View of CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED BY ONLINE SHOPPERS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PERCEPTIONS OF CUSTOMERS OF INDORE AND PUNE

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VOLUME: 10, Special Issue 01, (IC-IESP-MULTI-2023) Paper id-IJIERM-X-I, January 2023 18

CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED BY ONLINE SHOPPERS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PERCEPTIONS OF CUSTOMERS OF INDORE AND PUNE

Dr. D.N. Purohit Prof. G.A.C.C Indore Mrs. Sheetal Upadhyay Joshi Research Scholar DAVV Indore

Abstract - Purpose –Overall customer confidence in e-commerce is still poor as a result of recent news stories concerning online fraud, incorrect information, phoney ads, spam emails, and credit card information theft scams. The present study is an attempt to understand challenges faced by online shoppers in e-shopping in India with special reference to Indore and Pune cities.

Methodology–Stratified Random Sampling has been applied to select the sample from online shoppers of Indore and Pune cities. 1000 questionnaires were mailed to randomly selected customers from both cities, out of which 495questionnaires form Indore and 489 questionnaires from Pune were found complete in allsenses and were considered for final analysis. A self –administered questionnaire was designed to gather data and the data so obtained was analyzed using chi-square test and independent samples t- test.

Findings –The study concludes that most of the respondents from both Indore city and Pune city reported agreeing with the majority of factors related to the challenges faced by them in online shopping. Thus, the city of residence does not affect online shoppers’

opinions about challenges in online shopping. It is suggested that these challenges can be met by adoptingomni-channel model where physical stores and online merge seamlessly to offer a comprehensive shopping experience. Opening physical touch points for customers canoffer a better experience thus, can help retaining them.

Research limitations/implications – The study is confined to online customers of Indore and Pune. E-commerce owners and policymakers can also be investigated to get a deep insight into the issue under consideration.

Originality/value – This article is an analytical update on challenges faced by online shoppers in the light of their opinions and can be a valuable resource for policymakers, e- commerce companies as well as researchers.

Keywords–challenges, e-commerce, e-shopping, online shopping.

1. INTRODUCTION

The e-commerce industry is currently one of India's leading industries.It has shown remarkable growth in the last few years and has been successful in changing Indian consumers’ behavior. It has enabled people to shop wherever and whenever they want in a convenient and hassle-free way. It is a modern concept of doing business electronically in this global era of the business environment. Technological up-gradation, changing demographic profiles, rising income, and rapid urbanization are among the key factors that are pushing the growth of the online business.Moreover, due to the availability of wide communication network e-commerce is the new mediator between manufacturers and customers. E-commerce has numerous benefits, which can be distilled into the statement that it can save costs while boosting revenue and profits. These advantages are the principal drivers of e-commerce adoption in modern business organizations. However, a developing country like India has its own harsh reality regarding the implications of e- commerce in India, and these aspects have a direct or indirect impact on the mind of individuals and organizations, thereby on the meaning of e-commerce. Challenges pertaining to exchange and return, cybercrimes, poor infrastructure, and lack of knowledge of online shopping, are posing challenges in front of e-retailers as well as online shoppers.

With this background, the present study is an attempt to understand the challenges faced by online shoppers in India with special reference to Indore and Pune cities.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

Kumar et al. (2018) found out problems like poor telecom infrastructure, no strict legal bans, lack of good attitude towards technologies and poor academic syllabus regarding e-

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commerce were also been noted. The article suggested that a proper step should be taken by the government and private agencies to implement ICT based academic syllabus, update legal frameworks, developing ICT infrastructure and creating awareness among people for effective implementation of e-commerce technology for sustainable economic growth.

