Determinants of Shopper Behaviour in E-tailing: An Empirical Analysis

Abstract

Consumers’ decision-making process has been changed with the introduction of the Internet as on alternative channel for shopping. E-tailing is an emergent area of nascent organized retailing in India. The purpose of this paper is to explore the determinants of shopper behaviour such as convenience, customer service, trust, web store environment, and web shopping enjoyment and to examine the influence of these factors towards willingness to buy and patronage of online retail stores. The study is purely based on primary data collected from a sample of 135 respondents by using simple random sampling technique from five leading software companies in Hyderabad. Necessary secondary data were used to reinforce the model. A structured non-disguised questionnaire was administered and responses were measured on the seven-point Likert scale. Statistical tools like mean, standard deviation, multiple correlations, multiple regressions, student t-test, and ANOVA were used to find out the strength of relationship and degree of association among the variables entered into the model. The results reveal that convenience, web store environment, online shopping enjoyment, and customer service have significant impact on the willingness to buy from online retail stores rather than perceived trust. Except trust and customer service, all other variables are significant with patronage of online retail stores. As not much work in India has been done in this context, the paper seeks to provide fruitful insights into the factors determining the prospects of e-tailing that can benefit academicians as well as marketers.

Online Shopper Behavior: Influences of Online Shopping Decision

“…Available products and services: E-commerce has made a transaction easier than it was and online stores offer consumers benefits by providing more variety of products and services that they can choose from (Lim and Dubinsky, 2004;Prasad and Aryasri, 2009). Consumers can find all kinds of products which might be available only online from all over the world.…”

“…Web Site feature is one of the important things that can influence consumers to buy product online. For example, online retailers can use high technology to improve their websites in order to influence consumer perceptions of the web environment (Prasad and Aryasri, 2009). If the web site is too slow, not navigability, or not safe enough, will have negatively impact consumer willingness to try or buy products from the website.…”

“…Some websites, Ebay for example, offer customers auction or best offer option, so they can make a good deal for their product. It also makes shopping a real game of chance and treasure hunt and makes shopping a fun and entertainment (Prasad and Aryasri, 2009). Again, since online shopping can be anywhere and anytime, it make consumers' life easier because they do not have to stuck in the traffic, look for parking spot, wait in checkout lines or be in crowd in store (Childers et al, 2001).…”

“…Again, since online shopping can be anywhere and anytime, it make consumers' life easier because they do not have to stuck in the traffic, look for parking spot, wait in checkout lines or be in crowd in store (Childers et al, 2001). As such, customers often find shop from the website that is offering convenience can reduce their psychological costs (Prasad and Aryasri, 2009). …”

Design and Implementation of an Online E-Commerce Website for Cars and Vehicles

“…[4] Online trust is one of the most critical issues that affect the success or failure of online retailers. [5] Security is the challenge and the main problem for successful ecommerce implementation, as stated by many researchers. However, there is wide agreement between academic researchers that security is not only a technical challenge; rather it involves managerial, organizational and human dimensions to be more effective.…”