ABSTRACT

Theres been a remarkable transformation in Indian retail sector because of altering attitude of
the urban as well as rural consumers. Not only diverse products and numerous brands available
have spoilt the online shoppers but also they have different retailers forms such as specialty
stores, departmental stores, and e-commerce platforms to shop from. Many factors such as
increased internet literacy, increased number of working women, better IT infrastructure,
technology penetration, young demographics, shift in consumer lifestyle , credit/debit card
usage, perceived usefulness, ease of use and the greater than before visibility of online players in
the market place has changed the panorama of online shopping in India. The procedure of selling
retail products/goods using the internet is called e-tailing. E-tailing segment in India has
developed enough to touch upon the swift transformation from the age of offline to online
platform to be utilized by the customers and addresses the issues featured during this transition.
Along with the sudden explosion of web users, for many firms it has been considered as a new
channel to implement publicity events or sales promotion activities such as online festivals.
Similar to offline festivals as in brick and mortar during festival seasons as shopping is
predominant in India during Diwali, Christmas or New Year, the e-tailors are offering the same
benefits via online festivals to increase sales and acquire substantial customer base and help them
to increase in brand awareness. The spotlight of this analysis is to know the role of online
festivals and its influence on the behavior of the consumers and sales. Online festivals are one of
the foremost aggressive events for the online retailers which present a good chance to boost up
sales and to gain new consumers. In broad-spectrum, online festivals in the country India see
crucial spike in many product classes including cars, electronics, electronics etc, Because of the
propensity to splurge extra during festivals and it is considered auspicious to buy during these
periods/festivals. The purpose of this research is to understand the factors influencing the
perception of consumers during online festival, to know the influence of online festivals on
consumers purchase decision and to find out which product category is purchased the most
during online festivals. A sample of 100 respondents was selected in Delhi-NCR and a
questionnaire survey was used to collect primary data. The data was recorded by using a number
of structures questions and SPSS have been used for analyzing and interpreting the data.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction....6
2. Review of Literature..12
3. Research Methodology......18
Sampling Design
Methodology
Data collection
Limitations of study
4. Objective............20
5. Hypothesis Formulation......21
6. Data Analysis and Interpretation....22
7. Findings......25
8. Conclusion..26
9. Recommendations & Suggestions..28
10. References.......29
11. Appendix.........32
12. Annexure.37

INTRODUCTION

E-commerce or electronic commerce, has experienced swift escalation in the last few decades.
The internet has dramatically changed the approach consumers buy goods and services
throughout the world. Earlier, the consumers would actually visit a traditional or conventional
retail outlet, watch for the requisite product, comparing the alternative products available in the
market, or ask the seller for his or her opinion and recommendations and then, would finally
purchase it by paying at the counter. However this scenario has changed considerably with the
emergence of online shopping throughout the world. Moreover, many companies have started
to use the internet as a platform for selling their products and services as it allows them to slash
the advertising or marketing costs and mitigate maintenance of physical store cost, thereby
reducing the price of their products and services being sold. The intensive growth of internet
usage has provided a whole new dimension for marketing and distribution of goods. Internet has
become a new and innovative medium for the consumers because just with a few clicks they can
buy the product of their choice. Customer is no longer bound to go to a specific outlet location to
buy a specific product. This has force the business to change from real time market to digital
market to sell the goods to consumers. This has become a worldwide phenomenon, and it allows
the companies/organization to stay at the forefront than others in the highly aggressive and
competitive markets. The attractiveness of online shopping throughout the world has increased
due to its usability, mobility, convenience and often due to the lower prices offered. A consumer
is saved from the problem of searching several stores for a particular product and also from
waiting in long queues to buy that product from the particular store. The expansion of online
shopping in India is exceptional. Online consumers are projected to increase to 40 million in
2016 from 20 million in 2013, and an additional to it further 200 million Indians will use the web
in the coming or next 3 years according to a recent study by ASSOCHAM and Grant Thompton,
with greater part of them coming online through smartphones.
According to a recent study the internet users in India will touch to 500 million by 2017,
therefore there is a huge potential for online shopping in the country. Because of increased
internet penetration in the country, industry has seen tremendous growth in Tier-II and Tier-III
cities and 65% of the overall traffic comes from metropolitan cities. Faster mobile internet
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availability and surge in usage of smartphones have made people to order anything & everything
online. However, online shopping has its drawbacks also. We cannot feel and touch the product
before buying it, there is lack of trust in online shopping between consumers, there may be a
possibility of losing the money because Indians usually dont believe in first paying the money
and then receiving the goods, delays in delivering the product may arise, shipping fees may make
the low cost product more expensive, etc.
In era of globalization the internet is not only being used in e-commerce to buy products but has
also provided the consumers to connect the global sellers with effortlessness and has also
improved communication in cost effective manner.
All transactions conducted via internet are the division of e-commerce and is called e-tailing.
Across the world the idea of e-tailing is sprouting in large numbers. Because of feasible and
unique business model where it completely creates demand, source various goods & products
from different vendors, and delivers the same efficiently to the consumers. Rather than elderly
segment, the younger segment has showed a positive embracement towards the acceptance of
technology advancements and new innovation. The sensitivity of buying varies from one
consumer to another in online context. Consumers are progressively moving towards online
shopping, organizing shipments, arrange financing and receive post-sales service. Numerous
factors like efficient e-stores services (warranty, response time to e-consumers queries, return &
replacement, delivery on real time etc), website design and on time delivery are some of the
factors on which triumph of e-tailing depends. Companies can advertize products without having
extra cost, as internet offers surplus opportunities. Other factors which positively influence
consumers attitude towards online shopping are human warmth & sociability which could be
viably incorporated through web interface. Other major motivators factors for consumers to
transact online are attractive deals and discounts. But various parameters such as consumer
experience, product range, services, etc. are important parameters for the consumers to be
hooked to online shopping for longer period. Inability of the companies to create is a 360
platform where suppliers and associated partners can interact on a real time basis is a major
roadblock.
A statement by Meenu Handa of Amazon, Convenience of shopping online anywhere and
anytime coupled with wide array of products at fairly low prices is leading to greater adoption of
4

