US $149,000. The peer-to-peer file sharing software Napster launches. ATG Stores launches to sell decorative items for the home online. 2000: The dot-com bust. 2001: Alibaba.com achieved profitability in December 2001. 2002: eBay acquires PayPal for $1.5 billion. Niche retail companies Wayfair and NetShops are founded with the concept of selling products through several targeted domains, rather than a central portal. 2003: Amazon.com posts first yearly profit. 2003: Bossgoo B2B marketplace established in China. 2004: DHgate.com, China's first online b2b transaction platform is established, forcing other b2b sites to move away from the "yellow pages" model. 2007: Business.com acquired by R.H. Donnelley for $345 million. 2009: Zappos.com acquired by Amazon.com for $928 million. Retail Convergence, operator of private sale website RueLaLa.com, acquired by GSI Commerce for $180 million, plus up to $170 million in earn-out payments based on performance through 2012. 2010: Groupon reportedly rejects a $6 billion offer from Google. Instead, the group buying websites went ahead with an IPO on 4 November 2011. It was the largest IPO since Google.

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2.3 CHARACTERISTICS OF ONLINE SHOPPING

1. Payment Options Most visitors to online stores prefer to pay by credit card. If you want to use your Online Shopping cart software to process credit card transactions with a real-time payment gateway,

you'll have to open a merchant account. Although the majority of shoppers at online stores will make a credit card transaction, choosing an Online Shopping cart that also allows you to accept alternative payments will please customers who remain resistant to providing such information online. Offering options such as PayPal, Google Checkout, checks, and/or money orders allows more people to feel comfortable checking out on your site.

2. Site Search & Browse Visitors to online stores have a need for speed - and it starts with time-saving search. Consumers expect online stores to allow them to search for a product and quickly find the product they want. Customers also navigate via categories, along with browsing by price, category and brand distinctions. If your ecommerce shopping cart does not include a search feature for your site, your visitor may simply decide to look elsewhere.

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3. Product Reviews No matter how well online stores promote their own products, reviews by other customers will have a greater impact. In fact, 63% of consumers indicate that they are more likely to purchase from a site if it has product ratings and reviews, according to a CompUSA and iPerceptions study. Choose an Online Shopping cart that allows for product ratings and reviews - and let "word of mouth" work for you.

4. Wish List/Registry Customers at online stores often buy gifts for special occasions, which is why many Online Shopping carts feature a registry option that makes the process easier. Also, so-called "wish lists"

allow customers to save items at online stores and return at a later date to purchase those items. In general, when your ecommerce shopping cart allows your customers to manage their items the way they want, the result is higher satisfaction.

5. Order Tracking An Online Shopping cart can help you keep customers informed every step of the way - even after their order is placed. Automated order confirmation emails and shipping notification emails build customer's confidence in their purchase and in your brand. If a customer registers, they should be able to track their order by logging into an account created upon registration.

6. Special Offers Looking for a way to woo new customers - or existing customers you haven't seen in a while? Online Shopping carts can help you promote special offers like order discounts, coupon codes,

free shipping and gift cards. These offers serve a dual purpose -they encourage customers to take advantage of a "good deal" while also helping you compete in today's competitive online marketplace.

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2.4 SERVICES PROVIDED UNDER THE VARIOUS MODES OF ONLINE SHOPPING

There are a variety of different types of e-commerce and many different ways to characterize these types. For the most part, we distinguish different types of e-commerce by the nature of the market relationship who is selling to whom. The exceptions are P2P and mcommerce, which are technology-based distinctions.

1. Business to Business E-commerce (B2B)

B2B e-commerce is simply defined as ecommerce between companies. This is the type of e-commerce that deals with relationships between and among businesses. About 80% of e-commerce is of this type, and most experts predict that B2B e-commerce will continue to grow faster than the B2C segment.

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2. Business to Consumer E-commerce (B2C)

Business-to-consumer

e-commerce,

commerce

companies

between

or and

consumers, involves customers gathering information; purchasing physical goods (i.e., tangibles such as books or consumer products) or information goods(or goods of electronic material or digitized content, such as software, or e-books); and, for information goods, receiving products over an electronic Network. It is the second largest and the earliest form of e-commerce. Its origins can be traced to online retailing (or e-tailing). Thus, the more common B2C business models are the online retailing companies such as Amazon.com, Drugstore.com, and Beyond.com

3. Customer to Business E-commerce (C2B)

Consumer to Business E-commerce is a business model in which consumers (individuals) create value & business consumes that value. C2B, also called a reverse auction or demand collection model, enables buyers to name or demand their own price, which is often binding, for a specific goods or service. The website collects the demand bids then offers the bids to participating sellers.

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4. Consumer to Consumer E-commerce (C2C)

Consumer to Consumer E-commerce is creation of a product or service with the specific promotional strategy being for consumer to share that product or service with others as brand advocates based on the value of the product. The investment into conceptions & developing a top of the line product or service that consumers are actively looking for is equitable to retail pre-launch product awareness marketing. This type of e-commerce comes in at least three forms: 1. Auctions facilitated at a portal, such as eBay, which allows online real-time bidding on items being sold in the Web. 2. Peer-to-peer systems, such as the Napster model (a protocol for sharing files between users used by chat forums similar to IRC) and other file exchange and later money exchange models.

5. Business to Government E-commerce (B2G)

Business-to-government e-commerce or B2G is generally defined as commerce between companies and the public sector. It refers to the use of the Internet Related operations. This kind of e-commerce has two features: first, the public sector assumes a pilot/leading role in establishing e-commerce; and second, it is assumed that the public sector has the greatest need for making its procurement system more effective

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2.5 BENEFITS OF ONLINE SHOPPING

 Convenience The convenience is the biggest perk. Where else can you comfortably shop at midnight while in your pajamas? There are no lines to wait in or shop assistants to wait on to help you with your purchase and you can do your shopping in minutes. Online shops give us the opportunity to shop 24/7, and also reward us with a ‘no pollution’ shopping experience. There is no better place to buy informational products like e-books, which are available to you instantly, as soon as the payment goes through. Downloadable items purchased online eliminate the need for any kind of material goods at all, as well, which helps the environment!  Better prices Cheap deals and better prices are available online, because products come to you direct from the manufacturers or seller without middleman being involved. Many online shops offer discount coupons and rebates as well. Apart from this, online shops are only required to collect a sales tax if they have a physical location in our state, even if we buy from a store across the world.  More variety The choices online are amazing. One can get several brands and products from different sellers all in one place. You can get in on the latest international trends without spending money on airfare. You can shop from retailers in other parts of the country, or even the world, all without being limited by geography. A far greater selection of colors and sizes than you will find locally

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are at your disposal. Apart from that, the stock is much more plentiful. Some online shops even provisions in place to accept orders for items out of stock and ship it when the stock becomes available. You also have the option of taking your business to another online store where the product is available.  You can send gifts more easily Sending gifts to relatives and friends is easy, no matter where they are. Now, there is no need to make distance an excuse for not sending a gift on occasions like birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, and so forth.  Fewer expenses. Many times, when we opt for conventional shopping, we tend to spend a lot more than planned. There are other outside expenses on things like eating out, transportation, and let's not forget impulse buys!  Price comparisons Comparing and researching products and their prices are so much easier online. Also, we have the ability to share information and reviews with other shoppers who have firsthand experience with a product or retailer.  No crowds. If you are like me, you hate crowds when you're shopping. Especially during festivals or special events, they can be such a huge headache. Also, it tends to be more chaotic when there are more crowds out and this sometimes makes us feel rush or hurried. Grumpy, annoying, and smelly people also annoy me when I'm out shopping. Plus, parking becomes a huge issue. All of these problems can be avoided when you shop online.

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2.6 BACKDRAW OF ONLINE SHOPPING

 Internet does not come free of cost Many of us have a specific internet scheme, as a result of which, we have to shell out a fixed amount at the end of every month. The scheme allows us to have unlimited internet access in return for the fixed amount of money but what if somebody does not have such a scheme ? In that case, every time you open a page on an Online Shopping portal to choose a specific item, you get charged for it. Make sure that the internet usage cost does not topple the price of the purchased item itself. Be economical and be wise.  Shipping costs Many websites deliver your orders without charging the shipping cost but many of them do not do that. A number of websites, as a part of a smart marketing gimmick, do not include the shipping cost while giving out the price of an item. It may be minutely mentioned at the end of the screen which many would not even notice. The valuable gets delivered at your house and you are asked to pay more than what you are prepared for. You have no option but to oblige with it. Shipping costs in most cases raise the price of an article and you may end up buying it at a rate higher than the market price.  No hanging out with friends and family while shopping Usually when we go out shopping to a market-place, our ambling does not remain restricted to shopping of only one kind. Maybe we are trying to select a top but our roving eyes may get enamored by a chunky piece of jewelry put on display. As a result of that, we end up buying both and a lot more. In case of online shopping, that cannot be a possibility as you do not have more

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than one screen to concentrate on each time. Shopping for clothes and jewelry is usually a fullday plan. We eat at our favorite food-joints and indulge in a lot of gossiping besides shopping. Unfortunately, Online Shopping does not offer such a thing so far but who knows online shopping and hanging out simultaneously may become a reality soon. Till then, we have to wait.  Deprives you of tangibility That moment when you touch and feel the thing you want to own, it is something irreplaceable. In case of clothes and shoes, you can touch the item and understand how good or bad a material it has been made of. When it comes to gadgets, during a real shopping experience, you can try them out and know if they are working properly. Online shopping makes it extremely difficult to exchange items as well, in case of discrepancies.  Lack of opinion What do we do when we like a particular thing but we are not totally impressed with it? At that moment we ask for variety in terms of more color options, shape and size. You can wear a piece of garment and check if it fits you but with online shopping, that option seems like a distant dream. In online shopping, you do not get the same item spread out in varied forms and shape, vying for your attention. Sometimes being spoilt for choice is quite a coveted thing.  Deceptive pictures I am sure that many of you must have faced a situation where you have been delivered something, which is a distant-cry from what you were expecting it to be. This happens because pictures of items on online shopping portal are often deceptive in nature. What may appear to have a matte texture in the picture may actually turn out to be quite glossy and shiny in reality. If you do not keep a copy of the confirmation e-mail sent by the company and of the code number of the ordered article, things may turn out to be quite difficult for you in adverse situations.

