Magazine 2015
International Peer-Reviewed Journal  
RESEARCH HORIZONS, VOL. 5 JULY 2015  
INDIAN CONSUMERS’ READINESS FOR ONLINE SHOPPING?  
Haseena Sayed, Ruchi Dubey Chaturvedi, Taskin Patel  
ABSTRACT  
The present study aims at studying the consumer behavior among Indians, in terms of Online Shopping.  
Online shopping trend has grown so large in many countries, that many companies instead of investing in  
building malls, invest in online websites and web advertising. The popularity of Online Shopping is growing  
fast with the advent of new technologies and the creation of interfaces that allow the customers to feel like  
they are really in a shop. In the present study a comparative analysis model was designed in such a way  
that comparisons could be made between two age groups: young v/s middle adulthood and also between  
genders in both the age groups. The sample comprised of 100 respondents, out of which 50 respondents  
were from the age group of 18 - 40 years (25 males and 25 females) and 50 were from the age group of 41-  
6
0 years (25 males and 25 females). Four zones of Mumbai were selected and technique of random  
sampling was adopted in selecting the participants. All of them were literate and belonged to Middle class.  
Statistical techniques used were Descriptive Analysis, Chi Square and Correlational Analysis. Results indicate  
that young adult males show strongest preference for online shopping and have reduced their traditional  
shopping modes. While only fifty percent young females adults are showing this kind of shift. Even though  
people belonging to middle adulthood are occasionally indulging in online shopping, they still prefer  
traditional modes of shopping. Hence, they are selectively using online shopping only for booking, ticketing  
and purchasing gifts. Young adult females and Middle age adults have expressed apprehensions about  
online shopping relating to delays, quality and insecure online money transactions. However, the overall  
higher receptivity of the whole sample for online shopping could be attributed to the fact that they are  
residing in busy metropolitan city like Mumbai. Online shopping is providing them unique benefits like  
discounted rates, better after sale services, door step delivery and freedom to purchase goods at any time.  
Similar observations were also made from the three Case Studies. The three entrepreneurs reported that  
online purchase (shopping) is here to stay in India and will keep increasing in the years to come, as it does  
not necessitate purchase of work place/office, helps increase customer reach, saves money on traditional  
modes of advertising. Further, the facilities of ‘Cash on Delivery’, discounted price options, convenience of  
shopping from the comfort of one’s home, short delivery span, also attracts customers to shop online. The  
conclusion of this study can be generalized to enhance the culture of online shopping in India, thereby  
reducing the stress and strain related to physical shopping.  
Key Words : Online shopping, metropolitan city, environmentally friendly, unique benefits, web advertising.  
Introduction :  
The present study aims to highlight the receptivity of the urban middle class Indians towards online  
shopping and the reasons for indulging in it. It is of special significance as in a busy Metropolitan city like  
Mumbai, online shopping would help in reducing the stress and strain related to shopping which involves  
physical movement outside ones residences.  
Online shopping has grown to new heights over the last decade and shows no signs of slowing down.  
The internet has brought practically every store in the world to the finger tips of anyone with internet  
access.  
Online shopping has been created for those shoppers who do not have the time and money to go to a  
shop and they would rather go online and buy their things there. There has been a vast increase in the  
variety of products that are available online for the shoppers to buy. Online shopping has become a  
trend now with the new technologies and the interfaces that have allowed the customers to feel that they  
are really in a real shop. Online shopping has grown so large that many companies are not investing in  
buildings and mall spaces, rather in online websites and web advertising. Consumers across the globe  
are increasingly swapping crowded stores for one click convenience as online shopping becomes safe  
and popular option.  
(54)  
International Peer-Reviewed Journal  
Review of Literature :  
RESEARCH HORIZONS, VOL. 5 JULY 2015  
Online shopping is the process of researching and purchasing products and services over the internet.  
The earliest online stores went into business in 1992, and online retailing took over a significant segment  
of the retail market during the first decade of the twenty first century, as ownership of personal computers  
increased and established retailers began to offer their products over the internet. The growth rate of  
online shopping is gaining pace in India. India is the third largest country in this race lacking behind only  
USA and china. The growth rate of online shoppers is more than 50 % while the world’s average growth  
rate is just 10-12%. The role of Media, celebrity endorsements and advertisements in this is impactful.  
A research was conducted on the Influence of Media Marketing (TV, Movies, Magazines, Internet) on  
Adolescent Girls by Erica Lauren Sanders (2011). The survey was distributed to the students at the  
Academy of Canyons, California. The results of this research showed that media had a huge influence on  
teenage girls, even more than they may be aware of. Media influenced various factors such as, body  
image, sexual purism, daily lingo, buying trends and initiated a sex obsessed culture.  
A paper by Regent Business School (2013), reports the results of an exploratory study which examined  
the influence of social media on the purchasing behaviour of youth, by surveying a convenience sample  
of 150 students at a large university in South Africa. It was found that youth are increasingly turning away  
from traditional advertising media and actively seeking out social media platforms and make frequent  
purchases using information obtained from social media platforms because they regard it as being  
sufficient for decision-making, reliable, convenient, and involves less time wastage.  
Another Research conducted Pandey, was to study the Impact of Celebrity Endorsements on young  
generations through TV. A study was conducted on 300 youngsters in graduation and post graduation.  
The results revealed that advertisement played a vital role in introducing a new product in the family list  
and making better choices during shopping. After watching an endorsement, most respondents wanted  
to buy products that were endorsed by female celebrities. Respondents were also of the opinion that TV  
advertisements helped them make better choice during shopping. Respondents preferred buying branded  
products over non- branded, which are usually endorsed by celebrities.  
