The project concentrates on various products and services served on internet, through online websites. Various preferences and choices made by customers while buying stuff online is noted and analyzed.
Information statistics are provided to show the increment in internet business in last few years and the reason for these changes. Amount of time and money spent on various websites by customers is clearly shown in the statistical analyses section. A conclusion about the project is enclosed too. CHAPTER-2 Introduction Online shopping or internet retailing is a type of electronic commerce that permits through a web surfer.Alternative names are: e-web-shop, e-store, e-market, online shop, web-shop, web-store, internet store, and virtual store. An online shop invokes the physical probability of buying products or services at a bricks and mortar retailer or shopping place, the operation is called business to consumer (BBC) online shopping.
In the case where a business purchases from another business, the process is called business to business (BIB) online shopping . The two largest retailers online are eBay and Amazon. Mom, both based in United States.Retailing success is not any more Just about physical stores; this is apparent due to the increase in retailers now proposing online store interfaces for consumers. With the increase of online shopping, comes a wealth of new market footmarks coverage opportunity for stores that can befittingly cater to offshore market demands and service requisites.
It is now evidently seen that internet's power, scope and interactivity provide retailers with the possibility to reform their customer's shopping experience and in doing this, toughen their own rivalries positions.Internet provides information, facilitates two way communications with the customers, combines market analyses data, advertise goods and services and finally back the online ordering of merchandises, facilitates retailers with a rich and flexible new channel. By doing this, Internet gives retailers a system for: broadcasting target markets, improving customer communicating, broadening product lines, improving cost efficiency enhancing customer relationships and delivering customized offers.Earnest efforts for online trading started to come out in mid sass's when innovative, technically save. "y' companies spooned to the opportunities and challenges posed by the Internet, to develop sophisticated web-sites to serve customers, in their homes. Online retail sales growth in various countries CHAPTER-3 OBJECTIVES * To study in depth the concept of Internet Retailing.
Research about internet retailing/online shopping its various methods, advantages and disadvantages. * To understand the significance of internet as an emerging marketing channel.Show how internet serves as an efficient wholesaling and retailing channel. * To study the business model of major players in the internet retailing space. Show their payment, product delivery, product range, etc. Emergence of E-Retailing From the start, the potent of the Internet as a revolutionary different and a greatly effective communication channel appeared apparent: global reach; easiness in access; enhanced interactivity, flexibility and velocity; ability to commune large amounts of info; cost efficient and ease in maintenance.
Such potentialities were soon to be reined in a wide variety of sectors, like defense, banking, manufacturing, healthcare and education. However, it was promptly recognized that it was amongst endorsed that the most important impact of the Internet was likely to be seen. More particularly, retailers soon understood the Internet's potent to provide information, advertise goods and services and finally to back up the online ordering of products, provides an extremely fertile and flexible new retail channel.According to Pyle (1996), the Internet's 'global connectivity opens up new avenues for business in a manner that traditional commerce conduits cannot match. Although electronic shopping didn't come forth in any organized and satisfying way until the mid-sass, its coming had been acclaimed allover for decades, beforehand.
Surely, almost 30 years before it did consequently came into the retail scenario, Toddy and Davidson [1967] had presented an impact sight of how the future of retailing would be in consumer's straight away using computer terminals to order their goods directly from primal warehouse.In spite of experiencing a long period of dormancy, and a large amount of prior hype, when e-commerce did after all become a fact, its real arrival still created a huge amount of concern amongst academics, politicians, industrialists, bankers, managers, entrepreneurs, and specifically retailers. Ultimately, it was the Internet's unparalleled 'capacity to produce tangible economic profits that was the originally catalyst for the explosion of interest and activity in electronic business.Particularly when it became apparent that the Internet can deliver: distribution efficiency; assortments of complementary merchandise; collection and utilization of customer information; and the ability to offer unique or unusual merchandise. Whilst the potential of the Internet as a carriage for promoting goods and captivating sales was transparent, early commentators also saw that there were many significant aeries and obstacles that would need to be overcome before this condition could be attained.For example, Cookbook & Wilson, [1996] on mapping out of business use of the Internet and detected the lack of security of Internet sites and the deficiency of suitable online paying systems, Joined with slow connection times and bounded access to the Internet by potential customers, were all significantly impeding its monetary development.
Jones & Physiotherapy [1998] agreed that consumers had serious concerns over the security of Internet retailing, but also conveyed serious doubts about the legitimacy and longevity of some Internet genuineness.To this growing list of worries, Nathan et al [1998] added concerns about the legality of transactions, and the lack of reliable information on the effectiveness of this paradigm for conducting business. Despite these many retreats, the general tenor of the literature was broadly affirmative [e. G.