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2.7 FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE GROWTH OF ONLINE SHOPPING

 Curated Online Shopping Shopping for lifestyle is more engaging and richer as analysis sees it across Online Shopping industries. The powerful influence of various social media tools such as Pinterest or Facebook allows consumers to organize their favorite items and segment it into themed collections to share it with others. This fuels personal expression in shopping and makes others reflect on their purchase decision. This is the evolution of influential personal recommendation.  Adoption of Multi-Channel Investments Cross-channel investments are highly aggressive in augmenting both online and offline buying strategies. Multi-channel E-commerce business is an environment in which a company can sell through two or more online channels. Many stores are pushing endless-aisle initiatives and are being used as a warehouse for an online catalogue to enhance the speed of home delivery. Sometimes a company also inherits legacy Web store from an acquisition.  Unique or Commoditized Products Establishing a reputation and brand for quality products always drives demand. Commoditized products such as mainstream tools, consumer electronics or other equipment’s generally show less success while selling online. Even though these are the most popular online items, consumers prefer to buy them from renowned retailers such as eBay or Amazon. Some small businesses have found success through affiliation with major retailers.

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 Remarketing Businesses of any size have to be creative to stand out of the crowd. Online Shopping creativity emerges from multiple touches to produce continued interests in the products. In one word, this technique is popularly known as Remarketing. When any potential customer visits a website but leaves it without purchasing any items, companies follow them online. The attitude of the customers can be changed through Remarketing. Remarketing can convince an online shopper to revisit a website to complete their purchase that they have previously failed to do. It is a method of conversion marketing which is a receptive marketing technique that endeavors to appeal a consumer response. One can experience Remarketing if they notice any ads that are extremely reflective of their interests.  Maintaining E-commerce Sites by the Third-Party Provider Creating an attractive and functional E-commerce site is quite a challenging task. However, a third-party E-commerce provider will make this task simple for you. They offer site set up and maintenance to entice businesses. For instance, some of the third-party E-commerce site providers do not charge any transaction fees once the items are sold. Instead, they offer monthly plans. Besides, the emergence of digital services is gradually proving to be the leading driver for Ecommerce growth. The rise of portable mobile devices and advanced videos is increasing the desire of the consumer to spend more time researching online for price matching and ultimately on their buying decision.

Let us find out the impact of M-commerce to drive E-commerce future progress. Research shows that 81% of the Smartphone users access the Internet on their mobile devices. Does the Ecommerce store need any other reason to make their sites mobile optimized? (I guess NO). With the discovery of different innovative apps every day, E-commerce has matured extensively. It is not just the phones that are driving retail Web traffic, but, tablets are equally responsible in this context. Tablets are mostly used during evening prime-time hours, when the consumers are in their leisure state of mind.

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2.8 ISSUES IN IMPLEMENTING ONLINE SHOPPING & THEIR SOLLUTIONS

The phenomenal growth of the Online Shopping sector is accompanied by the challenges mentioned below.  Cloud surrounding e-Commerce laws in India Laws regulating e-Commerce in India are still evolving and lack clarity. This poses a challenge for potential entrants and existing players. Furthermore, the lack of law firms or lawyers specializing in Online Shopping laws compounds the problem. The onus is, therefore, on the government to formulate dedicated e-Commerce laws so that current issues in the sector’s legal environment can be addressed.  Low entry barriers leading to reduced competitive advantages The rapid growth of the Online Shopping sector is attracting new players. The initial investment required to start an online venture is as low as a US$10,000–20,000.87 the sector is also attracting the interest of VCs and entrepreneurs to secure funds easily. This enables new companies to easily replicate the existing business models and, thereby, increases competition in the sector. Furthermore, some operational aspects such as free shipping of products and COD, which were differentiators earlier, have now become hygiene factors.

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 Rapidly changing business models Business models have been changing rapidly in the Online Shopping sector. This could be due to heightened competition and the inability of players to sustain high costs. Some businesses, such as online DVD rentals, have gone into obsolescence; some companies in the online retail segment have shut shop due to their inability to sustain price wars with their competitors. Groupbuying companies, which started off by providing deals at high discounts, have now begun selling products. Therefore, players in the Online Shopping space need to adapt to changing business models and innovate constantly to sustain their businesses.  Shortage of manpower The Online Shopping sector is growing rapidly, but scarcity of trained manpower is threatening to slow down this growth. The lack of specialized courses on Online Shopping at college or university levels limits the talent pool available to Online Shopping players. Therefore, the senior management of e-Commerce companies needs to expend a considerable amount of time on hiring (the conversion rate is very low). The attrition rate at some Online Shopping companies is as high as 65% at the junior level and 20% at the mid-senior management level.88 Furthermore, due to the competitive nature of the industry, companies poach from their competitors. This drives up the cost of retention for companies, which sometimes offer employee stock options (ESOPs) and other incentives to retain their employees.  Customer loyalty Online Shopping players offer huge discounts to lure people to shop online. However, since Indian consumer looks for the lowest price before making a purchase, the cost of customer acquisition is high for these companies. Moreover, since a large number of players offer the same products at the same prices, switching cost is non-existent. Consequently, a customer’s lifetime value is low. This poses a challenge for players in their effort to develop sound strategies to attract and generate repeat customers. A major Online Shopping player in Japan has developed a loyalty program, which has helped it grow significantly. Under this program, buyers receive bonus points on purchases they make from different online shops on the player’s website. They can redeem these at any of the shops on the website.

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SOLLUTION: 

Personalization:

Personalization, while a challenge, if addressed well can be a huge differentiator in how the customer experience is shaped in the online world, we have written multiple time so this.. Here and here...more said the less. Utilize intelligent tools like web analytics, study customer behavior online, reward and reach out to customers... the more personalization you can out into your web-store... more the customers will love you. 

Segmentation:

Customer segmentation is important. All customers should not be treated in the same way. It is good to divide customers based on first-time users, high valued active users and inactive customers, based on which you can provide offers and promotion campaigns. Use analytics to target the right to the right customers. 

Make Your Site Navigable:

Customers sometimes tend to get lost in your site. Provide proper navigation in your site to make things easier for your customers. Try to make your Online Shopping site properly structured. 

Delivered Duties Paid:

Online Marketers pay duties and taxes for what they sell. It is better to sell products internationally on an all-inclusive price basis and hassle free services though all international courier facilities. Product registration and reduction is shipping cost is another good solution. 

Shipping:

It is better to deliver in bulk in one go to a single hub and distribute based on domestic shipping charges. This is called regionalization.

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2.9 MYTHS OF ONLINE SHOPPING



Myth One: Setting up a business on the web is easy and inexpensive.

While practically anyone with a computer and internet access can set up a website, most of them offered freely by web hosting services, creating an on-line transactional Online Shopping business required months of back office work and investment in hardware and software. 

Myth Two: Launching a website automatically means that customers will flock onto your site.

Setting up a website is not enough. Promotion is keys in getting potential customers to check out your site. There are millions of websites on the web and just like in a traditional store; you need to market your site. The key to marketing your website is networking and building relationships with customers, other sites, trade organizations, on-line directories, and social media sites so that people can find you. 

Myth Three: Making money on the web is easy.

There are many “entrepreneurs” who are selling get rich quick schemes on the web. Making money on the web is not easy except if you are selling “make a $100 000 a month”, schemes to desperate people. Respect should be given to and lessons learned from those companies that have invested time and resources to making e-commerce work for them and their customers, honestly.

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

Myth Four: Privacy is not an important issue on the web.

The web allows companies to gain access to unbelievable amounts of information about customers. Companies use this information to gain insight into product preferences and how they can market their services. Customers are increasingly becoming concerned about their online security and this is a constant topic for governments and internet service providers. Online companies should therefore protect their customers from on-line fraud, identity theft and abuse of information by other third parties. It is important to set up firewalls to safeguard your business against hacking and theft of customer’s information. 

Myth Five: The most important part of any e-commerce site is technology.

While the technology for setting up the business is critical, the most important part is creating a business model that offers customers value at a reasonable price while producing an acceptable return for the business. Entrepreneurs that are successful in e-commerce know their companies inside out and have been able to build their online business around this information. While you can hire people to build your site, nothing will substitute for your intimate knowledge of your industry, your internal systems, your competitors, your customers, your suppliers and how to make all of these things work for you. 

Myth Six: I don’t need a strategy to sell on-line.

