buy online case study

buy online case study

The Impact of Online Shopping on Consumer Behavior: A Case Study Analysis

1. Introduction to Online Shopping

Introduction:

In the age of the internet, online shopping has become an important aspect of consumer behavior in the retailing industry. With the rise of internet use, known as e-commerce, online shopping is evolving into a global phenomenon. Given current technological advancements, access to the internet allows shopping via personal computers, laptops, smartphones, or tablets. Shopping online offers numerous advantages, such as virtually unlimited assortments, high convenience, and the possibility of quickly comparing products, for example with price comparison websites. Additionally, online shopping is facilitated by commentary areas on retailing sites, through which consumers can share their opinions on products or services. Appearing alongside the spread of the internet, online shopping has become more popular worldwide.

According to a survey conducted in 2020, approximately three billion people shopped online in 2020 and e-retail revenues are expected to grow to $962 billion in 2023. With regard to the main reasons for online shopping, it was found that consumers prefer it due to the fact that they can shop at any time, it’s easy to compare products, and they don’t have to go out to the store. In addition, most of the consumers have memorized their bank card numbers and are confident in online shopping security, but they often use antivirus software when they do. Consumers believe that online shopping is the most cost-effective way to buy products with little chance of higher prices. Finally, price-sensitive individuals tend to seek offers and promotions when shopping online.

2. Theoretical Framework: Consumer Behavior and E-commerce

Consumer behavior holds monumental significance in the vast world of marketing and business sciences. Researchers, policymakers, and practitioners all believe and regard the fact that the collective behavior of consumers, individuals, and organizations is the backbone of any organization to sustain and maintain in the long run. The decision-making process has to be up to date to cope with the ever-evolving needs and wants of the consumer population. Technological advancements have paved the way to change the shopping pattern of consumers. E-commerce has given the potential to consumers to buy or sell products through electronic media. Earlier, online shopping was restricted to electronic equipment and appliances, but now the trend is also followed with fashion clothing online shopping. Thus, it is of immense importance to analyze how online shopping is influencing consumer behavior. The attempt is made in this chapter to analyze the impact of online shopping on consumer behavior.

The theories on consumer behavior attempt to explain changes in individual consumer decisions as well as on a larger scale. The factors influencing consumer behavior have always been the major focus of research. According to the valuation of past purchases theory, consumers buy things to form an opinion by comparing the consumption of their choice items. A major part of the online shopping trend is the product and brand loyalty towards the choice of fashion clothing. When customers make a rational choice of comparing brand value, it extends towards creating fashion clothing online rather than purchasing them in stores. Thus, the e-commerce trend can bring about a change in customer behavior for which managers must focus on the trend that holds value for customer behavior.

3. Case Study Methodology and Data Collection

Process for Research Methodology

We followed a research methodology for conducting a case study analysis. The objective of the case study analysis was to determine the impact of shopping online and offline on consumer behavior. It focused on those who shop from both channels. The unit of analysis was a deeper understanding of people and processes, the unit of measurement was about depth and not scope, and the mode of conducting the analysis was interpretative. Data was fully replicated and could be used by other researchers. The methodology followed was qualitative, and for data collection, a snowball sampling technique using convenience as a part of non-probability sampling technique was used, and purposive sampling in terms of discipline, education, age groups, activity thereby to give depth was used. The analysis of data collected was conducted using interpretative qualitative analysis. The data was collected from Punjab (region in India) as well as local target stores in Brunel, Uxbridge, and Watford. A semi-structured questionnaire was used for depth of understanding.

Data Collection Tools and Analysis

A semi-structured questionnaire determined the influence of online shopping on consumer behavior for those who also shop in the physical stores. This proved invaluable as it gave an overall understanding of how people shop and the influences and compulsions to purchase from either channel (online shopping or purchases or shopping visits to the physical store). A qualitative approach was adopted for data analysis using template analysis. It was followed to find out variations of people’s shopping behavior within the group. The sample was around 20 people for drafting the initial template. These interviews were conducted pseudonymously initially to gather as wide a range of views as possible within the databases constraint. The interviews were analyzed to do the first coding of the questionnaire. This led to the first draft of coding and the loosely defined categories were listed.

4. Findings and Analysis of the Case Study

The case study findings and analysis are divided into three main markets: the US, China, and the UK. The results suggest that the most immediate impact that online shopping has had on consumer behavior relates to convenience. This is something that is particularly clear from the data obtained from survey respondents in the UK, who ranked convenience above all other factors when considering their comfort level with online shopping. Indeed, 90% of UK survey respondents classified convenience as either ‘very important’ or ‘somewhat important’ in their decision to engage in e-commerce activities.

While the greater provision of financial logistics might seem like a banal topic to research, understanding payment technology providers has important implications for understanding the future of online shopping. Because differential pricing is an effective tool for catering to customer needs, future online shopping experiences will largely depend on which provider is used to process transactions. It is not just the particular fees attached to payment technology providers, however, that impact the decision of online shoppers. Instead, it is the security features that are most likely to make a potential customer select one merchant over another. The results demonstrate that many online shoppers, in particular those in the UK and China, are more likely to engage in e-commerce at websites that proudly display advanced security measures, such as those often seen in secure, real-time payment technologies. For example, in the UK, survey results show that advanced security features were the second most important consideration for UK online shoppers when selecting a merchant (29.3% thought it ‘very important’ and 16.2% as ‘essential’). The US survey results also indicated security as being the second most important consideration made by consumers when deciding which retailers to trust (only speed of transaction proved more important).

5. Implications for Businesses and Future Research Directions

Companies that operate in e-commerce must understand consumers’ shopping behavior and be able to predict the flow of customers to the store and retailers’ spending. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to identify the main determinants of mode choice in retail, determine travel cost efficiency, and infer WTP and/or consumption value from the choice experiment results. Based on the findings, various strategies entail pricing, retailing assortments, and customer targeting in the online and conventional shopping channels.

In the past few years, the role of e-commerce in a successful retailing strategy has been emphasized. Specifically, significant investments in infrastructure and advertising have been made by pure-play retailers in the e-commerce division. Motives for focusing on e-commerce include its potential to complement existing retail outlets or to expand the scale and scope of the market, which would help economies of scope. It may also assist in maintaining activity and/or penetrating customers by targeting various segments of the customer base. This in-depth literature review provides a broad spectrum of material in the area of online shopping, including market penetration, growth and change in the retail process, key concepts in internet shopping, and types of internet shoppers. Past retail strategies are also analyzed with the assumption that shoppers are the primary category. These two areas will indicate the strategic implications of online shopping habits on retailers. Finally, we also utilized a choice experiment to evaluate factors behind consumer behavior in internet and in-store shopping in a recent survey. The reported testing outcomes demonstrate the significance of other variables, including paying travel expenses, variations in in-store and at-home selection among retailers, goods with varying average selling prices, frequency of purchases, perceived internet pressure or convenience of use, age, and lifestyle in consumers’ value of travel time and choice of retail channels. In the following section of the money interpretation, this material is utilized. Since revealed and stated preference estimates of choice conduct diverged, lack of aggregation was also investigated in the sample.