Capstone final report new

CAPSTONE PROJECT REPORT
Internet Shopping and Buying Behavior of College
Students
Prepared By
Deepankar Dohare
KHR2011PGDM21F133
PGDM 2011-13
Under the Guidance of
Prof. Sudipto Chakraborty
ITM Business School
Plot 25 & 26, Institutional Area, Sector 4,
Kharghar (E), Navi Mumbai - 410 210

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CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the Project Work titled “Students’ Online Buying Behaviour” is a bonafide
work carried out by Deepankar Dohare, a student of PGDM program 2011 – 2013 of the Institute
for Technology & Management, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai under my guidance and direction.
Signature of Guide
Name & Designation: Sudipto Chakraborty, Asst Professor - IT
Date: 04 March 2013
Place: Kharghar, Navi Mumbai

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I express my profound gratitude to Prof. Sudipto Chakraborty for his meticulous knowledgeable
guidance and support to complete this project. Without his guidance and motivation my project
would not have been such learning experience.
I would like to express my sincere thanks to all the faculty members of the marketing department
of ITM Business School for their guidance and support from time to time. Although they were
not my allotted guide as per the college, yet they guided me in the right direction to complete this
project with effective understanding.
I would also like to thank all my classmates and my friends without whose cooperation this
project report would not have been a reality.
Deepankar Dohare

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Executive Summary
The project talks about one of the most promising forms of retailing in today‟s
technologically driven world; the online retailing. Online shopping in India has grown over the
years from being a low profile concept to one which is now quite famous. The credit for this
goes to, both the marketing companies that have created fantastic campaigns for spreading the
word about this concept and the customers who have started shopping extensively for things
online.
Online shopping has become into a practice, which is now recognised by lots of human
beings all over the world. In India, shopping has always been an activity, which has been
undertaken with a gusto, which is quite unrivalled by any other activity.
The Indian subcontinent has lots of human beings who have realised the advantages of
forsaking shops and venturing into the online world with their credit card numbers and their
wishes. College students form a major part of this group who is getting more and more interested
in online shopping.
Many researches have been made across the globe in order to understand the buying
behavior and purchase patterns of this upcoming class which is spends 3-4 hours of their daily
schedule on internet. They have more technology enthusiasts and gadget freaks. Recent studies
have revealed that these college students prefer to shop online rather than go out in the market
and spend time there. Markets have become more of a fun zone for them instead of shopping
place.
This project is an effort to understand how college students behave while shopping online
and what is their behavior and attitude towards online shopping. The project concentrates on two
objectives that need to be filled. The first objective is to find out the factors that drive and
motivate students to opt for online shopping rather than real shopping. What benefits, according
to them, they get from the virtual markets and shopping which have left the traditional shopping
ways far behind. The second objective is to study what all products do the college students buy

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online. Which are the more popular categories among them that they are ready to shop for online
and for which products/ categories they still prefer to shop in the real world.
The project would help the businesses and organizations to understand these students
behavior for whom they are waiting in the real world. Even the companies that have gone to
adopt this channel, the project would help them to develop their offerings in a better way who are
majorly targeting on college students as their target customers.

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Contents
Introduction to E-Business……………………………………………………….. 7
About Online Retailing…………………………………………………………… 7
Literature Review…………………………………………………………………. 10
Definition of E-Tailing……………………………………………………. 10
The Need for Online Presence…………………………………………….. 10
Findings by IAMAI………………………………………………………. 11
Types of E-Commerce Customers………………………………………… 12
Students and online shopping…………………………………................. 13
Benefits students expect in e-shopping……………………………………. 15
Items of Fraud………………………………………………………………16
Advantages & Disadvantages of e-shopping………………………………. 16
Internet Retailing in India………………………………………………….. 17
Internet: The Better Alternative…………………………………………….18
Research Gap………………………………………………………………………. 20
Research Objectives……………………………………………………………….. 20
Research Methodology…………………………………………………………….. 21
Research Approach…………………………………………………………21
Questionnaire Design……………………………………………………… 21
Data Collection…………………………………………………………….. 21
Sample Size…………………………………………………………………22
Sample Selection…………………………………………...……………….22
Graphical Analysis………………………………………………………….23
Research Work……………………………………………………….................... 24
Data………………………………………………………………………... 24
Analysis……………………………………………………………………. 27

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Interpretation………………………………………………………………. 31
e-Shopping: The long way to go……………………………………………………34
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………. 35
Future Prospects…………………………………………………………… 36
References…………………………………………………………………………..38

