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RESEARCH PROJECT

ON

Consumer Perception
towards
Food-Tech Applications
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
award of the Degree of

MASTERS OF BUSINESS
ADMINISTRATION
(RETAIL MAGEMENT)
(2016-2018)

Submitted by:

GHAN SHYAM CHOUDHARY


21035

UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF APPLIED MANAGEMENT SCIENCES


PANJAB U N I V E R S I T Y, C H A N D I G A R H
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express a heartfelt gratitude to all those who have been instrumental in the
preparation of my project report. To start with, I would like to thank my Department and for
providing me the chance to undertake this research project and allowing me to explore a new
to me and will undoubtedly prove beneficial to me in my career ahead.

I wish to place on record my deep sense of gratitude and sincere appreciation to my research
guide, Dr. Jagandeep Singh, who played a pivotal role in my internship training. This report is
a result of his continuous support, advice and encouragement, as well as his experience
insights in the field of research which are sure to stay with me for a long time to come.

I am extremely grateful to all the respondents who took time out from their busy schedules for
filling my questionnaire in time

I also extend a special thanks to my family and friends for their valuable help and support for
the completion of the research in time.

Ghan Shyam Choudhary

i
CERTIFICATE FROM THE CANDIDATE

I, Zeenia Sharma, student of MBA (Retail Management), Roll No 19004, do


hereby certify that the Research Project work titled Consumer Perception
towards Food-Tech Applications is a bonafide work carried out by me.

Signature of the Candidate: ……………………….


Name: Zeenia Sharma
MBA Retail Management
Roll No: 19004

DATE: …………………
PLACE: ………………..

ii
CERTIFICATE FROM THE GUIDE

This is to certify that the research project titled Consumer Perception Towards
Food-Tech Applications is a bonafide work carried out by Zeenia Sharma, Roll
No. 19004, a candidate for the MBA 2018 Examination of University Institute
of Applied Management Sciences under my guidance and direction.

Signature of Guide: …………………………..


Dr Jagandeep Singh
UIAMS
Behind Alumni House, Sector 25
Chandigarh

DATE: ……………………...
PLACE: …………………….

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ABSTRACT

This report deals with a firsthand study of consumers and their experiences with the online
food and restaurant aggregation portals. These portals are an extension of online or e-
commerce, which operate in form of applications and websites that allow users to discover
restaurants and food outlets, leave reviews, read other diners’ reviews, order food directly to
be delivered at their location and make payments conveniently.
The report shows a brief history of the trend of restaurant search and discovery service
organisations, with special reference to the current major players in India- Zomato,
FoodPanda, Swiggy, UberEats. A brief is given on the most attractive features that make the
concept such a success in the modern day.
This study, conducted on a sample of 83 respondents, aims to determine the perceptions of
users with respect to these applications.

iv
Index

Contents Page No.

Introduction 1

Objectives of the project 11

Scope of the Project 12

Review of Literature 13

Research Methodology 16

Observations, Analysis and Discussion 19

Findings and Conclusion 34

Limitations 35

Bibliography 36

Annexure: Questionnaire 38

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INTRODUCTION

The restaurant search and discovery service industry has soon found place in the present-day
foodie’s heart. Commonly and broadly termed as the “food-tech start-ups”, these services
enable customers to make decisions related to dining in restaurants or simply ordering food at
the convenience of their homes.
In the light of the changing expectations and demands of the consumers, their increasing need
to be aware and informed, changing preferences and anticipating tactics to attract their
attention have given rise to novel business ideas. The race against the competitors has pushed
businesses to put forth dynamic ways to win over the customers’ interest. One such effort in
this industry is made by what we refer to as start-ups that think out of the conventional
business formats. Food-tech applications are these days gaining popularity because of their
nature of integrating information and while helping make decisions, like a ‘food guide’, taking
into consideration the fellow users’ ratings or reviews over their Smartphone apps.
India itself has many such organizations rendering these services and growing exponentially.
The attractive market situation and new market, with a great potential, makes it ideal for
companies all across to set sails to the country. Zomato was a pioneer food-tech organisation
in India, and soon faced rivalry from international competitors like FoodPanda, UberEats, etc.
The service works on aggregation of services by means of crowd-sourced information (visitors
and diners) as well as from the restaurants themselves (menu cards, prices, etc) for making a
comprehensive database of use to the customers.