Tripathi & Khan (2016) opined that the fragile cyber security law in India is the reason Indian People are confronting challenges toward online business. Reddy & Divekar (2014)concluded that Logistic and Shipment services is most crucial challenge faced by e- commerce companies in India along with the issues related to Cash on delivery, Tax structure and Online transaction and security. For meeting the challenge of poor knowledge and awareness about the company- Google ads, Social Networking website, Television ads and rely on word of mouth are common. For Cash on Delivery and Tax Structure no measures are employed. Rahman et al. (2018) revealed that both male and female both have the same type of behavior towards liking and disliking factors; they like home delivery facility and dislike inability to touch and feel the product most. Further, Pant & Gupta (2016) concluded that some of the things to be cautious of include poor security, poor site design, too many refund requests, harsh terms and conditions of some payment platforms and poor marketing. Yeniçeri & Akin (2013) revealed thatconsumers are not able to access the product properly due to in availability of physical inspection, namely, touch and feel of the product, brand colours, and incorrect or incomplete information about the features of the product which leads to an increase in the risk related to product’s performance. Javedi et al. (2012) found that financial risks and non-delivery risks negatively affected the attitude towards the online shopping behaviour of Iranian consumers. However, the effect of product risks and convenience risks on consumer attitudes towards online shopping was not noteworthy. Hirst & Omar (2007) studied women’s attitudes towards shopping online and some negative features included a lack of security, lack of privacy of information and online fraud.

Thus, there is a need to provide conflicting views on challenges faced by customers in online shopping in India. The present study aims to fill the gap with an analytical study of customers’ perceptions in the context of the selected cities viz., Indore and Pune.

3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

RQ1. What are the challenges faced by customers in online shopping in India?

RQ2. Does the city of residence of online customers affect their opinions with regard to challenges in online shopping in India?

4. HYPOTHESIS

H0: There is no significant association between Online Customers’ Opinions about Challenges in Online Shopping and their City of Residence.

H1: There is a significant association between Online Customers’ Opinions about Challenges in Online Shopping and their City of Residence.

5. RESEARCH METHOD

Stratified Random Sampling has been applied to select the sample from online shoppers of Indore and Pune cities. Thereafter, simple random sampling technique was used to randomly select online shoppersfrom these strata.They were contacted through mails and social media. An intensive survey was conducted from Mar 2021 to Nov 2021.1000 questionnaires were mailed to randomly selected customers from both the cities, out of which 495questionnaires form Indore and 489 questionnaires from Pune were found complete in allsenses and were considered for final analysis. A self –administered questionnaire was designed to gather data and the data so obtained was analyzed using the chi-square test and independent samples t- test.

6. DATA ANALYSIS

The Chi-square test was appliedto each factor of challenges encountered by online shoppers to examine the effect of their city of residence on their opinion. Independent samples t-test was also applied to compare the composite mean scores of these factors between customers of Indore and Pune.

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Table 1 Association between Customers’ Perceptions on Challenges in Online Shopping and their City of Residence

It can be inferred from table 1 –

 It was found that a significant difference was found between the opinions of sample online shoppers from Pune city and Indore city with regard to the following statements-

 Majority of respondents (66% approx.) of Indore and nearly 73% respondents of Pune reported believing that there is no possibility to feel, touch or see actual products to access quality.

 Approx. 62% of the sample customers of Indore and nearly 77% of respondents of Pune reported agreeing with the fact that there is a risk of misuse of personal details in online shopping.

 58% of sample customers of Indore and 63% of respondents of Pune were found to agree with the fact that there is a risk of social isolation in online shopping.

 Majority of respondents (62% approx.) of Indore and nearly 70% of respondents of Pune reported believing that there is a risk of payment mode theft.

 Nearly 60% of sample customers of Indore and nearly 59% of respondents of Pune were found to agree with the fact that there is a risk of non-delivery of products after payment.

 46% of sample customers of Indore and nearly 37% of respondents of Pune were found to agree with the fact that online shoppers can’t rely on online vendor services.

 60% of sample customers of Indore and nearly 70% of respondents of Pune were found to agree with the fact that online shoppers miss the enjoyment of going out shopping.

 Nearly 43% of the sample customers of both cities were found to agree with the fact that online shoppers suffer body aches & backache issues due to long time sitting for shopping.