The review shows that attitude towards online shopping and intention to shop online is not only affected  
by the ease of use, usefulness and enjoyment, previous online shopping experiences, and trusts in online  
shopping. Therefore this study aims to examine and find out consumers perception towards online  
shopping.  
Objectives  
1.  
2.  
3.  
To measure the perception, beliefs and attitude of consumers in India towards online shopping.  
To identify the reasons why Indians still prefer traditional method of shopping over online shopping.  
To understand the internet shopping usage patterns, benefits and problems faced by the Indian  
Consumers.  
4.  
To study changes in Consumer behavior in relation to Age and Gender.  
Hypothesis  
H1: The younger generation (18 yrs â€“ 40 yrs) will indulge in Online shopping more than the Older generation  
(
41 yrs – 60 yrs).  
H2: Men will indulge in Online shopping more than the women.  
H3: There will be a shift observed in the Indian Consumers attitude towards Online shopping with them  
reporting more benefits and lesser drawbacks.  
(55)  
International Peer-Reviewed Journal  
RESEARCH HORIZONS, VOL. 5 JULY 2015  
Methodology :  
Sample  
The sample comprised of 100 respondents, selected randomly from four zones of Mumbai. 50 respondents  
were from the age group of 18 - 40 years and 50 from the age group of 41-60 years. Each Age Group had  
2
5 male respondents and 25 female respondents.  
Three Case Studies would be conducted on Entrepreneurs who utilize online shopping strategies in their  
business.  
Variables :  
Independent Variable  
1
.
.
Age Groups having two levels: 18-40 Years & 41-60 Years  
Gender: Male & Female  
2
Dependent Variable  
1
.
.
Awareness and Frequency of use of online shopping.  
2
Online shopping being affected by issues of Safety, Choices offered, After sale services and  
Convenience.  
Tools :  
A Self developed questionnaire would be used on the 100 participants to measure the Consumer Behavior  
of Indians towards online shopping. A semi-structured Interview schedule was developed for the Case  
Studies.  
Procedure :  
The Self Developed Questionnaire was administered personally to all the 100 participants in the four  
zones of Mumbai. Further, the Semi-structured Interview schedule was used for obtaining responses  
from the three Entrepreneurs who utilize online shopping strategies to promote their business ventures.  
Results and Discussion :  
I)  
Descriptive Analysis  
1)  
Age Group Differences  
Table 1: Percentage of time spent on Internet per day by the Two Age Groups (N = 100)  
(56)  
International Peer-Reviewed Journal  
RESEARCH HORIZONS, VOL. 5 JULY 2015  
In the age group of 18-40 yrs 25% of the respondents spend 0-10% of their time on internet per day, 25%  
spend 10-30% of their time on internet per day, 15% spend 30-50% of their time on internet per day, and  
3
0
5% of respondents spend 50% and above. In the age group of 41-60yrs, 65% of the respondents spend  
-10% of their time on internet per day, and 12% spend more than 50% of their time on internet per day.  
This leads to the acceptance of H1, as usage of Internet was more by the Younger Age Group.  
Table 2: Percentage of Awareness of the Two Age Groups about Online Shopping  
(
N = 100)  
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5% of the respondents in the age group of 18-40 yrs are aware of the medium of online shopping as  
compared to the age group of 41-60yrs, where only 87% of the respondents are aware of the medium of  
online shopping. This supports H1.  
Table 3: Percentage of participants in the Two Age Groups who have done Online  
Shopping on a regular basis (N = 100)  
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7% of the respondents in the age group of 18-40 yrs have done online shopping on a regular basis  
relative to the age group of 41-60 yrs, where only 67% of the respondents have done online shopping.  
This once again offers support hypothesis H1.  
(57)  
International Peer-Reviewed Journal  
RESEARCH HORIZONS, VOL. 5 JULY 2015  
Table 4: Percentage of Two Age Groups who consider online shopping to be safe,  
convenient, better in after sales services and offering greater choices (N = 100)  
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2% of the respondents in the age group of 18-40 years have positive outlook towards online shopping,  
while only 47% of the respondents in the age group of 41-60 years voice this. This offers complete  
support to hypothesis H1 and partial support to H3 as higher age group does seem to have some  
doubts about online shopping.  
Table 5: Percentage of Two Age Groups who are satisfied with Online Shopping  
(
N = 100)  
88% of the respondents from the age group of 18-40 years were satisfied with online shopping purchase,  
as compared to 81% in the age group of 41-60 years. This is in support of hypothesis H3 where a  
favorable shift is observed among the Indian consumers regarding online shopping.  
Table 6: Percentage of people in the Two Age Groups who have reduced convential  
shopping modes (N = 100)  
(58)  
International Peer-Reviewed Journal  
RESEARCH HORIZONS, VOL. 5 JULY 2015  
6
3% of the respondents in the age group of 18-40 years have reduced the frequency of traditional  
shopping due to online shopping, However, the respondents in the age group of 41-60 years, 75% still  
prefer traditional shopping methods. This offers complete support to hypothesis H1 and partial support  
to hypothesis H3 as senior age group still has some misgivings about online shopping.  
Table 7: Reasons for Two Age Groups to do online shopping (N = 100)  
In younger age group only 37% are worried about risk of the use of Credit/Debit cards in Online shopping,  
relative to 57% of Older age group. Younger age group also feel that Online shopping has lesser  
entertainment component although it saves their time. However, these two factors do not appear to be  
affecting the Older Age Group much.  
1
) Gender Differences  
Table 8: Percentage of Males ve Females who consider online shopping to be safe,  
convenient, better in after sales services and offering greater choices (N = 100)  
(59)