Benjamin & Wigwag, 1995; Anderson, 1995; Evans, 1996], and the potential of the Internet as a significant retail way, was never seriously questioned.By counterpoising, there was an extremely vigorous debate over the exact nature and extent of the Internet's impact, in a detailing area, and as will be manifested in the following section, the original literature was not lacking in forecasting. Early predictions Arguably, the commercial liberating of the Internet networks in 1989 began the gold rush era of the Internet and it was hinted that the Internet, could likely reshape the commercial world.Subsequently, there was a great deal of hyperbole issuing from media articles, consultant reports and management Journals hinting that the online trading scenario offered chance for fresh virtual businesses to dominate existing businesses in already set up trading environments.
Speculation increased that this would achieve a position of dominance in global markets. At the dawn of the were geared up to put their heads above the parapet, and give their opinions on the Internet's likely trajectory and impacts.The aim was to explore some of the more common predictions being made of great development and opportunity, so that we can later differentiate, in retrospect, the reality from the rhetoric. The main-street under threat At its outset, there was much speculation that on-line retailing would have a huge impact on the main street. This perception was based upon the early mood of unchecked disposition about the Internet's potential, coupled with the optimistic predictions about the growth of Internet sales.The Internet's threat to the high street was perceived to be coming from the following three sources: I.
The demise of the 'middleman': 'Disintermediation' was the word on many commentators' mouth, when it was envisaged that the producers could merely target their consumers directly and omit the retailer, as 'middle man', from the equation. By connecting directly with consumers, via the Internet, manufacturers would have the opportunity o drastically reform the structure and ballistics of retail channels, and I. E. Allow both producers and customers to gain from direct contact. It was envisaged that this type of 'pirating the value chain' could ultimately change the equilibrium of power inside electronic retail channels. It.
The Virtual merchant' as a new breed of 'middleman': It was envisaged that entirely new players - Virtual merchants' or 'pure play retailers - with no established high-street existence could easily blend electronic commerce software with scheduling and distribution capacities, to surpass traditional distributors.The Internet could therefore present a terror to established retailers, by fundamentally altering the distribution channels for consumer product. It was argued that the Internet might appeal well to the new entrants who have not already committed in a fixed location network. However, it was noted that competitive success would depend on how well these virtual merchants could 'use their first mover advantage as new entrants to gain a head start on the incumbents, and then leverage these strategies for longer term gains'.
Ii. Retailers cannibalizing their own custom: Given the threat to old retailers presented by disintermediation of the apply chain and visual merchants, it was widely seen that retailers would have to hastily develop a presence online, to protect their market share. However, even this strategy was observed to pose a substantial threat to the high street, as worries were raised that in becoming a 'bricks and clicks' enterprise, the traditional retailer might simply 'cannibalize' its existing offline operations.Moreover, it was debated that in serving its consumers through two channels, the retailer would simply amplify cost base, which would have a negative impact on profits. A radically different market- place Increasing to debate the extent to which the focus of purchase might be moved from the 'physical market place' to Virtual market space' there was also a great deal of discussion about how this new electronic market-place might operate, and in so doing, transform our shopping habits.
Common predictions about the nature of the Internet-marketplace included: I.The transformation of marketing: Although many observers concentrated on its potential as a channel for immediately generating understood in a number of different ways. In terms of how Internet-enabled one to one communications might enable two alternative models were presented: the reorganization of web-page content or through the customization of electronic mail. It.
Perfect competition but less than perfect margins: In the very early days of online shopping, a number of researchers propositioned that the Internet would ease and move towards more perfect forms of competition.The argument was that the Internet would make it too easy for the consumers to find information that would, in theory, allow them to objectively consider offers, and ultimately choose the most combative. The implication of this would be that no retailer would be in a place to sell any specific product at a higher price than its competitors. Iii. The leveling of the playing field: The Internet was very dissimilar to earlier information technologies, as it did not require a monolithic investment in tangible resources or skills.
It was recognized that the web 'possesses very low entry and exit barriers for firms'. 'v. The 'electronic intermediary as a new class of 'middleman': While some commentators concentrated their attention on a new breed of 'Internet-only retailer' that sought to sell its products and services directly to the consumer, some were more interested in the potent offered by a new breed of middlemen that sought to sell information, rather than tangible merchandise.In detail, it was seen that such 'electronic intermediaries' may play an important role in fields such as matching buyers and sellers, providing commodity information to buyers and marketing information to vendors, negotiating prices among buyers and sellers, and managing / guaranteeing financial transactions. Customers Online consumers must have access to the Internet and a valid method of defrayal in order to complete a transaction.
Ordinarily, higher levels of literacy and personal income represent more favorable perception of shopping on internet.Higher exposure to technology also increases the possibility of developing favorable attitudes for new shopping channels. In a December 2011 study, Equation Research surveyed 1,500 online shoppers and found that 87% of tablet owners made online transactions with their tablet devices during the early Christmas shopping season. The initial World Wide Web server and browser, was created by Tim Burners- Lee in year 1990, opened for commercial usage in 1991.Thereafter, subsequent technological creations emerged in 1994: online banking, the creating of an online pizza shop by Pizza Hut, Netscape SSL iv encoding standard for secure data transfer, and Internship's first online shopping scheme. Instantly after, Amazon.
Mom launched its online shopping site in 1995 and eBay was also started in 1995. Logistics Consumers find a product of interest by seeing the website of the retailer directly or by screening among alternative vendors using a purchasing search engine.Once a specific product has been detected on the website of the seller, most online vendors use shopping cart software to allow the consumer to collect multiple traditional store. A "checkout" process follows, in which payment and delivery information is gathered.
Some stores grant consumers to sign up for a lasting online account so that some of this information only needs to be entered again. The consumer often receives e-mail verification once the transaction is complete.Lesser sophisticated stores may rely on consumers to call or e-mail their orders (although full credit card numbers, expiry date, and Card Security Code, or bank account and routing number should not be accepted by e-mail, for reasons of security). Payment Online shoppers normally use a credit card or a Papal account in order to make payments. However, few systems enable users to create accounts and pay by optional means, such as: * Billing to mobile phones and landlines. * Cash on delivery (C.
O. D. * Queue/ Check * Debit card Direct debit in some countries * Electronic money of various types * Gift cards * Postal money order * Wire transfer/delivery on payment * Invoice, especially popular in some markets/countries, such as Switzerland Some online shops do not accept international credit cards. Some need both the purchaser's charge and shipping address to be in the same country as the online shop's location of operation. Few online shops permit customers from any country to send gifts anywhere. The payment part of a transaction may be processed in real time (e.
. Informing the consumer that their credit card was declined before they sign of, or may be done afterwards as part of the fulfillment process. Product delivery Once a payment has been received, the goods or services can be delivered in the following ways: * Downloading: The method often used for digital media products such as software, music, movies, or images. * Drop shipping: The order is given to the manufacturer or third-party distributor, who then sends the item directly to the consumer, surpassing the retailer's physical location to save time, money, and space.
In-store pick-up: The customer selects a local shop using locator software and handpicks the delivered product at the selected placement. This is the method frequently used in the bricks and clicks business model. * Printing, provision off code for, or e-mailing of such items as admission tickets and scrip (e. G. , gift certificates and coupons). The tickets, codes, or coupons may be paid off at the befitting physical or online premises and their content reviewed to verify their eligibility (e.
G. Assurances that the right of admission or use is redeemed at the correct time and place, for the correct dollar amount, and for the correct number of Will call, ICEBOX (in Care Of Box Office), or "at the door" pickup: The frequenter picks p pre-purchased tickets for an event, either Just ahead of the event or in advance. With the use of the Internet and e-commerce sites, which permits customers to purchase tickets online, the popularity of this service has heightened. Advantages Convenience Online stores are generally available 24 hours a day, and many consumers have Internet access both at offices and at home.Other places such as internet cafes and schools furnish internet access as well.
Contrastingly, visiting a conventional store requisites travel and must take place during business time. Information and reviews Online stores may describe products for sale with text, photos, and multimedia files, whereas in a traditional retail store, the real product and the manufacturer's packaging will be there for direct inspection Some online stores provide or link to supplemental product information, like instructions, safety procedures, demonstrations, or producer's specifications.Some give background information, advice, or how-to guides planned and designed to help consumers decide which product to buy. Price and selection One benefit of shopping online is being able to promptly seek out deals for items or services provided by many different sellers. Search engines, online price comparison services and discovery shopping engines can be harnessed to look up sellers of a particular product or service.