Building an on-line business is the same as building a brick and mortar company. You need a strategy. You need to build a clear definition of the company’s target markets, a thorough understanding of your customers’ needs, likes and dislikes. Your website must be appealing to the customers that you want to attract. An Online Shopping website should be created with your customers in mind. 

Myth Seven: Myth Seven: Bling bling makes a website better.

Entrepreneurs falling into this trap create flashy websites with the thinking that more is better. This is not necessarily so. Bright colored graphics, streaming headlines, videos and spinning icons can attract attention, but can also slow down the site and that is frustrating for customers in a hurry.

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2.10 THE IMPACT OF ONLINE SHOPPING WEBSITE HAVE MADE ON BUSINESS

The comings of online website have left a powerful impact on the business front today. People now can shop from the comfort of their doorstep which cannot be imagined a few years back. Now small businesses urge to switch to an online store to withstand the reassure putting forward by the big online retailers. An online store is a dire necessity to survive and grow in any form of business. In the context of this, a Virtue art website Development Company becomes an ideal choice for organizations to create a quick business identity in the market. Here, we will discuss some of the impacts E-commerce has left in the direct marketing field

The first thing that we can notice this change is in terms of product promotion. Now, the promotions are becoming very direct, information based and carry out in an active interaction with the customers.



It creates various new sales channels for the distribution of products and services in a very effective manner. Now, customers can have direct reach to the products they want which leads to happiness and satisfaction among them.



The electronic delivery process has led to some sort of saving in the process of delivery of products. It is cost effective compared to physical delivery of products.

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

A reduced processing time can be noticed with electronic delivery of goods and services. The time required to carry out the administrative formalities associated while delivering a product internationally has also reduced tremendously.



Customer service has also improved with the Online Shopping concept. Now, customers can find detailed information online about their order status and delivery. Any sort of customer query can now be resolved quickly with a support desk and this makes them content.



Online Shopping Website helps to sustain a corporate image which indicated the trust on the products and services of an organization. This brand image helps in the direct sales activities. It is easy for new organizations to create a mark on the web with increasing sale purchase activities.



Also customization has become easy with Online Shopping. It enables organizations to deal with a lot of items easily and it creates a competitive environment.



A change can be noticed in the ordering status of customers. It is easy to take orders electronically which can be done within a few seconds. It saves time and reduces expenses also which allow sales personnel to concentrate more on selling.

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2.11 MOBILE COMMERCE (M-COMMERCE)

The phrase mobile commerce was originally coined in 1997 by Kevin Duffey at the launch of the Global Mobile Commerce Forum, to mean "the delivery of electronic commerce capabilities directly into the consumer’s hand, anywhere, via wireless technology. Many choose to think of Mobile Commerce as meaning "a retail outlet in your customer’s pocket."

 Mobile money transfer In Kenya money transfer is mainly done through the use of mobile phones. This was an initiative of a multimillion shillings company in Kenya named Safaricom. Currently, the companies involved are Safaricom and Airtel. Mobile money transfer services in Kenya are now provided by the two companies under the names M-PESA and Airtel Money respectively. A similar system called Mobile Pay has been operated by Danske Bank in Denmark since 2013. It has gained considerable popularity with about 1.6 million users by mid-2015.

 Mobile ticketing Tickets can be sent to mobile phones using a variety of technologies. Users are then able to use their tickets immediately, by presenting their mobile phone at the ticket check as a digital boarding pass. Most number of users is now moving towards this technology. Best example would be IRCTC where ticket comes as SMS to users.

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 Mobile vouchers, coupons and loyalty cards Mobile ticketing technology can also be used for the distribution of vouchers, coupons, and loyalty cards. These items are represented by a virtual token that is sent to the mobile phone. A customer presenting a mobile phone with one of these tokens at the point of sale receives the same benefits as if they had the traditional token. Stores may send coupons to customers using location-based

services to determine when the customer is nearby.



Content purchase and delivery

Currently, mobile content purchase and delivery mainly consists of the sale of ring-tones, wallpapers, and games for mobile phones. The convergence of mobile phones, portable audio players, and video players into a single device is increasing the purchase and delivery of fulllength music tracks and video. The download speeds available with 4Gnetworks make it possible to buy a movie on a mobile device in a couple of seconds.

 Mobile banking Banks and other financial institutions use mobile commerce to allow their customers to access account information and make transactions, such as purchasing stocks, remitting money. This service is often referred to as mobile banking, or m-banking.

 Mobile brokerage Stock market services offered via mobile devices have also become more popular and are known as Mobile Brokerage. They allow the subscriber to react to market developments in a timely fashion and irrespective of their physical location.

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 Auctions Over the past three years mobile reverse auction solutions have grown in popularity unlike traditional auctions, the reverse auction (or low-bid auction) bills the consumer's phone each time they place a bid. Many mobile SMS commerce solutions rely on a one-time purchase or one-time subscription; however, reverse auctions offer a high return for the mobile vendor as they require the consumer to make multiple transactions over a long period of time.

 Mobile browsing Using a mobile browser—a World Wide Web browser on a mobile device—customers can shop online without having to be at their personal computer. Many mobile marketing apps with geolocation capability are now delivering user-specific marketing messages to the right person at the right time.

 Mobile purchase Catalog merchants can accept orders from customers electronically, via the customer's mobile device. In some cases, the merchant may even deliver the catalog electronically, rather than mailing a paper catalog to the customer. Consumers making mobile purchases can also receive valueadd upselling services and offers. Some merchants provide mobile sites that are customized for the smaller screen and limited user interface of a mobile device.

 In-application mobile phone payments Payments can be made directly inside of an application running on a popular smartphone operating system, such as Google Android. Analyst firm Gartner expects in-application purchases to drive 41 percent of app store (also referred to as mobile software distribution platforms) revenue in 2016. Inapp purchases can be used to buy virtual goods, new and other mobile content and is ultimately billed by mobile carriers rather than the app stores them.

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2.12 PRESENT TRENDS OF E-COMMERCE IN VARIOUS SECTORS

1. ONLINE RETAILING / E-TAILING

Organized retail is growing at a faster pace than total retail. Organized retail still forms a small portion of the total retail market. Online retailers are moving to the inventory-holding model from the

consignment model. Online retailers are developing in-house logistics capabilities. Logistics players need to gear up their operating models to tap the huge opportunity presented by online retail. Online retail players need to focus on innovative business models to increase their margins. The share of apparels is expected to increase in online retail. Underpenetrated segments, such as online groceries, are expected to grow.

COD has emerged as a preferred payment choice for customers.

Online retail, in its various forms, has been drawing the maximum interest among all the segments of the internet commerce market. A recent report by comScore Inc. indicated that 60% of online users in India visited retail sites in November 2012. The Indian retail industry was estimated at US$528 billion in 2020(growing at 11% per annum). A significant portion (90.4%) of Indian retail is unorganized. Nevertheless, the share of organized retail is growing at 24% per annum. Currently, online retail constitutes 1% of the total organized retail market in India and is set to make a higher contribution to the growth of organized retail in the country.

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Total retail market: market size of the organized and unorganized segments (US$ billion)

1000

800 600 400 200 0 2012

2013

2014

2015

ORGANIZED RETAIL 2020

UNORGANIZED RETAIL

According to IAMAI, online retail clocked sales of nearly US$572 million in 2015 and accounted for 6% of overall internet commerce revenues in India (grew at a CAGR of 25% since 2011). The market is expected to witness rapid growth in years to come. While travel is the largest segment among all the internet commerce categories, internet retail would reportedly match the travel segment, by the value of goods sold, within three to four years and, thereafter, surpass it.

Break-up of online retail market (2015)

46% 54%

Vertical focused players Multi-category players

Vertical-focused v/s multi-category players

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The choice of categories ranges across books, electronics, apparel, baby care products, perfumes and even prescription lens. Players that emerged as category leaders were those that were able to penetrate their target category deeply to offer a large range of products by spreading their operations beyond the top cities.

Players adding categories or getting acquired by multi-category players Categories such as books and electronics saw early traction, with market leaders moving toward multi-category models. There has also been consolidation in the market, with larger players acquiring small single-category ones to enhance their portfolios.

Top categories driving online retail

Electronics is the largest category of products selling online in India, with a market share of 24%. Electronics include computers, peripherals, televisions, cameras and mobiles. While electronics goods enjoy the maximum popularity in India, apparel and accessories seem to be the largest-selling categories in leading markets such as the US, the UK and Germany. This is because of the higher margins that this category generates for e-Commerce players. As is the case in leading e-Commerce markets, we can expect online retailers to shift to selling highermargin products such as apparel. The preference for apparels in online shopping is a global phenomenon. According to a survey conducted by Nielsen in March 2010, books and clothing/accessories/shoes emerged as the most preferred product categories to be bought online in the next six months. A total of 44% of the respondents claimed to buy books online in the next six months, while 36% preferred clothing/accessories/shoes.

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50% 44%

45% 40%

36%

35%

32%

30%

26%

25% 20%

16%

18%

18%

19%

20%

27%

22%

15% 10% 5%

0%

Underpenetrated segments in online retail… Product categories sold in organized retail indicate a slightly different scenario from online retail. Certain segments that command a significant share of the organized retail market are underpenetrated in the online retail sector. Food services and beverages have a share of 20% of the organized retail market. However, these product categories are still at a nascent stage in the online retail world.

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E-COMMERCE IN TOURISM SECTOR



Growth in India’s travel and tourism industry is the second fastest worldwide.