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Introduction to E-Business
In the past few years, e-shopping seems to have permitted every aspect of daily life. In
just a short time, both individual and organizations have embraced internet technologies to
enhance productivity, maximize convenience and improve communications globally. From
banking to shopping to entertainment the internet has become integral to daily life.
E-Business has been defined as “the conducting of the business on the internet, not only
buying and selling but also serving customers and collaborating with business partners.”1
About Online Retailing
Since the early 1990s the retail scenario in India has been characterized by a major shift
from traditional kirana shops to modern formats that include department stores, supermarkets
and specialty stores across a wide range of categories. Today, these retail formats have
established good presence across prime locations in the metropolitan and mini-metro centers and
the last few years have seen them spreading out across the countries, thereby exposing
consumers in these areas to modern shopping options and experiences like never before.
Even as organized retailers garner share from traditional channels, they have a larger role
to play by way of boosting consumption levels to new heights. As per the IMAGES F&R
Research, the total private consumption expenditure (in direct retail sales) is estimated at 10,500
billion (US $233 billion) growing at 5 percent annually; the estimated share of organized retail is
only 350 billion (US $8 billion) at present, growing at over 30 per cent every year.
In the shine of this overall retail picture, there exists a less visible, ultra-modern and hi-
tech retail channel known as Online Shopping, the number of consumers (internet population)
were about 38.5 million and total sales proceeds from online shopping was Rs.1,180 crore in
2010-112
. The numbers are growing at over five million per year and these consumers offer
1
Business Driven Technology, page 139
2
As per IMAGES F&R Research

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marketers a winning combination on account of their interest and willingness to adopt
technology faster.
Online Population (In Millions)3
AUGUST 2011 MAY 2012 CHANGE
World wide 513.4 580.78 13.1 %
Europe 154.6 185.8 20.2 %
Canada/ US 180.7 182.7 1.1 %
Asia/ Pacific 144.0 167.9 16.6 %
Latin America 25.3 33.0 30.4 %
Africa 4.3 6.3 30 %
Middle East 4.7 5.1 8.5 %
Source: www. NUA.com
For retailers, this means they need to explore different channels of retailing to cater to
varying and differing customers' needs. The brick-and-mortar format has its own advantages and
limitations and therefore it is also necessary to tap the immense opportunities that other channels,
like Internet and catalogue offer.
Although the concept of e-retailing seemed almost revolutionary at first, e-retailing has
become a mainstream method of reaching customers, and it is still growing. The overall
objective of e-retailing is to create sales, manage additional retail functions such as buying and
logistics, and find and identify new retail markets and opportunities using electronic
technologies.
The internet provides an easy way to bring buyers and sellers together at a reasonable
cost. Even “resellers” have availed themselves of the internet. eBay, the company that hosts the
3
Source: www. NUA.com

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“world‟s largest garage sale”:‟ allows its customers the luxury of shopping at any time of the day
at an economical cost.
Retailers have found that e-retailing provides a better venue for serving their target
markets. For example, companies involved in mail order business such as catalogs, flyers or
magalogs have found that the web offers their customers the advantage of being able to track
orders, inquire about delivery dates and check on items for back order. E-retailers as well as
customers have benefited from these added advantages. For the e-retailer, payments of goods and
services are immediate, thus creating an increase in cash flow and providing an efficient way to
reorder inventory. Because only credit or debit cards are used for purchases, paperwork is
minimal or nonexistent.
Today, shoppers' tendency to buy things has changed to exploring product facts online
and then buying offline. Since shoppers grow to be convenient combining in store, catalogue and
Internet shopping experiences, retailers must flawlessly incorporate those channels or be
prepared to lose the string of their purse in proportion to more alert rivals.
The Online Retailing revolution tells that the Internet is playing a key role in changing
the shopping experience in many ways - on and offline.
With the help of Internet, customers have enabled themselves and given themselves the
understanding to evaluate old items, find new ones, communicate with other shoppers and even
find low-cost items, and for all these they don't take pains to walk to a store near to their
residence.
The fast going and growing world with one-click shopping, forces retailers to design new
policies for capturing customers. To attract fresh consumers and to retain the old ones, retailers
have to satisfy customers. For this every retailer has to acquire a level of organizational and
technological integration that new researches point out.

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Literature Review
Definition of E-retailing
Basically, the term e-tailing comes from electronic retail. E-retailing is the selling of
retail goods on the Internet4
. It is used in Internet discussions as early as 1995, the term seems an
addition to e-mail, e-business, and e-commerce. E-retailing is synonymous with business-to-
consumer transaction.
E-retailing can be said as, the selling of retail goods on the Internet.
E-tailing refers to retailing over the internet5
. Thus an e-retailer is a B2C business that executes a
transaction with the final consumer. E-retailers can be pure play businesses like Amazon.com or
businesses that have evolved from a legacy business, Tesco.com. E-retailing is a subset of e-
commerce. B2C involves customers gathering information; purchasing physical goods i.e.,
tangibles such as books or consumer products or information goods or goods of electronic
material such as software, or e-books and, for information goods, receiving products over an
electronic network.
The Need for Online Presence
As per the estimates of Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), India's online
population in 2008 was 40.5 million and is predicted to reach 100 million by the end of 2013.
Today, customer expectations have significantly scaled outside the four walls of the
physical retail store. Full assortments, competitive pricing, easy transactions, rapid order
fulfillment and satisfaction guarantees are increasingly becoming the 'necessary factors'. Since
today's customers are increasingly fragmented in the channels they use, they also expect
unlimited shopping options with the flexibility to unconditionally hop channels, as and when
they desire.
4
as cited in www.creotec.com/index.php
5
as cited in capcomarketing.com/mediakit/Marketing_Glossary/