 Merely 35% of sample customers of Indore and 33% of respondents of Pune were found to agree with the fact that Products at online shops are More Expensive than those Sold in Retail Stores.

 It was found that sample online shoppers from both cities were found to have similar opinions with regard to the following statements -

 Merely 26% of sample customers of Indore and about 29% of respondents of Pune were found to agree with the fact that customers have a lack of knowledge of online shopping. Thus it is believed that the lack of knowledge of online shopping is no more a challenge for the majority of customers.

S.

No. Parameters % of agreement Chi-square

Value p value (Result) Indore Pune

1. No possibility to feel, touch or see actual

products to access quality 66% 73% 20.284 0.000 (Significant)

2. Lack of knowledge of online shopping 26% 29% 3.115 0.539(Non-Significant) 3. Risk of Misuse of Personal Details 62% 77% 49.227 0.000 (Significant)

4. Risk of Social Isolation 58% 63% 13.514 0.009 (Significant)

5. Risk of Payment Mode Theft 62% 70% 14.742 0.005 (Significant)

6. Risk of Non-Delivery of Products after

Payment 60% 59% 10.162 0.038 (Significant)

7. Can’t rely on online vendor services 46% 37% 17.161 0.002 (Significant)

8. Lengthy Return Policies 48% 40% 8.606 0.072 (Non-Significant)

9. Difficult to Rely on Mentioned Brands 50% 50% 9.55 0.051 (Non-Significant) 10. Missing Enjoy Going Out for Shopping 60% 70% 50.976 0.000 (Significant) 11. Suffering Body Ache & Backache Issues due

to Long Time Sitting for Shopping 43% 43% 32.188 0.000 (Significant) 12. Products More Expensive than Sold in Retail

Stores 35% 33% 23.392 0.000 (Significant)

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 48% of sample customers of Indore and nearly 40% of respondents of Pune were found to agree with the fact that there are lengthy return policies in online shopping.

 Nearly half of the sample customers of both cities were found to agree with the fact that online shoppers face difficulties to rely on mentioned brands.

Table 2 Comparison of Mean Scores of Challenges Encountered by Online Shoppers Based on City of Residence

Variable City of

Residence N Mean Std.

Deviation T Test P Value Result Barriers &

Problems encountered

Indore 495 40.978 6.587

-0.731 0.465 Non Sig

Pune 489 41.27 6.022

The above table 2 shows the comparison of mean scores of respondents’ opinions about challenges encounteredon the basis of their city of residence. A statistically non-significant difference (P>0.05) was found between respondents belonging to Indore and Pune cities implying that their opinions towards challenges faced by themdo not change significantly with their city of residence. Thus the hypothesis “There is no significant association between Online Customers’ Opinions about Challenges in Online Shopping and their City of Residence”holds true.

7. CONCLUSION

The study concludes that most of the respondents from both Indore city and Pune city reported agreeing with the majority of factors related to challenges faced by them in online shopping. Thus, the city of residence does not affect online shoppers’ opinions about challenges in online shopping. It was found that a greater percentage of customers of Pune were agree with the majority of challenges factors. However, no significant difference was foundbetween customers from both the citieswith regard to statements viz., lack of knowledge of online shopping, lengthy return policies in online shopping, and difficulties to rely on mentioned brands. Itwas observed that customers' trust and safety are amongst the biggest challenge faced by e-commerce companies in India. Overall customer confidence in this system is still poor as a result of recent news stories concerning online fraud, incorrect information, phoney ads, spam emails, and credit card information theft scams. Moreover, a developing country like India has its own harsh reality regarding the implications of e- commerce in India, and these aspects have a direct or indirect impact on the mind of individuals and organizations, thereby on the meaning of e-commerce. It is suggested that these challenges can be met by adoptingomni-channel model where physical stores and online merge seamlessly to offer a comprehensive shopping experience. Opening physical touch points for customers canoffer a better experience thus, can help retaining them.

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