EMERGING DIMENSIONS OF E-COMMERCE: A CASE STUDY ON THE STUDENTS OF UTKAL UNIVERSITY
Ranjeeta Nayak1
ABSTRACT: Success of a business depends not only upon the quality of goods and services it offers but the frequency with which it reaches its customers and the distance it covers. Meeting the customer’s needs frequently as well as efficiently with the quality products has now become difficult through the traditional means of sale. E-commerce in this direction has emerged as a new and efficient technique. E-marketers have proved themselves as efficient in providing quality products as well as satisfactory customer services. Door-to-door sale has become more famous today than the traditional market sale. E-marketers have become more beneficial than retailers and wholesalers by gaining customers faith. This paper highlights the evolution of e-commerce along with its distinct categories. It also draws a conclusion regarding the popularity of e-commerce by analysing the responses of post graduate students of Utkal University, Bhubaneswar through a sample study. It also focuses on the major challenges faced by e-business and suggests some measures to eliminate those problems.
INTRODUCTION
Emerging dimensions of business in the competitive business era demand changes in the approaches of business management including financial management, internal management, selling as well as marketing. E-commerce is one of the approaches of selling and marketing products. There is no single definition of E- Commerce, it means only commercial activity which is performed or linked to or supported by electronic communication. Growing popularity of e-commerce with a huge positive response from customers demands more and more focus towards building a holistic approach of doing online business.
IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
E-commerce now plays a vital role not only in sustainability of business but also in systematic business progress. So, it is very important to know the popularity of e- commerce in the competitive business scenario. This paper tries to give an insight regarding popularity of e-commerce through a sample study of students of Utkal University. It also makes an attempt to analyse the major challenges faced by e-business in the modern business era and suggests some measures for solving those problems.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
To find out the popularity of e-commerce among the students of Utkal University.
To analyse major problems faced by e-business in the era of globalisation.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The study is based on both primary and secondary data. Primary data has been collected from the students of Utkal University on sample study basis (50 students) through questionnaire. Secondary data has been collected from various journals, articles, books and websites. Various diagrams have been used for analytical study.
E-COMMERCE:
Commerce has evolved over the centuries. Prior to evolution of money it was the simple “barter process” where things could be exchanged, say milk for grains. The evolution of money brought with it, the concept of a “market place.” In a market place, commerce is function of 4 Ps – Product, Price, Place and Promotions. All these four components play a vital role in a transaction to take place. Different combinations of 4Ps determine different forms of commerce. Once the market place came into existence, a few pioneers realised that people would be ready to pay extra if they could deliver products at the customer’s doorstep. A slight modification on Price and Place led to the convenience of getting products at their homes. This concept delighted the customers and thus, the concept of street vendor was born.When the postal system came into being the seller decided to cash in on the new opportunity and started using mailer giving description of their products. It led to the concept of “Mail Order Cataloguing”. From here the evolution of the “Tele Shopping” network took place with the development of media vehicles. The latest generation of commerce is one that can be done over the internet. Internet provides a virtual platform where sellers and buyers can come in contact for sale and purchase of goods and services. They can be thousands of miles apart, may belong to different parts of the world, might speak different languages, “Ecommerce” emerged as the boundary less trade medium in the era of globalization
DISTINCT CATEGORIES OF E COMMERCE:
E-commerce, which primarily refers to buying, selling, marketing and servicing of products or services over internet, is classified into B2B (Business to Business),
B2C(Business to Consumer) and C2C (Consumer to Consumer) and C2B (Consumer to Business). Four distinct categories of electronic commerce can be identified as follows: • Business-to-business (B2B):
management, sales activities, payment management, and service and support. The foreign branded companies are eager to take full advantage of the growing Indian market and are trying to create market for their products. Some of the key B2B exchanges in India are tradeindia.com, matexnet.com, Alibaba.com, AuctionIndia.com, Indiamart.com, TeaAuction.com, MetalJunction.com, Chemdex (www.chemdex.com), Fastparts (www.fastparts.com), and FreeMarkets (www.freemarkets.com)etc.
• Business-to-Consumer (B2C):
B2C transactions take place directly between business establishments and consumers.
Although business-to-business transactions play an important part in e-commerce market, a share of e-commerce revenues in developing countries like India is generated from business to consumer transactions. Business-to-Consumer e-commerce refers to exchanges between businesses and consumers, e.g., Amazon.com, Yahoo.com and Schwab.com. Similar transactions that occur in business-to business e-commerce also take place in the business-to-consumer context. However, all customer-facing, or “front office” activities are typically tracked. These include sales activities, consumer search, frequently asked questions and service and support. Railway and Airlines have played a vital role in e-commerce transactions in India. Travel portals are exploding in India. Recently, Make My Trip.com has shown Rs 1000 crores of turnover. Travel alone constituted 50% of Rs 4800 crore online market in 2007-08. In India, online services like ticketing, banking, tax payment, bill payment, hotel room booking, entertainment, online games, matrimonial sites, job sites, etc. are showing signs of development in business-to-customer transactions. Online valentine gifts and Diwali gifts are also becoming popular along with the birthday cakes.
• Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C):
C2C sites don't form a very high portion of web-based commerce. Most visible examples are the auction sites. Basically, if someone has something to sell, then he gets it listed at an auction sites and others can bid for it. Consumer-to-Consumer exchanges involve transactions between and among consumers. These exchanges may or may not include third-party involvement. Other activities include: classified ads (e.g.,www.numberoneclassifieds.com), games (www.heat.net), jobs (www.monster.com), Web-based communication (www.icq.com), and personal services (e.g.,Yahoo! Personals, webpersonals.com).
• Consumer-to-Business (C2B):
To find out the popularity of e-commerce, one study was conducted among the students of Utkal University, Vani Vihar, Bhubaneswar. So of the important analysis of the study can be given as
follows-Q. How do students use internet?
66.00% 20.00%
8.00% 6.00%
PC LAPTOP SMART PHOPE OTHER MEANS
Male female Male female Male Female Male female
2 2 3 7 12 21 3
---Total 2 2 3 7 12 21 3 --- 50
Q. On which website do they usually shop? Q. On an average how often
Students buy online?
Period Once in every two weeks
Once in a month
Once in quarterly
Once in a year
total
No. Of students
4.00%
56.00% 28.00%
12.00%
Q. According to them what are Q. Are they satisfied with the products
the most important criteria when they buy online? delivered?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
NO YES
Q. Do they study online? Q. Which type of books do they study?
TYPE OF BOOKSNOVELSELF HELP BOOK Q.
Which type of products do they buy? Q. Do they follow job portals?
42.86%
28.57% 11.43% 17.14%
Chart Title
Nauki.com Monster.com Times.com Shine.com
RESEARCH FINDINGS:
Smart phone is the best way to use internet. So 66% of students do internet through
smart phone. 20%, 8%, 6% of students use laptop, PC, other device respectively to do internet.
Almost all the students do online shopping.
On an average it is found that maximum numbers of students do online shopping once
in a month.
58% of students buy from flipkart site as this site provides satisfied goods and
services to customers. 28% of students prefer snapdeal.com as its shipping charge is nil i.e. free delivery. Limited number of products are not available in the above two sites. So 4% of pupils choose Amazon.com. Students also order from Homeshop18 for bulk purchase i.e. basically home appliances.
At the time of online purchase first priority is given to quality and second to price and
then payment, choice, delivery, presentation, possibility to get back in touch with seller respectively.
There are certain draw backs for which students shift from traditional buying to e
buying (e commerce).In traditional buying customers have to travel a long distance to buy one product. Sometimes they may not get the exact product of their choice and the price under this system is quite high.
But in e commerce pupil get the product of their choice. Sitting in one room, just on a
click product is delivered to its destination.
Students prefer COD method of payment than other methods. As they don’t have
credit cards.
Students use e library for study. Basically science students use it more as their books
cost more i.e., in thousands.75% of commerce and 30% of arts students do study online.
Normally students order their regular course books ( 60%). 20% students are crazy for
novels. Rest of the students study other books.
Out of four mentioned items, boys are interested in books i.e. 56% and electronic
appliances i.e. 75%. 25% of male do shop apparels. Boys don’t prefer cosmetics. Whereas the usage percentage of cosmetics item from online is 33% in case of girls. They are more concerned about their beauty. Girls order less electronic items than boys.
Students are concerned about their future career. So they visit some job portals like
Naukri.com, Monster.com, Times.com, Shine.com etc. The most popular site is Naukri.com.
Through personal interview it is found that students are not satisfied with the
prevailing internet connection in the campus. There is no constant signal; it becomes ups and down. The campus should have wi-fi facility so that they may not face problem at the time of carrying out online transaction.
The students who have come from remote areas have rare idea about e commerce. So
they aren’t able to avail the benefits of it.
CHALLENGES OF E-COMMERCE
Pushy Sales: When customers look for something for online shopping, they eventually gets frustrated with tons of popup and banner ads screaming at them, this can be one reason for which customers switch over to other sites.
Personalization: Personalization can be the single most important challenge when it comes to e-Commerce. The retail store owners remember customers, their preferences and have that personal touch which is difficult to replace in case of online sale.
No-Service Sales: E-Commerce web-stores might be attractive, but what if the customers get lost in the sites without having any idea about what to search and where to go? This is common challenge that many e-Commerce websites are having.
Choice of good e-Commerce solution: E-Commerce website can be built from
International Orders: It is found that 40% of the e-Commerce shopping portals turn down international orders as most of them doesn’t have the logistics, and other systems to fulfil the order and this is a major challenge facing the global e-Commerce. Duties and tariffs are other problem as customers tend to reject purchase due to such high cost.