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Traditional store-based and catalogue retailers are placing more emphasis on their
electronic channels and evolving into multi-channel retailers for five principal reasons:
1) First, the electronic channel gives the retailers an opportunity to reach new markets.
2) Second, the retailers can leverage their skills and assets to grow revenues and profits.
3) Third, an electronic channel overcomes some limitations of the traditional formats.
4) Fourth, an electronic channel enables retailers to gain valuable insights into their
customers' shopping behavior.
5) Finally, providing a multi-channel creates sharing of the percentage of total purchases
made by a customer in a store.
Some of the findings of the research, done by IAMAI, online
shopping trends in India
1) Rs.570-crore worth of E-commerce conducted online in 2010-2011 to grow to Rs.2,300
crore by 2012-2013, an estimated 300 per cent-plus growth.
2) 55 per cent of visitors to e-commerce sites have adopted the Internet as a shopping
medium.
3) 25 per cent of regular online shoppers are in the 18-25 age group, 46 per cent in the 26-35
age group, and 18 per cent in the 36-45 age group. 85 per cent of online shoppers are
males; and even a 15 per cent female audience represents a 15 million strong market.
4) 83 per cent of the user base is educated with a Bachelor or Post Graduate degree,
representing a well-educated audience. 54 per cent of online shoppers are at an executive
level. 24 per cent of online shoppers are professionals or self-employed, indicating an
assured spending power.
5) 76 per cent of online shoppers access the Internet from their office, 63 per cent from
home and 24 per cent from cyber-cafes.
6) 96 per cent of online shoppers have used the Internet for more than 1 year and 65 per cent
of shoppers have been using the Internet for more than 5 years. About 89 per cent of
online shoppers use the Internet for more than 5 hours a week and 42 per cent for more
than 20 hours a week. It represents the fact that the Internet is becoming an integral part
of 'daily activity'.

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7) 81 per cent of online shoppers own a credit card; 75 per cent of online shoppers own a
debit card.
8) In a single online transaction, 21per cent of the online shoppers have spent between Rs
500 Rs.1,000, 39 per cent between Rs.1,000 and Rs.5,000, 13 percent between Rs.5,000
and Rs.10,000, and 11 percent with more than Rs.10,000. These figures represent an
audience that will pay good money for the value of a product irrespective of the medium.
9) Thus, the Internet offers an audience that will grow to a 100 million users by 2012-13,
which is not bound by operational timings and geographical boundaries; with an
opportunity to cater to countrywide city markets.
Types of E-Commerce Customers
There are basically 4 types of customers identified by Gaurav Doshi, author,
ezinearicles.com. These customers are differentiated on the basis of their buying habits and
motives for visiting a specific site.
These customers are:
1) Goal directed shoppers
2) Experiential shoppers
3) Experienced with retailers site
4) Inexperienced with retailer‟s site
Goal directed shoppers: This category of shoppers takes only genuine shoppers, who are
serious about their online purchase. Such shoppers can be the first-time visitors to the site.
Experiential shoppers: These shoppers are pleasure seekers, visiting the site just for the
recreational purpose or to enrich their bank of information. Such shoppers are labeled as window
shopper. Guided by the emotional content, these shoppers always prefer low-ticket products to
high-ticket ones. For the success of online retailing, these customers have to be faithful.
Experienced with retailers site: Faithful and experienced consumers are familiar with e-
retailers' site and enjoy surfing the site. But if these consumers don't find anything new to surf,

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they will definitely lose the joy of navigation. Convenience, choice, quality, cost and
dependability provide a strong ground on which relationship between the faithful customer and
the retailer is built up.
Inexperienced with retailer’s site: Inexperienced shoppers are completely unknown to e-
retailing. These consumers, though do not have any knowledge of e-retailers' site, may have
thorough understanding of other sites. It is believed that one day inexperienced consumers will
become experienced.
Students and Online Shopping
Consumers across the age spectrum shop online, but college students aged 18 to 22 have
been identified as the Internet's "hottest" market and a prime source of future growth in online
sales. College students' yearly expenditures reach near $200 billion6
. They are heavy users of the
Internet and have more access to this medium than most other population segments. According
to Harris Interactive 92% of college students own a computer and 93% access the Internet. Their
online spending exceeds that of any other demographic group. It has been noted that online
purchases of students across Asia have totaled to $1.4 billion in 2008 following a 17% increase
over the previous three years. In this vein, it is important for retailers and consumer educators to
better understand college students' online shopping behavior.
Despite e-tailing's rapid growth, conversion rates, the proportion of consumers who buy
from websites out of all who visit them, remain low at only 4.9%. According to the survey by
Shop.org (2001), although 72% of Internet users search online for products at least once a month,
this high level of search activity does not translate into similarly high purchase levels. A
BizRate.com survey of 9,500 online shoppers revealed that as many as 55% abandoned their
shopping carts before checkout and 32% did so at the point of sale7
. Recent studies also have
shown that increasing numbers of consumers use the Internet for collecting product information
while still relying on offline stores (e.g., department stores) for purchasing. A consumer survey
6
as cited in PROMO Xtra, 2008
7
as cited in Shop.org., 2001