Shipping costs lessens the price advantage of online merchandise, though depending on the Jurisdiction, a lack of sales tax may compensate for this.Another major advantage for retailers is the power to rapidly snap suppliers and vendors without obstructing users' shopping experience. Disadvantages Fraud and security concerns Given the lack of ability to scrutinize merchandise before purchase, consumers are at high risk of fraud than face-to-face transactions. Merchants also risk fraudulent purchases using slipped credit cards or fraudulent renunciations of the online purchase. Also, hackers may break into a merchant's web site and steal names, addresses and credit card numbers, even though the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard is intended to reduce the impact of such breaches.Identity theft is still a matter of concern for consumers.
* Pushing: It is another risk, where consumers are befouled into thinking they are dealing with a esteemed retailer, when they have actually been spoofed into feeding private information to a system used by a malicious party. Denial of service attacks are a minor risk for merchants, as are server and network outages. Product delivery is also a main area of concern of online shopping. Lack of full cost disclosure The lack of full cost disclosure may also be tough.While it may be easy to compare the basic price of an item online, it may not be easy to see the total cost up front.
Extra fees such as shipping are often not be seen until the final step in the checkout indicated at the final checkout screen might not include additional fees that must be paid upon delivery. Privacy Privacy of personal information is a significant issue for some consumers.. Many consumers wish to avert spam and telemarketing which could result from supplying contact information to an online merchant.Hands-on inspection Typically, only pictures and/or descriptions of the item are all a customer can trust on when shopping on online.
If the customer does not have previous exposure to the item's handling qualities, they will not full understand the item they are buying. Due to this, many consumers have started going to real-world stores to view a product, before purchasing online, an exercise known as showroom. CHAPTER-4 Internet as a Market The development of Internet access has enabled new markets to come forth online. The Internet has also enabled other markets to flourish by connecting buyers and sellers from different locations.The formation of online market often occurs quickly in response to social or economic trends.
Online shopping has become exceedingly popular to purchase all things without leaving home, and it is a convenient way to buy things like electronic appliance, furniture, cosmetics, books and many more. We can avoid the traffic and crowds. There is no particular time to buy things we can buy at any time instead of dating for the store to open. Just by clicking a mouse or touching a screen, shoppers can buy mostly any product online from groceries to automobiles, from insurance policies to house loans.
The domain of electronic commerce, also known as e- commerce, empowers consumers to shop at thousands of online stores and pay for their purchases without leaving the comfort of home. Daily, millions of people go online to research about products and buy from thousands of different online merchants. The web allows comparison amongst shop for the best deals and locates products that might otherwise be tedious to find. Internet is preferred as a marketplace due to certain reasons such as: ; 24-hour-a-day shopping-on the Internet, stores never shut so we can shop when it's convenient for us and browse as long as we like.On the other hand, in physical stores such as shopping malls, complexes, small and big retailers are not generally open round the clock.
Since customers do not have to wait for online shops to open they automatically become more convenient than traditional stores and shops. ; Shop from the comfort of our home-we can shop while resting on our couch, even when the weather or traffic is awful. And we don't have to think about crowds of and can leisurely participate in buying things that they like. ; Saves time-We don't have to waste time driving across town, finding parking, or standing in line to pay for our purchases.Shopping online can save time since first off we don't have to drive to the store, next we don't have to spend time looking up and down isles for our items, and then standing in line waiting for check out.
; Comparison shopping-It's easy to do comparison shopping online and learn from product reviews written by other shoppers. Commerce facilitates comparison while shopping. There are several online services that grant customers to browse multiple commerce merchants and search the best prices. ; More variety-There seems to be an infinite variety of products and services available online.The items we find on Just a few websites can far outnumber what is accessible in local stores. We can even shop globally without leaving our homes.
There are limitations to the amount of products and services that can be provided in a physical store. Commerce websites can make additional products easily available to customers. ;Eliminate Travel Time and Cost-It is not strange for customers to travel long stances to reach their preferred physical stores. Commerce allows them to visit the same stores virtually, with the help of a few mouse clicks.Marketing Channels A marketing channel is a set of practices or activities requisite to transfer the ownership of goods, and to transfer goods, from the point of production to the point of consumption which consists of all the institutions and all the marketing acts in the marketing process. Functions of a Channel The primary resolve of any channel of distribution is to bridge the gap between the producer of a product and the user, whether the two parties are located in the name community or in dissimilar countries thousands of miles apart.
The channel is composed of various institutions that facilitate the transaction. A channel performs 3 important functions. Not every channel members perform the same function. The functions are: * Transaction functions: buying, selling,& risk assumption * Logistic functions: assembly, storage, sorting, & transportation * Facilitating functions: post-purchase services and maintenance, financing, information dissemination, and channel coordination. These functions are required for the effective flow of product and title to the customer and paying back to the producer.