1
History

One of the earliest traces of food search, discovery and review services was seen in New York
City. The Zagat Survey was established by Tim and Nina Zagat in 1979, as a way to collect
and correlate the ratings of restaurants by diners; for their first guide, covering New York
City, the Zagats surveyed their friends. At its height in 2005 the Zagat Survey included 70
cities, with reviews based on the input of 250,000 individuals with the guides reporting on and
rating not just restaurants, but also hotels, nightlife, shopping, music, movies, theaters, golf
courses, and airlines. The guides are sold in book form, and were formerly only available as a
paid subscription on the Zagat website.

As part of its $125 million acquisition by Google in September 2011, Zagat's offering of
reviews and ratings became a part of Google's Geo and Commerce group, eventually to be
tightly integrated into Google's services.

OpenTable is an online restaurant-reservation service company founded on 2 July 1998 by


Chuck Templeton and is based in San Francisco, California.

2
In 1999, the website began operations offering reservations at a limited selection of restaurants
in San Francisco. Restaurants that signed up with the service used the company's back-end
software to process the reservations made on the website, resulting in a real-time reservation
system for both diners and restaurants.

The service has since expanded to cover more than 30,000 restaurants in most U.S. states as
well as in several major international cities. Reservations can be made online through its
website. On June 13, 2014 the company announced it had agreed to terms with the Priceline
Group to be acquired in an all-cash deal for $2.6 billion.

Yelp is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California. It


develops, hosts and markets Yelp.com and the Yelp mobile app, which publish crowd-
sourced reviews about local businesses, as well as the online reservation service Yelp
Reservations.

The company also trains small businesses in how to respond to reviews, hosts social events for
reviewers, and provides data about businesses, including health inspection scores.

Urbanspoon was a restaurant information and recommendation service founded in 2006 by


former Jobster employees that offered its services in North America and parts of English-

3
speaking Australasia and Europe. The Urbanspoon website and Seattle business operation
initially evolved with addition of content team workers for door-to-door data collection of
restaurant information.

In January 2015, Zomato, an India-based restaurant search and discovery service, acquired
Urbanspoon.

Zomato is an Indian restaurant search and discovery service founded in 2008 by Deepinder
Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah.

was the name that the service started from, but it restricted the
perception of the company as just a food website. Another thought that was at the back of the
minds of the owners was to prevent any overstepping of ebay when the company starts
accepting online payments.

The company received funding from Infoedge in August 2010. This gave them some stability
as a firm and they rethought where they wanted to be as a company in the longer term. An
obvious answer was that they would like to venture into verticals adjacent to food.

It currently operates in 23 countries, including Australia and United States. It provides


information and reviews on restaurants, including images of menus where the restaurant does
not have its own website.

4
Foodpanda is a German mobile food delivery marketplace headquartered in Berlin, Germany,
operating in 22 countries and territories. The service allows users to select from local
restaurants and place orders via its mobile applications as well as its websites. The company
has partnered with over 27 thousand restaurants in 193 cities and works with over 15 thousand
delivery riders. The firm was acquired by Delivery Hero in early December 2016.

Foodpanda's business in India was acquired by Ola on 11 December 2017 for an undisclosed
amount.

Swiggy is a food ordering and delivery company, conceived in 2014 in Bangalore, India.
Swiggy was inspired by the thought of providing a complete food ordering and delivery
solution from the best neighbourhood restaurants to the urban foodie. A single window for
ordering from a wide range of restaurants, and an exclusive fleet of delivery personnel to pick
up orders from restaurants and deliver it to customers, enabling the flexibility to offer
customers a no minimum order policy on any restaurant and accept online payments for all
partner restaurants, while ensuring reliable and fast deliveries.