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showed that price, convenience, and selection are primary reasons for students shopping online,
but lags in delivery and lack of tactile gratification impede some students' online shopping.
There have been several reports into student‟s online spending habits over the past few years.
 College students spend more money online than any other demographic group.
 Students are particularly active and heavy internet users and that technology and the
media have become a significant part of this young consumer group‟s lifestyle. Therefore
it is important for retailers to better understand college students‟ online shopping
behaviours in order to learn how to market effectively to them.
Some findings of the earlier researches done related to students online shopping behavior in
India and other Asian countries are mentioned below.
Clothing is one of the most popular Internet shopping categories for students, of whom
about 25% have purchased clothing online.
Consumer‟s need for social interaction while shopping negatively affected the propensity
to engage in Internet Shopping.
Both male and female students are confident and price aware when shopping online.
89% of internet users had searched for information about products online in their last 1
year 12 months and 66.1% had purchased items online during the same period.
E-retailers should incorporate their websites with entertainment features such as music,
interactive networking communities for customers, and user generated content like
customer-written reviews to attract consumers who look to get enjoyment out of shopping
online.
Cost was the second biggest factor for male and female students and e-retailers should
provide competitive low prices or frequently offer promotional deals on items in order to
attract cost conscious shoppers.
Shipping and handling fees may be a critical barrier of online shopping for students
whose primary concern is price.

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Benefits students expect in e-shopping
Retailers have to recognize the motivation by which potential buyers are driven to go for
on-line shopping. There are four basic facilities on-line buyers are hungry for.
1) They don't want to spend much time on shopping. Take a small family of a big city with
all the members working and having tight schedule. They cannot afford to go for a time-
consuming shopping.
2) Apart from the time constraint, big players of industry want flexible shopping time,
which can be provided by on-line shopping.
3) It is pointed out by research that on-line shoppers are not much aware of price or brand
because they are met with unlimited data on the Internet. Genuine consumers look more
for value than only price of commodities.
4) Consumers may have the tendency to buy things inspired by advertisements or their
impulses. Marketer of CDs and books can capitalize this habit of consumers. Marketers
can use the data bank of such consumers and develop a rapport with consumers by
inspecting the choices and brand required by them. Buyers can also be appealed to
purchase fashion apparels on-line. Retailers should keep spirited the excitement of online
purchasing by introducing variety of categories.
According to Greenfield's Online Omnibus survey8
conducted last year regarding the
consumer behavior for online shopping, few reasons came out as very prominent factors that
motivate consumers to go for internet shopping.
Why are consumers shopping and purchasing online?
Saves time 49%
Can find the lowest price 48%
Avoid the crowds 43%
More information on products 36%
Better selection 32%
Purchase hard-to-find items 23%
Easier to ship 11%
Good gift ideas online 11%
8
Survey Outlines CE E-tailing Consumer Demand., By: Smith, Steve, Ebsco Database

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Items of fraud
One of the concerns of e-retailers is whether their customers believe they are a
trustworthy seller. Developing a trusting relationship with a customer will take time and
effort and it’s no wonder. The Federal Trade Commission reported that online
scammers robbed Americans of more than $437 million dollars in 2008 with Internet
related fraud accounting for 55% of all fraud reports.
Top Products/Services for Internet-Related Fraud Complaints, 20089
Internet auctions 48%
Shop-at-home/Catalog sales 20%
Internet access services 8%
Internet info and adult services 6%
Foreign money offers 4%
Computer equipment/software 2%
Business opportunities 2%
Note: Percentages are based on the total number of Internet-related complaints for the year (166,617)
Advantages & Disadvantages of e-Shopping
To customers, the most important advantage of the technology may be pricing.
Prospective buyers simply surf the net to find the lowest-cost product available. In addition to
realizing a cost savings, customers don‟t have to spend their time physically looking for the
product.
On the other hand, the disadvantages may involve consumer privacy and security.
Consumers are very concerned about their privacy and about how retailer information is used.
9
source: Federal Trade Commission report on the National and State Trends on Fraud and
Identity Theft for 2008

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Also, they are concerned about the security of shopping online. Consumers are mainly concerned
that the hackers may access their credit card or bank account information, resulting in potential
damaged credit ratings and financial loss. To minimize this, retailers should develop encryption
systems where needed. An encryption system codes data so that the data can be understood only
by the authentic user.
Advantages for e-customer
1) Wider product availability
2) Customized and personalized information and buying options
3) Ability to shop 24 X 7
4) Easy comparison shopping
5) Quick delivery of digital products
6) Ability to create a one-on-one relationship with the seller
Disadvantages for e-customer
1) Concern with transaction security and privacy
2) Lack of trust for unfamiliar sites
3) Inability to touch and feel products before purchase
4) Unfamiliar buying process using electronic money
5) Complicated legal environment
6) Return policies that are difficult to understand
Internet Retailing scene in India
In the West, only a few retailers operate in a single channel. Brick-and-mortar and
catalogue-based retailers have websites, many Internet-based retailers have physical stores, and
television-shopping channels are aligning themselves with catalogues and traditional retailers.
Customers expect it and business demands it.
In India, the relationship between the Internet and commerce has crossed the primary
stage. According to recent estimates made by the Internet And Mobile Association of India

