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Effects-of-Online-Shopping-Trend-in-Students-Preferences (1) REVISED
Effects-of-Online-Shopping-Trend-in-Students-Preferences (1) REVISED
A thesis is submitted to
Sir, Raymond Mendoza
By
Sean Abraham M. Saflor
I. Introduction
When they consider the world we live in today, they can definitely say that invisible chains
have been explicitly binding us for many years. The internet has become our web, and we are the
spiders of this century, capturing knowledge and creativity by simply accessing various blogs,
apps, and search engines. As a result, the internet has become a massive global marketplace
where people can buy goods and services (Javadi et al., 2012). The internet has changed the way
people around the world purchase goods and services. Traditionally, consumers would actually
visit a conventional retail outlet, look for the required product, compare the alternative products
available in the outlet, ask the sellers for his or her recommendations and then, would finally
purchase it by paying at the counter. However, this position has changed drastically with the
emergence of ‘online shopping’ throughout the world (Sen, 2014).
The history of online shopping does not end with the idea of being well-known around the
world for many years. To slow the virus's rapid spread, most countries severely restricted social
life in 2020, making online shopping a trend. Large-event bans, school and university closures,
and a temporary economic shutdown were among the restrictions imposed. Many retail stores
and facilities had to close in countries that placed a lockout. Consumers faced increasing levels
of economic uncertainty as a result of unemployment and short-term jobs. Because of the closing
of traditional retail stores, customers now have to rely on online shopping to meet their needs
(Julia Koch et al., 2020). As different devices are now the most widely used malls and markets,
pushcarts are being replaced with "add to cart" and "checkouts." It entails going online, landing
on a seller's website, making a purchase, and scheduling delivery. The customer may pay for the
products or services online with a credit or debit card or in person when they are delivered
(MBN, 2020). Additionally, customers can obtain comprehensive information about a product by
reading the feedback left by previous users (Gnanadhas, 2014).
To take the final leap into the study, shopping preferences must be given great emphasis as
this variable varies from one customer to another. The top attributes consumers said they look for
in a retailer are related to quality, availability, payment method, and data security. When they
shop in stores, convenience, the ability to physically see the goods, and not having to wait for
delivery are the attributes they deem most important. When they shop online, their top-ranked
attributes are free shipping, the right price, and the freedom of shopping whenever and wherever
they want (PJ, 2019). A person's preference for buying a product, both online and traditional, is
influenced by the personality factor possessed by that person. Hence, consumer shopping
preferences are defined as consumers' tastes measured by the perceptions of the usefulness and
benefits of the products offered (Guleria et al., 2015). With that, this study aims to know the
effects of online shopping trends on students' preferences and how students deal with this trend.
IV. Body
Recent advancements in internet technology have created an essential vehicle for global
commercial transactions (Dang et al., 2020). These global commercial transactions include the
transition from shopping at the market to online shopping, with that, these causes effects to the
student's preferences in terms of online shopping trends. Consumers can now use the internet for
several purposes, including science, networking, online banking, and, most importantly, online
shopping, which began in 1991 (Changchit, 2006). Online shopping has grown at a breakneck
pace over the last decade because it is a more cost-effective and convenient alternative to
conventional shopping (Vasic et al., 2019). Consumers purchase a wide range of products from
online retailers. In reality, people can buy almost anything from businesses that sell their goods
online. Books, clothes, apparel, food, home necessities, household appliances, toys, hardware,
software, and health insurance are just a few of the hundreds of items that can be purchased from
an online store through apps (Kaur, 2013). The rise of online shopping is impressive, and it
doesn't appear to be slowing down anytime soon. The reasons for preferring online shopping
over traditional shopping could range from convenience to lower prices. It also entails offering
comprehensive product information and photographs to consumers (Mohsin, 2020).
Online shopping is becoming a feasible alternative for all of your purchases, whether you're
at home, at work, or in another country. This is especially true in developing countries, where
nearly every store has a website where customers can buy goods. You will quickly alert your
customers to special deals such as cash on delivery and website discounts. Unfortunately, in
third-world countries, it has become more challenging to follow such patterns. Online Shopping
in the Philippines suffered a downfall, such as the risk of being a victim to a fraudulent
transaction and being a victim of a misleading advertisement of products. With these downfalls,
consumers' trust in the goods presented to them online was questioned, and their preferences
were affected.
A study of Delelis (2019), stated that a lot of students are benefiting by online shopping. The
result of the study reveals that “use of the different platforms of online shopping offers a lot of
tangible advantages such as reduction in buyer’s sorting out time, better buying decision, less
time spent in purchasing and increased opportunities for buying alternative products” and that
the overall results prove that using online shopping has a positive benefits.
V. Conclusion
The research successfully decided the impact of online shopping patterns on students'
shopping habits during the research process. Since all of the randomly selected respondents use
multiple online shopping applications to buy their favorite products, the results show that online
shopping is truly a trend.
Furthermore, the researchers assessed the students' initial shopping habits before the
trend or simply before the pandemic. These initial preferences gave the researchers a solid
foundation to discern the impact of the online shopping trend on students' shopping preferences
by assessing the students' current frequency and purchasing decisions.
Overall, the results revealed changes in students' tastes between before the pandemic and
now, as shown by the existing studies cited in the study of relevant literature. The four essential
shopping habits, impulsive, process-oriented, trend-focused, and detailed, were used to
categorize these shifts.
Bibliography
References:
Javadi et al. (2012) “Perceived Risk when Buying Online: Evidence from A Semi-
Structured Interview”
Sen (2014) “Online Shopping: A Study of the Factors Influencing Online Purchase of
Julia Koch et al. (2020) “Online Shopping Motives during the COVID-19 Pandemic—
https://marketbusinessnews.com/financial-glossary/online-shopping-definition-meaning/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264556861_Online_Shopping_-_An_Overview
https://www.paymentsjournal.com/5-leading-attributes-for-consumers-shopping-preferences/
Guleria et al. (2015) “A study of consumer preference for smartphone: A case of Solan
Dang et al. (2020) “An integrated model of the younger generation’s online shopping behavior
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0232213
script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-18762019000200107
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.1075.4825&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Mohsin (2020) “10 Online Shopping Statistics You Need to Know in 2021”