online festivals, and undoubtedly there is spike during online festivals. A statement by Ravi
Vora, Senior VP Marketing of Flipkart acknowledges that occasion of gifting during festivals
and offers during festive season certainly generate considerable increase in sales. During online
festivals there is a sharp spike in sales and increase in spending by the consumers every year. It
is a worldwide trend and this phenomenon can be seen globally during Eid, Christmas, Diwali,
New Year, etc.
According to ASSOCHAM report, the metro cities along with Tier 1 & Tier 2 cities are viewing
a shift in consumer attitude towards online shopping model, where the broadband internet
connectivity has already penetrated. Snapdeal, Myntra, Flipkart, Amazon etc are amongst the
most popular e-tailor websites that are giving out enormous price discounts on buying of
products of popular brands of footwear, apparels, electronic goods during festive season. A
survey in 2014 on Indian Online Retail Sales Surge in Festive Season revealed that there is
more than 5 folds spike in revenue during online festivals.
The festive season starts in September with Onam and ending in January with harvest festivals in
some southern states is a period that usually sees increased sales of consumer products, apparel,
appliances, and even cars and bikes. E-commerce sites typically see sales doubling in this period.
Banks also geared up for what could be the biggest-ever online festival sale in the
country. Citibank NAs Indian unit have coupled with top e-commerce firms to come up with
further discounts and offers. Logistics companies, too, are preparing for the online festival event.
They are building more capacity as they expect orders to shoot up anywhere between 50-60%,
said T.A. Krishnan, founder and chief executive of logistics provider Ecom Express Pvt. Ltd.
History of Online festivals in India
In retail sector
The GOSF Great online shopping festival was initiated and created by Google India on
December 12, 2012 and was annual flagship online festival event in partnership with number of
Indian online e-tailors. The crux of Great online shopping festival was that the online e-tailors
would offer deep discounts for one day, in order to boost up their sales. The first Great online
shopping festival in 2012 was heavily advertised on YouTube and via posts on Google Plus. For
the event, Google amalgamated with a number of ecommerce sites such as Flipkart,
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HomeShop18, Snapdeal, Infibeam , Indiatimes shopping, and Makemytrip, which participate in

the GOSF. The e-tailors created dedicated web pages for GOSF which engaged users through
offers and showing games and eventually redirected consumers to the dedicated landing pages of
ecommerce websites to do the transactions. Many consumers were left disappointed in the first
GOSF as the discounts offered were marginal and non-existent.
In 2013, the GOSF was held on 1114 December which saw other numerous participating
companies such as Myntra, Jabong.com, and Indiatimes shopping. Google claimed that the
online festival was a success for the e-commerce companies, and extended the festive event by
one day. According to Google, in 2013 consumers shopped for the first time and more than 30%
of consumers shopped during GOSF. A particular section of Rs.299 was included which
provided discounted products in addition to free delivery and shipping & COD option for the
first time consumers.
In 2014, the third GOSF took place on December 10 - 12, in which 450 e-retailers participated
for the event. The event included various categories such as lifestyle, books and media, home
and kitchen, electronics, groceries, mobile apps, automobiles, and real estate. Discounts were
also given on health care and insurance policies, matrimonial plans, Travel packages. The event
also saw several brands launched their exclusive products at the GOSF. Some of the products
launched included Google Chromecast, Motorola Nexus 6. The 3-day event was a huge hit, with
Google reporting over 1.4 crore visits to its site throughout GOSF. Average order value use to be
around Rs. 3000 in other time periods but during online festival the order value increased to Rs.
4200 as per data provided by pennyful.
In November 2015, Google announced that they are discontinuing their annual online festival
event citing that "To obtain the best deals customers dont have to wait for 12 months, and
medium & small businesses no longer have to wait for GOSF to find out consumers from all
across the country". Other reason for the shutdown of the online festival is that many e-tailors are
having their own online festival rather than teaming up with Google to host the online festival.
In October 2014, Flipkart hosted a huge marketing initiative and an online festival, Big Billion
Day, offering massive discounts to consumers. However, many customers were seen dissatisfied
and complained on social media websites about inflated prices and inadequate stock and
6

cancelled orders. While flipkart extensively spent on online and offline advertising, it ended up
driving traffic to its competitors such as Amazon and Snapdeal who offered much better deals.
According to flipkart during the online festival 2015 the company received 10 lakh orders in just
10 hours, received 20 million visits in 19 hours and their online festival was a massive hit.
Similarly Amazon also hosted their individual online festival i.e Diwali dhamaka from October
26 midnight to October 28, 2015. The online festival promises new deals every 30 minutes
across hundreds of Categories.The Company saw increased orders for sellers up to 8-10 fold
during online festival in 2015. Nearly 10 lakh orders were being processed on the final day of
online festival.