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Uber Eats is an American online food ordering and delivery platform launched by Uber in
2014 and based in San Francisco, California.

It partners with restaurants in dozens of cities around the world, enabling ordering on their
website or with a smartphone/tablet application. The website claims a delivery time of 30
minutes or less.

UberEats recently started its operations in India and has gained massive popularity in a very
short span.

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Features offered
Most food based websites and applications offer services and specific features that cater to the
unfulfilled needs of the customers. These features are based on the gap that exists in the
market because of unsatisfied demand of the consumer, to have access to information of
various restaurants in one place so as to offer ease and convenience.
These organisations operate by efficiently furnishing the required information, coupled with
other features, not only meeting the demand, but also adding value to the search and discovery
process of the customers.

Restaurant menu aggregation


As seen in the earliest traces of such services, collecting and providing the menus of various
restaurants is one of the core features offered by food-tech organizations. In fact, it is the
starting point of Zagat in New York, Zomato in an office cafeteria in Gurugram, and has
found scalability all across the world.

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Ratings and reviews
Food-tech applications and services make the information user-friendly and heavily rely on
crowd-sourcing of information like ratings and reviews of various food outlets and restaurants,
based on the experiences of the users who have already dined in. This feature is a key deciding
factor for many diners when trying new restaurants.
Diners that have already tried food from the place may upload in form of pictures and
comments, their experiences, and this helps future and potential customers in deciding
whether to visit the restaurant, what to have, etc.

Discovering new food outlets


While the services provide menus of various restaurants, one is able to discover food outlets
that they weren’t previously aware of, or hadn’t already tried. This gives them a chance to find
new places to eat, rather than visiting the same restaurants over and over.
Most food-tech organisations aggregate such information for the users making it easy for them
to not just discover, but also get an idea about the reviews, best dishes, average cost, etc.

Online ordering and delivery


With the evolution of these services, organisations tried to facilitate the trend of making users
comfortable with the use of such online portals and applications, and wanted to unify a
platform for online food ordering. This trend caught up soon with the consumers and now,
users enjoy the facility of discovering outlets, picking the best suited and ordering at the ease
of their homes, over the same portal. Some of these organisations also provide the facility of
delivering food by their own personnel, forming a separate vertical branch.

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Convenience of payment
When consumers are offered a choice of ordering food online over the same platform, the
question of payments also pops up. Thus, users are given choices of payment to chose from,
like debit/credit cards, mobile wallet, net banking, cash on delivery, etc. Offers are often run
by them, like cash-back or discounts, for ordering using cards or mobile wallets. This makes
the users order at ease, conveniently and helps business flourish.

9
Offers and promotions
In order to promote in-app orders and expand business, such applications regularly run
promotional offers and schemes so as to attract customers. The most common and popular
ways to do so are coupons, happy hours, weekend offers, which are tempting for the
“Foodies” hunting for good flavours.

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OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT

The internet has undisputedly become an indispensible part of the lives of people across the
world. Businesses, irrespective of the size, location, or nature, had to adapt with the change
brought about by the advent of the new technology. Here, the case of the Food service sector
is discussed with an attempt to examine how Internet-based intermediaries have established
themselves an essential part of this industry, making this industry rather fascinating, for
consumers.

Main Objectives:
• To understand trends amongst the users of food-tech portals, websites and applications.

• To determine relation between features offered by such services.

• To understand the determinants considered by customers that may influence their

decision making while using these online aggregators.

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Scope of the Project

This project was undertaken as a study done in an attempt to study the market, in terms of
perception of consumers in Chandigarh, as it is one of the target cities for food-tech start-ups.
We see aggressive expansion campaigns by many of these organisations, and it makes this
area an interesting field to research.