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(IAMAI), online shopping crossed Rs.570 crore in 2008-09 and reached Rs.1,180 crore in 2010-
11, representing a growth of 107 per cent over the previous year. This is expected to double in a
year's time and reach Rs. 2,300 crore by the end of 2013.
There are three key drivers for online shopping catching up in India.
1) Internet and increased PC penetration which is accompanied by falling prices of
computers.10
2) India's middle-class is developing, with growing purchasing power and limited personal
time.
3) Increasing usage of credit and debit cards coupled with a growing young population who
spend significant time online.
The Future Group formerly Pantaloon Retail had announced the launch of e-tailing
concept, started in May 2006, at www.futurebazaar.com, to tap into the growing segment of
online shoppers. Kishore Biyani had said, “Online retailing could provide a completely new
dimension to retail. There is a new and fast emerging population of customers called Netizens
who are spending more time in front of their PCs. We looked at this opportunity and hence our
foray in the e-tailing space. We aim to earn Rs. 300 crore from this venture in the next one year.
We will provide everything, everywhere, every time to every Indian customer in the most
profitable manner.”11
Internet: The Better Alternative
After so much of study, the question is why would the common man of India go for
internet shopping? What is the incentive to try a new medium of shopping?
10
Pricing the technology, 2006
11
Source: www.financialexpress .com

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If anyone has to try this new medium of shopping, there should be overwhelming reasons
for doing so. The benefits must go beyond mere convenience. For one, the consumer will
certainly be interested if he gets things cheaper on the net. Says Biren Ghose12
, Chief Executive
Officer (new media) of United Television which owns the site Tsnshop.com: "The Net being a
new medium, we have to convince people to use this new medium to buy." Moreover according
to K Vaitheeswaran, vice president (marketing) of the Bangalore-based Fabmart, "For
convincing a customer to use this new medium, one has to offer an incentive to buy on the Net.
Otherwise, it would be very difficult to get a customer to shop with you."
It is very clear that easier and faster shopping are the reasons for shopping on the Net.
But now the question is “How”? One can go to a brick-and-mortar retailer who could
offer 10,000 items in his store. Chances are that he might be 10 per cent out of stock. On the
other hand, the Internet offers millions of products with no chances of an out of stock situation.
Easy and comfortably-obtained info is another advantage that shopping on the Net offers.
On the Internet, product information is just a few clicks away, all accessed in the comfort of a
home. Traditional retailing stands out in stark contrast: the consumer searches frantically, runs
up and down, and grills a poorly trained store assistant who is unable to help him out. In the
bargain, valuable time is lost. Simply put, shopping on the Internet for, say 15 minutes could
save a two hour trip to the mall. Consumers prefer to save this time so that they can devote more
time for their professional and domestic priorities.
12
Source: www.timesnews.com

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Research Gap
Although much literature is available on e-shopping and its future, yet no relevant data
was found regarding why Students like and dislike shopping on internet, what factors drive them
to move away from the brick-and-mortar format and tend towards the virtual format. Also, it was
important to find out what categories they actually shop on the internet. This was found to be an
interesting and knowledgeable area to work on.
Research Objectives
1. To find out the factors which influence the students to go for e-shopping.
2. To find out the categories in which students are influenced by the above factors, to
purchase online.

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Research Methodology
Research Approach
There are two different research approaches namely qualitative and quantitative research.
The research problem is the main criteria to select which approach is the most appropriate. Also
on the type of information required is an important parameter. A Qualitative research refers to a
research that produces theoretical and descriptive data. A Quantitative research is the one in
which the information collected is expressed and analyzed in numerical form.
In this research work, both qualitative and quantitative approaches are used to give a
better understanding of the solution of the problem.
Questionnaire Design
The questionnaire is divided in two sections. In the first section general information about
e-shopping is asked from the respondents so as to know about their awareness about it. In the
second part there are questions related to the six parameters affecting the students‟s behavior
towards internet shopping. And the other question is related to the categories in which they are
comfortable in buying from internet.
The scale used in the questionnaire is Likert Scale. The questionnaire is having 9
questions (close ended) apart from the personal information.
Data Collection
There are different ways for the collection of the data. Collection of primary data can be
conducted in three ways- Observations, Interviews & Questionnaires. Observation is carried out
by watching and listening to an interaction or phenomenon as it takes place. An interview is
referred to as any person-to-person interaction between two or more individuals with a specific

