A MANAGEMENT RESEARCH PROJECT PROPOSAL ON

PROSPECTS OF E-RETAILING
SUBMITTED BY:

HUNNY GOYAL (1514)

PROJECT GUIDE: Dr. Naresh Patel

CENTRE FOR MANAGEMENT STUDIES DHARMSINH DESAI UNIVERSITY NADIAD

INTRODUCTION
Internet usage globally has been on the rise with most of the growth coming from markets in Asia Pacific and Latin America. The online user growth has primarily been fueled with improved network infrastructure and growing need of online content consumption. The Internet revolution in India is definitely making its impact felt with more users realizing its potential and importance. The total Internet user base in India (inclusive of shared devices and mobile) is at 130+ million users, which roughly represent penetration levels of 10% of the population leaving huge opportunity for future growth. With the combined mobile subscribers crossing the 900 million mark, Broadband and Internet services are expected to grow through wireless. Going forward, the Mobile Internet will drive the growth of e-Commerce, Banking, Entertainment and other avenues. The Ministry of Communications & IT has embarked upon a massive project of connecting the 2, 50,000 Gram Panchayats across the country though 100 Mbps of optical fibre connectivity. This Digital Highway once implemented will connect the smaller towns and villages leading to good growth of e-Commerce transactions, thereby generating more employment and enabling the growth of the Indian economy.

The next trigger points for the growth of e-Commerce in India will be the following:
1. The large-scale rollout of 3G and 4G broadband services, the National Broadband Plan and much expected opening of the Retail sector will certainly usher new business opportunities for eCommerce in the country. 2. The Internet also brought significant changes the way businesses and e-Commerce are being conceptualized and run today. 3. The growth of Cloud based technologies is redefining the e-Commerce business models. Today, companies can start their e-Commerce ventures with much less CAPEX, and quicker go to market strategy. In the current Indian scenario, the online model compliments the brick-andmortar model rather than completely replacing it. E-Commerce has shown a very exciting growth trend among the travel and retail sites, which have gained considerable acceptance within the Indian population. Few relevant statistics mentioned below highlights this exciting growth trend: IRCTC (Indian Railways), MakeMyTrip and Yatra are amongst the most visited travel sites in India. Flipkart leads the way among the online retailers in India with 7.4 million unique visitors a

month, growing at 431% annually. Snapdeal has been close second with 6.9 million unique visitors. Apparel has been the fastest growing subcategory in retail and reaches 13.4% online users in India.

Retail growth in e-Commerce in India has been primarily fueled due to the following factors:
1. Several startup ventures getting the required funding from Venture Capital funds or Private Equity funds 2. Aggressive marketing by the players going online 3. Consumer need and convenience to buy these products online Today Indian e-Commerce market has been buzzing due to significant progress achieved in all the four pillars of e-Commerce: technology, logistics, payment and marketing. Technology Platforms/ products have been developed in various robust and scalable technologies such as Enterprise Java, Microsoft Technologies as well as open source technologies (primarily Magento framework). Logistics The level of connectivity between Supply chain management and last mile logistics and end customers have greatly improved over the past few years. The increasing presence of international logistics player in India such as FedEx (acquired AFL) and DHL (acquired Bluedart) etc. has compelled the Indian players to upgrade their logistics services offerings. Payment Other than usage of Cards and NetBanking payment modes, the newer models like Cash on Delivery (COD) and other consumer centric payment options such as EMI for purchases has boosted the growth of online commerce. Usage of Debit cards for shopping as well as credit card penetration in the country is also increasing year-on-year. Marketing On the digital marketing side, people have partnered with Google, who provide analytics to retailers, and demonstrated that usage of AdWords can drive traffic. Online retail has seen a heavy overlap with social networking and search due to aggressive marketing and strong inclination towards social commerce. India is positioning itself as one of the fastest growing social networked user base. To conclude, e-Commerce has seen tremendous growth in the last 12 months. Yet, these are still early days, as the e-Commerce industry in India is set to boom further, perhaps reaching $260 billion, by 2025, according to a report by First Data Corporation and ICICI Merchant Services.