India is poised to feature among the top five civil aviation markets in the world over the next decade.



The entry of LCCs in the country made air travel affordable for a large number of people.



Ticketing accounts for the largest share of the online travel market.



Domestic air tickets are driving the online ticketing market. Opaque pricing is shifting the focus of airlines away from differentiation.



OTAs are shifting their focus to hotel reservations and packages.



Players need to acquire new competencies to succeed in hotel reservations, as they previously limited their scope to ticketing. India is witnessing the entry of international players and mushrooming domestic OTAs.



An increasing number of challenges are marring the growth of existing players.

Indian travel industry among the fastest growing in the world Growth in India’s travel and tourism industry is the second fastest worldwide. According to a Deutsche Bank report, the industry would grow at a CAGR of 10% to reach US$111 billion by 2020.The growth of the services sector (thereby leading to rising household income, an expanding middle class and more inbound and outbound tourism) is responsible for this rapid growth.

Decade of air travel the civil aviation sector in India has witnessed favorable developments in the last decade. India is the ninth-largest civil aviation market in the world and is poised to feature among the top five global markets over the next decade. Airline passenger traffic rose rapidly from 59.3 million in 2011 to 162.3 million in 2015.

Market size and revenue sources

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The online travel market grew rapidly at a CAGR of 51.8% from US$1.5 billion in 2007 to US$8 billion in 2011. OTA market penetration increased from 2.2% in 2005 to 28% in 2011.

Online travel market size (US$ billion) 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 2010

Online travel market size (US$ billion)

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Airlines either sell their tickets directly to customers or through GDS and OTAs. GDS offer air and railway tickets, car rental information and hotel rooms. This makes it compelling for OTAs to partner with them. OTAs also directly partner with airlines, hotels, railways and bus services. Meta search engines partner with airlines and hotels to provide customers with a common portal that encompasses information from all OTAs and airline portals. This helps their customers obtain information on the best prices available on a single website. . Online purchase of air tickets the highest among the different online travel segments OTAs derive the bulk of their revenues from the airline industry. Among the various modes of transport, more than 50% of air tickets and 40% of train tickets are bought online .This is not surprising, considering that a larger number of air travelers have internet access. Airline tickets has benefited from the rapid growth of the overall airline Industry in India, especially LCCs, which maintain focus on online booking.

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Online travel penetration by segments(2014) 6%

4%

TRAIN TRAVEL 40% AIR TRAVEL HOTEL RESERVATION & TOUR PACKAGES 50%

BUS TRAVEL

Domestic air ticket segment driving online ticketing… The Indian Railways website is the most visited travel site in India. However, since the average price of a railway ticket is less than that of an airline ticket, online booking of domestic air tickets has emerged as the largest segment of the online travel industry (with a 65% share in 2009).37 OTAs form a significant portion of this segment with a 34% market share.

Growth in online hotel reservations and hotel packages

Mushrooming OTAs posing questions to segment leaders Low entry barriers in the online travel market have resulted in a number of small players entering this space. The market is now cluttered with a mix of large Indian OTAs, as well as several smaller players and international players. Recent entrants are mainly competing on price to capture market share. This has put pressure on the margins of players across the segment.

Low margins and declining airline commissions fueling shift to online hotel reservations Commission rates in the air travel segment are low (around 7%). The margins of hotel reservations and tour packages are the highest among all the segments of online travel and are often as high as 25%.

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Online travel: margins by segment

Margins in the ticketing business for OTAs in India are expected to erode further, with airlines increasingly raising their voice against giving commissions to the former. The airline commission model has already been done away with in Japan.

Leading international airlines flying to India have already decided to adopt a zerocommission structure for travel agents. As of January 2012, 17 international airlines had stopped paying commission to travel agents. We foresee continued pressure on the margins of OTAs from domestic airlines as well.

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Shift in business model of OTAs required for them to expand their operations in the hotel reservation and tour package segment

KEY SUCCESS FACTOR IN ONLINE HOTEL RESERVATION SEGMENT

TRAINING TO CUSTOMER CARE EXECUTIVE & ON-FIELD WORKFORCE

OFFLINE PRESENCE

ENSURING AUTHENCITY OF INFORMATION ON PORTALS

Higher margins in the hotel reservation segment have lured many OTAs. However, players need to be aware and step up to the competencies required in the hotel reservation space in terms of supplier partnerships management, operational requirements of workforce and information management. These requirements are different from those posed in the ticketing segment.

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ONLINE CLASSIFIEDS

The online classifieds segment is expected to overtake the offline classifieds sector by 2012. Subscription revenues constitute the main source of revenues for the online classifieds segment. Online recruitment is the largest category in the online classifieds segment,

followed by online matrimonial. Online recruitment players are increasing their focus on providing enhanced search functionalities and value-added services. The “big fat” Indian wedding industry is providing new sources of revenues to online matrimonial companies. The evolution of the real estate classifieds segment is dependent on how well it piggybacks the growth in Indian real estate. The Indian auto classifieds market is still at its nascent stage

1. Market size and revenue sources

The online classifieds market in India grew at a CAGR of 29% from 2008 to 2011.

Online classifieds market size (US$ million) 2015 2014 2013 2012 0

50

100

150

200

250

300

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The primary target audience of the classifieds segment is restricted to urban areas due to the concentration of companies, real estate players and automobile players (willing to advertise online). The major sources of revenues for the online classifieds segment depend on the segment and are listed below

RECRUITMENT

•CHARGES OF JOB LISTING & EMPLOYER BRANDING •CHARGES FOR RESUME DATABASE ACCESS •CHARGES FOR JOB SEEKING VALUE- ADDED SERVICE •ADVERTISING FEES

MATRIMONIAL

• SUBCRIPTION FEES FROM CUSTOMER • ADVERTISING FEES

REAL ESTATE

• SUBCRIPTION FEES FROM DEVELOPER, BUILDER & BROKER FOR PROPERTY LISTING • ADVERTISING FEES

AUTOMOBILES

B2B

•LEAD GENERATED FOR NEW CARS, AUTO INSURANCE & AUTO FINANCE •SUBCRIPTION & BROKERAGE FEES •CHARGES FOR AUTOMOTIVE LISTING •ADVERTISING FEES

• SUBCCRIPTION CHARGES WHICH INCLUDES SERVICE LIKE CREATING WEBSITES, MICROSITES CATALOG & SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATUION • ADVERTISING FEES

Subscription revenues in the online classified segment constitute the bulk of the revenues generated by these players, while revenues from value-added services (VAS) and no contextual

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advertising form a minuscule portion. Companies in this space are also expected to increase their revenue share from VAS.

Classifieds market

2015

ONLINE OFFLINE

2012

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

…led by easy search functionalities, a young internet population and low online advertisement costs Databases and search functionality Access to huge databases and advanced search functionalities, which make the process of searching for relevant information much easier than in the offline mode, are driving the success of the online classifieds segment.

Young internet population Around 40% of internet users in India are aged 25–34 years and spend a significant time on internet. They are part of the country’s working population and the main consumers of recruitment and matrimonial classifieds. This makes online classifieds an attractive medium to target the young population. Online recruitment classifieds — largest category in online classifieds

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The online recruitment or e-recruitment segment is the largest category in the online classifieds segment in India, with a market size of US$99.2 million and a 62.5% share of the online classifieds market in 2009.

Expected growth of jobs in India bodes well for the segment The number of jobs is expected to increase across sectors in India. According to the industry body, the Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry (ASSOCHAM), 87.37 million jobs would be created by 2015. This holds promise for the growth of the online recruitment classifieds segment, since players have only scratched the surface of the job market and the full potential of the sector is yet to be realized.

Online recruitment classifieds benefiting employers and offline recruitment agencies The segment offers various benefits, including reduced advertisement costs, wider geographical reach and easy search options, to companies. Employers are increasing their budgets for online recruitment, realizing the convenience and efficacy of the mode. Online recruitment classifieds are also proving beneficial for the growth of offline recruitment agencies, which are using online portals to build databases of candidates and jobs. Increased focus on providing enhanced search options… Online recruitment classified players are increasing their investment on search functionalities, since providing enhanced search options is high on their list of priorities. Furthermore, they are developing separate portals to cater to varying verticals such as financial services, technology and BPO to enable focused searches.

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CHAPTER 3 COMPANY PROFILE

3.1 INTRODUCTION TO AMAZON.IN

At Amazon.in, our vision is to be Earth's most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover virtually anything they want to buy online. With Amazon.in, we endeavor to build that same destination in India by giving customers more of what they want vast selection, low prices, fast and reliable delivery, and a trusted and convenient online shopping experience and provide sellers a world-class e-commerce platform. We are committed to ensure 100% Purchase Protection for your shopping done on Amazon.in so that you can benefit from a safe and secure online ordering experience, convenient payment options such as cash on delivery, easy returns and enjoy a completely hassle free online shopping experience.

We launched with Books and Movies & TV shows and have expanded our offerings to include the Kindle family of E-Readers, the Amazon Fashion Store and various products under different categories. Customers can now buy products from popular brands across categories such as Samsung mobiles, Dell laptops, Canon cameras, Fastrack watches and many more at Amazon.in. Don’t forget to check out the Amazon Exclusives Store and also, shop for Today's +Deals on Amazon and save big every day.

Customers can also shop our full selection of products using the Amazon App for Android, iOS and Windows which offers customers a convenient, fast and secure way to search, browse, compare offers, and shop online quickly and easily, at anytime from anywhere. It is still “Day 1” and we continue to relentlessly focus on using our investments in technology and

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innovation to transform the lives of our customers and all our partners. We strive to transform the way India shops and the way India sells.

 AMAZON.IN INC’S VISSION & MISSION STATEMENT Amazon.in Inc.’s vision and mission statements have pushed the company to become the largest online retailer in the world. This success is attributed to stringent measures to ensure that the mission and vision statements are fulfilled. The vision statement provides organizational direction toward a desired future condition of the business. The mission statement presents business goals and guides strategic formulation in the company. Amazon’s vision statement shows a future of global dominance in the online retail industry. On the other hand, Amazon’s mission statement focuses on effective and high-quality service. The fulfillment of these official statements facilitates further enhancement of the e-commerce business for long-term success in the global market. 

Amazon. In’s Vision Statement “To be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover

anything they might want to buy online.” This vision statement underscores the organization’s main aim of becoming the best e-commerce company in the world. The following components or characteristics are emphasized in Amazon’s vision statement: 1. Global reach 2. Customer prioritization 3. Widest selection of products The “global reach” component in Amazon.com Inc.’s vision statement is all about international leadership in the e-commerce market. For example, in stating the “Earth” as the market, the company shows that it aims to continue expanding globally. Thus, a corresponding strategic objective is global expansion, especially through market penetration and market development [Read: Amazon.com Inc.’s Generic & Intensive Growth Strategies]. The “customer

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prioritization” component of Amazon’s vision statement shows that the firm considers customers as the most important stakeholder group in the online retail business. Moreover, the vision statement indicates continuing efforts to broaden the product mix, under Amazon.com Inc.’s marketing mix approach. 

Amazon. In’s Mission Statement

Amazon’s mission statement is as follows: “We strive to offer our customers the lowest possible prices, the best available selection, and the utmost convenience.” This mission statement promises an attractive e-commerce service to satisfy customers’ needs. The following components or features are identifiable in Amazon’s mission statement: 1. Lowest prices 2. Best selection 3. Utmost convenience The “lowest prices” component of the mission statement guides Amazon.in Inc.’s pricing strategy. Such low prices are a selling point that makes the company’s e-commerce website and service attractive. A corresponding strategic objective is to reduce operational costs. Amazon’s mission statement also points to having the best selection. The availability of a wide variety of products on the company’s website is a major factor that attracts customers. Moreover, Amazon.in Inc.’s mission statement emphasizes convenience. Convenience is a common criterion that consumers use in evaluating the quality of the online retail service.

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3.2HISTORY OF AMAZON.IN

The company was founded in 1994, spurred by what Amazon founder Jeff Bezos called his "regret minimization framework," which described his efforts to fend off any regrets for not participating sooner in the Internet business boom during that time In 1994, Bezos left his employment as vice-president of D. E. Shaw & Co., a Wall Street firm, and moved to Seattle. He began to work on a business plan for what would eventually become Amazon.com.

Jeff Bezos incorporated the company as "Cadabra" on July 5, 1994. Bezos changed the name to Amazon a year later after a lawyer misheard its original name as "cadaver". In September 1994, Bezos purchased the URL Relentless.com and briefly considered naming his online store Relentless, but friends told him the name sounded a bit sinister. The domain is still owned by Bezos and still redirects to the retailer. The company went online as Amazon.com in 1995.

Bezos selected the name Amazon by looking through the dictionary, and settled on "Amazon" because it was a place that was "exotic and different" just as he planned for his store to be; the Amazon River, he noted was by far the "biggest" river in the world, and he planned to make his store the biggest in the world. Bezos placed a premium on his head start in building a brand, telling a reporter, "There's nothing about our model that can't be copied over time. But you know, McDonald's got copied. And it still built a huge, multibillion-dollar company. A lot of it comes down to the brand name. Brand names are more important online than they are in the physical world." Additionally, a name beginning with "A" was preferential due to the probability it would occur at the top of any list that was alphabetized.

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Since June 19, 2000, Amazon's logotype has featured a curved arrow leading from A to Z, representing that the company carries every product from A to Z, with the arrow shaped like a smile. After reading a report about the future of the Internet that projected annual Web commerce growth at 2,300%, Bezos created a list of 20 products that could be marketed online. He narrowed the list to what he felt were the five most promising products which included: compact discs, computer hardware, computer software, videos, and books. Bezos finally decided that his new business would sell books online, due to the large worldwide demand for literature, the low price points for books, along with the huge number of titles available in print. Amazon was originally founded in Bezos' garage in Bellevue, Washington.

Amazon was incorporated in 1994, in the state of Washington. In July 1995, the company began service and sold its first book on Amazon.com: Douglas Hofstadter's Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought. In October 1995, the company announced itself to the public.[34] In 1996, it was reincorporated in Delaware. Amazon's initial business plan was unusual; it did not expect to make a profit for four to five years. This "slow" growth caused stockholders to complain about the company not reaching profitability fast enough to justify investing in, or to even survive in the long-term. When the dot-com bubble burst at the start of the 21st century, destroying many e-companies in the process, Amazon survived, and grew on past the bubble burst to become a huge player in online sales. It finally turned its first profit in the fourth quarter of 2001: $5 million (i.e., 1¢ per share), on revenues of more than $1 billion. This profit margin, though extremely modest, proved to skeptics that Bezos' unconventional business model could succeed. In 1999, Time magazine named Bezos the Person of the Year, recognizing the company's success in popularizing online shopping.

Barnes & Noble sued Amazon on May 12, 1997, alleging that Amazon's claim to be "the world's largest bookstore" was false. Barnes and Noble asserted, "[It] isn't a bookstore at all. It's a book broker." The suit later settled out of court, and Amazon continued to make the same claim. Wal-Mart sued Amazon on October 16, 1998, alleging that Amazon had stolen WalMart’s trade secrets by hiring former Wal-Mart executives. Although this suit was also settled

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out of court, it caused Amazon to implement internal restrictions and the reassignment of the former Wal-Mart executives.

HISTORY OF AMAZON.COM LOGO

Founded in 1994, Amazon was once nothing but a tiny online bookstore. Today however it is multi-billion dollar company that sells thousands of products all over the world. From sports equipment to DVDs and even streaming movies, Amazon has become a company to be reckoned with. Amazon has grown incredibly powerful and is sure to be a player on the national stage for many years to come.

One factor that has helped Amazon in its climb to the top is the uniqueness of their logo. People from across the globe can recognize the Amazon logo on sight and, should they need to buy a present or the latest piece of technology, the image is sure to stick in their mind. Anyone who wants to create a branding empire of their own should pay attention to what Amazon has accomplished with their simple but effective logo. LOGO 1 – EARLY DAYS

When Amazon first started, it was only an online bookseller. To that end they created a logo that advertised their specialty. Under a translucent “A” were the words “Amazon.com, Earth’s biggest bookstore.” The entire background of this first logo was a pleasing water texture. The water effects made the entire logo into a soothing image, surely meant to attract attention in the crowded market that Amazon was trying to make its mark in.

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LOGO 2 – BOOKS, MUSIC & MORE

In 1998, Amazon started to expand. A large music selection was added to their collection of books and Amazon decided to market these new products. To that end that created a logo that advertised exactly what they offered. They also simplified the background to a plain white one, with the Amazon letters in gold upon it. This was made so as to be more pleasing to the eye online hopefully reaching a wider audience. LOGO 3 – THE ARROW

In 2000 Amazon introduced the logo that most people can probably recognize. The logo was just shortened to include the web address against a white background with a yellow arrow underneath. The arrow, which points from A to Z in the Amazon logo, symbolizes how a customer could find everything they needed at Amazon. This logo was meant to be simple and easy to understand, catering to the customers who were interested in 1-stop shopping.

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LOGO 4 – AND YOU’RE DONE

In 2002 Amazon created its current logo. This logo borrows heavily from the previous logo but adds the words “and you’re done” to the bottom left-hand corner. This served to better illustrate to people that Amazon had a huge selection of merchandise and, no matter what they were looking for, Amazon was most likely to have it.

Why the Logo Works There can be no doubt that the logo is extremely effective. People from around the world can recognize that it’s an Amazon logo and company can and do spend billions of dollars for that kind of brand recognition. The reason that it probably works so well is because it’s simple but offers consumers exactly what they want. To put it plainly, what they want is place where they can find everything from A to Z.

Mergers and acquisitions Investment 

2008: Engine Yard, a Ruby-on-Rails platform as a service (PaaS) company.



2010: Living Social, a local deal site.



2014: Acquired the '.buy' domain in an auction for $4,588,888



2014: Amazon Announces Additional US $2 Billion Investment in India in June 2014



2016: Amazon Announces Additional US $3 Billion Investment in India in June 2016

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3.3 WHY AMAZON IS BETTING ON INDIA? Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos recently announced an additional investment of $3 billion in India, taking its net investment to over $5 billion in the country. To put things in perspective, this is almost equal to the company’s global marketing costs in 2015, and is higher than its total capital expenditures last year ($4.5 billion). Amazon has stated that it intends to use this money to improve its position in the e-commerce space as well as build its web services business in the country. India presents an opportunity both in terms of a growing market as well as a skilled workforce, considering its 7%-plus GDP growth, relatively stable political environment and a relatively young working population. Below we take a look at why Amazon is betting big on India: 

E-Commerce Growth: Amazon has been operating in the e-commerce market in India since 2013, and has seen significant growth in the last three years. It is now among the top three e-commerce platforms in the country, along with Flipkart and Snapdeal, both in terms of Gross Merchandise Value and the number of site visits. With an estimated current market size of $38 billion, e-commerce in India is expected to grow to about $120 billion by 2020, which presents a massive growth opportunity for AMAZON.

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AWS Growth: In addition to e-commerce, Amazon’s focus on expanding its web services business in emerging markets stems from the business’s robust profitability and Amazon’s growing list of global customers which now includes Sales force, Netflix, Uber and Apple.



International Growth: Amazon’s international business has not been able to match North America in terms of either top line or bottom line growth. In 2015, Amazon’s international revenues increased just 5.7% year-over-year to $35.4 billion compared to growth of over 25% in North America to $63.7 billion. In the first quarter this year, sales in international markets grew 24% but operating income remained negative.

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3.4 AMAZON’S LOGISTICS SERVICE

Amazon could be on the brink of diving into another enormous business opportunity. Earlier this week, The Seattle Times reported that the ecommerce giant is in talks to lease 20 cargo planes to build its own overnight-air-logistics operations. The report was the latest in a series of hints that Amazon could be gearing up to create an in-house logistics department that would allow it to take full control of its fulfillment process. Amazon would be able to sidestep carriers like UPS and FedEx to avoid the shipment delays that it has previously dealt with (most notably during the 2013 holiday season, when many customers didn't receive orders in time for Christmas).

Analyst Colin Sebastian from Baird Equity Research writes that Amazon has "powerhouse potential" in the transportation and logistics market, and that it could be "Amazon's next 'AWS' opportunity." Sebastian's idea here is that Amazon could turn its in-house logistics network into a business in the same way that it grew Amazon Web Services, its insanely fastgrowing (and profitable) cloud computing offering. Amazon built AWS out of the infrastructure it had created to support its own operations, and now runs a business expected to pull in $8 billion in revenue this year. In the same vein, it could build a logistics network to clear up its own delivery bottlenecks, and then, eventually, offer services to other companies.

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3.5 AMAZON KNOWS WHY SOCIAL MEDIA IS IMPORTANT

In this crazy world that social media has taken over, businesses need to understand why social media is important to a thriving internet marketing strategy. There are many businesses that have the key to a successful social media presence. There are four key things that you need to remember when creating a strategy. Be engaged, create great content, be strategic and stay up-todate with social media changes and trends.

At the time of writing, Amazon.com has over 26.5 million likes on Facebook. Their central account has a product listing of Retail and Consumer Merchandise, and is used to market their own products and highlight deals, competitions and offers to their consumer community. Often these are optimized to coincide with relevant events and holidays, providing enticing and valuable content for their customers. For example, on International Beer Day they posted a high quality video on How to brew your own beer. Amazon also has specific Facebook accounts related to their products, such as Prime Video. Much like the central account, these are used to draw attention to relevant products and offers in order to increase intrigue, drive engagement through reach and ultimately gain sales.

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Amazon use Twitter to understand how Social Media is not only a marketing tool but can also be integrated directly into e-commerce. Whereas other retailers are reluctant to invest time integrating, Amazon have done so by allowing users to send items to their shopping basket directly from Twitter by responding to product tweets with the hash tag #AmazonCart. Alongside the predominant B2C aspect of their business, Amazon also has a clear grip on the B2B. This can be seen on their Amazon Web Services (AWS) Twitter account.

Pinterest is a great platform for Amazon because it sells stuff. It's able to share pictures of its products without needing a large explanation for why people should buy the products. Sometimes all people need is to see a product and in a blink of an eye that product is in their shopping cart at Amazon.com. Keeping picture Vibrant and looking sensational is what attracts people to those Amazon products on Pinterest. Take a look at Amazon’s social media accounts and you can see why it has a large number of followers and higher engagement. Making social media a priority is important to create a kickin’ internet marketing strategy. Not every social media platform is right for every business but there has to be a few social media platforms that can help promote your business if you do it strategically.

Other Social Media Channels Amazon Inc. remains very active on many other Social Media channels, investing time into network-specific content. For example, on Snapchat they provide Snap Deals - exclusive, oneoff style offers that lend themselves perfectly to the network. On Instagram they focus on visually appealing content and products that doesn’t seem out of place, alongside a tremendous amount of pictures of animals playing around on Amazon branded boxes. They are fully aware that animals are appealing and shareable, and so use Instagram to increase their brand reach.

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3.6 AMAZON INDIA’S ADVERTISING & THE POWER OF CONSUMER INSIGHTS

E-Commerce is very much an offshoot of retail, with an added degree of consumer convenience and access. With the boom of e-Commerce in India, shopping has become an inseparable part of everyone's lifestyle. Though the e-commerce revolution has changed the way people shop, the consumer behavior majorly remains the same. The kind of expectations that people have from these ecommerce players now is quite the same when they used to shop in offline retail stores, and hence, e-commerce players have adopted such positioning which is very well understood by the Indian retail consumer. A case in point is Amazon India's advertising and the positioning the platform has taken in the recent past. To familiarize with its Indian consumers, Amazon, in the past too, had adopted positioning like 'Aur Dikhao' and 'Kya Pehnu''. Following the same strategy of taking up every day phrases from the consumers' lives, the online portal has now rolled out another one positioning, '#ApniDukaan'. Now, Phrases like Aur Dikhao, Kya Pehnu and the recent Apni Dukaan are so well embedded in the daily lingo of a traditional retailer in India that these almost second what Indian retail stands for. "In order to convey features like easy returns and access to genuine products that essentially build customers' trust and confidence in shopping on Amazon.in, we decided to use a phrase from Indian popular culture "Yeh apni dukaan Hai"(This is our own shop). In daily parlance, customers generally use 'Apni Dukaan' in reference to those stores that they are more familiar with and have complete trust in. We want to make people aware that Amazon.in is one such store," elaborates Amazon India spokesperson. Conceptualized and executed by Orchard India and directed by Anurag Kashyap, the one minute video shows Amazon as a reliable place to shop from with original products, easy return policies and on-time delivery. The video comes along with a song with lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya and music by Amit Trivedi.

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3.7 BRANDS WITH AMAZON

World's largest e-retailer Amazon is India's most trusted online shopping brand followed home grown Snapdeal and Flipkart, a survey said. Other firms to figure in the top 10 trusted online shopping brands are Ebay, Myntra, Yepme, Jabong, Naaptol, Shopclues and Askmebazaar. The survey was conducted among 2,500 respondents; aged 21-50, across 16 cities and its findings have been compiled in The Brand Trust Report, India Study 2016. The report is issued annually by TRA (formerly Trust Research Advisory). "Amazon is India's most trusted online shopping brand with 36 per cent of the trust pie. Together, these three brands make up for 76 per cent of online shopping trust pie," TRA Chief Executive Officer N Chandramouli told reporters here today. Overall, South Korean smartphone maker Samsung Mobiles has emerged as the most trusted brand in the country followed by Sony and LG, while Tata Group is the only Indian corporate to figure in the top five.

As per the study, the top five most trusted brands are Samsung Mobiles, Sony, LG, Nokia and Tata. The top 20 most trusted brands which have improved their ranking over last year include

Samsung

Mobiles,

Sony,

Nokia, Honda, ICICI

Bank

Maruti Suzuki,

HDFC

Bank, Airtel, Hero MotoCorp, Dove, Lux, Samsung, Pepsi and Puma. Top 20 trusted brands which slipped in rankings are LG, Tata, Bajaj and Apple. In the diversified FMCG space, Cavinkare has emerged as the most trusted brand, followed by Nirma, while Patanjali claimed the fourth position. Maggi leads the FMCG food category, gaining 42 ranks from 2015 to occupy the 65th position in the overall trust rank list.

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

Mobiles: OnePlus, Google Nexus 5, iPhone6, Samsung Mobiles, Sony Mobiles, Nokia Mobiles, Micromax Mobiles, Lenovo Vibe S1 , OnePlus2, OnePlus X , HTC Mobiles.



Kindle: Kindle PaperWhite Wi-Fi, Kindle Paper white 3G, Kindle Oasis Wi-Fi, Kindle Oasis Wifi+3G, Kindle, Kindle Voyage, Kindle Store, Kindle Accessories.

 

Electronics: HP Laptops, Dell Laptops, Acer Laptop, Bose Audio, Sony Audio, Canon Cameras, Nikon Cameras, Sony Cameras, Smarts TVs, Sony TVs, Samsung TVs



Household Needs: Dove Shampoos, L’Oreal Paris, Whisper, Air Conditioner, Gillette, Refrigerators, Washing Machines, Hamleys, Whey Proteins.



Watches: Casio Watches, Titan Watches, Fastrack Watches, Timex Watches, Maxima Watches, Fossil Watches, Citizen Watches, Sonata Watches, Tommy Hilfiger Watches



Shoes: Bata Shoes, Woodland Shoes, Fila Shoes, Crocs Shoes, Nike Shoes, Adidas Shoes, Puma Shoes, Reebok Shoes.



Lifestyle: Fastrack Bags, Baggit, Sky Bags, Wild craft Bags, Lavie, VIP Bags, American Tourister, Hidesign, Ray Ban, Fastrack Sunglasses, Idee Sunglasses, and Amazon Fashion.