Following the footsteps of other e-tailors, Snapdeal announced its Biggest Sale this online
festival -The Ultimate Monday on 2nd Nov, 2015. The online festival was a 24-hour marathon
where new deals were unlocked every hour. Various products categories across Electronics,
Mobiles, Home products and Fashion categories were offered up to 80 % discounts. In 2015
online festival snapdeal shipped 5 million orders which was a huge success for the company.
For Paytm, the company announced Diwali dhamaal as its first online festival in 2015. Prior to
online festival the alibaba backed company Paytm had joined hands with 30 courier partners and
began talks with suppliers and logistics firms. In particular region the company introduced a
logistics cloud for local courier companies. The company had collaborated with 3rd parties to run
its warehouse which was incorporated in their operating system, which then made accessible to
the smaller merchants selling on Paytm.

In Real estate sector

Not only online retail sector has come up with online festival, Real estate sector is also coming
up with online festivals. Real estate online portal Magicbricks and 99acres is doing the same
what e-tailors are doing during festive season. They partnered with Google and group M for a 10
day elongated GOHF Great online Home festival. From 18 July to 27 July, 2015 the event
showcased the best deals from home care brands, real estate and home decors. Property worth
Rs. 3000 crores was available to the customers. The event saw increased in search queries up to
3 folds in the last 3 years in the real estate history. The online festival generated real estate sales
7

worth Rs. 300 crores with more than 3000 bookings. In totality the festival saw 9 million page
views with generation of 4000 coupons. Most queries and online bookings were majorly seen for
property ranging between 40-80 lakhs.
In Travel sector
The Indian travel industry coupled with Googles GITF Great Indian Travel Festival that
started from 18 April and continued till 26 April, 2015 in attempt to spike online holiday
bookings in the country. Leading companies from the travel industry such as Yatra, Goibibo,
Make my trip, Cleartrip and air carriers like Indigo, Spicejet, British airways, Jet airways and
holiday players suchas Cox & kIngs and Thomas Cook participated in the event in collaboration
with Oyo rooms and Doorstepforex which are innovative startups that joined hands together for
online travel festival. The online travel festival was powered by Google and hosted & marketed
by IPG Mediabrands, the festival offered customers holiday packages to more than 50 holiday
destination both outside and within India and also offered best discounts & deals. The online
travel festival saw great offers and promotions from bus platforms such as RedBus and luxury
hotels such as ITC hotels, The Leela Palaces and Hyatt which offered best possible deals to the
customers. Festival saw many great discounts and deals on air tickets, discounts on cruise
packages, up to 50% off on luxury hotels across India and Rs.15000 off on holiday deals within
India. The online travel is 8.2 billion dollar in the country and it is 61.4% of the total online
commerce in India according to a report by IAMAI Digital Commerce Report. There is a 20%
year on year growth in travel industry and a proposal or initiative of this kind can certainly boost
and spike the online holiday sector.