LITERATURE REVIEW
When it comes to India, though, you cant just go by numbers and comparisons. The thing we repeatedly hear is that India is a unique market with unique challenges, which also means it creates unique opportunities. Given all this, who are going to be these successful e-Commerce players of tomorrow? I think the successful companies of tomorrow are going to look different from the ones that are on the top now. Theres going to be 100-200 million new e-Commerce customers that are going to be up for grabs in the next few years. Another way to look at it is that in 80% of the eCommerce shoppers of 2016 still are available to be nabbed by e-Commerce sites. And theyre going to come from predominantly two categories. First, from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities as the logistics and connectivity there improve and second, young people that get jobs/pocket-money and start shopping online.

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES
Chanaka Jayawardhena, Len Tiu Wright and Charles Dennis The research carried out by them on "Consumers Online: Intentions, Orientations, Segmentation". This paper reflects the purchase intentions of online retail consumers, segmented by their purchase orientation. These findings indicate that consumer purchase orientations in both the traditional world and on the Internet are largely similar. Therefore, both academics and businesses are advised to treat the Internet as an extension to existing traditional activities brought about by advances in technology, i.e. the multi-channel approach. Ruby Roy Dholakia and Kuan pin Chiang The research carried out by them on "Factors Driving Consumer Intention to Shop Online". This study empirically examined the influence of convenience, price, and product type on consumers intention to shop online. The results of the study indicate that convenience influences consum ers intention to shop online. When consumers perceive shopping offline as inconvenient, they are more likely to shop on the Internet.

Vanitha Swaminathan and Andrew J. Rohm The research carried out by them on "A Typology of online shoppers based on shopping motivation". This study represents an important first step in extending the general shopping literature to the context of online shopping. Variety seeking and convenience were found to be significant motivating factors in the online shopping context. Time savings and recreational

motives were significant motives in the offline but not the online context, suggesting that these factors may serve to differentiate the shopping types across these channels

Lohse, G.L., Bellman & E.J. (Murdoch Research University) The research carried out by them on "Consumer buying Behavior on the internet. This research lays out the importance on U.S. Customers perspective about the Online Shopping & Various other factors which motivates them & restraint them from online shopping & various other classification of the classes according to their needs Demographic factors.

INDIAN PERSPECTIVES
Shubham Goswami & Meera Mathure The research carried out by them on "Retail Goes Online: An Indian Perspective". Compared to countries like United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Canada and others, India is still in its nascent stage of e-shopping. But the real growth that online retailers are betting on in India is an increase in buying in smaller towns and cities that have no access to modern retail. There are divergent views on the future of e-retailing in India. Some experts are of the opinion that the giant, big brand retailers would dominate the small ones due to their wider investment capacities. It would be next to impossible for the small retailers and the kiranas to prove their existence in the battlefield of online retailing. Another viewpoint is that there would be an exponential growth in the online retailing business in India. Though much is yet to be achieved, remember E-tailing is a new industry in India. With broadband internet access still accessible to entire population, this industry may see an explosive growth. Most growth drivers are in Indias favor demographics, economy, changing lifestyle, exposure to new ideas. It is just a question of creating a sustainable eco system for E-tailing, which is at an inflection point.

Shweta Sharma & Sugandha Mittal The research carried out by them on "Prospects of Ecommerce in India" This Paper put emphasis on how a developing country can become industrialized and modernized if it can extensively apply IT to enhance productivity and international competitiveness, develop e- commerce and e-governance applications. An information-based society or knowledge based society is composed of IT products, IT applications in society and economy as a whole. Many countries in Asia are taking advantage of e-commerce through opening of economies, which is essential for promoting competition and diffusion of

Internet technologies. Large enough to have a critical mass of 10 to 20 million users to be able to make an impact on e-commerce and e-governance. In the next 3 to 5 years, India will have 30 to 70 million Internet users which will equal, if not surpass, many of the developed countries. Internet economy will then become more meaningful in India. With the rapid expansion of internet, ecommerce, is set to play a very important role in the 21st century, the new opportunities that will be thrown open, will be accessible to both large corporations and small companies.

