A MINOR PROJECT REPORT

ON

The New Trends Of E-Marketing by online firms

Submitted in partial fulfillment of requirement of Bachelor of

Business Administration (B.B.A) General

BBA IIIrd Semester (Shift)(Section)

Batch 2010-2013

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Shradha Goyal Vishnu Vijayan
Assistant Professor 05314101711

JAGANNATH INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT SCHOOL

KALKAJI
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A lot of effort has gone into this training report. My thanks are due to many
people with whom I have been closely associated.

I would like all those who have contributed in completing this project. First of all, I

would like to send my sincere thanks to _______________ for his helpful hand in

the completion of my project.

I would like to thank my entire beloved family & friends for providing me monetary
as well as non – monetary support, as and when required, without which this
project would not have completed on time. Their trust and patience is now
coming out in form of this thesis
 CONTENTS

Description Page No.

Executive Summary
Certificate of completion
Introduction to topic
Objectives
Literature review
Company Profile
Research Methodology
Analysis & Interpretation
Findings & Inferences
Limitations
Recommendations and Conclusion
Appendices
Bibliography
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Online shopping is the process consumers go through to purchase products or

services over the Internet. An online shop, eshop, e-store, internet shop,
webshop, webstore, online store, or virtual store evokes the physical analogy of
buying products or services at a bricks-and-mortar retailer or in a shopping mall.
The metaphor of an online catalog is also used, by analogy with mail order
catalogs. All types of stores have retail web sites, including those that do and do
not also have physical storefronts and paper catalogs. Online shopping is a type
of electronic commerce used for business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-
consumer (B2C) transactions. In general, shopping has always catered to middle
class and upper class women. Shopping is fragmented and pyramid-shaped. At
the pinnacle are elegant boutiques for the affluent, a huge belt of inelegant but
ruthlessly efficient “discounters” flog plenty at the pyramid’s precarious middle.
According to the anaylsis of Susan D. Davis, at its base are the world’s workers
and poor, on whose cheapened labor the rest of the pyramid depends for its
incredible abundance. Shopping has evolved from single stores to large malls
containing many stores that most often offer attentive service, store credit,
delivery, and acceptance of returns. These new additions to shopping have
encouraged and targeted middle class women.
In recent years, online shopping has become popular; however, it still caters to
the middle and upper class. In order to shop online, one must be able to have
access to a computer, a bank account and a debit card. Shopping has evolved
with the growth of technology. According to research found in the Journal of
Electronic Commerce, if we focus on the demographic characteristics of the in-
home shopper, in general, the higher the level of education, income, and
occupation of the head of the household, the more favourable the perception of
non-store shopping. An influential factor in consumer attitude towards non-store
shopping is exposure to technology, since it has been demonstrated that
increased exposure to technology increases the probability of developing
favourable attitudes towards new shopping channels.
CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION
 INTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC

The Internet

The Internet is the worldwide, publicly accessible network of interconnected

computer networks that transmit data by packet switching using the standard
Internet Protocol (IP). It is a "network of networks" that consists of millions of
smaller domestic, academic, business, and government networks, which together
carry various information and services, such as electronic mail, online chat, file
transfer, and the interlinked Web pages and other documents of the World Wide
Web.

The term "Webshop" also refers to a place of business where web development,
web hosting and other types of web related activities take place (Web refers to
the World Wide Web and "shop" has a colloquial meaning used to describe the
place). Buying online introduced new ways of reducing costs by reducing the
number of staff needed. It is a more effective way of getting products to people
and spreading into different demographics.

Benefits of online shopping

1. Bargaining power of consumers. They enjoy a wider choice
2. Supplier power. It is more difficult for consumers to manage a non-digital
channel.
3. Internet increases commoditisation
4. Threat of new entrants. Online means it is easier to introduce new services
with lower over-heads
5. Threat of substitutes
6. Rivalry among competitors. It is easier to introduce products and services to
different markets
The idea of online shopping predates the World Wide Web, for there are earlier
experiments involving real-time transaction processing from a domestic
television. The technology, based on Videotext, was first demonstrated in 1979
by Michael Aldrich, who designed and installed systems in the UK, including the
first Tesco pilot system in 1984. The first B2B was Thomson Holidays in 1981.
In 1990 Tim Berners-Lee created the first World Wide Web server and browser.
In 1992 Charles Stack created the first online book store, Book Stacks Unlimited
(aka Books.com), two years before Jeff Bezos started Amazon. In 1994 other
advances took place, such as online banking and the opening of an online pizza
shop by Pizza Hut. During that same year, Netscape introduced SSL encryption
of data transferred online, which has become essential for secure online
shopping. In 1995 Amazon expanded its online shopping, and in 1996 eBay
appeared.
In general, shopping has always catered to middle class and upper class women.
Shopping is fragmented and pyramid-shaped. At the pinnacle are elegant
boutiques for the affluent, a huge belt of inelegant but ruthlessly efficient
“discounters” flog plenty at the pyramid’s precarious middle. According to the
anaylsis of Susan D. Davis, at its base are the world’s workers and poor, on
whose cheapened labor the rest of the pyramid depends for its incredible
abundance. Shopping has evolved from single stores to large malls containing
many stores that most often offer attentive service, store credit, delivery, and
acceptance of returns. These new additions to shopping have encouraged and
targeted middle class women.
In recent years, online shopping has become popular; however, it still caters to
the middle and upper class. In order to shop online, one must be able to have
access to a computer, a bank account and a debit card. Shopping has evolved
with the growth of technology. According to research found in the Journal of
Electronic Commerce, if we focus on the demographic characteristics of the in-
home shopper, in general, the higher the level of education, income, and
occupation of the head of the household, the more favourable the perception of
non-store shopping. An influential factor in consumer attitude towards non-store
shopping is exposure to technology, since it has been demonstrated that
increased exposure to technology increases the probability of developing
favourable attitudes towards new shopping channels.

Online shopping widened the target audience to men and women of the middle
class. At first, main users of online shopping were young men with a high level of
income and a university education. This profile is changing. For example, in USA
in the early years of Internet there were very few women users, but by 2001
women were 52.8% of the online population. Sociocultural pressure has made
men generally more independent in their purchase decisions, while women place
greater value on personal contact and social relations.
Trends
One third of people that shop online use a search engine to find what they are
looking for and about one fourth find websites by word of mouth. Word of mouth
has become a leading way by which people find shopping websites. When an
online shopper has a good first experience with a certain website, sixty percent of
the time they will return to that website to buy more.
Books are one of the things bought most online. However, clothes, shoes, and
accessories are all very popular things bought online. Cosmetics, nutrition
products, and groceries are increasingly being purchased online. About one
fourth of travelers buy their plane tickets online because it is a quick and easy
way to compare airline travel and make a purchase. Online shopping provides
more freedom and control than shopping in a store. From a sociological
perspective, online shopping is arguably the most predictable way to shop. One
knows exactly what website to go to, how much the product will cost, and how
long it will take for the product to reach them. Online shopping has become
extremely routine and predictable, which is one of its great appeals to the
consumer.

