ASSIGNMENT NO.

01

DEFINITIONS OF RESEARCH

1. Research comprises “creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the
stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of
knowledge to devise new applications.” [1]

2. A broad definition of research is given by Martyn Shuttleworth – “In the broadest sense of the
word, the definition of research includes any gathering of data, information and facts for the
advancement of knowledge.” [2]

3. Another definition of research is given by Creswell who states that – “Research is a process of
steps used to collect and analyze information to increase our understanding of a topic or issue”. It
consists of three steps: Pose a question, collect data to answer the question, and present an answer to
the question. [3]

4. Research is a careful, systematic and objective investigation conducted to obtain valid facts,
draw conclusions and established principles regarding an identifiable problem in some field of
knowledge. -Clarke and Clarke [4]

5. Research is a careful enquiry or examination in seeking facts or principles, a diligent

investigation to ascertain something -Clifford Woody [4]

REFERENCES

1. OECD (2002) Frascati Manual: proposed standard practice for surveys on research and experimental
development, 6th edition. Retrieved 27 May 2012 from www.oecd.org/sti/frascatimanual
2. Shuttleworth, Martyn (2008). “Definitions of Research”. Explorable. Explorable.com. Retrieved14
August 2011.
3. Creswell, J. W. (2008). Educational Research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and
qualitative research (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson.

4. Meaning of Research According To Different Authors. (2016, Sep 24). Retrieved from

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https://studymoose.com/meaning-of-research-according-to-different-authors-essay

ASSIGNMENT NO. 02

SELECTION OF TOPIC FOR RESEARCH:

“The E-Commerce Industry and its effect on the Today’s World”

ASSIGNMENT NO. 03

HYPOTHESIS AND QUESTIONS:

 HYPOTHESIS:
 If e-commerce industry expands then growth rate, sales and standard of
living will probably increase with the industry performance.
 The evolution of e-commerce business will great impact on growth rate,
sales and standard of living.
 QUESTIONS:
 How will perform growth rate, sales and standard of living if e-commerce
industry expands?
 What will be the impact on growth rate, sales and standard of living when
e-commerce industry extended?
ASSIGNMENT NO. 04

DEFINITION OF SECONDARY DATA:

“Secondary Data involves using already existing data. Existing data is summarized and
collated to increase the overall effectiveness of research. ... These documents can be
made available by public libraries, websites, data obtained from already filled in
surveys etc.”

ASSIGNMENT NO. 05

LIST OF SECONDARY DATA SOURCES:

 Newspaper
 Internet
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  Libraries or Books
 Business/Research Magazines and Journals
 Companies Websites

ASSIGNMENT NO. 06

SOME DATA ABOUT THE ABOVE TOPIC:

 NEWS:
Research highlighting the continued impact of online sales on import-export trade
has been piling up, with a clear message for small and midsize enterprises
(SMEs): as the retail sector continues to see a meteoric rise in online sales,
companies across all industries should expect expansion of cross-border e-
commerce. [1]

REF: https://www.americanexpress.com/us/foreign-exchange/articles/growth-in-e-commerce-and-
international-trade/

 ARTICLE:
Pakistan’s e-commerce market has witnessed phenomenal growth recently.

The number of registered e-commerce merchants has risen by 2.6-times and e-

commerce payments have surged 2.3-times in a span of just twelve months, as per
a State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) report. But this is still a young market with
significant room for growth.

Pakistani businesses have embraced e-commerce. Hundreds of retailers, ranging

from clothing outlets to electronic equipment stores, are now using websites to
sell goods to customers.

The emergence of several online marketplaces, such as Daraz.pk and OLX

Pakistan, has made it easier for retailers to sell goods on the web. At the same
time, a number of new online businesses have also propped up.

As per the SBP’s Payment Systems Review (Q2FY18), there were a total of 344
e-commerce merchants in the country registered with banks at the end of 2016. By
the end of 2017, that number had climbed to 905.
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 This growth was accompanied by a surge in e-commerce transactions from these
merchants from Rs3.9 billion in the last three months of 2016 to Rs9.1bn in the
last three months of the previous year. The central bank’s report also indicates that
around 800 million payment transactions totalling Rs4.5bn were booked in the last
three months of 2017. That’s also considerably greater than the Rs2bn e-
commerce payments that happened in the same period of 2016.

The actual value of e-commerce sales is likely several times larger than mentioned
because the central bank’s report only shows those transactions that occurred
through debit or credit cards

The actual value of e-commerce sales, however, is likely several times larger than
the above-mentioned numbers. That is because the central bank’s report only
shows those transactions that occurred through debit or credit cards.

But Pakistani consumers mainly use the cash-on-delivery (COD) system to buy
goods online. As per one estimate, almost 85 per cent of online sales occur
through COD. Using this, we can speculate that roughly Rs25.5bn e-commerce
payments may have occurred in the Oct-Dec period through the COD system.

It wasn’t long ago when the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority noted in its
annual report for the previous fiscal year that the size of Pakistan’s e-commerce
market could grow from $60m-$100m in 2015 to $1bn by 2020.However,
industry experts now believe that the country could hit the key milestone by as
soon as this year.

If the country continues to witness e-commerce sales of Rs30bn in every quarter

from electronic card and COD system, just as it likely did in the last three months
of 2017, then the total sales for the ongoing fiscal may clock in at Rs102bn, or
$1.1bn at the current exchange rate. If however, Pakistan witnesses an increase in
online sales, which could be driven by the Eid shopping season, then the market
could go way past the $1 billion threshold in 2018.

At $1 billion, however, the size of Pakistan’s e-commerce market will still be tiny.
Global e-commerce retail sales are expected to be around $2.8 trillion in 2018, as
per data from Statista, a provider of market and consumer data.

China is the world’s largest e-commerce market where the online retail sales are
forecasted to be around $600bn for 2018, followed by the US with $461.5bn of
expected sales. India could report $25bn of retail e-commerce sales in the current
year.

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 That being said, Pakistan is still a young e-commerce market where less than one-
fifth of the total population uses the internet.

As per latest data from Internet Live Stats, the global internet penetration rate is
around 46pc. In developed markets like the US, the metric is over 80pc. In
Pakistan, however, a little less than 18pc of the population has access to the
internet. That’s less than half of the global average, which means that there’s
significant room for growth although internet penetration in the country has
already grown significantly from just 8pc in 2010.

Moving forward, as our economy expands and internet penetration grows, the
country will likely witness a surge in e-commerce activity. Miftah Ismail, the
adviser to the Prime Minister on finance, has said that the counrty’s growth rate
could accelerate to 6pc in the current fiscal year. This will likely fuel considerable
growth in e-commerce transactions in the future.

Wrote on Daily Dawn by Safaraz A. Khan on 26th March 2018

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