CHAPTER – III

PROFILE OF THE STUDY

3.1 Introduction

E-shopping industry in India has made some amazing progress since the confused
days of e-commerce giants (dotcom’s) air pocket. The culvert of e-shopping like
electronic products or home appliances i.e., from Amazon.in, Flipkart and etc., through
the mobile application, which changed the way Indians using online shopping through
dotcom’s or application. This concurrence of this change, mobile application and
websites clients are increasing and aid to raising revenue to the thriving of industry and
they provide secure online exchange condition, measures like Cash-on-conveyance, focus
on customer benefit has rouse Indian customers to put their trust in web and application
based shopping.

E-shopping or online shopping is that terms expose the procedure whereby

consumers obtain goods or services from a dealer without an intermediate service, over
the internet information technology such as mobile applications and websites. It’s a
system of electronic commerce. The trade or purchase business deal is accomplished with
the integration technology of real-time such as in e-commerce giants for electronic
products. Conversely, in some cases, an intermediary may be present in a sale or
purchase transaction such as the transactions on B2C and B2B sites i.e., Justdail, Alibaba
Portal and etc.

A large share of e-commerce is conducted entirely in the electronic mode for

virtual things like as access to premium content on the mobile application, web page and
wap page. Online retailers are usually referred as e-tailers. Most of the retailers now
electronically exist on the virtual interface such as Smartphone applications, wap and
web page.

3.2 History of Online Shopping

In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee created the first World Wide Web server and browser
in UK. It was opened for commercial use in 1991. In 1994 other advances took place,

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such as online banking and the opening of an online pizza shop by Pizza Hut. In that
period, Netscape introduced SSL encryption of data transmitted online, which has
become important for secure online shopping. Also in 1994, one of the German company
introduced its first online shopping structure. In 1995, Amazon launched its online
shopping site, and in 1996, eBay appeared.

E-commerce was recognized as the supporting of commercial transactions

electronically, using technology such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and
Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). The mention above systems were introduced in the
year1970s, this method allowing businesses to send commercial documents like purchase
orders or statements of accounts electronically. The development and acceptance of credit
cards, automated teller machines (ATM) and telephone banking in the 1980 were also
forms of electronic commerce. Another form of e-commerce was the airline reservation
system typified by Sabre in the USA and Travicom in the UK. From the 1990s onwards,
electronic commerce would additionally include enterprise resource planning systems
(ERP), data mining and data warehousing.

In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web browser and
transformed an academic telecommunication network into a worldwide everyman
everyday communication system called internet/www. Commercial enterprise on the
Internet was strictly prohibited by NSF until 1995. Although the Internet became popular
worldwide around 1994 with the adoption of Mosaic web 4 browser, it took about five
years to introduce security protocols and DSL allowing continual connection to the
Internet. By the end of 2000, many European and American business companies offered
their services through the World Wide Web. Since then people began to associate a word
"ecommerce" with the ability of purchasing various goods through the Internet using
secure protocols and electronic payment services.

3.3 E-definitions
At this point we will consider five definitions that encompass the evolving
Internet driven economy:

 e-commerce

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  e-business
 e-marketing
 m-commerce
 m-marketing

3.3.1 E-Commerce
Commerce is generally acknowledged as the swapping of merchandise on large
scale between nations of individuals. Rayport and Jaworski (2001) define e-commerce
as technology mediated exchanges between parties (individuals or organizations) as well
as the electronically based intra or inter organizational activities that facilitate such
exchanges. The emphasis in most e-commerce explanations has been on numerical
dealings facilitated at every stage by technologies such as electronic data interchange
(EDI). Standardization of electronic data formats enables computers to speak to each
other, speeds information exchanges and reduces transaction costs. Of course, not every
organization will use their site for online transactions; it may not be appropriate or part
of their strategy. Some organizations may use their site to drive traffic to a physical
showroom or perhaps for PR or brand building.

This statistic provides the retail e-commerce volume in India from 2016 to 2022.
In 2016, the sale of physical goods via digital channels in India amounted to 16.07 billion
U.S. dollars in revenues.

Chart 3.1 Retail e-commerce sales in India from 2016 to 2022

(in million U.S. dollars)
Retail E-commerce sales in India 2016-2022 (in million U.S.dollars)
60000 52301
45206
37979
40000 31123
25076
20059
20000 16073

0
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022*
Source : www.statista.com

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3.3.2 E-business
Turban et al (2002) suggest that the term ‘e-commerce’ is a rather narrow
constricted definition with its emphasis on the transactional process and that it does not
encompass the full range of application and potential benefits of the Internet. Philips
(2003) terms e-business as the application of information technologies for internal
business processes as well as activities in which a company engages during commercial
activity. These activities can include functional activities such as finance, marketing,
human resources management and operations. Lou Gerstner of IBM cited in Turban et al
extols the potential payback from e-business saying that it is all about time cycle, speed,
globalization, enhanced productivity, reaching new customers and sharing knowledge
across institutions for competitive advantage. To exploit such opportunities, requires the
redesign of the corporate environment and the total integration of information and
communications technologies across the business functions.

3.3.3 E-marketing
E-marketing is described by the Institute of Direct Marketing as the use of
Internet and related digital information and communications technologies to achieve
marketing objectives.

Mohammed et al (2001) define Internet marketing as the process of building and

maintaining customer relationships through online activities to facilitate the exchange of
ideas, products and services that satisfy the goals of both parties. E-marketing covers a
wide range of IT related applications with three main aims, suggested by Strauss et al
(2003)

 Transforming marketing strategies to create more customer value through more

effective segmentation, targeting, differentiation and positioning strategies.
 More efficiently planning and executing the conception, distribution, promotion
and pricing of goods, services and ideas.
 Creating exchanges that satisfy individual consumer and organizational
customers’ objectives.

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 This appears to offer nothing startling at first glance but acknowledges that the
Internet has been responsible for many organizations refocusing their marketing
strategies. It also recognizes that one of the benefits of e-marketing is the increased
efficiency that it can create for both parties in the exchange process. The applicability of
such definitions should be taken in context as it will depend to what extent the business
relies on online, offline or a multi-channel approach. Smith and Chaffey (2002)
emphasize the importance of the database in e-marketing and the utilization of a wide
variety of ‘e-tools’ to generate a dynamic dialogue, which goes beyond a purely
transactional process.