Logistics
Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the retailer directly,
or do a search across many different vendors using a shopping search engine.
Once a particular product has been found on the web site of the seller, most
online retailers use shopping cart software to allow the consumer to accumulate
multiple items and to adjust quantities, by analogy with filling a physical shopping
cart or basket in a conventional store. A "checkout" process follows (continuing
the physical-store analogy) in which payment and delivery information is
collected, if necessary. Some stores allow consumers to sign up for a permanent
online account so that some or all of this information only needs to be entered
once. The consumer often receives an e-mail confirmation once the transaction
is complete. Less sophisticated stores may rely on consumers to phone or e-mail
their orders (though credit card numbers are not accepted by e-mail, for security
reasons).
Payment
Online shoppers commonly use credit card to make payments, however some
systems enable users to create accounts and pay by alternative means, such as:
* Debit card
* Various types of electronic money
* Cash on delivery (C.O.D., offered by very few online stores)
* Cheque
* Wire transfer/delivery on payment
* Postal money order
* PayPal
* Google Checkout
* Amazon Payments
* Bill Me Later
* Money bookers
* Reverse SMS billing to mobile phones
* Gift cards
* Direct debit in some countries
Some sites will not allow international credit cards and billing address and
shipping address have to be in the same country in which site does its business.
Other sites allow customers from anywhere to send gifts anywhere. The financial
part of a transaction might be processed in real time (for example, letting the
consumer know their credit card was declined before they log off), or might be
done later as part of the fulfillment process.
While credit cards are currently the most popular means of paying for online
goods and services, alternative online payments will account for 26% of e-
commerce volume by 2009 according to Celent.
Product delivery

Once a payment has been accepted the goods or services can be delivered in
the following ways.
 Download: This is the method often used for digital media products such as
software, music, movies, or images.
 Shipping: The product is shipped to the customer's address.
 Drop shipping: The order is passed to the manufacturer or third-party
distributor, who ships the item directly to the consumer, bypassing the
retailer's physical location to save time, money, and space.
 In-store pickup: The customer orders online, finds a local store using
locator software and picks the product up at the closest store. This is the
method often used in the bricks and clicks business model.
 In the case of buying an admission ticket one may get a code, or a ticket
that can be printed out. At the premises it is made sure that the same right
of admission is not used twice.

Shopping cart systems

 Simple systems allow the offline administration of products and categories.
The shop is then generated as HTML files and graphics that can be
uploaded to a webspace. These systems do not use an online database.
 A high end solution can be bought or rented as a standalone program or as
an addition to an enterprise resource planning program. It is usually
installed on the company's own webserver and may integrate into the
existing supply chain so that ordering, payment, delivery, accounting and
warehousing can be automated to a large extent.
 Other solutions allow the user to register and create an online shop on a
portal that hosts multiple shops at the same time.
 Open source shopping cart packages include advanced platforms such as
Interchange, and off the shelf solutions as Satchmo, osCommerce,
Magento, Zen Cart, OpenCart, VirtueMart, Flying Cart and PrestaShop or
the dual licensed PhPepperShop.
 Commercial systems can also be tailored to ones needs so that the shop
does not have to be created from scratch. By using a framework already
existing, software modules for different functionalities required by a web
shop can be adapted and combined.
Design
Why does electronic shopping exist? For customers it is not only because of the
high level of convenience, but also because of the broader selection; competitive
pricing and greater access to information. For organizations it increases their
customer value and the building of sustainable capabilities, next to the increased
profits
Information load
Designers of online shops should consider the effects of information load.
Mehrabian and Russel (1974) introduced the concept of information rate (load)
as the complex spatial and temporal arrangements of stimuli within a setting. The
notion of information load is directly related to concerns about whether
consumers can be given too much information in virtual shopping environments.
Compared with conventional retail shopping, computer shopping enriches the
information environment of virtual shopping by providing additional product
information, such as comparative products and services, as well as various
alternatives and attributes of each alternative, etc.
Two major sub-dimensions have been identified for information load: complexity
and novelty. Complexity refers to the number of different elements or features of
a site, which can be the result of increased information diversity. Novelty involves
the unexpected, suppressing, new, or unfamiliar aspects of the site. A research
by Huang (2000) showed that the novelty dimension kept consumers exploring
the shopping sites, whereas the complexity dimension has the potential to induce
impulse purchases
Consumer expectations
The main idea of online shopping is not in having a good looking website that
could be listed in a lot of search engines and it is not about the art behind the
site. It also is not only just about disseminating information, because it is all about
building relationships and making money. Mostly, organizations try to adopt
techniques of online shopping without understanding these techniques and/or
without a sound business model. Rather than supporting the organization’s
culture and brand name, the website should satisfy consumer's expectations.
Many researchers notify that the uniqueness of the web has dissolved and the
need for the design, which will be user centered, is very important. Companies
should always remember that there are certain things, such as understanding the
customer’s wants and needs, living up to promises, never go out of style,
because they give reason to come back. And the reason will stay if consumers
always get what they expect. McDonaldization theory can be used in terms of
online shopping, because online shopping is becoming more and more popular
and website that wants to gain more shoppers will use four major principles of
McDonaldization: efficiency, calculability, predictability and control.
Organizations, which want people to shop more online for them, should consume
extensive amounts of time and money to define, design, develop, test,
implement, and maintain website. Also if company wants their website to be
popular among online shoppers it should leave the user with a positive
impression about the organization, so consumers can get an impression that the
company cares about them. The organization that wants to be acceptable in
online shopping needs to remember, that it is easier to lose a customer then to
gain one. Lots of researchers state that even when site was a “top-rated”, it
would go nowhere if the organization failed to live up to common etiquette, such
as returning e-mails in a timely fashion, notifying customers of problems, being
honest, and being good stewards of the customers’ data. Organizations that
want to keep their customers or gain new ones try to get rid of all mistakes and
be more appealing to be more desirable for online shoppers. And this is why
many designers of webshops considered research outcomes concerning
consumer expectations. Research conducted by Elliot and Fowell (2000)
revealed satisfactory and unsatisfactory customer experiences. [16]
User interface
It is important to take the country and customers into account. For example, in
Japan privacy is very important and emotional involvement is more important on
a pension’s site than on a shopping site. [11] Next to that, there is a difference in
experience: experienced users focus more on the variables that directly influence
the task, while novice users are focusing more on understanding the information.
There are several techniques for the inspection of the usability. The ones used in
the research of Chen & Macredie (2005) are Heuristic evaluation, cognitive walk
through and the user testing. Every technique has its own (dis-)advantages and it
is therefore important to check per situation which technique is appropriate
When the customers went to the online shop, a couple of factors determine
whether they will return to the site. The most important factors are the ease of
use and the presence of user-friendly features.[18]
Market share
E-commerce product sales totaled $146.4 billion in the United States in 2006,
representing about 6% of retail product sales in the country. The $18.3 billion
worth of clothes sold online represented about 10% of the domestic market.
For developing countries and low-income households in developed countries,
adoption of e-commerce in place of or in addition to conventional methods is
limited by a lack of affordable Internet access.
Advantages
Convenience
Online stores are usually available 24 hours a day, and many consumers have
Internet access both at work and at home. A visit to a conventional retail store
requires travel and must take place during business hours.
Searching or browsing an online catalog can be faster than browsing the aisles of
a physical store. Consumers with dial-up Internet connections rather than
broadband have much longer load times for content-rich web sites and have a
considerably slower online shopping experience.
Some consumers prefer interacting with people rather than computers (and vice
versa), sometimes because they find computers hard to use. Not all online
retailers have succeeded in making their sites easy to use or reliable.
In most cases, merchandise must be shipped to the consumer, introducing a
significant delay and potentially uncertainty about whether or not the item was
actually in stock at the time of purchase. Bricks and clicks stores offer the ability
to buy online but pick up in a nearby store. Many stores give the consumer the
delivery company's tracking number for their package when shipped, so they can
check its status online and know exactly when it will arrive. For efficiency
reasons, online stores generally do not ship products immediately upon receiving
an order. Orders are only filled during warehouse operating hours, and there may
be a delay of anywhere from a few minutes to a few days to a few weeks before
in-stock items are actually packaged and shipped. Many retailers inform
customers how long they can expect to wait before receiving a package, and
whether or not they generally have a fulfillment backlog. A quick response time is
sometimes an important factor in consumers' choice of merchant. A weakness of
online shopping is that, even if a purchase can be made 24 hours a day, the
customer must often be at home during normal business hours to accept the
delivery. For many professionals this can be difficult, and absence at the time of
delivery can result in delays, or in some cases, return of the item to the retailer.
Automated delivery booths, such as DHL's Packstation, have tried to address this
problem.
In the event of a problem with the item - it is not what the consumer ordered, or it
is not what they expected - consumers are concerned with the ease with which
they can return an item for the correct one or for a refund. Consumers may need
to contact the retailer, visit the post office and pay return shipping, and then wait
for a replacement or refund. Some online companies have more generous return
policies to compensate for the traditional advantage of physical stores. For
example, the online shoe retailer Zappos.com includes labels for free return
shipping, and does not charge a restocking fee, even for returns which are not
the result of merchant error. (Note: In the United Kingdom, Online shops are
prohibited from charging a restocking fee if the consumer cancels their order in
accordance with the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Act 2000.
Information and reviews
Online stores must describe products for sale with text, photos, and multimedia
files, whereas in a physical retail store, the actual product and the manufacturer's
packaging will be available for direct inspection (which might involve a test drive,
fitting, or other experimentation).
Some online stores provide or link to supplemental product information, such as
instructions, safety procedures, demonstrations, or manufacturer specifications.
Some provide background information, advice, or how-to guides designed to help
consumers decide which product to buy.
Some stores even allow customers to comment or rate their items. There are
also dedicated review sites that host user reviews for different products.
In a conventional retail store, clerks are generally available to answer questions.
Some online stores have real-time chat features, but most rely on e-mail or
phone calls to handle customer questions.
Price and selection
One advantage of shopping online is being able to quickly seek out deals for
items or services with many different vendors (though some local search engines
do exist to help consumers locate products for sale in nearby stores). Search
engines and online price comparison services can be used to look up sellers of a
particular product or service.
Shoppers find a greater selection online in certain market segments (for
example, computers and consumer electronics [21]) and in some cases lower
prices. This is due to a relaxation of certain constraints, such as the size of a
"brick-and-mortar" store, lower stocking costs (or none, if drop shipping is used),
and lower staffing overhead.
Shipping costs (if applicable) reduce the price advantage of online merchandise,
though depending on the jurisdiction, a lack of sales tax may compensate for
this.
Shipping a small number of items, especially from another country, is much more
expensive than making the larger shipments bricks-and-mortar retailers order.
Some retailers (especially those selling small, high-value items like electronics)
offer free shipping on sufficiently large orders.
Concerns
Fraud and security concerns
Given the lack of ability to inspect merchandise before purchase, consumers are
at higher risk of fraud on the part of the merchant than in a physical store.
Merchants also risk fraudulent purchases using stolen credit cards or fraudulent
repudiation of the online purchase. With a warehouse instead of a retail
storefront, merchants face less risk from physical theft.
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption has generally solved the problem of
credit card numbers being intercepted in transit between the consumer and the
merchant. Identity theft is still a concern for consumers when hackers break into
a merchant's web site and steal names, addresses and credit card numbers. A
number of high-profile break-ins in the 2000s has prompted some U.S. states to
require disclosure to consumers when this happens. Computer security has thus
become a major concern for merchants and e-commerce service providers, who
deploy countermeasures such as firewalls and anti-virus software to protect their
networks.
Phishing is another danger, where consumers are fooled into thinking they are
dealing with a reputable retailer, when they have actually been manipulated into
feeding private information to a system operated by a malicious party. Denial of
service attacks are a minor risk for merchants, as are server and network
outages.
Quality seals can be placed on the Shop web page if it has undergone an
independent assessment and meets all requirements of the company issuing the
seal. The purpose of these seals is to increase the confidence of the online
shoppers; the existence of many different seals, or seals unfamiliar to
consumers, may foil this effort to a certain extent.
A number of resources offer advice on how consumers can protect themselves
when using online retailer services. These include:
 Sticking with known stores, or attempting to find independent consumer
reviews of their experiences; also ensuring that there is comprehensive
contact information on the website before using the service, and noting if
the retailer has enrolled in industry oversight programs such as trust mark
or trust seal.

 Before buying from a new company, evaluate the website by considering

issues such as: the professionalism and user-friendliness of the site;
whether or not the company lists a telephone number and/or street
address along with e-contact information; whether a fair and reasonable
refund and return policy is clearly stated; and whether there are hidden
price inflators, such as excessive shipping and handling charges.

 Ensuring that the retailer has an acceptable privacy policy posted. For
example note if the retailer does not explicitly state that it will not share
private information with others without consent.

 Ensuring that the vendor address is protected with SSL (see above) when
entering credit card information. If it does the address on the credit card
information entry screen will start with "HTTPS".

 Using strong passwords, without personal information. Another option is a

"pass phrase," which might be something along the lines: "I shop 4 good a
buy!!" These are difficult to hack, and provides a variety of upper, lower,
and special characters and could be site specific and easy to remember.
Although the benefits of online shopping are considerable, when the process
goes poorly it can create a thorny situation. A few problems that shoppers
potentially face include identity theft, faulty products, and the accumulation of spy
ware. Most large online corporations are inventing new ways to make fraud more
difficult, however, the criminals are constantly responding to these developments
with new ways to manipulate the system. Even though these efforts are making it
easier to protect yourself online, it is a constant fight to maintain the lead. It is
advisable to be aware of the most current technology and scams out there to fully
protect yourself and your finances.[23].
One of the hardest areas to deal with in online shopping is the delivery of the
products. Most companies offer shipping insurance in case the product is lost or
damaged; however, if the buyer opts not to purchase insurance on their products,
they are generally out of luck. Some shipping companies will offer refunds or
compensation for the damage, but it is up to their discretion if this will happen. It
is important to realize that once the product leaves the hands of the seller, they
have no responsibility (provided the product is what the buyer ordered and is in
the specified condition).
Privacy
Privacy of personal information is a significant issue for some consumers.
Different legal jurisdictions have different laws concerning consumer privacy, and
different levels of enforcement. Many consumers wish to avoid spam and
telemarketing which could result from supplying contact information to an online
merchant. In response, many merchants promise not to use consumer
information for these purposes, or provide a mechanism to opt-out of such
contacts.
Brick-and-mortar stores also collect consumer information. Some ask for address
and phone number at checkout, though consumers may refuse to provide it.
Many larger stores use the address information encoded on consumers' credit
cards (often without their knowledge) to add them to a catalog mailing list. This
information is obviously not accessible to the merchant when paying in cash.
Product suitability
Category U.S. online sales (2006)
Apparel, accessories and footwear $18.3 billion
Computer hardware and software $17.2 billion
Autos and auto parts $16.7 billion
Home furnishings $10.0 billion
Total products sales (excluding travel) $146.4 billion
Travel $73.5 billion
Many successful purely virtual companies deal with digital products, (including
information storage, retrieval, and modification), music, movies, office supplies,
education, communication, software, photography, and financial transactions.
Examples of this type of company include: Google, eBay and Paypal. Other
successful marketers use Drop shipping or affiliate marketing techniques to
facilitate transactions of tangible goods without maintaining real inventory.
Examples include numerous sellers on eBay.
Some non-digital products have been more successful than others for online
stores. Profitable items often have a high value-to-weight ratio, they may involve
embarrassing purchases, they may typically go to people in remote locations,
and they may have shut-ins as their typical purchasers. [citation needed]
Items which
can fit through a standard letterbox — such as music CDs, DVDs and books —
are particularly suitable for a virtual marketer, and indeed Amazon.com, one of
the few enduring dot-com companies, has historically concentrated on this field
Products such as spare parts, both for consumer items like washing machines
and for industrial equipment like centrifugal pumps, also seem good candidates
for selling online. Retailers often need to order spare parts specially, since they
typically do not stock them at consumer outlets—in such cases, e-commerce
solutions in spares do not compete with retail stores, only with other ordering
systems. A factor for success in this niche can consist of providing customers
with exact, reliable information about which part number their particular version of
a product needs, for example by providing parts lists keyed by serial
numberProducts less suitable for e-commerce include products that have a low
value-to-weight ratio, products that have a smell, taste, or touch component,
products that need trial fittings — most notably clothing — and products where
colour integrity appears important. Nonetheless, Tesco.com has had success
delivering groceries in the UK, albeit that many of its goods are of a generic
quality, and clothing sold through the internet is big business in the U.S. Also, the
recycling program Cheapcycle sells goods over the internet, but avoids the low
value-to-weight ratio problem by creating different groups for various regions, so
that shipping costs remain low

COMPANY PROFILE IF PROJECT IS BASED ON

SPECIFIC COMPANY

Letsbuy.com aims to be one of the largest Internet retailers of branded computer

technology and digital lifestyle products with more than 5000 products from top
international and domestic brands.
Our business philosophy is simple: offer consumers and businesses what they
want, when they want it.

Products
We offer our customers over 5000 quality products, and our list of product
categories and product offerings is growing every day.Letsbuy customers know
they’re getting the best prices and exclusive offers on a huge range of computer
technology products like desktops, notebooks, printers, mobile phones,
networking, digital cameras, software, storage and more. Plus, we offer other
interesting products such as LCD TVs, MP3 players, gaming and home
electronics.
Our direct association with all the major brands means our customers will always
find special deals on great products from the biggest names in the industry. And
to help our customers choose the right products, we make it easy to find
availability, pricing, reviews and ratings.
Service
At Letsbuy.com, our focus has always been on helping customers save time and
money. This is why we’ve invested in building a website that allows them to
securely manage their accounts without intervention. It’s the empowering, 24/7
self service approach that ensures we keep our customers satisfied, and our
prices competitive.

At the beginning of the century, social life was mostly local. It was followed by a
period in which commodities were produced on a mass scale. Consumer
Marketing operated on mass marketing principles, and business primarily
concerned itself with how to built the best sales force. At the end of the century,
there is an emerging global culture. The major driver of these changes is
technology. Technological change has moved steadily back focussing on the
individual. These changes shape the possibility and conduct of business.
Marketing is especially tied to communication and transportation revolution. As
the tools and reach of marketing increase, the job and responsibilities of
marketers have evolved with them.
Kotler formalized this evolution with his book "Marketing Management." His key
stages are production, sales and brand management. Each of these is strongly
motivated by technological opportunities, which permit new methods and new
opportunities. A fourth stage, a focus on the individual customer, is also
important. As the new technology of the Internet develops, it reinforces the new
marketing emphasis - which in many ways is a return to business at the turn of
the century.

In today’s technology driven world, a new fast paced digital economy is

emerging. Tomorrow there will be companies that will exist only inside computer
networks. Most business transactions will be made electronically, directly from
the producer to the consumer, bypassing the supply chain. In the digital
marketing environment, the consumer becomes an integral player in the
development of the product. In fact, a consumer might build the product himself
from a wide array of parts provided by the Company. It is e-commerce that is
changing the way products and services are conceived, manufactured,
promoted, priced, distributed and sold. The reason being that it is much cheaper;
it allows vast coverage and helps in serving the customer better.

Growth of Internet usage and E-commerce:

According to the research report of Goldman Sachs, India will emerge as the
second largest Internet market in Asia after China with 70 million users by 2003.
It estimates that Indian Internet Users will increase by 130% compounded annual
growth rate (CAGR) from 0.5 million users recorded at end of 1998. Also by
March 2001, there will be over 80 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and at least
12 private international gateways. As per preliminary findings of the NASSCOM
survey, the total volume of E-commerce transactions in India was about Rs.131
crore in the year 1998-99. Out of this volume, about Rs.12 crore were contributed
by retail Internet or Business-to-Consumer transactions, and about Rs.119 crore
were contributed by Business-to-Business transactions. The survey also
revealed that E-Business transactions in India are expected to exceed Rs.300
crore during 1999-2000. Out of this, about Rs.50 crore could comprise of retail
transactions. For Business-to-Business transactions, Indian industries are
expected to reach online penetration of 2% by 2003 and 8% by 2008.

Product on the Internet usually changes form online, and the user experiences it
electronically, in the form of text, images and multimedia. Physical goods are
usually presented in the form of a detailed online catalogue that the customer
can browse through. Technology allows the user to virtually touch and feel the
product on the Internet - rotate it, zoom in or zoom out and even visualize the
product in different configurations and combination. Content and software are
two avatars of digitized products that can be even distributed over the Internet.
On the Internet, E-marketing will be based more on the product qualities rather
than on the price. Every company will be able to bring down the cost of its
products and hence competition will not be on price. It will rather be on the
uniqueness of the product. To be able to attract the customers and retain them,
the company will have to provide nouvelle and distinct products that forces the
net users to purchase and come back for more.

COMPETITION INFORMATION
Launched in january 2008, naaptol has grown to become india's leading
comparison based social shopping portal, the one-stop destination for all
shoppers, merchants and market enthusiasts To begin with naaptol does not sell
directly. What it does is it initiates' selling. With the sudden upsurge of brands
and stores, both online and offline, that claim to sell the best of the products at
the most reasonable prices the shopper goes crazy. What is the assurance that
the price offered to him is the best? Normally before making a buying decision of
an expensive product the consumer does an in depth research on the product
from various websites which is an extremely tedious task. He would often wish a
single website that would meet all his buying needs. Thus fulfiling this motive is
came naaptol.com in january 2008.

Started as a brainchild of two people naaptol has grown to about 60 odd

employees within a span of 1 year. Not only in terms of employees but the
organization has grown in other respects too. From nil sellers naaptol has grown
to 500 stores in its portfolio and still counting. And that's not all! There are about
470 brands that are associated with naaptol which include indiatimes shopping,
ferns and petals, home shop 18, j j mehta and the likes. This has all been
possible due to the dedicated and efficient team of naaptoleers who strive all
along to get nothing but the best. Be it sales, operations, technology or
marketing, all teams work in unison with each other to reach the top. Thus for
naaptol we are not specifically looking for people who have all the knowledge
,but we are also looking for people who have the 'it' factor. We are looking for
people who are full of life, are willing to learn and most importantly are willing to
work as a team.
 OBJECTIVE

 To study how letsbuy.com Create a system that is easily accessible by

customers from the comfort of their homes, offices etc.
 To study letsbuy.com customer perception towards Reduce the flow of
human traffic and long queues at banks.
 To Study the perception towards Reduce the time wasted in going to
banks to stay on queues.
 To study Promote efficient and effective banking for the banks by focusing
on those services that still require physical presence at the banking hall.
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

SAMPLE SIZE

100 people would take for this report

PRIMARY DATA

Data has been collected through one to one interaction and discussion with
various people who are involved in the business Event activities to boost its
business and brand. Interaction with customers during such Event activities
would enable to understand the success ratio of such kind of Event activities.
Various products of the company would be discussed with respect to their
benefits and advantages. Various insurance players would be compared with
respect to their market share and products that they offer.

SECONDARY DATA

A secondary data is that data that is required to conduct the study and can be
obtained from books, journals, magazines, records etc. Secondary data is data
taken by the researcher from secondary sources, internal or external. Secondary
data is collected from following sources: -
1) Magazines and journals
2) Company websites.
3) Internet
4) Books
LIMITATION
Many constraints were involved in doing this study. Some of them are as follows.
 The most significant limitation has been the individuals involved in this
study were very busy and did not spare much time in discussion.
 The sample size selected for the survey was too small as compared to
large population.
  The project was carried out only in the Delhi, so findings on data gathered
can be best true for Delhi only and not applicable to other parts of state
and country.
Indian stock market is a market where sentiments play a major role in price;
hence 100% accurate predictions cannot be made about its future path
 LITRATURE REVIEW

As internet is a global showcase of information at the click of a button, vendors

host severs sources to market their good and services internationally and buyers
buy these services regardless of where ever they may be located. E-commerce
is the buying and selling of garment products via the communications capabilities
of private and public computer networks, including the Internet (Rao, 2006: 532).
The Internet will bring radical change to automation in trading. By providing a
omnipresent public network and standards for communication, the Internet will
help businesses lower costs in EDI-like transactions. More importantly, the
Internet will make it easier for small and medium-sized businesses to participate
in automated commerce transactions. Many businesses, be it small, medium,
and large—will soon send and receive the majority of their purchase orders and
invoices over the Internet (Chaffey, 2007).

The study is analyzing the impact of e-commerce on access to global markets for
India. An area where Indian Garment Companies can use E commerce at this
stage of its development is at the export front. Companies that export to the
developed countries can utilize E commerce to get access to customers in these
countries that are using the Internet more and more for their business and also
for their personal needs, and where the Internet connectivity is very high.

COMMERCE & E-COMMERCE

Commerce is a dissection of trade or production that deals with the exchange of
goods and services from producer to the end-consumer. Something of economic
value is traded for example goods, services, information or money between two
or more entities and that is what we called commerce. Commerce works as a
central mechanism that drives capitalism and some other economic systems.
Commercialization is a process of transforming something into a product, service
or activity which one would then use in commerce, which is primarily money
transaction. [Watson, Peter, 2005]. The basic difference between Trade &
Commerce could primarily be expressed as an abstract notion for buying and
selling, whereas trade may refer to the exchange of a specific class of goods.
Today commerce essentially includes a complex range of system and companies
that try to maximize their profits by offering various products and services to the
market maintain a low production-cost and increasing return on investment.
[Davies, Glyn, 2002]. Delivery of goods and services is an essential part of
commerce and we call it Trading. Existence of Trade exists is for many reasons
such as due to specialisation and division of labor, concentration on a small
aspect of production, trading for other products. It exists between regions
because different regions would have a comparative and competitive advantage
in the production of some tradable commodity, or because different regions of
different size allows for different benefits for mass production [Watson, Peter,
2005]. Advertising and brand promotion and a huge amount of ad spend is
definitely an essentials of this game of commerce. When its business, it means a
lot of thing included and a large perspective is to reach the end consumer at
ease taking care of the return on investment. Trade going International becomes
exchange of goods and services across the national borders. This particularly
contributes a significant part of the GDP. International trade has increased
because of industrialization, advanced transportation, globalization, multinational
entities and outsourcing. But gradually we entered an era of technological
comfort and our life got changed. Life comes with business and therefore,
business or just the way we do business got changed as well [Weisbrot, Mark,
2005].

Electronic commerce or e-commerce or eCommerce, means buying and selling

of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other
computer networks. The volume of trade done electronically has grown
immensely since the spread of the Information Technology and Internet
specifically. Variety of commerce is conducted electronically. Innovations in field
of electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online
transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management
systems, and automated data collection systems has been brought about by
e=commerce for the ease of consumer transaction and other benefits. It is the
World Wide Web platform on which the modern electronic commerce is done.
Most electronic commerce involves the transportation of physical items by
logistics mode and some serves virtual products. Online retailers are known as e-
tailers and online retail is called e-tail. Contemporary way of trading and
commerce is mostly e-commerce oriented or driven and almost all big retailers
have electronic commerce presence on the World Wide Web today. (Chaudhury,
Abijit; Jean-Pierre Kuilboer, 2002).

E-commerce is considered to be the sales aspect of electronic business. It also

consists of the exchange of data in order to facilitate the financing and payment
aspects of the business transactions. The entire meaning of e-commerce has
changed over the last three decades. Through the use of technology like
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) the
electronic transaction of business of goods and commodities and financial
transactions are carried on. From signing and agreeing to terms of business till
making the actual payment, everything is carried on electronically. The growth
and acceptance of automated payment, credit card, debit cards, ATM online
shopping and payment, phone banking and many more are only the by products
of e-commerce industry. Larger the transaction, ease of business is even better.
(Chaudhury, Abijit; Jean-Pierre Kuilboer, 2002).

Terms like e-business, e-commerce, net shopping, online retailing, e-culture, e-

age, the virtual world and portals are fast becoming part of our new business
language (RIGA, 1998). Electronic commerce is defined as sale or purchase of
goods or services through the application of information and communication
technology from its point of origin to its endpoint along the entire value chain of
business processes conducted electronically and designed to enable the
accomplishment of a business goal (Wigand, 1997; Kansititorn, Poopparadai and
Smutkput, 2005). E-business which primarily includes online purchasing, and
providing product and service information, which allow for cutting of costs,
improving the quality of goods, and increasing the speed of service (Kleindl,
2000). The world wide web provides a wide range of benefits including a
relatively inexpensive means of accessing global markets, niche markets and low
cost communication medium (Poon & Swatman, 1997; Kleindl, 2000).
The scope of this study is to understand the potential that e-commerce holds for
Readymade Garment exporters in India and also to gain an insight into what new
opportunities can be opened up and how best these opportunities can be
exploited.

Electronic commerce or e-commerce or eCommerce, means buying and selling

of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other
computer networks. The volume of trade done electronically has grown
immensely since the spread of the Information Technology and Internet
specifically. Variety of commerce is conducted electronically. Innovations in field
of electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online
transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management
systems, and automated data collection systems has been brought about by
e=commerce for the ease of consumer transaction and other benefits. It is the
World Wide Web platform on which the modern electronic commerce is done.
Most electronic commerce involves the transportation of physical items by
logistics mode and some serves virtual products. Online retailers are known as e-
tailers and online retail is called e-tail. Contemporary way of trading and
commerce is mostly e-commerce oriented or driven and almost all big retailers
have electronic commerce presence on the World Wide Web today. (Chaudhury,
Abijit; Jean-Pierre Kuilboer, 2002).

Terms like e-business, e-commerce, net shopping, online retailing, e-culture, e-

age, the virtual world and portals are fast becoming part of our new business
language (RIGA, 1998). Electronic commerce is defined as sale or purchase of
goods or services through the application of information and communication
technology from its point of origin to its endpoint along the entire value chain of
business processes conducted electronically and designed to enable the
accomplishment of a business goal (Wigand, 1997; Kansititorn, Poopparadai and
Smutkput, 2005). E-business which primarily includes online purchasing, and
providing product and service information, which allow for cutting of costs,
improving the quality of goods, and increasing the speed of service (Kleindl,
2000). The world wide web provides a wide range of benefits including a
relatively inexpensive means of accessing global markets, niche markets and low
cost communication medium (Poon & Swatman, 1997; Kleindl, 2000).
Internet is now available through the world and through internet an export firm
can reach out to customers who have access to internet. Thus, a firm can reach
beyond its geographic location and its current customer segment. In other words,
e-commerce has increased the reach of export firms whereby they can operate
globally (Kinyanjui, 2002).
E-commerce means better quicker customer service. For companies that do
business with other firms, adding customer service to the web is a competitive
advantage. The overnight package delivery service, where tracking number
allows customers to check the whereabouts of a package online, is one good
example (Awad, 2006: p.15).
It facilitates higher profit margins for the business by reducing the costs of
various kinds of commercial transactions and cutting delays in receiving
payments from customers. It also saves a lot by replacing manual transactions
with electronic transactions. A well prepared eCommerce strategy can increase
sales from mere 10 percent to several times within the first six month of
implementation. There is a possibility that order size per customer will also
increase thanks to some eCommerce functionalities like advanced eCatalog,
Notification service, order status viewing system and ability to offer related
products (Nowshade Kabir, 2002).

Internet provides a form for interaction between export firms and also between
firms and their customers. Through internet suppliers, manufacturers,
distributors, retailers, exporters are able to share information on the inventory
and enhance the flow of information and goods through the supply chain. Now
the exchange of multimedia information has been made possible which fastens
better relationships among the participants. The real time capability of the
internet provides a sense of teamwork and shared goals among the participants
(Kinyanjui, 2002). The Ecommerce improved image, improved customer service,
new found business partners, simplified processors, compressed cycle and
delivery time, increased productivity, eliminating paper, expanding access to
information, reduced transportation cost and increased flexibility (Humphrey,
2002).

Many organisations are eager to engage themselves in the e-business trend

through the application of the Internet technology which incorporates eminent
and fascinating functions such as Interactive Communications, Dynamic
inventory, Customer order tracking, Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
etc. However, companies are usually are eager to develop their “corporate
websites” which contain typically the same information as they put in the Yellow
pages and which is rarely updated. This is an unplanned approach and as a
result of such unplanned approach, senior executives are most likely to diminish
the budget and human resources involvement and eventually suspend the e-
transformation project. To successfully transform small and medium- sized firms
into e-capable companies, an e-transformation roadmap which focuses on not
only the website development, but also the involvement of employees as
individuals, project or task teams as groups, as well as the entire company as a
single entity. This proposed roadmap consists of eight phases: basic website,
interactive website, e-commerce website, effective individual, effective group,
effective enterprise, convergence, and new emerging business processes. Initial
six phases of the roadmap aims into internal and external development
approaches of which the internal development approach is mainly concerned
with the transition of effectiveness with a company and is constructed of the
development of effective individuals toward the effective enterprise. On the other
hand, the external development approach is essentially related to the
construction of the website and its functionalities. It is based on the development
of a static, information only website to wards e-commerce competent world wide
web platform. (Wigand, 1997; Kansititorn, Poopparadai and Smutkput, 2005).
The E-transformation Roadmap

Source

If we talk about only a website, there could many a times of websites that a
company can create to infuse customer interaction model for their business such
as Basic Website, Interactive Website, E-commerce Website etc. First the
organization goes through transformation phase at an individual stage, then
transformation at a group level, and then finally it changes or transforms the
enterprise as a whole, its perspective and acceptability in the market.

A basic website refers to a static and information only website for any company.
This forms a preliminary external development phase that enterprises could use
the Internet as the media for disseminating marketing and advertising campaigns
and products information. Internet is employed as the same way as they have
been using in the conventional promotion mediums such as magazines,
newspapers, and product catalogues and so on at this stage. Primarily in this
phase it is important to ensure the corporate web presence with the appropriate
contents incorporated. In an interactive website, companies construct their
websites towards more advanced functions. Such websites are seen as an
interactive website which provides the website visitor (e.g. clients, vendors,
employees etc) with dynamic and up to date information. Primary concept of the
dynamic contents emphasises on the connection and interface between the front-
end website and the back-end database systems. The task of an interactive
website is to identify the dynamic contents availability on the Internet. But the
ultimate e-transformation comes from e-commerce website where the objective is
to construct an e-commerce or online payment enabled website. Through this the
customers are able to place sales orders, organise accounts payables; vendors
or suppliers are able to remit invoices and receive payments; and the enterprise
could arrange payrolls and any other expenses. An important job in this phase is
to focus on the development of secure environment that provides all business
parties confidently trading through the Internet.