For this research, primary data was collected through sample survey from various people who
by way of an online questionnaire on Google forms, that was floated by way of messages and
emails, to be filled by respondents. The questionnaire aims to study the demography of the
respondents, their preferences and perceptions. The questions were based on the features as
mentioned previously, and how the users feel about them in terms of the utility they derive.

The study has been carried out based on the responses of 83 users, belonging to Chandigarh
and its periphery, ie. the tri-city area, who successfully submitted their responses, which serve
as the premise for this study. The sample for questionnaires was based on convenience
sampling, due to constraints with respect to time and investment.

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Review Literature

Changchit et al, (2006) stated that mortar and brick companies are decided to enter the e-
commerce markets. The study found that online shopping has very bright future and provided
an experience indication in to the mind of consumers.

Aggarwal (2013) found that online shopping is directly affected through various factors like
age, gender, education and income and shows that there is strong relationship between age and
attitude towards online shopping. Azadavar (2011) studied that many factors have influence
from online shopping. The causal model explains that Trust and customer service have greatly
positive impact on online shopping and security, price, information, trust, and convenience are
very important in online shopping .

This study and the understanding about the foot-tech start-up is what it is because of the
Zomato blog by its founder, Deepinder Goyal, at blog.zomato.com keeping the readers posted
about the business. As we progressed and learnt more about the concept and the business
model it works on, we came across articles that highlight the need and importance of
instruments like Ratings and Reviews and the effect they can have on the consumption of the
potential buyers. Compared to the offline environment, there is larger, more versatile
information that acts like a real time Word of Mouth, or what has been referred to as e-WOM,
that can be easily found by way of communities.

Hennig-Thurau and Walsh studied the customer motives for reading online word of mouth and
the resulting effects. Their study found that the most important motivations for reading
reviews were: diminution of risk, lowering of search time, understanding the various methods
for how to consume a product, reduction or curtailment of purchase regret, compensation from
an imaginary community, searching for new products, and increasing social status.

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Chevalier and Mayzlin also studied the effects of e-WOM on actual sales by examining online
book reviews posted on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The results illustrate that more
positive e-WOM is posted on online book stores than offline, with Amazon having far more
positive e-WOM in both quantity and quality than Barnes and Noble. Overall, this study
demonstrated that high levels of e-WOM increases book sales.

Banu et al, (2014) says that online shopping have a good future in India because Indian
consumers are doing more online shopping. The study found that people purchased items at
least in six month and they participated in online shopping and very interested in online
shopping.

Haq et al. (2012) in his study know the demographic profile of the customers and its impact on
online shopping. The study shows that the perception of online shoppers is independent of
their education, income and gender.

According to an NFO Interactive (1999) study released in May 1999 by online market
research firm NFO Interactive, 24.1% of online consumers believe that their internet/online
shopping use will decrease the amount they spend on products and services at walk-in type
neighborhood or regional retail stores, by the end of 1999.The survey also found that 23.8 %
of online shoppers said their internet/online purchasing has increased to the total amount of
money they have typically spent in a year or products & services.

Susan Rose, Neil Hair and Moira Clark (2011) identified online purchase in particular
continues to rise, as adoption and penetration levels of Internet technology continuously
increase. By 2007, European Internet penetration stood at 43% of the population with a 231%
usage growth year on year. In North America, penetration was at 71% of the population with
120% growth (Internet World Stats 2007). This is also evidenced by increasing levels of
online sales, which in the US reached US$128.1bn in 2007 and were projected to reach
US$165.9bn by 2009 (source: US Census Bureau 2009).

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A Commerce Net/Nielson Media Research Survey found out that 73% users used the Net to
window shop, 53% used the Net to make purchase decision, but only 15% bought online.

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Research Methodology

Research in common parlance refers to a search for knowledge. It is the search for knowledge
through objective and systematic method of finding solution to problems. It is carried on both
for discovering new facts and verification of old ones. Therefore, research is a process of
systematic and in-depth study or search of any particular topic, subject or area of investigation
backed by collection, computation, presentation and interpretation of relevant data.