3.3.4 M-Commerce
M-Commerce will be defined as the purchasing and selling of products and
services done by the wireless hand-held devices like mobile phones and individual digital
assistants. M-Commerce enables users to access the Internet without needing to find a
place to plug in providing anytime, anywhere communications. As Philips (2003)
observes, the convergence of the two fastest growing communications technologies of all
time mobile phones and the Internet will, they say, make possible all kinds of new
services and create a vast new market. The emerging technology underpinning m-
commerce based on Wireless Application Protocol and third generation (3G) bandwidth
technology has led many to believe that m-commerce with its flexibility does have
greater potential than the Internet connected PC. So -called smart phones provide faster,
personal and secure handheld communications content and payment abilities for a
progressively mobile workforce. With the fat pipe or broadband slowly becoming more
accessible in terms of connectivity and cost, the thirst for instant information by some is
becoming a reality for individuals and a marketing challenge for organizations.

Wireless Internet Access or Wi-Fi enables users of handheld devices and laptops
to access the Internet on the move without the need for any physical links or attachments
via ‘hotspots’ without the need for any traditional dial up connections. Graeme Lowdon
(2003) of Nomad Digital suggests that Wi-Fi has an advantage over many previously
released technologies: whereas in the past, standards have been hyped and touted, hoping
that people will adopt them, this technology has occurred the other way around it’s

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become a de facto standard. A good comparison is something like text messaging. That
was never pre-hyped; it was almost as a byproduct on mobile phones. Then an awful lot
of people used it and it became a mainstream technology. Wi-Fi falls into this category.

3.3.5 M-marketing (or mobile marketing)

Strauss et al (2003) paint an interesting scenario occurring in the next phase of
e-business with a driver being notified by text message on the interstate that his 15,000
mile car service is due. The technology recognizes that he is approaching the city and
suggests that he may wish to exit and visit the dealership where a driver will be ready to
take him on to his office. His car will be returned to him at his office. The customer just
has to click and confirm and the chauffeur and service technicians will be ready and
waiting. This vision of the connected customer-company relationship does not seem too
far away. A Gartner research report in November 2005 claimed a 22% increase in
worldwide mobile phone sales in the third quarter for that year with a further 10-15%
increase expected for 2006.

Just like the distinctions made between e-commerce and e-marketing, we should
recognize that similar differences apply in the mobile domain with the capability of using
mobile devices for marketing functions other than buying and selling. For example,
financial institutions already provide useful SMS (Short messaging service) customer
alerts on overdraft facilities. Other customer services can be permanently accessible.
Alternatively, mobile devices could be used for instant marketing research or location
based sales promotions. The mobile phone has been transformed into a multi-functions
device incorporating phone, text, video and MP3 capability as standard on new phones
and provides more marketing opportunities.

3.5 Characteristics of Online Markets

Online markets are also very much information intensive. The very nature of
many transactions places rich sources of information about consumers (and perhaps also
other market participants) in conveniently digitized form, at the disposal of companies
providing services such as search, payment and social network services. Collection of
information about customers is not unique to online markets, but the scale under which it

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has become possible is unprecedented. The industry is undoubtedly very much alive to
the value of information and is in process of implementing strategies to acquire it and use
it profitably. We believe the formulation of strategies for profiting from the information
explosion is very much in its infancy and, therefore, this is one major respect in which the
market is “dynamic”.

Major platforms such as Amazon, PayPal, eBay, support and enforce a system of
buyer and seller reputations which facilitates many valuable trades which otherwise could
only take place in face-to-face markets. Hence, here is a vehicle for consumers and SMEs
to benefit from the control of information by major platforms. However, there is also a
possibility that an intermediary certifies. parties to a transaction and extracts a large share
of surplus whilst only minimally improving information flows in the market. Information
will both create opportunities for adding value for customers and opportunities to extract
value whilst adding little value if competition is limited.

The e-shopping or e-business or e-market is highly dynamic nature and that the
part of economic literature developed within a paradigm of various market researcher
reports or study and that may fail to explanation for some of the pragmatic characteristics
of online markets and may be a poor guide to judging the efficiency of observed behavior
of consumers. For example, innovation can make defining relevant product markets
difficult because business executives and government officials alike may not yet know
what the future products will be.

The statist market research report explores the size of the largest B2C e-
commerce market activities of the players in 2015 with estimates regarding 2016. The
source valued China's B2C e-commerce market like Alibaba etc., deafening the e-
business practices at 766.5 billion U.S. dollars. The United States was ranked second
with a 595 billion U.S. dollar e-commerce practices turnover during that year.

The figure shows the size of the largest B2C e-commerce markets in 2015 with
estimates regarding 2016. The source valued China's B2C e-commerce market at 766.5
billion U.S. dollars. The US were graded second with a 595 billion U.S. dollar
e-commerce income in that year.

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 Chart 3.2 Countries with the largest B2C e-commerce markets in 2015 and 2016
(in billion U.S. dollars)

766.5
China 975

595.1
United States 348.6

174.2
United Kingdom 192.5

114.4
Japan 124.4

71.9
France 79.1

66.2
Germany 74.1

64.8
South Korea 71.3

35.7
Canada 43.5

25.5
India 44.7

22.8
Russia 24

0 200 400 600 800 1000

Source : www.statista.com

3.6 Reputed online shopping sites

Few online shopping sites that leading the whole E-commerce B2C system, like
Amazon and eBay. These two are the icon of online shopping community. This e-
commerce giants are provides all kinds of products and services products to the
customers.

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Here a list of best online shopping sites :

 Amazon

 eBay

 Flipkart

 Naaptol

 Snapdeal

 Tradus

 Walmart

 Target

 Best buy

 New egg

 Barnes and Nobel

 Macys

 Overstore

 First cry

 Myntra

 Jobong

 Bigbasket

 Shopclues

 Infibeam
3.6.1 Amazon.com

Amazon.com could be a Fortune five hundred e-commerce company primarily

based in Seattle, WA. Amazon was one in all the primary huge corporations to
sell merchandise over the internet. Jeff Bezos was founded the company in the 1994,
and launched in 1995. They started online bookstore and then quickly diversified by
adding other items, like DVDs and VHS tapes, music CDs, MP3s software, furniture,
video games, electronics, ,clothing, toys and even food items.