Shipping Challenges: Issues related to lack of supply chain integration, high delivery charges for products, delay in delivery and lack of proper courier services in some areas also make customers frustrated.
Product Return, Refund etc.: Products which are not satisfactory for the customers tend to get replaced or returned. This is another major issue which leads into overall loss in revenue, loss of shipment costs and more than all loss of reputation.
Currency Challenges: Different countries have different import export specifications. This hinders smoothness in e-Commerce shopping and product delivery. Issues related to credit card limits and currency exchange rates. Certain countries also restrict payment gateways causing problem.
International Taxation: We are living in a global village and web has truly made our business boundaries seamless, global and boundary-less. But the world still lives in physical boundaries and this is not going to change anytime soon. Every country (even states inside them) has different taxation norms, which creates a huge challenge.
Customer Service: E-Marketers focus on the website performance ignoring customer relationship and personal assistance.
SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT OF E-BUSINESS
Personalization: Personalization, while a challenge, if addressed well can be a huge differentiator in how the customer experience is shaped in the online purchase. E-Marketers can utilize intelligent tools like web analytics, study customer behaviour online, reward and reach out to customers. The more personalization they can out into their web-stores, more the customers will love them.
Make Your Site Navigable: Customers sometimes tend to get lost in the e-commerce sites. They can provide proper navigation in their sites to make things easier for their customers. They should try to make their e-Commerce sites properly structured. Choosing e-Commerce solution: It is better to do some research based on specific
needs. They should read the feature lists, try demos, and get reviews from who know better about this. It is always better to choose something that has large community as it will offer help, tutorials, sample codes, third party plug-ins, themes, and security auditing, which will help marketers in enhancing the productivity for their e-Commerce web-stores.
Delivered Duties Paid: E-Marketers pay duties and taxes for what they sell. It is better to sell products internationally on an all-inclusive price basis and hassle free services though all international courier facilities.
Shipping: It is better to deliver in bulk in one go to a single hub and distribute based on domestic shipping charges. This is called regionalization.
Product Return and Refund: E-marketers should make it sure that all product descriptions are up-to-date and relevant. Also they should ensure that the products they deliver are procured from certified vendors.
Multiple Payment Options: E-marketers should be open for all payment gateways, should start entertaining e-Wallets, prepaid cards etc. which will offer better cash flow and relieve customers from credit card problems.
Focus on Customer Service: Online users want fast response to their query. So e-marketers should start interacting with them through 24X7 emails, calls, and chat assistance. They should make their customers interact with them through all possible means like social media marketing etc. They must keep reminding the customers about deals and promotions that they are offering and try to know what they think about them.
CONCLUSION
The effects of e commerce are already appearing in all areas of business, from customer service to new product design. It facilities new type of information based business processes for reaching and interacting with customers like online advertising and marketing, online order taking and home delivery of products. It faces many challenges which are inevitable in doing business but some steps may be taken to make online business more effective.
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ON
EMERGING DIMENSION OF E COMMERCE AMONG THE STUDENTS OF PG DEPARTMENT OF UTKAL UNIVERSITY
4. What could a website offer to stimulate you to purchase on internet rather than in a traditional shop?
Ans:
5. On an average how often do you buy online? Once in every three weeks
Once a month Once in quarterly Once in a year
6. On which website do you shop?
Ebay ; Amazon ; Flipkart ; Snapdeal ; Homeshop 18 ; Other 7. According to you what are the most important criteria when you buy in traditional
shops ?
Sales man advice ; Price ; Quality ; Payment facility
8. According to you what are the most important criteria when you buy on line? Delivery ; Payment security ; Possibility to get back in touch to reseller Price ; Quality ; Choice ; Presentation {Please rank your answer} 9. How far are you willing to travel for a traditional shop?
Less than 10 miles From 10-20 miles From 20-30 miles More than 30 miles
10. Draw backs of traditional trade :
11. What type of product do you usually buy online? Ans:
12. Why do not you buy that product in retail market?
Ans:
13. Are you satisfied with the product delivered? Yes ; No 14. If yes then up to what extent?
Fully satisfied Average Just ok
17. Which type of book do you study? Regular course book ; Novel ; Comic ; Self help book ; Mythological book 18. Why do not you go for purchasing it from market?
Ans:
19. Is internet connection convenient in the campus? Yes ; No
20. Up to what extent are you satisfied with that connection? Fully ; Average
21. How do you make payment? Credit card ; Debit card ; Cash on delivery
22. Do you access job portals? Yes ; No
23. What job portals do you use? Naukri.com ; Monster.com ; Times.com ; Shine.com
24. Any suggestion would you like to give regarding improvement of E COMMERCE, please suggest :
NAME :
GENDER:
HOSTELITE/ LOCALITE:
ADDRESS:
