research report on online apparel shopping v/s retail apparel shopping.

1. Online Apparel Shopping v/s Retail
Apparel Shopping
Name:- Hetika M. Gala
Class:- SYBMS
Div:- B
Sap Number:- 53002115090
Subject:- Research Methods in Business
Topic:- Research Report
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2. Synopsis
Online Apparel Shopping vs Retail Apparel Shopping is a new comparison in
market these days. Where the internet consumption rate is growing at a lightning
speed the consumers are shifting from retail shopping to internet online shopping
to save more time. The research is based on what type of apparel shopping do
the consumers really prefer. It also shows the statistics as to how many people
actually use online shopping for buying clothes. Not only this, but the research
also shows what are the parameters on which consumer do their shopping. There
is a very interesting range of parameter chosen by the consumers while they do
their apparel shopping. It also shows what percent of customers are brand focus
or not brand conscious. There is a very thin line between the two. There are
different age groups of consumers who are and who are not brand conscious. Its
surprising to see that more than the adults (40years and above) the
youth(16years to 35years) are more brand conscious and more brand loyal. After
conducting the research its seen that there are many consumers who are not
aware of online shopping. They do not know the different websites available for
clothes and they do not know the various price range and various choice of
clothes available online. It shows that online market is not that popular among
the people of India except for a few. One of the main reasons consumers in India
do not prefer online shopping is because of the fake websites and fraud in money.
They choose retail shopping because customers are more shop loyal than brand
loyal in India. They get to try and see the apparel and they do not have to wish for
their clothes to come after 2-3days. Thus companies need to invest more when it
comes to publicizing the online stores for apparel and they have to come up with
exciting offers to attract the crowd and more over there have to be proper cyber
laws so that the consumers feel safe to shop online.
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3. Index
Sr. No. Content Page No.
1 Topic 1
2 Synopsis 2
3 Introduction 4-5
4 Review of Literature 6-13
5 Research Methodology 14
6 Data Analysis 15-18
7 Findings 19
8 Recommendations 20
9 Conclusions 21
10 References 22-24
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4. Introduction
Apparel shopping as gained transformation in the last 50 years. Earlier days where
the merchants used to go door to door demonstrating people the clothes, the
attractive colours, the goodness of the material and people never knew what a
brand was.
The new era of shopping has began, more number of international players have
entered the market of apparels. The word “brand” has now become very popular
among the consumers. The world has come to such a stage where a persons
livelihood is judged by what brand of apparel he wears.
The era has began but the question is what is going to be the stronger medium of
apparel shopping. Is it going to be the increase in number of retail stores like
shoopers stop, vero moda, etc. or is it going to be the fast gaining importance of
online websites.
Many websites online are gaining publicity like www.junglee.com,
www.myntra.com, www.jabong.com and so on. These websites have started
advertising on television, radios, and on many other social networking sites.
But how does an online apparel store compete against a retail store?
Low Prices and Better Offers
An online apparel store usually draws in customers by offering better prices and
offers for quality products. By having an online store, they can save on monthly
expenditures which allow them to offer clients good value for their money.
Often times they offer free shipping to your locality depending on the total bill
of the amount ordered.
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5. Accessibility
Taking time to browse through an online apparel store is much less time
consuming than going to a retail store. Often times, customers are worn out
from their jobs and other chores and would rather prefer to be at home. Also,
with the holiday season coming, most people cannot stand to go through the
holiday rush of shoppers.
Shopping online can easily be done while sitting in front of the TV or lounging on
the sofa. With payments being made online as well, a person can just sit back,
relax and wait for the package to be delivered.An online apparel store usually
draws in customers by offering better prices and offers for quality products. By
having an online store, they can save on monthly expenditures which allow them
to offer clients good value for their money.
Better Variety
Shopping online often offers better variety. Not only can you find them for
affordable rates, but most of them allow you to get limited edition items that
you might otherwise have missed out on.
Availability
Nothing can be more frustrating for a person to go to a shop only to realize that
the item they wanted is out of stock and might be restocked at a vague date.
This not only makes you unreasonably angry, but it also means that you have to
keep taking time out to check if they have got the item you want. Online stores
eliminate the chances of this happening by placing out of stock signs next to the
product.
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6. Review of Literature
Title: What drives consumers to shop online?
Authrors: Tonitta Perea y Monsuwé, (Maastricht University,
Maastricht, The Netherlands),Benedict G.C. Dellaert, (Maastricht
University, Maastricht, The Netherlands), Ko de Ruyter, (Maastricht
University, Maastricht, The Netherlands)
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Abstract: While a large number of consumers in the US and Europe
frequently shop on the Internet, research on what drives
consumers to shop online has typically been fragmented. This
paper therefore proposes a framework to increase researchers’
understanding of consumers’ attitudes toward online shopping and
their intention to shop on the Internet. The framework uses the
constructs of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as a basis,
extended by exogenous factors and applies it to the online
shopping context. The review shows that attitudes toward online
shopping and intention to shop online are not only affected by ease
of use, usefulness, and enjoyment, but also by exogenous factors
like consumer traits, situational factors, product characteristics,
previous online shopping experiences, and trust in online shopping.
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7. DRIVERS OF SHOPPING ONLINE: A LITERATUREREVIEW
Ana Teresa Machado
Escola Superior de Comunicação Social, Instituto Politécnico de
LisboaCampus de Benfica de Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa-1549-
014 Lisboa
ABSTRACT
Consumers are increasingly adopting electronic channels for
purchasing. Explaining online consumer behavior is still amajor
issue as studies available focus on a multiple set of variables and
relied on different approaches and theoreticalfoundations.Based
on previous research two main drivers of online behavior are
identified: perceived benefits of online shoppingrelated to
utilitarian and hedonic characteristics and perceived risk.
Additionally exogenous factors are presented asmoderating
variables of the relationship between perceived advantages and
disadvantages of internet shopping and onlineconsumer behavior.
KEYWORDS
e-commerce; online shopping behavior; perceived benefits;
perceived risk; exogenous factors
1. INTRODUCTION
The increasing dependence of firms on e-commerce activities and
the recent failure of a large number of dot-com companies stress
the challenges of operating through virtual channels and also
highlight the need tobetter understand consumer behavior in
online market channels in order to attract and retain
consumers.While performing all the functions of a traditional
consumer, in Internet shopping the consumer issimultaneously a
computer use as he or she interacts with a system, i.e., a
commercial Web site. On the otherhand, the physical store has
been transformed into Web-based stores that use networks and
Internettechnology for communications and transactions.In this
sense, there seems to be an understanding that online shopping
behavior is fundamentally differentfrom that in conventional retail
environment, (Petersonet al., 1997) as e-commerce relies on
hypertext Computer Mediated Environments (CMEs) and the
interaction customer-supplier is ruled by totally
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8. differentprinciples.Understanding the factors that explain how the
consumers interact with the technology, their purchasebehavior in
electronic channels and their preferences to transact with an
electronic vendor on a repeat basis iscrucial to identify the main
drivers of consumer behavior in online market channels.Online
consumer behavior research is a young and dynamic academic
domain that is characterized by adiverse set of variables studied
from multiple theoretical perspectives.Researchers have relied on
the Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989: Davis
et al., 1989), theTheory of Reasoned Action (Fisbein and Ajzen,
1975), the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991),Innovation
Diffusion Theory (Rogers, 1995), Flow Theory (Czikszentmihalyi,
1998), Marketing, InformationSystems and Human Computer
Interaction Literature in investigating consumer’s adoption and use
of electronic commerce.While these studies individually provide
meaningful insights on online consumer behavior, the
empiricalresearch in this area is sparse and the lack of a
comprehensive understanding of online consumer behavior isstill a
major issue (Saeedet al., 2003).Previous research on consumer
adoption of Internet shopping (Childerset al., 2001; Dabholkar
andBagozzi, 2002; Doolinet al., 2005; Monsuwé
et al.; 2004; O´Cass and Fenech, 2002)
consumers’ attitude toward Internet shopping and intention to
shop online depends primarily on the perceivedfeatures of online
shopping and on the perceived risk associated with online
purchase. These relationships aremoderated by exogenous factors
like “consumer traits”, “situational factors”, “product
characteristics” and“previous online shopping experiences”.The
outline of this paper is as follow. In the next section an assessment
of the basic determinants thatpositively affect consumers’
intention to buy on the Internet is carried out. Second, the main
perceived risksof shopping online are identified as factors that have
a negative impact on the intention to buy from Internetvendors.
Third, since it has been argued that the relationship between
consumers’ attitude and intentions tobuy online is moderate by
independent factors, an examination of the influence of these
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9. factors is presented.Finally, the main findings, the importance to
professionals and researchers and limitations are summarized.
2. PERCEIVED BENEFITS IN ONLINE SHOPPING
According to several authors (Childers
et al., 2001; Mathwick et al., 2001; Menon and Kahn, 2002;)
onlineshopping features can be either consumers’ perceptions of
functional or utilitarian dimensions, or theirperceptions of
emotional and hedonic dimensions.Functional or utilitarian
perceptions relates to how effective shopping on the Internet is in
helpingconsumers to accomplish their task, and how easy the
Internet as a shopping medium is to use. Implicit tothese
perceptions is the perceived convenience offered by Internet
vendor whereas convenience includes thetime and effort saved by
consumers when engaging in online shopping (Doolin, 2005;
Monsuwé, 2004).Emotional or hedonic dimensions reflects
consumers’ perceptions regarding the potential enjoyment
orentertainment of Internet shopping (Doolin, 2005; Monsuwé,
2004).Venkatesh (2000) reported that perceived convenience
offered by Internet Vendors has a positive impacton consumers’
attitude towards online shopping, as they perceive Internet as a
medium that enhances theoutcome of their shopping experience in
an easy way.Childers
et al. (2001) found “enjoyment” to be a consistent and strong
predictor of attitude toward onlineshopping. If consumers enjoy
their online shopping experience, they have a more positive
attitude towardonline shopping, and are more likely to adopt the
Internet as a shopping medium.Vijayasarathy and Jones (2000)
showed that Internet shopping convenience, lifestyle compatibility
andfun positively influence attitude towards Internet shopping and
intention to shop online.Despite the perceived benefits in online
shopping mainly associated with convenience and enjoyment,there
a number of possible negative factors associated with the Internet
shopping experience. These includethe loss of sensory shopping or
the loss of social benefits associated with shopping (Vijayasarathy
and Jones,2000).In their research, Swaminathan
et al. (1999) found that the lack of social interaction in Internet
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10. shoppingdeterred consumers from purchase online who preferred
dealing with people or who treated shopping as a social experience.
3.PERCEIVED RISK IN ONLINE SHOPPING
Although most of the purchase decisions are perceived with some
degree of risk, Internet shopping isassociated with higher risk by
consumers due to its newness and intrinsic characteristics
associated to virtualstores where there is no human contact and
consumers cannot physically check the quality of a product
ormonitor the safety and security of sending sensitive personal and
financial information while shopping on theInternet (Lee and
Turban, 2001).Several studies reported similar findings that
perceived risk negatively influenced consumers’ attitude
orintention to purchase online (Doolin, 2005; Liu and Wei, 2003;
Van der Heidjenet al., 2003).Opposing results were reported in two
studies (Corbittet al., 2003; Jarvenpaaet al., 1999). The authors
found that perceived risk of Internet shopping did not affect
willingness to buy from an online store. One of the reasons for this
contradictory conclusion might be due to the countries analyzed
respectively NewZeeland and Australia where individuals could be
more risk-taken or more Internet heavy-users.
IADIS International Conference e-Commerce 2005237
In examining the influences on the perceived risk of purchasing
online, Pires at al. (2004) stated that noassociation was found
between the frequency of online purchasing and perceived risk,
although satisfactionwith prior Internet purchases was negatively
associated with the perceived risk of intended purchases, butonly
for low-involvement products. Differences in perceived risk were
associated with whether the intendedpurchase was a good or
service and whether it was a high or low-involvement product. The
perceived risk of purchasing goods through the Internet is higher
than for services. Perceived risk was found to be higher forhigh-
involvement than for low-involvement-products, be they goods or
services.Various types of risk are perceived in purchase decisions,
including product risk, security risk and privacyrisk.Product risk is
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11. the risk of making a poor or inappropriate purchase decision.
Aspects involving productrisk can be an inability to compare prices,
being unable to return a product, not receiving a product paid
forand product not performing as expected (Bhatnagar
et al., 2000; Jarvenpaa and Todd, 1997; Tan, 1999;Vijayasarathy
and Jones, 2000).Bhatnagar
et al. (2000) suggest that the likelihood of purchasing on the
Internet decreases with increasesin product risk.Other dimensions
of perceived risk related to consumers’ perceptions on the Internet
as a trustworthyshopping medium. For example, a common
perception among consumers is that communicating credit
cardinformation over the Internet is inherently risky, due to the
possibility of credit card fraud (Bhatnagar
et al.,2000; George, 2002; Hoffman
et al., (1999); Jarvenpaa and Todd, 1997; Liebermann and
Stashevsky, 2002).Previous studies found that beliefs about
trustworthiness of the Internet were associated with
positiveattitudes toward Internet purchasing (George, 2002;
Hoffmanet al., (1999); Liebermann and Stashevsky,2002).Privacy
risk includes the unauthorized acquisition of personal information
during Internet use or theprovision of personal information
collected by companies to third parties.Perceived privacy risk
causes consumers to be reluctant in exchanging personal
information with Webproviders (Hoffman
et al
., 1999). The same authors suggest that with increasing privacy
concerns, thelikelihood of purchasing online decreases. Similarly,
George (2002) found that a belief in the privacy of personal
information was associated with negative attitudes toward Internet
purchasing
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12. 4. Previous online shopping experiences
Past research suggests that prior online shopping experiences have
a direct impact on Internet shoppingintentions.Satisfactory
previous experiences decreases consumers’ perceived risk levels
associated with onlineshopping but only across low-
involvement goods and services (Monsuwé et al., 2004).Consumers
that evaluate positively the previous online experience are
motivated to continue shopping onthe Internet (Eastlick and Lotz,
1999; Shim
et al ., 2001; Weber and Roehl, 1999).
5. CONCLUSION
Relying on an extensive literature review this paper aims to identify
the main drivers of online shopping andthus to give further insights
in explaining consumer behavior when adopting the Internet for
buying as thisissue is still in its infancy stage despite its major
importance for academic and professionals.This literature review
shows that attitude toward online shopping and intention to
shop online are not onlyaffected by perceived benefits and
perceived risks, but also by exogenous factors like consumer
traits,situations factors, product characteristics, previous online
shopping experiences.Understanding consumers’ motivations and
limitations to shop online is of major importance in e-business for
making adequate strategic options and guiding technological and
marketing decisions in order toincrease customer satisfaction. As
reported before consumers´ attitude toward online shopping is
influencedby both utilitarian and hedonic factors. Therefore, e-
marketers should emphasize the enjoyable feature of their sites as
they promote the convenience of shopping online. As personal
characteristics also affect buyers´attitudes and intentions to engage
in Internet shopping e-tailers should customize customers´
treatment.Furthermore, e-vendor should assure a trust-building
relationship with its customers to minimize perceivedrisk
associated to online shopping. Adopting and communicating a clear
privacy policy, using a third partyseal and offering guarantees are
mechanisms that can help in creating a reliable environment.Some
limitations of this study must be pointed out as future avenues for
future research. The factorsidentified as main drives of shopping
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13. online are the result of a literature review and there can always
befactors of influence on consumers´ intentions to shop on the
Internet that are not included because they areaddressed in other
studies not included in this review. However there are
methodological reasons to believethat the most relevant factors
were identified in this context. A second limitation is that this paper
is the resultof a literature review and has never been tested in its
entirety using empirical evidence. This implies thatsome caution
should be taken in applying the findings that can be derived from
this study. Further research isalso needed to determine which of
the factors have the most significant effect on behavioral intention
to shopon the Internet.
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14. Research Methodology
Sample Size
The number of survey conducted was 35. The survey was
administered to consumers both males and females from the age
frame of 16years to 55years. It catered to people living in Mumbai,
Pune and Gujarat.
Sampling Technique
The technique used is Convenience Sampling looking at the sample
size and considering the scope of survey.
Primary Data
The data used in the survey was the primary data which was
catered to the consumers by using the questionnaire method. The
data was administered in an electronic format.
Secondary Data
Secondary data was collected for the purpose of review of
literature where data from previous studies was collected for the
purpose of reference and framing the survey outline.
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15. Data Analysis
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16. 16

17. 17

18. 18

19. Findings
35 surveys were filled, out of which 22 were female and 13 were
male.
39% people shop their apparels from retail shops, 58% from malls
and only 3% shop from online websites.
55% people choose brand as their parameter, 39% choose price
and 6% go on the location of the store or mall.
Out of the total percentage of people surveyed 52% are brand
conscious and the remaining are not.
55% people do their apparel shopping monthly, the most of which
are females, 42% do it every six months and 3%do it once a year,
most of which are males.
64% people say that online shopping is safe and remaining say no.
61% people think that online shopping doesn’t give them good
variety of clothes.
88% people choose shopping from retail stores over online
websites.
45% of the people think online websites offer better price range for
shopping.
27% people think that the variety offered is too less by online
websites for apparels.
28% people think that the websites offer very few options for sizes.
52% of the people think that online shopping is affecting the sales
of retail stores.
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20. Recommendations
Online shopping is the new mode of shopping which is very up
coming and is going to be the future of shopping.
There has to be an increase in awareness of people about the
online shopping websites, their products and the safety in buying
from internet.
There have to be proper cyber laws to protect the interests of the
consumers.
The retailers have to come up with better discount offers and new
schemes to attract people so that their sales are not affected.
They need to have more price range of products and should keep
their customers updated about the fashion currently.
If people would like to spend a day with their family out of the
entire busy month nothing is as good as retail shopping, where the
entire family is bonded again.
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21. Conclusions
Most of the youth prefer online shopping and the adults prefer
retail shopping. Youth find it very easy and convenient to swipe
their credit cards than actually remove one whole day out of their
holiday or work schedule to actually go and shop for their apparels.
Youth are more brand conscious about the brand what they wear
and how much they bought it for. On the other hand adults are
shop loyal. They trust the owner of the shop very much as they
have been buying clothes from there since a long time. The owner
of the shops also knows his customer well so they do not hesitate
in giving discounts.
People are still not very inclined towards online shopping. They do
not feel its very safe and is a good way of shopping.
They consider shopping as a fun thing so they wish to go out to the
retail stores try some clothes see if they look good in it, if the clour
suits them and material is good only then they choose to buy it.
But slowly and steadily even online shopping is gaining importance
as it is the upcoming market in today’s world. People don’t have to
stand in long lines, wait for their turn in the retail stores and then
buy clothes. They can easily sit at home choose the latest apparel in
vogue and the order is delivered at their door step.
Retail outlets need to come up with a better price range and good
variety of clothes if they wish to be in competition with the online
websites.
Retail shopping and online shopping have been the revolution in
the shopping era.
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