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 In 1999 Time Magazine named Bezos its 1999 Person of the Year. This was
mostly in recognition of the company's success in popularizing online shopping.

3.6.2 e Bay
Jeffrey Skoll was employed as the 1st president of the company in early 1996.
eBay entered along with its first third – party licensing deal in the year November 1996
with a company known as Electronic Travel Auction to use smart market technology to
sell plane tickets and different products. Growth was phnnomenal; in jan 1997. The
company formally changed the name of its service from Auction net to eBay in the month
September 1997. Originally, the site belonged to Echo Bay Technology Group,
Omidyar's consulting firm. Omidyar had tried to register the domain name echobay.com,
but found it already taken by the Echo Bay Mines, a gold mining company, so he
shortened it to his second choice, eBay.com.

3.6..3 Flipkart
Flipkart was based in 2007 by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, both alumni of
the Indian Institute of Technology urban center Delhi that they had been working for
Amazon. The business was formally incorporated as concern in October 2008 as Flipkart
On-line Services Pvt. Ltd. In its early years, Flipkart focused only on books, and shortly
it expanded, the company started offering other products like electronic items, Air
Conditioners, Air coolers, stationery supplies and life style products and e-books.
Flipkart currently employs more than four thousand five hundred people and is
categorized among the top ten Indian websites. Flip kart’s offering of products on Cash
on Delivery is considered to be one of the main reasons behind its success. Flipkart also
allows other payment methods- Credit or Debit card transactions, net banking, e-gift
voucher and Card Swipe on Delivery.

3.6.4 Naaptol
Naaptol registered as Naaptol Online Shopping Pvt. Ltd, headquartered in
Mumbai, Maharashtra and Kathmandu, Bagmati, Nepal is an ecommerce portal based in
India and Nepal. Founded in 2008 by Manu Agarwal (Man behind naaptol.com), Naaptol
started its operation as product research and price comparison engine in initial stage with

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a seed capital of Rs.50 lakhs. Later in 2009 it was expended as an online market place
and started offering products to purchase online in categories like mobiles, tablets,
cameras, home appliances and a variety of other products. In this journey Naaptol shot up
its turnover to Rs. 10crore in 2009-2010 which was Rs. 1crore in 2008-2009 and
facilitating transactions worth Rs 1.5crore every single day.

In 2010, Naaptol started investing in print media and increased its print media
market share by 0.3% with top 3 position for two consecutive years. Naaptol has raised
funding from New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Canaan Partners and Silicon Valley
Bank during its journey since 2008 and launched a site Naaptol Club and forayed into
television.

Naaptol.com was also conferred with "New Brand Award" in 2011 by Star News.
Naaptol is in the List of cheapest mobile stores, compiled by e-commerce observer
Zoutons.com with Average Discount Percentage (ADP) 0.91.

3.6.5 Snapdeal
Snapdeal is the one of the Online marketplace, headquartered in Delhi, India, The
concern was started by KunalBahl, a Edith New bold Jones Wharton graduate, and Rohit
Bansal, as ex-student of IIT Delhi in February 2010. The company (Snapdeal) was started
in February 2010 as a daily deals platform but it was expanded in the month of
September 2011 to become an e-commerce company via a marketplace model. Around
20 million listed users, Snapdeal is one of the biggest online marketplaces in India. The
company offering an assortment of 4 million+ products across diverse categories from
over 20,000 sellers, shipping to 4,000 towns and cities in India.

3.6.6 Tradus
Tradus (formerly QXL) was founded in London in 1997 by Financial
Times journalist Tim Jackson and has operations in major European markets. In 1999,
QXL was simultaneously floated on the London Stock Exchange as well as
the Nasdaq exchange in New York.

In November 2000, QXL merged with its European rival ricardo.de of Germany.
The new company was named QXL Ricardo and remained based in London. In

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December 2002, a dispute over ownership of QXL Poland arose. In June 2006 the
conflict was settled with QXL Poland returning under full ownership of the Group.

On the 7th November 2007, after a sharp rise in the company's share price, the
company announced that it had received a preliminary approach from a potential bidder
who was unnamed. Intense press speculation arose as to who the potential bidder may be.

The offer to take over Tradus was formally announced on 18 December 2007 at
£18 per share, valuing the company at some £946 million. On 21 November 2007 the
company announced that it had received permission from its shareholders to change the
name to Tradus plc. On 6 May 2008 it was announced that the UK QXL site would close
on 30 May 2008.

3.6.7 Walmart
The company Walmart was established in the year 1960. It is the one of the very
old online shopping portal. An online site Walmort.com acted as a key chain from where
people used to buy their products on retail prices and discounts. Now a days we can able
to see that Walmart store are selling their thousands of products and gadgets each day.
Walmart deals with the collection of home products, video games, electronics, clothing,
toys, and gifts. The estimated revenue value of the Walmart is, nearly about 425 billion
USD.

3.6.8 Target
George Dayton was founded the company Target in the year 1902. The Target
was the second largest retailing company in the era. It is nowadays headed by Gregg
Steinhafel, it is also one of the famous online shopping websites stores, dealing with the
tough range of product and services for women, men, kids, baby like home furniture,
electronics, entertainment, toys strength and beauty products. The company sells over
more than 500,000 items each day and the estimated revenue of Target is 67.4 billion
USD (approx).

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3.6.9 Best Buy
One of the richest online shopping websites prevailing in the world is Best Buy.
The company came into existence in late 1990s and has engaged itself in dealing with
cool electronic stuffs including gadgets, laptops, DVDs, LCD screens, tablets and Best
Buy started to consist of some other product books and video games, toys, sporting
belongings. The revenue estimation of Best Buy Company is worth around 50.3 billion
USD.

3.6.10 Alibaba
Although Alibaba is a China based E-Commerce company, it hits the era with its
magic of cool stuffs and merchandises. The company was a very young company; it was
arisen in the year 2007. The company deals with all kind of new products electronics,
clothing and much more. Estimation says that Alibaba earn millions and is one among
the top 100 online shopping stores in the world.

3.6.11 Newegg
In the year 2001 the Newegg was came into an existence. The company deals
with many top mostly computer related goods, software, DVDs, hardware, games,
accessories etc. The company’s website doesn't work on large scale, the revenue
estimated worth 2.3 billion USD.