This research report aims to understand the various factors that influence the perception of
consumers during online festivals in India specific to the e-tailing sector and whether there is
increase in sales during online festivals than other time period.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Factors Influencing Online Shopping during Diwali Festival 2014 by (Khanna and Brinda,
2015) researched to understand the influence of online shopping in India during the online
festivals i.e. positive and negative factors. The study also aims to know from consumers
perspective the role of online shopping festival in driving the sales. The study is basically to
understand how the Diwali festive season 2014 make the most of in keeping their customer
captivated and thereby increasing their profits and what are the strategies used by Amazon and
Flipkart during online festival. Attractive deals, heavy discounts and offers, display and
navigation of the website, and multiple payment options offered easy return on delivery options,
mobile apps offers are identified as the factors which may influence consumers to buy online
during online festivals. Technical glitches (like navigation, website crash, timeout, etc.),
scenarios such as out of stock products, and also a hesitation in trusting the deals offered are
identified as the major concerns raised by the consumers during online festivals. On special
occasions like birthdays, weddings, Diwali, Christmas, New Year and Valentines Day people
were found to shop online for their near and dear ones. For marketing their campaign the media
majorly used by Flipkart as well as Amazon are personalized emails, Newspaper Ads and
television Ads. The Indian consumers gave special attention during online festivals. The end of
September till Diwali in late October is the shopping season in the country and is seen as the top
sales phase in India, which accounts up to 40% of total sales for many brands.
(Malik and Sachdeva, 2015) research paper primarily focuses upon the factors influencing the
behavior of the consumers while shopping online due to different sales promotional tools used by
the online dealers. In this Paper it was found that Promotional emails, Discounts, Promotional
SMS, User friendly Interface, Promotional Pop ups, Convenience and Sales Promotion
Influences are the 7 main factors, which play very crucial role in the online consumer behavior.
It was also found that the sales promotion does not only have positive impact but also negative
impact on the consumers as they experience that they have been cheated number of times due to
different promotional tools and it had worsely affected the brand loyalty among the consumers
which not only lead to sharp fall in the sales but also the lack of trust which in general hampers
the brand image.
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(Victoria and Ganesan, 2014) study focuses on Online Sales promotions, and commonly looked
at as tools essentially meant to boost up sales by lucrative offers and promos. Online sales
promotion is a vital component of the promotion mix which is intended to boost short term sales;
it takes up a large amount of the total marketing expenditure in spite of which it stills remains an
area that attracts attention. The study takes place in Chennai area therefore it is not astonishing
that most of the Chennai marketers go for sales promotions to draw the consumers and gain
competitive market share. How popular Chennai online promotions (coupon, price-discount and
free shipping) influence consumer's quality perception and purchase intentions is being discussed
in this research paper. Conclusion from this paper was able to endow with constructive insights
and understanding for online sellers to pick suitable sales promotion tools to effectively persuade
consumer's buying intentions. Retailer would be a rich source of information regarding the buyer
and are certain to response to online sales promotion activities as suggested by the study.

The Research study on the Effect of Price Discounts and Store Image on Consumers Purchase
Intention in Online Shopping Context Case Study by (Faryabi et al, 2012): seeks to inspect the
consumers purchase intention in online shopping perspective of cell-phones with respect to
effect of price discounts on store image. During April-June 2012 Nokia and HTC the two
mobile-phone companies was selected for research study among 248 and university students,
professors and employees from University of Tabriz, Iran. Through structured questionnaire
requisite data was collected. The study proved that the price discount had an encouraging
consequence on perceived store image which in turn, positively influences consumers buying
intention. Accordingly, to attract more consumers and increase online sales, the e-tailors should
develop efficient marketing plans and improve promotional activities to create and enhance
positive store image. The research concluded that rice discount i.e. external stimuli factor is an
effective factor in explaining the buyers response. For designing appropriate pricing
promotional strategies and improving store image, the study has useful insights and implications.

10

Research study by (Park & Lennon, 2009) present useful insights for understanding the how the
behavioral intention of the consumer in online apparel shopping perspective is affected by brand
name, perceived store image and promotion influences the perceived value. Price promotion is
an important factor of perceived in online apparel shopping contexts as suggested by the study.
For e-retailers in terms of influencing consumers purchase decisions, price promotions are
considered a significant marketing tool. To grant loyal consumers with a reward for their
investment, effective sales promotion tools should be used by online retailers. Sales Promotions
are also efficient in attracting new consumers and to motivate consumers to toggle between other
brands and also to excite them to make an early initial purchase.

(Vicdan & Sun, 2008) research study acknowledges that in context to offline environment
compulsive buying has been comprehensively explored. However, they act in response to
external stimuli such as sales promotions in the online perspective and very little attention has
been given to understand compulsive buyers. Therefore, this research study is aimed to explore
how exposure to online sales promotions stimulates their online sales promotion usage and
online shopping occurrence and what is the receptiveness of compulsive buyers to sales
promotions. Conclusion derived from a projected structured model suggested that consumers are
significantly proneness to sales promotion and have tendency to buy compulsively. In addition,
factors that positively affect compulsive buyers online shopping incidence depends upon
frequency of exposure to online sales promotions as well as receptiveness to or usage of such
promotions.
The research paper provides useful insights using of the structural model technique which
identifies the influence of perceived value, perceived risk and perceived enjoyment on online
buying innovativeness (Suki and Suki, 2007). Using a set of well designed structured
questionnaire the information was gathered by 544 respondents and results from the model
technique revealed that the perceives risk was an essential indicator and should not be let
unnoticed by the e-tailors to evaluate the innovative behavior with respect to online shopping.
Consideration of e-tailors on perceived risk factor could definitely enhance the innovative
behavior and thus produce a value to the conclusion to buy through online stores than traditional
brick and mortar stores. There will be increase in the online purchase amount when the consumer
11

experiences a positive effect in context to online shopping. The study truly helped online
shopping managers in developing positional strategies and successful targeting to have much
better knowledge about the innovative online shoppers purchase behavior.

Describing the characteristics of consumers who have not purchased apparel via online and those
who have purchased. Buying apparel over the internet (Goldsmith and goldsmith, 2002) is a
study in which 303 women and 263 men were surveyed that considered their offline and online
buying behavior, predispositions and attitudes. The result from the survey showed that people
who have purchased apparel online in general had greater online shopping understanding. Online
purchasers did not differ from non buyers in their belief that how cheap online purchasing is.
Age, sex and race which come under demographic variables were not related to online apparel
shopping. The study also revealed that online purchasers are more likely to buy online in future
than non buyers and used the internet more often. The research study also provides guidance for
online apparel strategies. In order to attract online buyers the website should load faster, must be
made simple and should be easy to use, and e-tailor has to change the perception of consumers
that online shopping is safe.

In the past many studies have been made by the researchers on consumer segmentation by
shopping orientation but very few have practically used it to the online shopping. It is a wide
belief that online consumers are principally motivated by convenience. The research study on
(Brown et al, 2001) showed that there is no significant impact on consumers intention to
purchase online products because of shopping orientations. Product type, prior purchase and
gender are some of the variables that are more liable to persuade purchase intent.

The Paper by (Sakkthivel, 2013) aims to explore external and internal variables that impacts
online buying behavior. The primary data collected from 163 online consumers and result was
analyzed through multi linear regression model. The study revealed that external and internal
variables have impact on online buyers. The internal variables such as product, distribution,
12

price, promotion, design of website, easy to buy, Buyback Assurance, secured payment gateway
and external variables such as, opinion groups, country of origin, society, brand reputation,
culture, country of origin, influence of peer groups, reliability of websites, previous experience
was tested & all the factors have an impact on consumer online behavior except the influence of
referenced groups and buyback assurance. The internal variables such as price and secured
payment gateway have soaring impact on online consumers whereas as external variables such as
peers group influence and country of origin have high elicit impact on online shoppers. All other
variables have little impact on online shopping behavior of consumers. It was found that external
variables have more impact than internal variables on online buying behavior of consumers.

In this research paper, the author examines on the variables which influence online buying
intention. The research on the Influence of Perceived Value and Trust on Online Buying
Intention (Chen, 2012) aimed to find out trust influence and perceived value on online buying
behavior intention of the consumers. The perceived product sacrifice measures the perceived
value of a product, and perceived value and trust is measured by integrity, benevolence and
ability. The researcher surveyed 238 respondents through a set of well structured questionnaire
and analyzed through SPSS and LISREL. The study revealed that perceived product sacrifice
and perceived value and have considerable effect on consumer behavior purchase intention.
Contrary to it ability, benevolence and hand also have positive influence on online consumers
buying intention. The study also showed that there is no considerable effect on online consumers
purchase intention with respect to integrity.

Promotion codes in the form of coupons are now the stronghold in the online shopping customer
experience, but redemption of these coupons differs substantially from that in physical stores or
traditional retailing. The research study by (Oliver and shor, 2003) revealed that redemption of
coupons in traditional retailing is customer driven where as redemption of coupon in online
context the internet shopper is usually asked to enter a promotion code at the end of the payment
or transaction process. This helps in persuading the shopper behavior and perception such as
shopping cart abandonment. The study also revealed the negative effects on satisfaction, price
13

fairness and purchase conclusion in the core respondent group and encouraging effects on
fairness and satisfaction in the core respondents group.

14

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research conducted was conclusive and, as well as exploratory in nature and the data was
gathered through primary and secondary sources in order to accomplish the objectives.

Descriptive Research Design was used, which clearly indicates that the study is all about a
certain characteristic of individuals (consumers) perception towards the online festivals.

SAMPLING DESIGN
TYPE OF SAMPLING
RANDOM SAMPLING
SAMPLING TECHNIQUES:
CONVENIENCE SAMPLING
SAMPLE SIZE: 100

METHODOLOGY
Questionnaire method is adopted to collect the feedback. To collect the feedback from
consumers a set of structured questionnaire was prepared. To meet the objectives the primary
data in form of questionnaire survey was collected from respondents (consumers) and secondary
data was collected from diverse sources like websites, press releases, related papers and journals.
The focus is to know consumer buying behavior towards online shopping festivals.

DATA COLECTION
PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION:
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Set of Structured questionnaire for the customer

SECONDARY DATACOLLECTION:
Journals
Websites
Newspapers
Press releases

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

1. Due to Time constraints sample size was restricted to 100.

2. The survey was restrained to only one city (Delhi-NCR)
3. There might be errors in the opinion of respondents due to their personal bias.

16

OBJECTIVES

The objective of the study is briefly discussed below:-

To know the factors influencing the perception of consumers during online festivals.

To know the influence of online festivals on consumers purchase decision.

To find out which product category is purchased the most during online festivals.

17

HYPOTHESIS FORMULATION:

This research study focuses on finding out the online festivals and relationship with sales in
Delhi -NCR.
To know the factors influencing the perception of consumers during online festivals.
H0: There are no factors which influence the consumer perception towards online festivals.

To know the influence of online festivals on consumers purchase decision.

H0: Online festivals do not influence consumer purchase decision.

To find out which product category is purchased the most during online festivals.
H0: There is no specific category of product purchased most during online festivals.

18

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Table 1: Awareness and purchase during online festivals (refer appendix A), as shown
below highlights the number of responses generated towards awareness and purchase during
online festivals:
Interpretation: From the table it is evident those respondents are aware of the online festivals
and have purchased in the past during online festivals.

