Effects of Online Shopping Trend in Students Preferences

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.

II. Background of the study

Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce that enables customers to purchase

products or services directly from sellers over the Internet through a web browser or a mobile
app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the retailer's website now or by searching
among alternative vendors using a shopping search engine, which compares the availability and
pricing of the same product across multiple e-retailers. There are different kinds of online
shopping apps that they can use to get particular products that they want. Like, Lazada, Shoppe,
Zalora and Facebook. Four types of buyers greatly influence their shopping preferences –
impulsive, trend-focused, process-oriented, and thorough researcher. Impulsive purchasing or
impulsive buying is a spontaneous, immediate purchase without pre-shopping intentions either to
buy a specific product category or to fulfill a particular task of buying (Beatty and Ferrell, 2008).
In trend-focused preference, it has been acknowledged that customers make their purchasing
decisions by comparing alternative offers in the market or brand loyalty (Chakraborty, 2018).
Process-oriented shoppers focus on the how’s and why’s behind a product or service. Thus, they
zoom in on the minor details and thoroughly analyze whether a product is truly worth their
money based on its benefits. The thorough researcher is like a process-oriented shopper.
However, they tend to question the reliability and accuracy of the data given to them, applying
an almost scientific approach to assess their truthfulness (Ocampo, 2017). Consumer behavior
has been studied in other disciplines such as economics, marketing, and behavioral science.
Additionally, the idea of a comprehensive analysis of consumer behavior has been developed in
psychology, social science, and person and community research on human existence, behavior,
and attitude have been performed (Smith and Rupp, 2003). This study will further emphasize
how online shopping trends influence these factors to whatever kind of shopping preference a
consumer belongs.

III. Statement of the Problem

This study aims to determine the effects of online shopping trends in students shopping
preferences.
1. What are the shopping applications that the students use?
2. How frequent do the students purchase through online shopping applications?
3. What are the effects of online shopping trends to the students’ shopping preferences?

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

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