22
purpose in mind. A questionnaire is a written list of questions. When using a questionnaire, the
respondent reads the questions, interprets what is expected, and then writes down the answers.
In this research questionnaire system is being used because it is totally about the behavior
of the customer. The inner mind of the customer carries impressions and ideas which will have to
be converted into the numeric. It will be a personally administered questionnaire.
Sample Size
The size of the sample depends on the basic characteristics of the population, the type of
information required from the survey and the cost involved. For this research project 50
respondents have been decided. This number is taken because these respondents are the best
respondents in the pool. They have the knowledge about internet and its characteristics very well.
All the respondents are students perusing their graduation/ post graduation.
Sample Selection
There are two basic methods of sampling, probability and non-probability sampling. With
probability sampling, also known as random sampling, each unit of the population has an equal
chance of being included in the sample. Non-probability sampling occurs when selection of the
sample is dependent on human judgment, and not on the rigorous application of probability
theory.
For conducting this research project judgment sampling is used, which is a form of non
probability is sampling. The total respondent are undergraduate or postgraduate students who are
familiar with internet and have enough knowledge about it.
The sample is chosen on the basis that all these can be taken as a customer and validity
can be checked easily within them.

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Graphical Analysis
The data collected for different factors will be analyzed graphically to study each factor
separately. Each factor will be studied under three types of responses from the respondents,
„Agree, Undecided or Disagree‟. This will help in knowing how much a factor affects a student
and which of the factors act as a strong catalysts for e-shopping.
Separate graphs are drawn for every factor to know to which factors the students are
more agreeing or disagreeing. The total sample size for each graph is same. The more
respondents agree to a particular factor, the more effective it will be.
For category identification, the same method is followed. The graph shows different
categories and out of the total samples how many respondents are comfortable to each category
buying from internet. For each category, the maximum response will be equal to the total sample
size.

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Research Work
The Data
The data collected through the questionnaire was entered into the excel spread-sheet for
analysis. For each factor affecting the consumer‟s attitude towards internet shopping, a separate
graph was made to find out whether the consumers agree to that particular factor or disagree or
even they can not decide. Out of the total sample size, which was 30, the number of respondents
to for each kind of response was recorded. Thus a clear idea was drawn regarding the factors that
which of them affect the consumer more and which affects less or even the ones were not
significant at all, i.e. they had no effect on the consumer.
The various factors which were taken into account were,
1) Better price options
2) less time consuming
3) huge variety available
4) shop anytime
5) shop anywhere
6) better product information
For each factor, the data collected is shown separately below:
1) Better Price Options
RESPONSE NO. OF RESPONDENTS
AGREE 30
UNDECIDED 6
DISAGREE 14
TOTAL 50

25
2) Less Time Consuming
AGREE 26
UNDECIDED 5
DISAGREE 19
TOTAL 50
3) Huge Variety Available
AGREE 29
UNDECIDED 12
DISAGREE 9
TOTAL 50
4) Shop Anytime
AGREE 30
UNDECIDED 15
DISAGREE 5
TOTAL 50

26
5) Shop Anywhere
AGREE 23
UNDECIDED 16
DISAGREE 11
TOTAL 50
6) Better Product Information
AGREE 30
UNDECIDED 11
DISAGREE 9
TOTAL 50
Product Categories
The same method was used to identify the categories in which the consumers are ready to
shop on the net. The table for the categories is given below. The number of favorable
respondents for each category was noted out of the maximum number of respondents which was
50.

27
CATEGORIES FAVOURABLE RESPONDENTS
(OUT OF 50)
RAILWAY/FLIGHT TICKETS 44
APPAREL 10
ACCESSORIES/ JEWELRY 15
MUSIC/ CDs 24
MOVIE TICKETS 33
HOME FURNISHING 2
GREETINGS/ CARDS 16
BOOKS/ RES. PAPERS 34
ELECTRONICS 17
SOFTWARES/ GAMES 27
The Analysis
From the data collected, the graphs were drawn. These tables are given on the next page.
These graphs clearly showed the effect of the factors in terms of the benefits which they get from
internet shopping.
The factors to which the customers showed favorable response showed high degree of
agreeness as compared to those for which the consumers were not agreeing.
For each factor studied the graph made from the data is given below.

28
1) Better Price Options
2) Less Time Consuming
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
AGREE UNDECIDED DISAGREE
NO.OFRESPONDENTS
RESPONSE
BETTER PRICE OPTIONS
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
NO.OFRESPONDENTS
RESPONSE
LESS TIME CONSUMING

29
3) Huge Variety Available
4) Shop Anytime
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
NO.OFRESPONDENTS
RESPONSE
HUGE VARIETY AVAILABLE
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
NO.OFRESPONDENTS
RESPONSE
SHOP ANY TIME

30
5) Shop Anywhere
6) Better Product Information
0
5
10
15
20
25
NO.OFRESPONDENTS
RESPONSE
SHOP ANY WHERE
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
NO.OFRESPONDENTS
RESPONSE
BETTER PRODUCT INFORMATION