Table 2: Most preferred online festival (refer appendix A) as shown below highlights the
most preferred online festival from the perspective of respondents:
Interpretation: Following results were obtain when respondents were asked about the preferred
online festival, Flipkarts- Big billion day is the most preferred online festival followed by
Snapdeals-the ultimate Monday, Amazons-Diwali dhamaka and Paytm-Diwali dhamaal.

Table 3: Consumer perception of Organizing online festivals and their focus during online
festivals (refer appendix A) shows consumer perception as to why e-tailors organize such
online festivals and on what they should focus more during these festivals:
Interpretation: Following the results were obtained when respondents were asked about their
perception of organizing such online festivals. Half of the respondents think that e-tailors
organize such online festivals to acquire customer base followed by to increase or boost
sales and least is to dump goods. Subsequently when respondents was about on aspect
companies should focus more on and following results was obtained where most respondents
think that companies should focus more on technical issues such as reducing website crash

19

followed by authenticity of products, delivery of products, customer service and least on

advertising and promotions.
Table 4 and Table 5: Factors influencing consumer perception towards online shopping
(refer appendix A) in order to know the factors influencing the consumer perception towards
online festivals, Chi square test was undertaken with the help of SPSS and following
interpretation were concluded:
Interpretation: On analyzing the data, following observations were recorded. The positive
factors which influence the consumer perception towards online shopping is Attractive deals and
heavy discounts which is the most favored factor followed by easy return policy ease of payment
and usability and mobility. Consequently the factors which abstain consumers to shop during
online festivals are fear of counterfeit products followed by long processing time, payment
issues, delivery option unsuitable, technical concerns such as website crash or navigation issues
and hidden cost such as delivery charges or shipping fees. Since the calculated P-value (0.025) is
less than the significance level (0.05), therefore we reject the null hypothesis. Thus, we conclude
that there are certain factors i.e. positive and negative factors which influence the consumer
perception towards online festivals.

Table 6 and Table 7: Influence of online festivals on consumer purchase decision (refer
appendix A) in order to know the influence of online festivals on consumer purchase decision
Chi square test was carried out with the help of SPSS and following interpretation were
concluded.
Interpretation: On analyzing the data, following observations were recorded. It is evident from
the data that 74% of respondents wait for online festivals to buy their particular product and 81%
of the respondents buy more during online festivals as compared to other time period. Since the
calculated P-value (0.000) is less than the significance level (0.05), therefore we reject the null
hypothesis. Therefore we can conclude that online festivals influence the consumer purchase
decision and companies may record high sales as compare to other time period. This shows there
is positive correlation between online festivals and sales.
20

Table 8 and Table 9: Product category and advertisement & promotion (refer appendix A)
in order to know which product category is purchased the most during online festivals Chi square test was carried out with the help of SPSS and following interpretation was interpreted:

Interpretation: On surveying the respondents about which category of product they purchase
more during online festivals. The following data was obtained i.e. consumer electronics is the
most purchased product category followed by clothing, beauty and personal health care products,
footwear, home and furniture and least is the books. Additionally, on asking the respondents
about where did they get to know about online festivals offers and promotions. Following was
the results obtained. Most respondents came to know about online festivals offers and
promotions through online banners and e-mail marketing followed by newspaper advertisement,
TV advertisement, friend and the least is through banners and hoardings. Since the calculated Pvalue (0.044) is less than the significance level (0.05), therefore we reject the null hypothesis.
Therefore we can conclude that there is specific product category that is purchased the most
during online festivals.

21

FINDINGS

Consumers are aware of the online festivals and have purchased during online festivals.
Flipkarts- Big billion day is the most preferred online festival followed by Snapdealsthe ultimate Monday, Amazons-Diwali dhamaka and Paytm-Diwali dhamaal.
Consumers perception of e-tailors organizing such online festivals is to acquire
customer base followed by to increase or boost sales and least is to dump goods.
E-tailors should focus more on technical issues such as reducing website crash followed
by authenticity of products, delivery of products, customer service and least on
advertising and promotions from consumers point of view.
Positive factors which influence the consumer perception towards online shopping is
Attractive deals and heavy discounts which is the most favored factor followed by easy
return policy ease of payment and usability and mobility.
Factors which abstain consumers to shop during online festivals are fear of counterfeit
products followed by long processing time, payment issues, delivery option unsuitable,
technical concerns such as website crash or navigation issues and hidden cost such as
delivery charges or shipping fees.
Consumers wait for online festivals to buy their particular product and buy more during
online festivals as compared to other time period.
Consumer electronics is the most purchased product category followed by clothing,
beauty and personal health care products, footwear, home and furniture and least is the
books among the most purchased category of product during online festivals.
Consumers get to know about online festivals latest promotion and offers through online
banners and e-mail marketing followed by newspaper advertisement, TV advertisement,
friend and the least is through banners and hoardings.

22

CONCLUSION

The digital age has revolutionized the organizations way of working and are restructuring their
business strategies in order to grab the portion of market share and to grab the opportunities.
With context to e-retailing online festivals is a sales promotion tool. Similarly as in offline
festivals, the main purpose of these events is to increase sales and acquire customer base, same
way it is being used by e-tailors in online context. From the research it is evident that consumer
are aware about such online festivals and wait for such events to buy their particular product.
Consumers do buy more products during online festivals which increase the sales revenue, so the
companies should already anticipate the spike in sales and accordingly plan their strategies. Etailors should focus more on technical issues such as website crash because during online
festivals due to heavy increase in website traffic the site crashes which will leave the consumers
furious and will bring bad publicity to the companies. E-tailors should heavily advertised their
online festivals via online banners & e-mail marketing because of the nature of business and
propensity of consumers to order via Mobile App these days which will eventually bring in more
customers. It was evident from the study that fear of counterfeit products is one of the main
reason which abstain consumers to shop online therefore e-tailors should have contract with
authorized dealers only and should also have their own quality control system. Companies
should more focus on retaining the existing consumers by giving them special offers or discounts
or directly communicating to them via SMS or e-mail so that the consumers feel that they are
privileged consumers and are preferred over other consumers because past studies have showed
that retaining 25-30% of consumers bring in more business than the rest. During online festivals
electronics and clothing products are purchased the most so the companies should offer attractive
and lucrative discounts and even should offer bundling on these products to increase sales and
acquire customer base. The acquired customer base will help the companies with the analytics of
the data and could be used for internal operations for not only to improving their supply chain
but to segment the market when to target, whom and how to target, etc. Planning a competitive
and comprehensive strategy in future for such online festivals will be the key to success because
the data collected will be very valuable for developing future strategies as the concept of online

23

festival is new in the country. The scope of online buying and online festivals is very bright for
India as only a small portion of it is using it and there is huge untapped market.

24

RECOMMENDATIONS & SUGGESTIONS

Below are the suggestions-

1) During online festivals e-tailors should focus more on giving service and value to the
customers, to foster healthy relationship.
2) E-tailors should give first priority to prevent website crash which happens usually during
online festival due to heavy traffic. Apart from this they should focus more on website
navigation and proper classification of products under their respective heads.
3) During online festival season e-tailors should focus on logistics service because of
untimely delivery of products.
4) E-tailors need to make sure that original products should be delivered as previously there
are cases of counterfeit products received by them. To reduce such complains e-tailors
should setup internal committee to check the quality of the products.
5) Prior to online festival e-tailors should heavily advertise on digital media and should
deliver customize offer/ deals to the loyal customers.
6) E-tailors should make sure that customer receive better after sales service for the products
and there should be easily refundability.

25

REFRENCES

Journal Articles
Khanna, P. and Brinda, S. (2015), Factors Influencing Online Shopping During Diwali Festival
2014: Case Study of Flipkart and Amazon.In, Journal of International Technology and
Information Management: Vol. 24: Iss. 2, Article 5.
Malik, G. and Sachdeva, H. (2015) : Impact of Sales Promotion Technique Used by Online
Dealers on Consumers, International Journal of Applied Sciences and Management (IJASM),
Vol. 1, no. 1, 63-78.
Victoria, A CVJ. and Ganeshan, M. (2014), International Journal of Engineering, Business and
Enterprise Applications, 8(1), March-May, pp. 29-36.
Puranik, R. and Bansal, A. (2014), A Study of Internet Users' Perception towards E-shopping,
Pacific Business Review International, Volume 6, Issue 9, March 2014, pp. 37-44.
Faryabi, M., Sadeghzadeh, K., and Saed, M. (2012): The Effect of Price Discounts and Store
Image on Consumers Purchase Intention in Online Shopping Context Case Study: Nokia and
HTC, Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 197-205.
Park, M. & Lennon, S. J., (2009): Brand name and promotion in online shopping contexts,
Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 13 No. 2, 2009, pp. 149-160.
Vicdan, H. & Sun, J. (2008). Towards a framework for understanding compulsive buyers online:
exploringthe effects of online sales promotions. Houston, TX: Proceedings of the 2008 Southwest
Decision Science Institute (DSI) Meeting. (598-607).
Suki, M. N. & Suki, N.M., (2007), online buying innovativeness: effects of perceived value,
perceived risk and perceived enjoyment, International Journal of Business and Society; Vol 2
No. 2, pp 81-93.
Goldsmith, E. R. and Goldsmith, E. B., (2002), Buying apparel over the Internet, Journal of
Product & Brand Mnagament, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 89-102.
26

Brown, M., Pope, N. and Voges, K., (2003), Buying or browsing? An exploration of shopping
orientations and online purchase intention, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 37 No. 11/12,
pp. 1666-1684.
Sakkthivel, M. A., (2013), Do Online Companies Control the Behavior of Online
Consumers?: Exploratory Study on the Impacting Variables from Middle East, Journal of
Internet Banking and Commerce, Vol 18, No. 3, pp 1-19.
Chen, H., (2012), The Influence of Perceived Value and Trust on Online Buying Intention,
Journal of Computers, Vol 7, No. 2, pp 1655-1662.
Oliver, R. L. and Shor , M., (2003), Digital redemption of coupons: satisfying and dissatisfying
effects of promotion codes, Journal of Product and Brand Management, Vol 12, No. 2, pp 121134.

Websites
Sachitanand, R. (2015). Explosion of orders for e-commerce giants in festive season can they
deliver,

Economic

times,

Retrieved

from

www.economictimes.indiatimes.com/small

biz/startups/explosion-of-orders-for-e-commerce-giants-in-festive-season-can-they
deliver/articleshow/49434093.cms Accessed on 2016, March 10.

Dhawan, S. (2014). How Great was Great Online Shopping Festival 2014: Stats, Graphs and
More, I am wire, Retrieved from http://www.iamwire.com/2014/12/great-great-online-shoppingfestival-2014-stats-graphs/106324 Accessed on 2016, March 10.

Festive season triggers huge rise in online shopping; Online shopping up by 350% (2014), The
Associated

Chambers

of

Commerce

&

Industry

of

India,

Retrieved

from

http://www.assocham.org/newsdetail.php?id=4745 Accessed on 2016, March 9.

27

Sharma, P. (2015), GOHF to offer never-before deals to home buyers, Magicbricks, Retrieved
from

http://content.magicbricks.com/industry-news/delhi-ncr-real-estate-news/gohf-to-offer

never-before-deals-to-home-buyers/82205.html Accessed on 2016, March 9.

Dasgupta, P. (2015), IPG Mediabrands to launch online travel fest in India, The Economic
Times,

Retrieved

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http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-04

14/news/61142283_1_google-india-vikas-agnihotri-airways Accessed on 2016, March 9.

28

APPENDIX A
SPSS OUTPUT

shop_online_festi

Total

val
Yes
Yes

99

99

No

100

100

aware_online_festival
Total

Table 1: Awareness and purchase during online festivals

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative
Percent

Valid

Fipkart- Big Billion day

44

44.0

44.0

44.0

Amazon- Diwali dhamaka

18

18.0

18.0

62.0

Snapdeal- The Ultimate

26

26.0

26.0

88.0

12

12.0

12.0

100.0

100

100.0

100.0

monday
Paytm- Diwali dhamaal
Total

Table 2: Most preferred online festival

29

Table 3: Consumer perception of Organizing online festivals and their focus during online
festivals

Table 4: Factors influencing consumer perception towards online shopping (1)

30

Table 5: Factors influencing consumer perception towards online shopping (2)

buy_more
Yes
Count

Total
No

67

74

% within wait_online_festival

90.5%

9.5%

100.0%

% within buy_more

82.7%

36.8%

74.0%

% of Total

67.0%

7.0%

74.0%

14

12

26

% within wait_online_festival

53.8%

46.2%

100.0%

% within buy_more

17.3%

63.2%

26.0%

% of Total

14.0%

12.0%

26.0%

81

19

100

81.0%

19.0%

100.0%

100.0%

100.0%

100.0%

81.0%

19.0%

100.0%

Yes

wait_online_festival
Count
No

Count
% within wait_online_festival
Total
% within buy_more
% of Total

Table 6: Influence of online festivals on consumer purchase decision (1)

31

Table 7: Influence of online festivals on consumer purchase decision (1)

Table 8: Product category and advertisement & promotion (1)

32

Table 9: Product category and advertisement & promotion (2)

33

ANNEXURE

SURVEY QUESTIONAIRE
Consumer behavior towards online festivals

1. Are you aware of online festivals?

a. Yes
b. No

2. Have you ever shop during online festivals?

a. Yes
b. No
3. Which e-tailors online festival you prefer the most?
a. Flipkart- Big Billion day
b. Amazon-diwali dhamaka
c. Snapdeal- the Ultimate Monday
d. Paytm-diwali dhamaal
e. Other- please specify

4. Do you wait for online festival season to buy your particular product?
a. Yes
b. No

5. Do you buy more products during online festivals as compared to other time periods?
a. Yes
b. No
6. According to you why e-tailors organizes such online festivals?
34

a. To increase or boost sales

b. To acquire customer base
c. To dump goods

7. Which is the main factor which positively affects your buying decision during online
festive season?
a. Attractive deals and heavy discounts
b. Easy return policy
c. Ease of Payment
d. Usability and mobility

8. Attractive deals, heavy discounts, mobility, easy return policy and ease of payment are
some of the main factors which positively influence your purchase behavior during online
festivals.
a. Yes
b.

No

9. From where did you hear about online Festival's latest offers and promotions?
a. Friend
b. Newspaper Advertisements
c. TV advertisements
d. Banners and hoardings
e. Online Banners or e-mail marketing
f. Other-please specify

10. Which product category you purchased the most during online festivals?
a. Consumer Electronics
b. Clothing
c. Footwear
d. Beauty and care products
e. Books
35

f. Other-please specify

11. Which is the main factor which abstain you from buying during online festivals?
a. Payment issues
b. Fear of counterfeit products
c. Long processing time
d. Hidden cost such as delivery charges or shipping fees
e. Delivery Options Unsuitable
f. Technical concerns such as website crash
g. Other- please specify

12. During online festival season companies should focus more on?
a. Reducing website crashing
b. Delivery of products
c. Customer service
d. Authenticity of products

36