Research is a scientific inquiry aimed at learning new facts, testing ideas, etc. It is the
systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of data to generate new knowledge and
answer a certain question or solve a problem. Research comprises defining and redefining
problems, formulating hypothesis or suggested solutions; collecting, organizing and evaluating
data; making deductions; and reaching conclusions and last carefully testing the conclusions to
determine whether they fit the formulating hypothesis. In fact, research is an art of scientific
investigation. The Advance Learner’s Dictionary of current English lays down the meaning of
research as “A careful investigation or inquiry especially through search for new facts in any
branch of knowledge.” Redman and Mory defines research as a “Systematized efforts to gain
new knowledge.” Some people consider research as a movement, a movement to from the
known to unknown. It is actually a voyage of discovery. We possess the vital instinct of
inquisitiveness for, when the unknown confronts us, we wonder and our Inquisitiveness make
us probe and attain full and fuller understanding of the unknown.

The purpose of research is to discover answers to questions through the application of


scientific procedures. The main aim of research is to find out the truth which is hidden and yet
to be discovered. Research is a systematic search for information and new knowledge.
Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem, it not only takes
the research methods but also consider the logic behind the methods. The study of research
methodology for developing the project gives us the necessary training in gathering materials
and arranging them, participation in the field work when required, and provides training in
techniques for the collection of data appropriate to particular problems. In planning and

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designing a specific research project, it is necessary to anticipate all the steps that must be
undertaken if the project is to be successful in collecting valid and reliable information.
Quantitative research is commonly associated with surveys or experiments and is considered
the mainstay of the research industry for collecting marketing data. Quantitative research
places heavy emphasis on using formalized questions and predetermined response options in
questionnaires administered to large number of respondents.

Survey

Since we are tending to use a statistical tool as SPSS program for our survey, the data we have
gathered are in fact numbers, and cannot be interpreted in any other way than their values.
Thus, the information we gather is absolute, which implies that the nature of this study is
strictly positivistic. Surveys are designed to collect quantitative data, the statistical techniques
selected may introduce subtle- levels of subjectivity to interpretation of data.

Data Collection Approach

The retinal for this data collection method is based on the theory that respondents are more
attentive to the task of completing a questionnaire and provides more meaningful responses
when they are completing a questionnaire and provide more meaningful responses when they
are contextualized in the environment that they are evaluating.

Primary data is one which is done afresh and for the first time and it happens to be original in
character. Primary data is information that you collect specifically for the purpose of your
research project. The biggest advantage of primary data is that it is specifically tailored to your
research needs. It can be accomplished through various methods, including questionnaires and
telephone interviews in market research, or experiments and direct observations in the
physical sciences, amongst others.

17
For this research, primary data was collected through sample survey from various people who
by way of an online questionnaire on Google forms, that was floated by way of messages and
emails, to be filled by respondents. The questionnaire aims to study the demography of the
respondents, their preferences and perceptions. The questions were based on the features as
mentioned previously, and how the users feel about them in terms of the utility they derive.

The study has been carried out based on the responses of 83 users, belonging to Chandigarh
and its periphery, ie. the tri-city area, who successfully submitted their responses, which serve
as the premise for this study. The sample for questionnaires was based on convenience
sampling, due to constraints with respect to time and investment.

Statements employed a five-point Likert scale where 1 means “Strongly Disagree” while 5 –
“Strongly Agree”. The reason why we the five-point Likert scale was chosen is that this scale
provides a better normal spread of observations for the conducting the research. The reason to
use demographic question and the mentioned general questions in beginning of questionnaire
is to provide recovered practical implications for the managers and additionally find out the
difference or similarities in the perception of the overall service quality among customers
according to different ages and also measure the satisfaction of the customers by investigating
the answer about overall satisfaction with respect to the utility derived from various factors
under study.

Analysis method

Statistical tools are one of the main components used for being able to analyze and interpret
the data that is collected through the surveys. The statistical tests and analyses are needed in
order to see correlations between some of the attributes that have been investigated. A
correlation matrix was created in the program SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social
Sciences), where also a number of statistical analyses between different factors were
conducted.