31
The Categories
The Interpretation
From the above analysis of the data collected certain interpretations were made regarding
the factors as well as the categories.
From the first graph, it can be easily interpreted that students prefer online shopping
because of the better price deals they are being offered. This came out as the most significant
factor among students as they are more price cautious and sensitive. Also they would
immediately switch to another online retailer if he offers them a better price for the same
product. 30 out of 50 respondents believed that they prefer online shopping because of better
price options.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
NO.OFRESPONDENTS
CATEGORIES

32
From the second graph, it is seen that through internet people could shop in a lesser time
as compared to a real a real shopping experience. Most of the people agreed to this fact that
internet shopping enables them to find their required merchandise quickly and that they could
easily purchase by just one click. This factor came out to an important factor in the entire
consumer benefit set.
The next graph is representing the people‟s response regarding the huge variety they get
on the internet. A big number of respondents agreed to this, which was 29. Also 12 people could
not decide about it that whether they get better variety of products in stores or on the internet. 9
people disagreed to it saying that brick-and-mortar stores offered them better variety. This factor
also turned out to be a critical factor which drives the students towards internet shopping.
The fourth graph of the factor „shop anytime‟ showed a very obvious response which was
in favour of the internet shopping. 30 respondents out of 50 agreed to this fact that internet offers
them the ability to shop at any time of the day. The ability to shop 24X7 becomes a very
important factors which pushes the students to opt for internet shopping rather than real
shopping.
The fifth graph represented the people‟s response for the ability to shop anywhere in the
world on internet. This factor did not turned out to be as critical as other factors. Students
preferred to shop for brands which they knew and were familiar with. The ability to shop of
brands which are not present in the country did not delight and attract them so much that they
would prefer to shop for them online. Only 23 out of 50 people agreed to this factor that it drives
them to shop online.
The last factor was the better information available to the consumers on the net. This
factor again showed a favourable response from the people. 30 people said that they get better
information on the net while 11 were unable to decide about it and 9 disagreed to it. It could be
said that this factor has an equally important role in driving the students for internet shopping as
other factors.

33
Finally the last graph shows the categories in which the consumers were felt they were
comfortable in buying from the net. Each category was considered to be mutually exclusive of
the others and out of 50, the favorable respondents were counted. The maximum response was
for the „Railway/ Flight Tickets‟ category in which 44 people said that they were comfortable in
buying it on the internet. The second place was taken up by „Books‟ where 34 students said that
buying them on the net was comfortable for them. Websites like Flipkart.com have a major role
to play here. This was followed very closely by „Movie Tickets‟ category having 33 people‟s
acceptance. Bookmyshow.com and other similar website have made a major shift in customers
online booking for movie shows. Next in the line was „Softwares/ Games‟ coming out with 27
favourable responses. „Music/ CDs‟ was the next category with the score of 24. Electronics,
Greetings/ Cards and Jewelry/Accessories had an almost equal score of 17, 16 and 15
respectively. Apparels and Home furnishing were the last categories with the lowest score of 10
and 2 respectively and students very rarely preferred to shop for them online.

34
e-Shopping: The long way to go
The concept of e-shopping has indeed matured since the fire and ice years of 1998-2000.
It now is no longer a euphoric technology; it forms the bedrock of most businesses. Banking,
travel, entertainment, shopping and e-mailing now all form part of a new mode in which the
society interacts.
Internet retailing had been a hot topic for many years since the emergence of Internet, but
the dotcom burst of year 2000 raised questions about whether this was a sustainable business.
Experts were quick to write-off the virtual business model and claimed that the use of Internet
would be limited to information exchange.
Markets in western countries of America and Europe have warmed up to online shopping
in a big way and now online transactions form a significant part of the total trade in these
countries. Several factors have contributed to this phenomenon. Greater Internet penetration, fall
in prices of hardware, fall in the price of Internet communication, development of better and
more reliable technologies, and increased awareness among user are few of the prominent factors
leading the change.
During the last year, the number of people and hosts connected to the internet increased.
In India too, Internet penetration became more widespread with bandwidth becoming readily
available, Internet tariffs coming down and computer hardware becoming cheaper. The Indian
Internet and E-commerce market however is nowhere close to its expected potential. E-mail
applications still constitute the bulk of internet traffic in the country. Some of the various ways in
which online marketing is done in India are company websites, shopping portals, online auction
sites, e-choupal, etc.