Apparel: Formal Shirt, Casual Shirts, Saree, Men’s Jeans, Capris, Men’s Polo’s, Women’s Dresses, Boy’s Clothing, Girl’s Clothing, Men’s Clothing.



Top Searches: Noble TV, Moto G4 Plus, Meizu m3 Note, Lenovo K4 Note, Redmi Note3, Refurbished Mobiles, Coolpad Note 3, Google Nexus 9, Honor Mobiles, Redmi Note 4G.



Others: Sofas, Amazon Basics, Huggies Diapers, Pampers Diapers, Fragrances, Xbox One, Xbox 360, International Brand Store, Seller Blog, Amazon Sale.

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Customers Queries

What can I return? You may request returns for most items you buy from Amazon.in, except those that are explicitly identified as not returnable. For details of time frame for requesting returns please refer to our returns policy.

When will I get my refund? Refunds back to Credit Cards, Debit Cards, Net Banking or Bank Accounts (NEFT) are fully refunded within 3-5 days after we receive and process your return. Refunds in form of cheques can take 10-12 business days to arrive via post. Refund in the form of Gift Cards can take 1 business day.

Does Amazon do replacements? Amazon offers free replacement for FBA orders including Kindle. Follow the steps in the Return Center to request a replacement for your FBA order.

100% Purchase Protection We are committed to ensure 100% Purchase Protection for customers by offering genuine products, secure payments and easy returns for items shopped on Amazon.in. 

Easy Returns



How Easy Returns Work



Genuine Products



Secure Payments and Safe Ordering

Easy Returns Returns are easy with our online Returns Support Centre.

General Returns Guidelines 1. Some products cannot be returned and are marked on the product detail page. View the list of non-returnable items.

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2. Damaged/ defective items must be returned in the original condition they were received in with all the accompanying accessories and in the original manufacturer's box/packaging. 3. Items that you no longer need must be returned in new and unopened condition with all the original packing. 4. Only items that are fulfilled by Amazon may be eligible for replacement. For more details, please refer About Free Replacements. 5. Visit Kindle help pages for Kindle-specific returns policy.

Refund or Replacement Categories, 30-day Return Window (applies to Fulfilled by Amazon Items including Prime Eligible items)

Product Categories

Return Conditions/Exceptions

Used Books and Watches

Can be returned for a refund only. Refunds applicable only if determined that the item was not damaged while in your possession, or is not different from what was shipped to you.

Books, Movies & TV Shows,

Any luggage items with locks must be returned

Apparel,

unlocked.

Watches,

Fashion

Jewelry, Shoes, Luggage & Handbags Music, Beauty, Sports, Fitness and

Outdoors

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3.8 AMAZON SWOT ANALYSIS

Amazon is a profitable organization. In 2005 profits for the three months to June dipped 32% to $52m (£29.9m) from $76m in the same period in 2004. Sales jumped 26% to $1.75bn. Until recent years Amazon was experiencing large losses, due to its huge initial set up costs. The recent dip is due to promotions that have offered reduced delivery costs to consumers. This SWOT analysis is about Amazon.

STRENGTHS 

Amazon is a profitable organization. In 2005 profits for the three months to June dipped 32% to $52m (£29.9m) from $76m in the same period in 2004. Sales jumped 26% to $1.75bn. Until recent years Amazon was experiencing large losses, due to its huge initial set up costs. The recent dip is due to promotions that have offered reduced delivery costs to consumers.



Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Information Technology (IT) support Amazon’s business strategy. The company carefully records data on customer buyer behavior. This enables them to offer to individual specific items, or bundles of items, based upon preferences demonstrated through purchases or items visited.



Amazon is a huge global brand. It is recognizable for two main reasons. It was one of the original dotcoms, and over the last decade it has developed a customer base of around 30 million people. It was an early exploiter of online technologies for e-commerce, which made it

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one of the first online retailers. It has built on nits early successes with books, and now has product categories that include electronics, toys and games, DIY and more.

WEAKNESS 

As Amazon adds new categories to its business, it risks damaging its brand. Amazon is the number one retailer for books. Toy-R-Us is the number one retailers for toys and games. Imagine if Toys-R-Us began to sell books. This would confuse its consumers and endanger its brands. In the same way, many of the new categories, for example automotive, may prove to be too confusing for customers.



The company may at some point need to reconsider its strategy of offering free shipping to customers. It is a fair strategy since one could visit a more local retailer, and pay no costs. However, it is rumored that shipping costs could be up to $500m, and such a high figure would undoubtedly erode profits.

OPPURTUNITIES 

The company is now increasingly cashing in on its credentials as an online retail pioneer by selling its expertise to major store groups. For example, British retailer Marks and Spencer announced a joint venture with Amazon to sell its products and service online. Other recent collaborations have been with Target, Toys-R-Us and the NBA. Amazon’s new Luxembourgbased division aims to provide tailored services to retailers as a technology service provider in Europe.



There are also opportunities for Amazon to build collaborations with the public sector. For example the company announced a deal with the British Library, London, in 2004. The benefit is that customers can search for rare or antique books. The library’s catalogue of published works is now on the Amazon website, meaning it has details of more than 2.5m books on the site.

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

In 2004 Amazon moved into the Chinese market, by buying china’s biggest online retailer, Joyo.com. The deal was reported to be worth around $75m (£40m). Joyo.com has many similarities to its new owner, in that it retails books, movies, toys, and music at discounted prices.

Threats 

All successful Internet businesses attract competition. Since Amazon sells the same or similar products as high street retailers and other online businesses, it may become more and more difficult to differentiate the brand from its competitors. Amazon does have its brand. It also has a huge range of products. Otherwise, price competition could damage the business.



International competitors may also intrude upon Amazon as it expands. Those domestic (USbased) rivals unable to compete with Amazon in the US, may entrench overseas and compete with them on foreign fronts. Joint ventures, strategic alliances and mergers could see Amazon losing its top position in some markets.



The products that Amazon sells tend to be bought as gifts, especially at Christmas. This means that there is an element of seasonality to the business. However, by trading in overseas markets in different cultures such seasonality may not be enduring.

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3.9 COMPETITORS OF AMAZON

MYNTRA

is

an

India

Fashion

E-commerce

Company

head

quartered

in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. The company was founded in 2007 by Indian Institute of Technology graduates with a focus on personalization of gift items. By 2010, Myntra shifted its focus to the online retailing of branded apparel. In May 2014, Myntra.com merged with Flipkart to compete against Amazon which entered the Indian market in June 2013 and other established offline retailers like Future Group, Aditya Birla Group and Reliance Retail.

FLIPKART was founded in 2007 by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, both alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. They worked forAmazon.com, and left to create their new company incorporated in October 2007 as Flipkart Online Services Pvt. Ltd. The first product they sold was the book Leaving Microsoft to Change the World to a customer from Hyderabad. Flipkart now employs more than 33,000 people. Flipkart allows payment methods such as cash on delivery, credit or debit card transactions, net banking, e-gift voucher and card swipe on delivery.

JABONG was co-founded by Arun Chandra Mohan, Praveen Sinha, Lakshmi Potluri. All co-founders have left the company. In March 2013, Jabong was shipping 6000-7000 orders a day. According to The Economist, Jabong clocked gross sales of around US $100–150 million in 2012. As per the live mint article, during September 2013 Jabong was shipping 14,000 orders on a daily basis out of which 60% were from small towns. Jabong was one of the most visited e-

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commerce sites during the Great Online Shopping Festival 2013. Company representatives claimed that its revenues increased five to six times compared to a usual day.

SNAPDEAL was started on 4 February 2010 as a daily deals platform, but expanded in September 2011 to become an online marketplace. Snapdeal has grown to become one of the largest online marketplaces in India offering an assortment of 10 million products across diverse categories from over 100,000 sellers, shipping to more than 5,000 towns and cities in India. In March 2015, Snapdeal brought actor Aamir Khan for the promotion of its website in India.

SHOPCLUES is an online marketplace, headquartered in Gurgaon, India. The company was founded in California's Silicon Valleyin 2011. It has over 12,000 registered merchants retail 2,00,000+ products on the platform to over 42 million visitors every year across 9500 locations in the country. The e-commerce company is incorporated in Delaware. ShopClues joined as 35th entrant in the Indian e-commerce in 2011. The company employs about 700 people across different locations.

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CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

1. DATA COLLECTION

This report is based on primary as well secondary data, however primary data collection was given more important since it is overhearing factor in attitude studies. One of the most importance users of research methodology is that it helps in identifying the problem, collection analyzing the required information data & providing as alternative solution to solution to the problem also helps in collecting the vital information that is required by the top management to assist them for the better decision making both day to day.  DATA SOURCE

Research is totally based on primary data. Secondary data can be used only for the reference. Research has been done by primary data collection, & primary data has been collected by interacting with various people. The secondary data has been collected through various journals & websites. 

DURATION OF THE STUDY The Study was carried out of a period of 3 months from 1st July to 29th September 2016.

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2. SAMPLING

Sampling procedure:

The sample was selected of them who are the customer / visitor of Ecommerce company irrespective of them being investors or not availing the service or not. It was also collected through personal visits to persons, by formal & informal talks & through filing up the Questionnaire prepared. The data has been analyzed by using mathematical / statistical tools.

 Sample Size

Sample Size of my project is limited to 40 people only. Out of which only 25 people had done Online Shopping. Other 15 people are not interested in online Shopping.

 Sample Design

Data has been presented with the help of Bar Graph, Pie Diagram.

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CHAPTER 5 DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION

In this section, we will analyze the data which is obtained through the different Questionnaire.

Since the survey is related to the Ecommerce Industry, So people related to it like Common Man & from Professional Fields. The Data analysis Section is done with help of different Charts, Bar & other techniques Available.

For doing the Survey, A Questionnaire Designed as a Specific tool so as to know the customers knowledge & awareness towards the Online Shopping.

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Q1. HAVE YOU EVER USED DONE ONLINE SHOPPING?

Interpretation:

YES NO

Blue indicates 62.5% Red indicates 37.5%

Above interpretation indicate that Out of 100%, Majority 65.5% people have done Online Shopping & 37.5% people have not done Online Shopping.

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Q2. IF YOU NEVER HAD ONLINE SHOPPING, PLEASE SPECIFY THE REASON?

Interpretation:

I Don’t know about Online Shopping Risk of credit card transaction Internet Illiteracy Risk of Identity Theft Other Reason

Above interpretation indicate that Out of 100%, 20% people don’t know about online shopping, 33.3% have risk of credit card transaction, 13.3% people have internet illiteracy issues, 26.6% have risk of Identity theft & 6.6% have other reasons.

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Q3. WHICH OF THESE WEBSITES HAVE YOU ALREADY USE?

Interpretation:

AMAZON FLIPKART MYNTRA SNAPDEAL OTHERS

Above interpretation indicate that Out of 100, majority 40% use Amazon, 25% use Flipkart, 16% use Myntra, 12% use Snapdeal & 8% use other shopping websites.

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Q4. HOW OFTEN YOU DO ONLINE SHOPPING?

Interpretation:

Every 15 Days Monthly

Every 3 months Every 6 months Annually

Above interpretation indicate that Out of 100, 4% people does Online Shopping in every 15 days, 12% people does Online Shopping on Monthly basis, 32% people does Online shopping in every 3 months, 24% people does Online shopping in every 6 months & 28% people does Online Shopping Annually.

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Q5. WHAT TYPE OF PRODUCT DO YOU BUY THROUGH ONLINE SHOPPING?

Interpretation:

Grocerries Cosmatic Product Clothes/Footwear Books/CDs Electronics

Cinema Tickets Airlines/ Railways/Bus Ticket

Above interpretation indicate that Out of 100%, 8% buy groceries, 16% buy cosmetic product, 35% buy clothes or footwear, 8% buy books or CDs, 11% buy electronic, 15% buy cinema tickets & 8% buy travelling tickets.

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Q6. HAVE YOU FELT ANY PROBLEM WHILE CONDUCTING ONLINE PURCHASE?

Interpretation:

YES NO

Above interpretation indicate that Out of 100, 72% people did not face any problem during online Shopping & 28% people faced problem during Online Shopping.

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Q7. IF YES, WHAT KIND OF PROBLEM?

Interpretation

Delay in Delivery

Cheap products

Product damage

Wrong Product

Others

Above interpretation indicate that Out of 100, 28% people had issue of delay in delivery, 14% people faced issue of receiving cheap quality products, 29% people faced issue of receiving damaged products, 29% people faced other issues.

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Q8. APPROXIMATE AMOUNT YOU WOULD SPEND ON SINGLE ONLINE PURCHASE?

Interpretation:

Less Than 1000 1000 - 3000

3000 - 5000 5000 - 10000 More than 10000

Above interpretation indicate that Out of 100, 32% people buy product of amount less than 1000, 28% people buy product of amount 1000 – 3000, 20% people buy product of amount 3000 – 5000, 8% people buy product of amount 5000 - 10000, 12% people buy product of amount more than 10000.

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Q9. WILL YOU RECOMMAND OTHERS TO USE ONLINE SHOPPING ?

Interpretation:

20%

Yes No

80%

Above interpretation indicate that Out of 100, 80% people recommend others to do online shopping, 20% people does not recommend others to do online shopping.

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Q10. FEATURE YOU THINK NECESSARY FOR ONLINE SHOPPING SITE.

Interpretation:

Multiple Payment Gateways Social Networking Integration Credibility privacy Design Customer Friendly Others

Above interpretation indicate that Out of 100, 24% likes multiple payment gateway, 20% likes social networking integration, 12% likes Credibility privacy, 36% customer friendly website design & 8% likes other features.

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CHAPTER 6

CONCLUSION

 The current study is descriptive in nature and it has made an attempt to understand the behavior of Indian consumers towards online shopping.  This research shows that online shopping is having very bright future In India.  Perception towards online shopping is getting better in India.  The generalized results obtained through data analysis have given close indication of increasing significance of online stores in the life of Indian people and their online shopping behavior.  The e-stores are frequently visited by the shoppers.  The ease and convenience provided by these stores for 24X7 has made very easy shopping for consumers.  With the use of internet consumer can shop anywhere, anything and anytime with easy and safe payment option.  Consumers can do comparison shopping between products as well as online stores by saving time and money.

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CHAPTER SUGGESTION & RECOMMEDATION

 More awareness towards online shopping:

We find through this study that the demo-graphical issues like age, education and income were agreed for online shopping but the rate is higher when the respondents are young, when the education is higher the respondents agreed for the same and the higher income group respondents strongly agree for the same. It means an awareness program for online shopping is very much necessary. The retail online shoppers should be planned for awareness towards online shopping through different ways.  Varied payment options:

In order to attract more and more customers, online shoppers have to increase the payment options as there are only small sections of people in India who have credit cards so this also hampers some who are willing to shop online. More options like Cash-on-delivery, money transfer, cheques or demand drafts, end-to-end payment should be made available to the customer who can adopt the best suited method.  Awareness regarding security measures

Security issues still continue to be a major drawback and trends like AVS (Address Verification System), PIN for credit cards, smart cards, digital signatures, e-cards, and easier infra-and inter-bank transactions online need to be made more prominent. Teaching consumers to transact only on secure internet connections is also necessary.

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 Highlight the benefit of shopping at home

Potential customers should be convinced of the benefits of shopping from home without having the pain of going out in the crowded placed.  Make the prices more competitive

The price offered for online shopping should be made more competitive as compared to the prices of the goods available in the local shops then only the customers will feel motivated to buy online.  Emphasis on after sale service

As the biggest hindrance in the path of online shopping becoming more popular is the question “who is to blame” If the product is not functioning well? Therefore, there should be more stress on the quality of products and the durability of the products, which are offered for sales and along with that assurance for after sales service.

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BIBLIOGRPHY 1. Dr. Anukrati Sharma, “A Study on E-Commerce and Online Shopping: Issues and influences” Ijcet, vol 4, Issue 1, pp 364-376 January – February (2013). 2. Internet Shopping “An OFT market shopping” June 2007

3. http://www.nextbigwhat.com/online-shopping-india-297

4. http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.come/keyword/online-shopping

5. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/keyword/online-shopping

6. thetechgears.com/top-online-shopping-websites-in india

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ANNEXURE NAME:

OCCUPATION:

Q1. HAVE YOU EVER USED DONE ONLINE SHOPPING? o

YES

o

NO

Q2. IF YOU NEVER HAD ONLINE SHOPPING, PLEASE SPECIFY THE REASON? o I DON’T KNOW ABOUT ONLINE SHOPPING o RISK OF CREDIT CARD TRANSACTION o INTERNET ILLITERACY o RISK OF IDENTITY THEFT o OTHER REASON Q3. WHICH OF THESE WEBSITES HAVE YOU ALREADY USE? o AMAZON o FLIPKART o MYNTRA o SNAPDEAL o OTHERS

Q4. HOW OFTEN YOU DO ONLINE SHOPPING? o ONCE IN TWO WEEK o MONTHLY o EVERY 3 MONTHS o EVERY 6 MONTHS o ANNUALLY

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Q5. HAVE YOU FELT ANY PROBLEM WHILE CONDUCTING ONLINE PURCHASE?

o YES o NO

Q6. WHAT TYPE OF PRODUCT DO YOU BUY THROUGH ONLINE SHOPPING? o GROCERRIES o COSMATICS PRODUCT o CLOTHES / FOOTWEARS o BOOKS / CDs o FURNITURE o ELECTRONICS o CINEMA TICKETS o AIRLINES/ RAILWAYS/ BUS TICKET

Q7. IF YES, WHAT KIND OF PROBLEM? o DELAY IN DELIVERY o CHEAP QUALITY OF PRODUCT o PRODUCT DAMAGE o DELIVERY OF WRONG PRODUCT o OTHERS

Q8. APPROXIMATE AMOUNT YOU WOULD SPEND ON SINGLE ONLINE PURCHASE? o LESS THAN 1000 o 1000-3000 o 3000-5000 o 5000-10000 o MORE THAN 10000

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Q9. RANK YOUR FAVOURITE ONLINE SHOPPING WEBSITE o AMAZON o FLIPKART o SNAPDEAL o MYNTRA o OTHERS

Q10. FEATURE YOU THINK NECESSARY FOR ONLINE SHOPPING SITE o MULTIPLE PAYMENT GATEWAYS o SOCIAL NETWORKING INTERGRATION o CREDIBILITY PRIVACY & SECURE CHECOUT o DESIGN CUSTOMER FRIENDLY o OTHERS

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