In this phase which is called individual convergence each employee should have
suitable IT facilities that will support their individual needs to carry out daily
business activities. The appropriate IT facilities support individuals including
personal computers, laptops, word processing applications, and spreadsheets
applications, building up a consolidated reporting and record management
system with just a click of a mouse. The working process and phenomena of an
individual worker changes completely. In an effective group approach the
development of an effective group as a whole happens within an enterprise. Here
an important aspect is team work using the diverse skills of individual employees
and resulting efficient outcomes and without a doubt, the IT and information
systems are the keys to provide an effective team or group environment. And
when moving from the effective group development towards an effective
enterprise development, the total transformation happens for the entire working
of the firm.

Once the internal and external developments have been done and a mature
status of e-commerce has been developed reached the mature status there
comes the convergence stage for the company. Through e-commerce website
and effective enterprise stages, companies are able to competent to converge
both internal and external into a single operation. Due to this convergence phase
a number of new business processes are emerging. Such new business
processes generally relate to the activities of handling the business behaviors
amongst business parties (clients, suppliers, and the enterprise itself), including
customer relationship management (CRM), supplier relationship management
(SRM), supply chain management (SCM), and knowledge management (KM) to
name a few.
E-commerce advantages
Some advantages that can be achieved from e-commerce include:
 Being able to conduct business 24 x 7 x 365 . E-commerce systems
can operate all day every day. Your physical storefront does not need to
be open in order for customers and suppliers to be doing business with
you electronically.
 Access the global marketplace . The Internet spans the world, and it is
possible to do business with any business or person who is connected to
the Internet. Simple local businesses such as specialist record stores are
able to market and sell their offerings internationally using e-commerce.
This global opportunity is assisted by the fact that, unlike traditional
communications methods, users are not charged according to the
distance over which they are communicating.
 Speed. Electronic communications allow messages to traverse the world
almost instantaneously. There is no need to wait weeks for a catalogue to
arrive by post: that communications delay is not a part of the Internet / e-
commerce world.
 Marketspace. The market in which web-based businesses operate is the
global market. It may not be evident to them, but many businesses are
already facing international competition from web-enabled businesses.
 Opportunity to reduce costs. The Internet makes it very easy to 'shop
around' for products and services that may be cheaper or more effective
than we might otherwise settle for. It is sometimes possible to, through
some online research, identify original manufacturers for some goods -
thereby bypassing wholesalers and achieving a cheaper price.
 Computer platform-independent . 'Many, if not most, computers have
the ability to communicate via the Internet independent of operating
systems and hardware. Customers are not limited by existing hardware
systems' (Gascoyne & Ozcubukcu, 1997:87).
 Efficient applications development environment - 'In many respects,
applications can be more efficiently developed and distributed because
 the can be built without regard to the customer's or the business partner's
technology platform. Application updates do not have to be manually
installed on computers. Rather, Internet-related technologies provide this
capability inherently through automatic deployment of software updates'
(Gascoyne & Ozcubukcu, 1997:87).
 Allowing customer self service and 'customer outsourcing'. People
can interact with businesses at any hour of the day that it is convenient to
them, and because these interactions are initiated by customers, the
customers also provide a lot of the data for the transaction that may
otherwise need to be entered by business staff. This means that some of
the work and costs are effectively shifted to customers; this is referred to
as 'customer outsourcing'.
 Stepping beyond borders to a global view. Using aspects of e-
commerce technology can mean your business can source and use
products and services provided by other businesses in other countries.
This seems obvious enough to say, but people do not always consider the
implications of e-commerce. For example, in many ways it can be easier
and cheaper to host and operate some e-commerce activities outside
Australia. Further, because many e-commerce transactions involve credit
cards, many businesses in Australia need to make arrangements for
accepting online payments. However a number of major Australian banks
have tended to be unhelpful laggards on this front, charging a lot of money
and making it difficult to establish these arrangements - particularly for
smaller businesses and/or businesses that don't fit into a traditional-
economy understanding of business. In some cases, therefore, it can be
easier and cheaper to set up arrangements which bypass this aspect of
the Australian banking system. Admittedly, this can create some grey
areas for legal and taxation purposes, but these can be dealt with. And
yes these circumstances do have implications for Australia's national
competitiveness and the competitiveness of our industries and
businesses.
As a further thought, many businesses find it easier to buy and sell in U.S.
dollars: it is effectively the major currency of the Internet. In this context, global
online customers can find the concept of peculiar and unfamiliar currencies
disconcerting. Some businesses find they can achieve higher prices online and in
US dollars than they would achieve selling locally or nationally. Given that banks
often charge fees for converting currencies, this is another reason to investigate
all of your (national and international) options for accepting and making online
payments.
In brief, it is useful to take a global view with regard the potential and
organisation of your e-commerce activities, especially if you are targeting global
customers.
 A new marketing channel. The Internet provides an important new
channel to sell to consumers. Peterson et al. (1999) suggest that, as a
marketing channel, the Internet has the following characteristics:
 the ability to inexpensively store vast amounts of information at different
virtual locations
 the availability of powerful and inexpensive means of searching,
organising, and disseminating such information
 interactivity and the ability to provide information on demand
 the ability to provide perceptual experiences that are far superior to a
printed catalogue, although not as rich as personal inspection
 the capability to serve as a transaction medium
 the ability to serve as a physical distribution medium for certain goods
(e.g., software)
 relatively low entry and establishment costs for sellers
 no other existing marketing channel possesses all of these characteristics.
Some of these advantages and their surrounding issues are discussed below in
further detail.
E-commerce disadvantages and constraints
Some disadvantages and constraints of e-commerce include the following.
 Time for delivery of physical products . It is possible to visit a local
music store and walk out with a compact disc, or a bookstore and leave
with a book. E-commerce is often used to buy goods that are not available
locally from businesses all over the world, meaning that physical goods
need to be delivered, which takes time and costs money. In some cases
 there are ways around this, for example, with electronic files of the music
or books being accessed across the Internet, but then these are not
physical goods.
 Physical product, supplier & delivery uncertainty . When you walk out
of a shop with an item, it's yours. You have it; you know what it is, where it
is and how it looks. In some respects e-commerce purchases are made on
trust. This is because, firstly, not having had physical access to the
product, a purchase is made on an expectation of what that product is and
its condition. Secondly, because supplying businesses can be conducted
across the world, it can be uncertain whether or not they are legitimate
businesses and are not just going to take your money. It's pretty hard to
knock on their door to complain or seek legal recourse! Thirdly, even if the
item is sent, it is easy to start wondering whether or not it will ever arrive.
 Perishable goods . Forget about ordering a single gelato ice cream from
a shop in Rome! Though specialised or refrigerated transport can be used,
goods bought and sold via the Internet tend to be durable and non-
perishable: they need to survive the trip from the supplier to the
purchasing business or consumer. This shifts the bias for perishable
and/or non-durable goods back towards traditional supply chain
arrangements, or towards relatively more local e-commerce-based
purchases, sales and distribution. In contrast, durable goods can be
traded from almost anyone to almost anyone else, sparking competition
for lower prices. In some cases this leads to disintermediation in which
intermediary people and businesses are bypassed by consumers and by
other businesses that are seeking to purchase more directly from
manufacturers.
 Limited and selected sensory information. The Internet is an effective
conduit for visual and auditory information: seeing pictures, hearing
sounds and reading text. However it does not allow full scope for our
senses: we can see pictures of the flowers, but not smell their fragrance;
we can see pictures of a hammer, but not feel its weight or balance.
Further, when we pick up and inspect something, we choose what we look
at and how we look at it. This is not the case on the Internet. If we were
 looking at buying a car on the Internet, we would see the pictures the
seller had chosen for us to see but not the things we might look for if we
were able to see it in person. And, taking into account our other senses,
we can't test the car to hear the sound of the engine as it changes gears
or sense the smell and feel of the leather seats. There are many ways in
which the Internet does not convey the richness of experiences of the
world. This lack of sensory information means that people are often much
more comfortable buying via the Internet generic goods - things that they
have seen or experienced before and about which there is little ambiguity,
rather than unique or complex things.
 Returning goods. Returning goods online can be an area of difficulty.
The uncertainties surrounding the initial payment and delivery of goods
can be exacerbated in this process. Will the goods get back to their
source? Who pays for the return postage? Will the refund be paid? Will I
be left with nothing? How long will it take? Contrast this with the offline
experience of returning goods to a shop.
 Privacy, security, payment, identity, contract. Many issues arise -
privacy of information, security of that information and payment details,
whether or not payment details (eg credit card details) will be misused,
identity theft, contract, and, whether we have one or not, what laws and
legal jurisdiction apply.
 Defined services & the unexpected . E-commerce is an effective means
for managing the transaction of known and established services, that is,
things that are everyday. It is not suitable for dealing with the new or
unexpected. For example, a transport company used to dealing with
simple packages being asked if it can transport a hippopotamus, or a
customer asking for a book order to be wrapped in blue and white polka
dot paper with a bow. Such requests need human intervention to
investigate and resolve.
 Personal service . Although some human interaction can be facilitated
via the web, e-commerce can not provide the richness of interaction
provided by personal service. For most businesses, e-commerce methods
provide the equivalent of an information-rich counter attendant rather than
 a salesperson. This also means that feedback about how people react to
product and service offerings also tends to be more granular or perhaps
lost using e-commerce approaches. If your only feedback is that people
are (or are not) buying your products or services online, this is inadequate
for evaluating how to change or improve your e-commerce strategies
and/or product and service offerings. Successful business use of e-
commerce typically involves strategies for gaining and applying customer
feedback. This helps businesses to understand, anticipate and meet
changing online customer needs and preferences, which is critical
because of the comparatively rapid rate of ongoing Internet-based
change.
 Size and number of transactions. E-commerce is most often conducted
using credit card facilities for payments, and as a result very small and
very large transactions tend not to be conducted online. The size of
transactions is also impacted by the economics of transporting physical
goods. For example, any benefits or conveniences of buying a box of pens
online from a US-based business tend to be eclipsed by the cost of having
to pay for them to be delivered to you in Australia. The delivery costs also
mean that buying individual items from a range of different overseas
businesses is significantly more expensive than buying all of the goods
from one overseas business because the goods can be packaged and
shipped together.
Reflecting some of the comments above, the following chart (Figure 1.6) shows
some of the complaints made by Australian e-consumers
.
 ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
Sources influencing your purchase decision
 Newspaper
 Television
 Website
 Friends and Relatives advice
 Other (please specify)___________________