35
Conclusion
The findings support the notion that while college students have strongly embraced the
Web as a shopping tool, they are more apt to purchase some types of products on the internet
than others. Interestingly, they were most likely to obtain services (travel tickets, movie tickets)
than to purchase tangible merchandise.
The results of the study indicate relationships between the factors that influence the
students‟ attitude toward online shopping and their actual buying behavior. The findings
suggested that factors like convenience, price and wider selection are important determinants of
students‟ attitude toward online shopping. Moreover, they have a significantly positive impact on
students‟ attitude toward online shopping.
In addition, a further aspect of the study included online shopping perceived benefits.
The findings of the study imply that students are looking for more convenience (time flexibility
and money saving), cheaper prices and wider selection when they shop online, making them as
the dominant factors that motivate students to shop online. On the other hand, there were not
significant relationship between students‟ attitude toward online shopping and less time
consuming and the ability to shop from anywhere in the world. This may be due to the low level
of involvement of the young consumers who have experience in online shopping.
Online merchants should heed these findings when they choose which benefits to develop
and emphasize in the promotion of their internet site. Where buying books online is seen as
convenient and as means of cost saving, it is not seen necessarily as a fun activity.
Researchers should heed the notion that not all products are created equal when offered
for sale on the internet. The idea of discovering what prompts someone to shop on the Internet
must be tempered with the knowledge that the motivating factors will vary by product.

36
The Future Prospects
Students are an integral part of the “Net Generation” and practically speaking, all
students were found to use the Internet. Over three-quarters own a computer. A vast majority
subscribes to an online service provider. All have access to both computers and networks at their
respective institutions of higher education. Evidence was gathered to support the fact that
university-aged students spend, on average, between 8 to 12 hours per week online. While
online, they use their computer capabilities for a myriad of activities including conducting
research, communicating by e-mail, obtaining news, viewing maps and directions, downloading
music, conducting job searches, as well as doing their banking and shopping.
The projected increase in online consumers and expenditures leads marketers to believe
that the possibilities for consumer value creation are greater in the electronic commerce
marketplace than in the traditional marketplace. As the critically significant global university-
aged student segment intensifies its online shopping behavior, it is extremely important for those
marketing to these computer savvy individuals to understand the influences that affect them at
each stage of the buyer‟s decisions process. Marketers must understand that the online buying
process begins long before the actual purchase is made and continues after the sale. Thus, to
effectively market internationally or locally to university-aged students, marketing strategy must
focus on the entire buying process.
Some of the key points for e-marketers to understand related to students‟ buying behavior
are
- Students are online a lot and they discover products and services that interest them during their
time online.
- Students search web sites for information about products and/or services that interest them.
- Students evaluate alternatives while online and arrive at a final set of choices from which to
buy while online.
- Students make final product and/or service purchase decisions while online.

37
- Students develop web site loyalty and will repeat purchases if their total shopping experience is
satisfactory and they have confidence in and trust the site.
- Students buy online more than the general population. They frequently spend money on books,
airline tickets, music, event tickets, computer software and movies.
- University-aged students have concerns about security and providing credit card information
online, slow delivery, being targeted for repeat/future purchases online, out-of-stock
merchandise, difficulty returning merchandise, and dissatisfaction with purchase tracking
abilities.

38
References
Research papers
1. Narges Delafrooz, Laily Hj Paim, and Ali Khatibi; University of Putra Malaysia, “Students‟
Online Shopping Behavior: An Emperical Study”
2. Benjamin Chan Yin-Fah and Bei Hooi-Choo; Universiti Putra Malaysia, “Undergraduates
and Online Purchasing Behavior”
3. Deborah H. Lester, Andrew M. Forman and Dolly Loyd; “Internet Shopping and Buying
Behavior of College Students”
4. Terry Newholm, Peter Mcgoldrick, Kathy Keeling, Linda Macaulay & Joanne Doherty
International Centre for Retail Studies in the Manchester Business School, UK, Department
of Informatics, University of Manchester, UK, “ Multi Story Trust and online Retail
Strategies”
5. Sinha. Piyush Kumar, “Using Transaction Utility Approach for Retail Format Decision”
6. M. Adam Mahmood, Kallol Bagchi, and Timothy C. Ford, “On-line Shopping Behavior:
Cross-Country Empirical Research”
Books
1. Ogden James R and Ogden Denise T, Integrated Retail Management-Indian Adaptation,
Houghton Mifflin Co., 2005
2. Haag-Baltzan-Phillips, Business Driven Technology, Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Co.
Limited, 2006
3. Hanes Tony and Bruce Margaret, Fashion Marketing, Butterworth Heinemann publications,
2002
4. Gilbert David, Retail Marketing Management, Pearson Education Inc, 2003
5. Kalakota Ravi and Robinson Marcia, E Business 2.0, Pearson Education Inc, 2004

39
Articles
1. International Trade Forum, Issue 3, 2003
2. Survival Tactics, Advertising & Marketing, Nov 2000
3. Home is where Homepage is, Advertising & Marketing, Nov 2000
4. Accessing the Future, Advertising & Marketing, Nov 2000
5. Targeting the Consumers Life, Advertising & Marketing, Nov 2000
6. Business of Self Evident Truths, Advertising & Marketing, Dec 2000
7. Shopping or Stopping By, Advertising & Marketing, Jan 2001
8. Yet to happen in India, Advertising & Marketing, March 2001
9. Digitally Certified, Advertising & Marketing, June 2001
Websites
1. www.nua.com
2. www.creotec.com
3. www.capcomarketing.com
4. www.cyberatlas.internet.com
5. www.financialexpress.com
6. www.ebscohost.com

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