Alka Raghunath & Murli Dhar Panga The research carried out by them on "Problems & Prospects of Ecommerce " This paper focuses on With the development of computer technology, the World Wide Web has become the connection medium for the networked world. Computers from locations that are geographically dispersed can talk with each other through the Internet. As with any new technology, there are positives and negatives associated with its use and Adoption. Finally, an e-marketplace can serve as an information agent that provides buyers and sellers with information on products and other participants in the market. E-commerce creates new opportunities for business; it also creates new opportunities for education and academics. It appears that there is tremendous potential for providing e-business education.

RESEARCH METHODOLGY RATIONALE:My research will focus on the Prospects of E-Retailing in the Indian market as it is the new form of retail which is flourishing very rapidly in Indian economy & it explores huge potential in the Indian market. Researching the Prospects of E-Retailing through their potential & different Problems faced by the Online Retailers & Customers will be the Prima Facie of the research to get the in depth about the Indian Ecommerce & Several factors affecting its growth.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY: Primary Objective:- Studying the Prospects of E-Retailing in India Secondary Objectives:I. II. III. Finding out the Various issues & Problems faced by the Indian E-retailers To get the In depth view of the Indian customers about the E-retailing Figuring out the Factors affecting the Indian customers which motivates them and restricts them from Online Shopping IV. Various other factors affecting the E-retailing in India.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY:This study basically tries to understand the current scenario of the Indian E-retailing sector & its prospects & problems faced by E-retailers & Customers along with its future growth.

RESEARCH DESIGN:
A research design is the specification of methods and procedures for acquiring the needed information. It is overall operational pattern or framework of the project that stipulates what information is to be collected from which source by what procedure. There are three types of objectives in a marketing research project:-

Exploratory Research. Descriptive Research. Casual Research.

1. Exploratory Research:- The objective of exploratory research is to gather preliminary information that will help define problems and suggest hypothesis. 2. Descriptive Research:- The objective of descriptive research is to describe things, such as the market potential for a product or the demographics and attitudes of consumers who buy the product. 3. Casual Research:- The objective of casual research is to test hypothesis about casual and effect relationships. Based on the above definitions it can be established that this study is based on Exploratory & Descriptive Research as we have to find out the prospects & problems related to Indian E-Retailing.

DATA COLLECTION:The data can be dichotomized into two types: primary data, secondary data.

PRIMARY DATA:- The primary data has been collected simultaneously along with
secondary data for meeting the established objectives to provide the solution for the problem identified in this study.

The methods that have been used to collect the primary data are:-

o Questionnaire. o Personal Interview.

SECONDARY DATA:- It is defined as the data collected earlier for a purpose other
than one currently being pursued. As a researcher I have scanned lot of sources to get an access to secondary data which have formed a reference base to compare the research findings. Secondary data in this study has provided an insight and forms an outline for the core objectives established.
The various sources of secondary data used for this study are:-

Newspaper Magazines

Internet Companies annual reports

SAMPLE SIZE:The sample size collected for the various objectives where, from the total number of customers and the companies marketing executives the sample size determined was: 200 customers.

RESEARCH INSTRUMENT:The primary data collected through the survey method for the purpose of the study. The survey was done by using questionnaire method. Secondary data: information regarding the organization was obtained from secondary sources like company journals, company websites, publications & records.

1. QUESTIONNAIRE i. ii. iii. Likert Scale Structured Questionnaire unstructured Questionnaire

2. ANALYSIS (MS-EXCEL & SPSS) i. Factor Analysis ii. Hypothesis Test(Annova & T-test)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

WEBSITES & JOURNALS:Jstor.org Hgsinteractive.com/current-trends-and-future-of ecommerce-in-india.htm Yourstory.in/future-of-the-indian-ecommerce.htm http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/8571/ Scholars.google.com E&y.com/annual-report-on-eretailing-2012