3.6.12 Barnes and Noble

One of the famous retail store in the world is Barnes. The Barnes introduces their
company with many kinds of stuffs, especially electronic related products which include
tablets, computers, Smart phones and eBooks. Like NewEgg, Barnes and Noble is also a
small company with a revenue estimation over 5.12 billion USD. And fortunately, this
website has achieved great.

3.6.13 Macys
Macys one of the very old company like Amazon, eBay, Walmart. it is an old
chain segment of departmental stores. The company was established in the year 1858.
Macys.com differently deals with variety of merchandises like footwear, accessories,

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clothes, cosmetics and even jewelry. The company has managed in making its revenue
worth around 25 billion USD.

3.6.14 Overstock
Overstock Company was known by the name Discounts Direct. It was thereby, a
need of the hours as the inventory of surplus products and gadgets started to grow. The
company deals with top products related to clothing, gadget gears, gifts, toys, sporting
items and other tons of brand new products on sale. The estimated revenue of Overstock
Company is around 1.1 billion USD

3.6.15 FirstCry.com
An online and offline brand providing range of products for babies, kids and
moms, was born in 2010 out of a desire to solve Indian parents’ problem of not having
access to the best brands and products for their babies and kids. In 4 years,
FirstCry.com has emerged as the clear leader in its niche.

3.6.16 Myntra.com
Myntra is a one stop shop for all your fashion and lifestyle needs. Being India's
largest e-commerce store for fashion and lifestyle products, Myntra aims at providing a
hassle free and enjoyable shopping experience to shoppers across the country with the
widest range of brands and products on its portal. The brand is making a conscious effort
to bring the power of fashion to shoppers with an array of the latest and trendiest products
available in the country. Myntra understands its shoppers' needs and caters to them with
choice of apparel, accessories, cosmetics and footwear from over 500 leading Indian and
international brands.

3.6.17 Jobong.com
Indian fashion and lifestyle e-commerce portal. It retails apparel, footwear,
accessories, beauty products, fragrances, home accessories and other fashion and lifestyle
products. It is owned by Rocket Internet from Germany, one of the key holding
companies of Group on and spearheaded by a founding team of three entrepreneurs.

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3.6.18 Big basket.com

India’s largest online supermarket and allows a customer to walk away from the
drudgery of grocery shopping and welcome an easy relaxed way of browsing and
shopping for groceries. The company currently operates from Bangalore, Mumbai and
Hyderabad and has a diverse portfolio that carries more than 12,000 products and over
1,000 brands.

The grocery retail market in India is growing at about 10% CAGR and is about
USD 400 Billion in size while e-grocery accounts to only 0.1%. Within this the online
grocery market is expected to be about USD 10 Billion in the next 4 years from now. A
majority of this market is likely to be concentrated in the urban cities in the country.

3.6.19 Shop clues

Shop Clues is an online marketplace owned by Clues Network Pvt. Ltd.[4] It was
established in July 2011 in Silicon Valley by Sanjay Sethi, Sandeep Aggarwal and
Radhika Aggarwal. Based in Gurgaon, India, the company claims to have over 6 lakh
merchants and 2.8 crore products on its platform, serving over 32,000 pin codes across
the country. Valued at USD 1.1 billion, Shop Clues has Tiger Global, Helion Ventures,
and Nexus Venture Partners as major investors.

In June 2016, the online marketplace reached half a million sellers on its platform,
claimed to be the highest in the Indian e-commerce industry. The employee strength as of
2017 is more than 11,000 people.

3.6.20 Infibeam.com
Infibeam is a leading online retailer in India & world fastest growing ecommerce
Technology Company. Infibeam offers cloud based ecommerce platform service in B2C
and B2B verticals and is recognized globally for its innovative approach towards
delivering business values and responsive to changing customer needs. The company
believes in empowering every individual and business in the retail value chain by
providing affordable technology to solve large scale business problems. Today, Infibeam
is a trusted name in retail and technology platform services and a partner of choice for
global business. Infibeam retail platform offers millions of unique product selection at
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attractive price. Customers can make best selection from wide range of products across
more than 46 category stores like Mobile & Tablet, Books & Magazines, Computers &
Accessories, Electronics, Gifts, Cameras, Fashion & Accessories, Home & Kitchen, Baby
care & Toys, Music, Movie & Posters, Health & Fitness, Auto Accessories, under the
URL
Chart 3.3 Leading online stores in India in 2016, ranked by net e-commerce sales
(in million U.S. dollars)

Leading online stores in India in 2016

amazon.com 437.7
flipcart.com 398.9
snapdeal.com 258.7
myntra.com 198.3
jabong.com 175.7
bigbasket.com 98.3
ebay.com 69.6
shopclues.com 37.1
infibeam.com 36.6
firstcry.com 34.8

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500

Source : www.statista.com

According to this statistic market research firm’s report represents a ranking of

the leading e-stores in India during 2016, sorted by annual net e-commerce sales. In
2016, the online store Amazon.in generated 437.71 million U.S. dollars via e-commerce
sales of physical goods in India followed by other e-commerce giants of online retailers.

3.7 Online Shopping In India: Legal and Cyber Security Issues

Indian start-ups finally got the attention of e-commerce requirement in India and
they are discovering various opportunities in the e-commerce segment. At this phase, the
entrepreneurs or start-ups are interesting in establishing their platforms through the e-
commerce giants of e-business practices. Very few of such e-commerce players in India
are interested in complying with techno legal requirements of e-commerce in India.

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 Payment: “The e-commerce infrastructure and system of India are fully fledged
to operate require a strong and secure online payments mechanism. Although an
integrated banking system is in conduit yet the present internet banking system, online
payments mechanism, etc. are not up to the mark. Further, the present banking, financial
and regulatory environment of India need to be streamlined”.

Cyber Frauds: “Cyber crimes and financial frauds have further shaken the
confidence of Indian e-commerce customers in online shopping and online payment
methods. Internet banking frauds, debit and credit card frauds and etc., are thriving in
India and Indian banking sectors and financial intermediaries are paying enough attention
to cyber security with the aid of cyber act and RBI.

Cyber law due diligence in India is another area that e-commerce and online
shopping platforms must take care of. Cyber law due diligence for Indian companies is
one of the most frequently litigated aspects in India. Lack of cyber law awareness and
cyber due diligence awareness is the main reason that many websites and companies have
found themselves on the set of Indian laws.

The e-commerce in India requires to be optimistic but at the same time, legal and
cyber security issues must also be taken critically. Online payment portal players and e-
commerce stakeholders must keep these aspects in their concern while doing business in
India.

3.8 SWOT analysis of online shopping inIndia

Due to rapid growth of technology, business organizations have switched over

from the traditional method of selling goods to electronic method of selling goods.
Business organizations use internet as a main vehicle to conduct commercial transactions.
Online stores do not have space constraints and a wide variety of products can be
displayed on websites. It helps the analytical buyers to purchase a product after a good
search.

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3.8.1 Convenience.

Convenience is the most essential in shopping. In online the consumer can do the
shopping at midnight also, no queues to wait in or shop assistants to wait on to help you
with your purchases, and you can do your shopping in minutes. Online shops give us the
opportunity to shop 24hours all the seven days, and also reward us with a ‘no pollution’
shopping experience. Online shopping the one of the 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, which helps the environment.

3.8.2 No pressure shopping

In physical stores, generally the sales representatives are force to the buyers to
buy the product. It is the pressure to the purchasers but in online stores the customers are
not pressurized in any way .

3.8.3 Online shopping saves time

In this busiest world the customers don’t have much time to stand in queues in to
pay cash for the products that have been purchased by them. They can shop from their
home or work place and do not have to spend time traveling. The customers can also look
for the products that are required by them by entering the key words or using search
engines.

3.8.4 Comparisons

Online Companies display the whole range of products offered by them to attract
customers with different tastes, based on trends and variety. This facilities supports the
consumers to select from a variety of models after comparing features and price of the
products on display, online companies are also display price comparisons.

3.8.5 Online tracking

In online shopping tracking the detail of the product like order status, distribution
status and shipping details very easily.

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3.8.6 Online shopping saves money
Discount is the one of the powerful tool to attract the consumers in online
shopping. Online shoppers due to elimination of maintenance, real-estate cost, they sell
the products with attractive discounts through online.

3.8.9 Better prices.

The products come to you direct from the manufacturer or seller without
middleman being involved so the cheap deals and better prices are available in online
shopping. Many online shops offer discount coupons and repayments 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.

3.8.9 Save Fuel

The most important of shopping online is that there is no need for vehicles, so no
purchase of fuel necessary. Now a days the market of fuel industries battles from
increasing and decreasing its price every now and then, but no matter how much the
cost of fuel are it does not affect your shopping errands

3.8.9 Save Energy

In online shopping, the consumer does not need to waste your precious energy
when buying product. It is tiresome to shop from one place and transfer to another
location. What is worse is that there are no available stocks for the merchandise you
want to buy.

3.8.10 Availability of online shopping

The availability of online stores give a full freedom to the consumer to shop at
your own place and convenience. Online shopping stores are open round the clock of
24hours, 7 days a week and 365 days. But the retail stores that are not open 24/7, it is
very rare. The availability of online stores give you the freedom to shop at your own
pace and convenience.

3.8.11 Hate Waiting in Lines

When buying item online, there are no long lines you have to endure, just to buy
your merchandise. The idea of shopping online is cutting down those bad habits of

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standing in a long line and just waiting. Every online store is designed with unique
individual ordering features to purchase the item.

3.8.12 Easy to Search Merchandise You Want to Buy

You are able to look for specific merchandise that includes model number, style,
size, and color that you want to purchase. In addition, it is easy to determine whether
the products are available or out of stock.

3.9 Problem in online shopping

Given the lack of ability to inspect merchandise before purchase, consumers are at
higher risk of fraud on the part of the merchant than in a physical store. Merchants also
risk fraudulent purchases using stolen credit cards or fraudulent repudiation of the online
purchase. With a warehouse instead of a retail storefront, merchants face less risk from
physical theft.

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption has generally solved the problem of credit
card numbers being intercepted in transit between the consumer and the merchant.
Identity theft is still a concern for consumers when hackers break into a merchant's web
site and steal names, addresses and credit card numbers. A number of high-profile
break-ins in the 2000s has prompted some U.S. states to require disclosure to consumers
when this happens. Computer security has thus become a major concern for merchants
and e-commerce service providers, who deploy countermeasures such as firewalls and
anti-virus software to protect their networks

Phishing is another danger, where consumers are fooled into thinking they are
dealing with a reputable retailer, when they have actually been manipulated into feeding
private information to a system operated by a malicious party. Denial of 16 service
attacks are a minor risk for merchants, as are server and network outages.

Quality seals can be placed on the Shop web page if it has undergone an
independent assessment and meets all requirements of the company issuing the seal. The
purpose of these seals is to increase the confidence of the online shoppers; the existence
of many different seals, or seals unfamiliar to consumers, may foil this effort to a certain

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extent. A number of resources offer advice on how consumers can protect themselves
when using online retailer services.

3.9.1 Lose the Tactile Experience

When you shop online, you don't have an opportunity to touch and feel items you
are considering purchasing. With some products - like books and electronic equipment -
this isn't an important consideration. However, with clothing, bedding, pillows, furniture,
rugs and other textile-based merchandise, it can be hard to gauge quality without hands-
on contact. Fit is also a concern with any kind of apparel.

3.9.2 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.

3.9.3 Unable to Assess the Quality

Suppose you are buying a clothing item. Unless you touch it, you won’t know
what the quality is. After you get the product, you may get disappointed by quality of the
fabric you get. This point holds especially true in case of apparel shopping.

3.9.4 Encourages You to Buy More

Online shopping is beneficial only when you are buying big so as to avail free
shipping. Or else, you may end up paying a price that exceeds the product’s maximum
retail price.

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3.9.5 Negotiation

Online Shopping doesn’t allow bargaining at all. So if you have liked and selected
a product to buy, you have to do it on the displayed price. Although, there are some
coupon benefits available.

3.9.6 Dealing with Problems

You don’t have the facility of ‘direct talk’. Means, if you have any problems with
the order, you do not have any person to talk to or tell about the issues you’re facing.

3.9.7 Delivery Speed

Online purchases have some delivery time. And that varies from seller to seller.
As they have to ship it through a courier service. So, you have to wait for the product to
arrive accordingly. Usually, the delivery takes 4-7 days to complete.

3.9.8 Returns Can Be Costly

It's essential to be aware of the return policy for any e-commerce retailer you are
considering doing business with. The majority of sites do not pay return shipping if you
have to send something back, so it often costs you more money than you planned to
spend if you need to exchange an item.

Returning merchandise for a refund can also be costly. Most online retailers do
not refund shipping costs - not the cost of return postage or the original shipping charge.
This can mean that, for relatively low-dollar items, it can cost you nearly as much to
return an item as it does to just keep the merchandise.

3.9.9 Dealing with an Unknown Vendor

When you are shopping online, unless you are purchasing from a well-known e-
tailer like Amazon or Zappos or the online arm of a department store like Kohl's or JC
Penney, you really don't know who you are doing business with. Anybody can open an
online store - especially with products that are easy to access through a drop-shopping
company - but not everyone is honest and reputable.

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 When you are shopping with an online store that you don't know anything about,
it can be difficult to feel confident that they'll still be there if a problem arises with your
order and to feel that the personal information you are required to share when making a
purchase will really be protected. Online security concerns can certainly be an important
consideration when selecting an e-tailer.

3.9.10 Warranty issues

Most of the electronic items are sold without international warranty. So be sure
that you have contact with the seller to verify whether the item has the international
warranty or not.

3.9.11 Scam
As online shopping is becoming very common the number of online scam and fraud is
also increasing. This is why a buyer should always buy from trusted websites only .

3.9.12 Shopaholic
Since it’s very easy to search & purchase different items very easily and quickly
from online, many people ends up being a online shopaholic. This means that they buy
too many things that they actually don’t want.

3.9.13 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.

3.9.14 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

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possibility as you do not have more than one screen to concentrate on each time.
Shopping for clothes and jewelry is usually a full-day 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.

3.9.15 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.

3.9.16 A never ending wait for the product to arrive

You enter a shop. Choose an item of your choice. Pay the bills at the counter and
the item is yours. After all of it, you walk into your house with gaiety with your
possession in hand. The story with online shopping is slightly different from the one
narrated above. Different shopping portals promise to deliver your goods by a certain
time but it often gets delayed. If shipped from overseas, it can take more than a month to
reach its destination. Even if it does not get delayed, you will not be able to take hold of
it the moment you set your eyes on it.

3.9.17 Makes you lazy and fat

With the advent of a new phenomenon called online shopping, people who have
an access to the internet, hardly show an inclination to venture out of their house into the
open. You order your favorite pizza and it gets delivered at home. Then you go on to
order your basic necessities like clothes, furniture, books etc. via internet and in turn
remain restricted to the four walls of your dismay that you have turned into a couch
potato. Take the shopping bag and go out if you want to remain fit.

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3.9.18 Lack of option

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 option, shape and size.
You can wear a piece of garment and check if it fits you but with online shopping, that
option seems like distant dreams. In online shopping, you do not get the same item.

3.9.19 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.

3.9.20 No bargaining
It is a major disappointment when you enter a shop and there are boards with
words like “fixed price” scribbled that are the splashed all over the showroom.
Bargaining makes for an interesting part in your entire shopping experience. It gives us
immense pleasure when we manage to convince the seller to give us our desired object at
a lesser price. A sense of triumph and victory settles over us. Online shopping does not
offer us that liberty to bargain and we are bound to buy the item in the quoted price.

3.10 Payment options in Online Shopping

Online shoppers commonly use a credit card to make payments, however some
systems enable users to create accounts and pay by alternative means, such as:

Billing to mobile phones and landlines

 Cash on delivery (C.O.D., offered by very few online stores)

Cheque

 Debit card

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  Direct debit in some countries

 Electronic money of various types

 Gift cards

 Postal money order

 Wire transfer/delivery on payment

Some sites will not accept international credit cards, some require both the
purchaser's billing address and shipping address to be in the same country in 19 which
site does its business, and still other sites allow customers from anywhere to send gifts
anywhere. The financial part of a transaction might be processed in real time (for
example, letting the consumer know their credit card was declined before they log off), or
might be done later as part of the fulfillment process.

3.11 Trends in Online Shopping

Online Shopping in India is in its nascent stages. However, more and more people
are gaining confidence about purchasing products online. Consequently, online shopping
trends are improving and promise a bright future. The internet has been around in India
since quite some time now. However, e-commerce has picked up only recently. Shopping
online is slowly growing up in India too. However, due to the relatively slow penetration
of the internet in many part of the country, online shopping is limited to only major
metros in India. Let us inquire about online shopping trends in this part of the world.

E-commerce can be thought of as an activity wherein the customer uses the

internet to order a product or service. In most circumstances, the transaction may happen
online also. Online shopping places a heavy demand on the use of the internet. One major
hurdle that online shopping faces is the security of transactions, since it is necessary for
shoppers to submit their financial details on the web too. Currently, only a limited
number of merchants are doing business online due to the problems related to technology.
The major hurdles faced are low penetration of computers in India, lesser amount of
credit or debit card holders, and many adverse taxation rules. Also, many internet users

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are reluctant to reveal their financial information online, which hampers the growth of the
online business.

Conversely, online shopping has a great potential to become big in India.

According to Rayport & Jaworski in their book on e-commerce, ecommerce has the
potential of reaching $100 billion in the year 2008. Accordingly, many enterprises both
big and small, are opening to the idea of having their B2B and 20 B2C portals on the
internet in a big way. The internet is also proving to a boon in disguise for many small
and medium enterprises, which are joining hands with major Indian online portals to
display their products and advertise their services. Analysts predict that in the next 18-24
months, several national brands and retailers will have their online shops ready for B2B
and B2C transactions. This indicates that the total number of merchants online would go
up to nearly 50,000 and the total number of users would go up to around 50 million.
Analysts also predict that the online shopping market could go up to nearly USD $ 50
million.

One way of looking at online shopping trends is examining the figures - air and
rail tickets estimated at INR 30crore (INR 300 million) are sold online in India every day.
Already, a jewelry piece sells every five minutes, and a mobile handset every eight
minutes, and a car every nine hours on the popular commodity site eBAy.com. Another
popular site Indiamart.com materialized business over INR 5,000crore through leads
generated by it. Today many Indians purchase goods like books, electronic gadgets, air
and rail tickets, apparel, gifts, mobiles, computer peripherals, audio cassettes and CDs.
There are more products which are capable of being sold over the internet.

Many people still locate information on the internet, but purchase their products
offline at traditional stores. This means that people still are lacking in confidence to
purchase products online. This trend can be countered by providing secure sites for
transactions, and prompt customer service. Online shopping is truly catching on in India,
traditional brick and mortar stores are also getting the hand of doing business online. The
trends demonstrate that traditional stores will keep on doing sufficient business while the
online stores increase their virtual presence on the internet.

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3.11 Online shopping trends in India 2016

In recent past, India has stormed into the world of Internet Startups. Today, India
is the third largest Startup Community; today Indian Startups acquire $100 Million
weekly and sooner or later we are going to leave UK behind us. The growing Startup
Community has impacted the lifestyle of common people. Today everyone is browsing
through apps and websites looking for that specific service/product at an affordable rate.

The changed mindset and the ever-changing paradigms have brought India at a
threshold from where it can lead the world for better. Today, here we will look t some of
the common online shopping trends in India. We will be discussing intricate details of the
same and will help you get into the mindset of online customers in India.

3.12 Factors that affecting Consumer Behaviors, Consumer Characteristics in the

Online Medium
Consumer behaviors can be explained in four dimensions which are personal
characteristics, psychological characteristics, social characteristics and cultural
characteristics (Wu, 2003; 38, Kotler and Armstrong, 2010; 161). Identifying these
characteristics are crucial to decide marketing strategies and to target correct consumer
groups.

3.12.1 Personal Characteristics

Characteristics of a person, is an important factor affecting the purchase decision
process. Personal factors include age, gender, occupation, income status, education, life
style.

In online shopping researchers, most of the studies are conducted on young adults
because of their familiarity with ICT (Lester et al., 2005). Kau, et al. stated that
(2003;150) traditional shopping mostly have been chosen by older individuals (40 years
old and above). Researches about young adults are also helpful to predict future
consumer behavior easier. Young adult generation have more options with respect to
other generations and they are more conscious, give their decision by themselves, they
choose what they prefer easily. In addition, cross-shopping is more intense in this
consumer group (Vasquez and Xu, 2009). Younger individually have interest in using

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new technologies to search for information and evaluate alternatives (Monsuwe, et al.,
2004). Internet is perceived as a risky environment by older individuals since older
people have less knowledge about the Internet and new technology and they also insist to
try products before purchasing.

Both gender group gets familiar with using the Internet however it is stated by
Rodgers and Harris (2003, cited in Hasan, 2010; 597) that men are more familiar with
online shopping and make online purchases. Men are more familiar with using
technology and their interest is bigger than women. In today's world this gap started to
decrease and it has found that 'an increasing number of women use the Internet'
(Hernandez, et al., 2011; 116). Moreover, they also found that men are claimed to be
more pragmatic whereas women are more anxious by the time they face new things. It
has emerged that demographic factors such as gender are significant factors when people
face new things. In these cases, their attitudes have been driven by their social
environment.

Furthermore, individuals with lower income tend to approach online shopping

activity more cautious and find this medium as a riskier place since their tolerance for
financial losses are lower with respect to consumers with higher income. However, once
users have an experience their attitude is not affected by their income (Hernandez, et al,
2011; 117). Part of the income is spent mandatory requirements of life and the remaining
can be spent freely. Individuals can only use this remaining part how they want to.
Moreover, it is also concluded by Lohse et al. (2000) that households with higher income
would have positive approach with the possession of the Internet access.

On the other hand it has found that 'online shoppers are not necessarily more
educated' (Zhou, et al., 2007; 46). Online shopping has been considered as a easy activity,
therefore education level has not a big effect on it. However educated people are more
likely to accept innovations easily educated level may have an effect on decision process.

Demographic factors become important when individuals face with new things.
Hernandez et al. (2011)’s comprehensive study regarding socio-economic characteristics
of consumers (age, gender and income) moderating effects on online shopping behavior

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reveals that these characteristics do no moderate experienced online shoppers’ behavior.
When consumers become experienced in online shopping their behavior become more
similar and socio-economic characteristics do not differ, their behavior differ
significantly in initial purchases since it has been found that demographic factors such as
gender and age are significant factors when people face new things. For example in some
studies men are claimed to be more pragmatic whereas women are more anxious by the
time they face with new things and affected more by their social environment, people
with lower income regard online shopping as riskier since their tolerance for financial
losses are lower with respect to consumers with higher income.

Therefore, since there is significant numbers of experienced online shoppers, it is

claimed that instead of focusing on consumers’ demographic and socio-economic
characteristics, researchers need to emphasize on behavioral dimensions in order to

3.12.2 Psychological Characteristics

Smith and Rupp (2003) argue psychological factors of consumer behaviors in the
online shopping context. Online consumers sensitively deal with themselves and they
frequently questioning themselves. Motivation make consumers to ask themselves,
should they look a better price or should they shop online more often and these kind of
questions. Perception is one of the important factor and make consumers examine the
security of the web site or the quality of the product. In this case the seller organizations
have to be successful in terms of providing customers a confidence. Another
psychological aspect is personality. The personality factor may drive consumers to ask
themselves what kind of web sites are best suited for their personal preferences. Personal
preferences manage consumers to decide. The fourth one is attitude and attitudes can
change easily, therefore marketers are many interested in these features (Wu, 2003; 38).
Consumers try to find out what they like or not in respect to a particular situation. The
last factor is emotion; they may consider their last experience. Consumers are affected by
choices and emotions alter with the experience of their choice.

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3.12.4 Social Characteristics

The social influence comes from the reference groups. For the online consumers
reference groups are identified as virtual communities, consisting of discussion groups on
a web site. Other people’s experiences, opinions have shown in this medium and affect
consumers. Another one are contact links, web site links related to the product or the
service, which make individuals ensure about the decision. Family is one of this reference
groups. There are different ways that reference groups influence an individual’s attitude,
they may expose a new behavior or life style or may create a pressure to accept the
attitude.

3.12.5 Cultural Characteristics

Smith and Rupp (2003) stated that different social classes create different
behaviors. Consumers from lower social classes would not have the same properties such
as higher intention to buy or higher probability like higher social classes. Furthermore,
Kotler and Armstrong (2007) discussed that culture set values and beliefs in the early
ages therefore person’s wants and needs are driven by this settled features. Almost
everything we do; how we give and receive information, make decisions, lead and
manage, working teams, use time is influenced by culture. Hofstede (1991; 5) defined
culture as 'the collective mental programming of the mind which distinguishes the
members of one group or category of people from another'.

Different social classes create different behaviors. Consumers from lower social
classes would not have the same properties such as higher intention to buy or higher
probability like higher social classes. Furthermore, culture set values and beliefs in the
early ages therefore person’s wants and needs are driven by this settled feature. Almost
everything we do; how we give and receive information, make decisions, lead and
manage, working teams, use time is influenced by culture. Culture as 'the collective
mental programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or
category of people from another'.

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3.12.6 Country Culture
The culture of the country influence and drive individuals thoughts, moves and
decisions. The culture of the country is a very important factor, and also shapes online
shopping behavior of the consumer. For instance, different cultures from different
countries influence differently consumers’ attitude, consumers perceive products and
services differently. What is more, some individuals may trust to some conditions
whereas some may not such as to trust a company since it encourages group decisions,
while in another individualistic actions are more important than it (Simon, 2001, Van
Raaij, 1997). By definition, culture is ‘a shared set of values that influence societal
perceptions, attitudes, preferences and responses’ (Zhou, Dai and Zhang, 2007: 46). In
terms of the culture, there are basically five types of cultural differences in literature:
power distance, individualism, collectivism, masculinity-femininity, uncertainty
avoidance long-term orientation (Hofstede, 2001).

However, Zhou, Dai and Zhang (2007) assert that only two of these factors,
individualism collectivism and masculinity-femininity, are used for explaining online
behavior of the consumer. Collectivism-individualism is the member of a culture’s
interpretation of the self in terms of dependency to the culture (Zhou, Dai and Zhang,
2007). Hence, it is demonstrated in many studies that western and eastern cultures are
different from each other in terms of dependence and this leads to different consumer
online shopping behavior in western and eastern societies (Chau et al. 2002; Huang 2003;
Park and Jun 2003; Park, Lee and Ahn, 2004). In other words, in the individualistic
societies, people are more likely to use the internet for personal use such as shopping and
information seeking (Chau et al. 2002; Park and Jun 2003), while in collectivist societies,
people are more likely to use the Internet for social communication purposes (Wee and
Ramachandra, 2000). Moreover, it is shown that in the collectivistic cultures,
entertainment is important, while in the individualistic cultures convenience and variety
seeking is the main aim (Zhou, Dai and Zhang, 2007).

Another difference about online shopping behavior which stems from the cultural
differences is about the risk perception differentiation in different cultures. It is argued
that collectivist consumers has a higher perceived risk about online shopping than

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individualistic consumers (Park and Jun 2003; Park, Lee and Ahn, 2004) but
individualistic consumers do not regard the risk as a crucial factor for determining the
decision (Zhou, Dai and Zhang, 2007).

When it comes to masculinity issue, Zhou, Dai and Zhang (2007) state that social
gender roles are distinct in a masculine society, while in a feminine society these roles
‘overlap’ with each other. Due to this fact, it is noted that in a more masculine society,
there is more gender distinction and the shoppers are usually male shoppers (Shiu and
Dawson, 2002). According to the study of Stafford, Turan and Raisinghani (2004) on
comparing consumers‟ online shopping behavior, it is shown that consumers from less
masculine cultures are less willing to have online shopping from those cultures which are
more masculine.

Turkey is geographically located between Asia and Europe and carried

Mediterranean culture effects. Moreover Turkish culture mostly driven by Muslim sides,
due to major part of the are Muslim. Furthermore, Turkey has been trying to take place
in the European Union since 1960s. Since then, Turkey has been trying to adopt to
European Union's laws and requirements. This means Turkey has tried to adjust
economic and social values to full fill EU requirements. Therefore, Turkish governments
have been always open and promoter to innovations. Developing online shopping system
have become only one of this innovations.

3.12.7 Customer Loyalty

In the last century, technological advances leading to very large changes on
marketing. Consequently it offered new opportunities and also led to even greater
competition they are facing. This make businesses to leave classical management
mentality and to adopt new business and market strategies. The internet, which becomes
a part of daily lives, also become a part of everyday shopping. To retain customers, who
are just a few keystrokes away from any web sites without any constraint, has become
very difficult. In case of any dissatisfaction, these customers would prefer a high number
of competitors and the switching cost is almost absence, thus in online environment, e-
stores is to make it even more important to ensure customer loyalty.

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 Customer loyalty has been crucial for businesses. 'The success and growth of
customer-centric businesses' (Crosby and Johnson, 2005; cited in Atchariyachanvanich
et al., 2006; 49) depends on customer loyalty because it helps to increase the revenue and
profit. Moreover customers should be satisfied to return again the website and purchase
again.

Products of technology and informatics start to change the customers’ shopping

behavior, as it changes many habits of them. In online shopping, customers have some
expectations from companies before shopping, as in traditional shopping. To satisfy or
dissatisfy this expectations or how extent of satisfaction is achieved create the perceived
value of customers. Satisfaction or dissatisfaction occur as depends on experiences which
exist after online shopping. This situation affects the trust to company. Customers’
loyalty or disloyalty depends on how much these factors are achieved.

3.12.8 Trust
Park and Kim (2003; 17) stated that consumers' trust to a provider or supplier
results with becoming committed to the company. Trust issue is exceed with a few
successful transactions, after individuals start feel safe and believe that this supplier
answer their needs and wants. On the other hand provided information is another issue in
terms of online shopping for Park and Kim (2003; 17). Since online shopping is an
activity which related to a computer-system, individuals cannot touch or feel products.
Therefore their decisions based on the information that provided by online retailer.
Information issue not only important in terms of availability situation, it is also important
in convenience and personalization concept. Web site design, access to information,
access time to information also influence on behaviors of consumers.

Without the online purchasing channel, all those operations would be more costly
on the physical effort and time perspective, and moreover it would not be possible for the
customer to reach requisite information about the product and to compare it with the most
of the competitors. As being advantageous for both firms and customers, online sale
technology is accepted by the firms while not accepted sufficiently by the customers. At
this point, users’ buying behavior over internet should be analyzed.

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