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Observations, Analysis, and Discussion

In order to collect data for the research, first-hand information was collected from the users of
food-tech organisations. The results generated from the survey were compiled and then the
data was analyzed. The questionnaire used for the survey is given at the end of the report. The
sample size of the survey was 83.

Gender Distribution of respondents


Female Male

45%

55%

Occupation distribution of the


respondents
Student Working

24%

76%

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Marital status
Married Unmarried

13%

87%

Monthly expenditure on eating food


from outside
0-500 500-1000 1000-3000 3000 and above

3%

22%
41%

34%

20
Frequency of using food applications
At least once a week Once in a fortnight At least once a month

29%

43%

28%

"I prefer getting food delivered to me


than dining in restaurants"
Yes No

30%

70%

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Which is your most preferred food
app to use?
Zomato Foodpanda Swiggy Uber eats Others

4%
5%

17%

8%
66%

Reliability on reviews and ratings


35

30

25

20

15

10

0
1 2 3 4 5

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Accessibility to menus of various
outlets to choose from
35

30

25

20

15

10

0
1 2 3 4 5

Attractive in-app offers and


promotions
30

25

20

15

10

0
1 2 3 4 5

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Discovery of new food outlets
35

30

25

20

15

10

0
1 2 3 4 5

Convenience of payment
40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
1 2 3 4 5

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Ease of home delivery
50

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
1 2 3 4 5

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Reliability:
Cronbach’s Alpha

Case Processing Summary

N %

Cases Valid 84 100.0

Excludeda 0 0

Total 84 100.0

Reliability Statistics

Cronbach's Alpha N of Items

.791 6

The reliability statistics is used to test the genuineness of the data which is collected from the
respondents i.e. primary data. The value of Cronbach's Alpha tells us about the genuineness of
the data, its value should preferably be greater 0.7 for data to be considered reliable, which
implies that reliability of the data collected should preferably be more than 70 percent.
The value of Cronbach's Alpha in our case is 0.791, which means that the data is highly
reliable.

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T-TEST
The independent-samples t-test (or independent t-test, for short) compares the means between
two unrelated groups on the same continuous, dependent variable. A t-test is an analysis of
two populations means through the use of statistical examination; a t-test with two samples is
commonly used with small sample sizes, testing the difference between the samples when the
variances of two normal distributions are not known.

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For Independent Samples Test, value of p or Sig. (2-tailed) greater than 0.05 is considered
insignificant, and implies that the Null hypothesis is rejected.
In the case of the above table, p-value is greater than 0.05 for:
• Ease of Home Delivery
• Convenience of Payment
• Discovery of new food outlets
• In-app Offers and Promotions
• Accessibility to menus of various restaurants
• Reliability on ratings and reviews

This implies that for the given factors, there is no difference in the mean perceptions between
males and females.

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Bivariate Correlation
Pearson r correlation is a bivariate measure of association (strength) of the relationship
between two variables. Given that all variables are continuous (interval/ratio data) and the
hypotheses seek to assess the relationships, or how the distribution of the z scores vary,
Pearson r correlations are the appropriate bivariate statistic.
In case of Bivariate correlation, value of Sig (2-tailed) less than 0.05 is referred to as
significant, and the null hypothesis is accepted.

➢ Since p-value for Ease of home delivery and Convenience of payment is less than
5% level of significance, hence we conclude that there is a statistically significant
correlation between Ease of home delivery and Convenience of payment and the null
hypothesis is rejected.
r = 0.571 implies that there is a positive correlation between Ease of home delivery and
Convenience of payment.

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➢ Since p-value for Ease of home delivery and Discovery of new food outlets is less
than 5% level of significance, hence we conclude that there is a statistically significant
correlation between Ease of home delivery and Discovery of new food outlets and the
null hypothesis is rejected.
r = 0.490 implies that there is a positive correlation between Ease of home delivery and
Discovery of new food outlets.

➢ Since p-value for Ease of home delivery and In-app offers is less than 5% level of
significance, hence we conclude that there is a statistically significant correlation
between Ease of home delivery and In-app offers and promotions and the null
hypothesis is rejected.
r = 0.334 implies that there is a positive correlation between Ease of home delivery and
In-app offers.

➢ Since p-value for Ease of home delivery and Accessibility to menus is less than 5%
level of significance, hence we conclude that there is a statistically significant
correlation between Ease of home delivery and Accessibility to menus and the null
hypothesis is rejected.
r = 0.499 implies that there is a positive correlation between Ease of home delivery and
Accessibility to menus.

➢ Since p-value for Ease of home delivery and Reliability on Ratings and Reviews is
less than 5% level of significance, hence we conclude that there is a statistically
significant correlation between Ease of home delivery and Reliability on Ratings and
Reviews and the null hypothesis is rejected.
r = 0.278 implies that there is a positive correlation between Ease of home delivery and
Reliability on Ratings and Reviews.

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➢ Since p-value for Convenience of payments and Discovery of new food outlets is
less than 5% level of significance, hence we conclude that there is a statistically
significant correlation between Convenience of making payments and Discovery of
new food outlets and the null hypothesis is rejected.
r = 0.409 implies that there is a positive correlation between Convenience of payments
and Discovery of new food outlets.

➢ Since p-value for Convenience of payments and In-app offers is less than 5% level
of significance, hence we conclude that there is a statistically significant correlation
between Convenience of payments and In-app offers and the null hypothesis is
rejected.
r = 0.394 implies that there is a positive correlation between Convenience of payments
and In-app offers.

➢ Since p-value for Convenience of payments and Accessibility to menus is less than
5% level of significance, hence we conclude that there is a statistically significant
correlation between Convenience of making payments and Accessibility to menus and
the null hypothesis is rejected.
r = 0.451 implies that there is a positive correlation between Convenience of payments
and Accessibility to menus.

➢ Since p-value for Convenience of payments and Ratings and reviews is less than 5%
level of significance, hence we conclude that there is a statistically significant
correlation between Convenience of payments and Ratings and reviews and the null
hypothesis is rejected.
r = 0.351 implies that there is a positive correlation between Convenience of payments
and Ratings and reviews.

31
➢ Since p-value for In-app offers and Discovery of new food outlets is less than 5%
level of significance, hence we conclude that there is a statistically significant
correlation between In-app offers and Discovery of new food outlets and the null
hypothesis is rejected.
r = 0.376 implies that there is a positive correlation between In-app offers and
Discovery of new food outlets.

➢ Since p-value for Accessibility to menus and Discovery of new food outlets is less
than 5% level of significance, hence we conclude that there is a statistically significant
correlation between Accessibility to menus and Discovery of new food outlets and the
null hypothesis is rejected.
r = 0.469 implies that there is a positive correlation between Accessibility to menus
and Discovery of new food outlets.

➢ Since p-value for Reliability on ratings and reviews and Discovery of new food
outlets is less than 5% level of significance, hence we conclude that there is a
statistically significant correlation between Reliability on ratings and reviews and
Discovery of new food outlets and the null hypothesis is rejected.
r = 0.192 implies that there is a positive correlation between Reliability on ratings and
reviews and Discovery of new food outlets.

➢ Since p-value for In-app offers and Accessibility to menus is less than 5% level of
significance, hence we conclude that there is a statistically significant correlation
between In-app offers and Accessibility to menus and the null hypothesis is rejected.
r = 0.419 implies that there is a positive correlation between In-app offers and
Accessibility to menus.

32
➢ Since p-value for Reliability on Ratings and reviews and Accessibility to menus is
less than 5% level of significance, hence we conclude that there is a statistically
significant correlation between the Reliability on Ratings and reviews and
Accessibility to menus and the null hypothesis is rejected.
r = 0.325 implies that there is a positive correlation between Reliability on Ratings and
reviews and Accessibility to menus.

33
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION

1. We can observe the following:


i. A trend of preferring to eat from outside can be noticed, as about 75% of the
respondents of the study reported an expenditure of over Rs.1000 on eating
food from outside.
ii. As much as 70% of the respondents reported that they prefer getting food
delivered to themselves that dining out in restaurants.
iii. Of the total respondents, 43% reported using food-tech applications very
frequently, i.e., At least once a week.
This immensely increases the scope for food-tech applications and services, as the
potential is great.

2. Offers and Promotions add greatly to the popularity of these services, however, there is
a lack of knowledge among the users, as reported by the respondents.

3. A low rate of trust has been observed amongst the consumers with regard to Reliability
on Ratings and Reviews. This may indicate a possibility of a trend of paid ratings that
may be prevailing in the market, which diminishes the reliability on the information
furnished online.

34
LIMITATIONS

Even though this research was carried out with utmost care and sincerity, certain limitations
crept in, that allow a scope of a wider study based on it.

1. Due to time and budget constraints, the scale of this study was confined to a small

sample size, and may not be representative of diverse populations.

2. Factors that may not have been a part of the questionnaire but played a vital role in the

users’ experience may not have been accounted for.

3. Respondents who did not understand the questions, or misinterpreted, may have

furnished incorrect data.

35
BIBLIOGRAPHY

The following sources played a vital role in the preparation of the report, by supporting it with
relevant theories, facts and figures, and made it possible to give this study the direction and
theoretical base that was required

• https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/39753/1/Dr.%20Desti%20Consumers%20perception

%.pdf

• www.blog.zomato.com, Zomato blog of founder, Deepinder Singh.

• http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jbm/papers/Vol19-issue8/Version-

1/D1908013235.pdf

• https://issuu.com/sanjaykumarguptaa/docs/project_report_on_consumer_percepti

• http://library.oum.edu.my/repository/976/1/library-document-976.pdf

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_shopping

• https://toughnickel.com/frugal-living/Online-shopping-sites-benefits

• https://www.thebalance.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-online-shopping-939775

• https://www.scribd.com/doc/124762423/Online-Shopping-Questionnaire

• Exploring the effect of e-WOM participation on e-Loyalty in e-commerce, Chul Woo

Yoo, G. Lawrence Sanders, Junghoon Moon.

• Organising the unorganised: Role of platform intermediaries in the Indian real estate

market, R. Srinivasan.

• The effect of word of mouth on sales: online bookreviews, J. Chevalier, D. Mayzlin.

36
• Electronic word-of-mouth: motives for and consequences of reading customer

articulations on the internet,T. Hennig-Thurau, G. Walsh.

37
Annexure

Questionnaire to study the

Consumer Perception towards Food-Tech Applications

* Required

Name *
Your answer__________

Gender *
o Female
o Male
o Prefer not to say

Occupation *
o Student
o Working
o Housewife
o Unemployed

Marital status *
o Single
o Married

Monthly expenditure on eating out *


o 0-500
o 500-1000
o 1000-3000
o 3000 and above

38
Frequency of using food applications *
o At least once a week
o Once in a fortnight
o Once a month

Which is your most preferred food app to use? *


Your answer__________

"I prefer getting food delivered to me than dining in


restaurants" *
o Yes
o No

Utility
For the next set of questions, please mark online food apps on the given
parameters.
On a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the highest and 1 being the lowest, rate these on the
utility derived.

Ease of home delivery*


o 1
o 2
o 3
o 4
o 5

Convenience of payment*
o 1
o 2
o 3
o 4
o 5

39
Discovery of new food outlets*
o 1
o 2
o 3
o 4
o 5

Attractive in-app offers and promotions*


o 1
o 2
o 3
o 4
o 5

Accessibility to menus of various outlets to choose from*


o 1
o 2
o 3
o 4
o 5

Reliability on reviews and ratings*


o 1
o 2
o 3
o 4
o 5

40

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