  Source influences
Newspaper 27
Television 15
Website 46
Friends and Relatives advice 12
Other 0

Source influences
Friends and Relatives advice
12%
Newspaper
27%

Website Television
46% 15%

As per our primary data suggested that people are using Internet to purchase
there semi luxuries goods, which they found one of the most reliable sources of
information 46% of the people are suggested that website is the most influence
source of information of them although first influence that customer receive from
the Television as suggested by the 15’% of the customer out of 100 people who
has been surveyed for the company.

1) Frequency of internet usage-

 Everyday
  Several times a week
 About once a week
 Several times a month

Frequency of
  Internet Surfing
Everyday 34
Several times a week 13
About once a week 15
Several times a month 38

As per our objective of this study is the scope of online Shopping for the
Automobile Industry in India, there is obvious growth that Indian industry found
as the growing population of the Internet users. 38% of the people suggested
that the they are surfing internet several times in a month while 34% of the
people suggested them surfing on Internet Every day.

2) internet accessability-
 Home
 Office
  Cyber café
 Other (please specify)___________________

Surfing Internet
  from
Home 37
Office 42
Cyber café 12
Other 9

Surfing Internet from

Other
Cyber café 9% Home
12% 37%

Office
42%

Internet Shopping will be the more effective when people either use internet on
home or in the office as this question suggested that the 42% of the people said
office is the place where they most of time surfing Internet this is one group
which is more prospective buyer for the Letbuy.com. 37% of the people
suggested that they have Internet in home adding to this 12% of the people
suggested that cyber Café is the place where they are surfing internet.

3) Purpose for internet usage-

 Information gathering
 Shopping
 News
  Stock market
 E-mailing
 Other (please specify)_____________________

Purpose For Using

Internet
Information gathering 38
Shopping 9
News 21
Stock market 21
E-mailing 10
Other 1

Infect people
using very frequently internet and the purpose of the using internet is varying
also as per our study suggested that the 38% of the people are using Internet for
Information gathering adding to this 21% of the people suggested that they are
using most of time Internet because of the taking information of Stock market.
One of the surprising result suggested that 9% of the people are using Internet
for the shopping.
4) Searching pages on the internet -
 Followed link from another web page
 By using a search engine
 Read about it in newspaper/magazine
 Referred by friends &relatives
  Other (please specify)_______________________
Finding
the proper
  Website
Followed link from another web page 32
By using a search engine 22
Read about it in newspaper/magazine 28
Referred by friends &relatives 16
Other 2

Finding the proper website is some time very difficult in fact some time very
problematic for the people as per our study suggested that they are using search
engine like Google , Yahoo to find the proper website said by the 22% of the
people adding to this 28% of the people suggested that they are finding proper
website information from the Newspaper and from the Magazine. 32% of the
people suggested that the they are following the web page for finding the internet
this is the major area where the online Shopping would be successful.

5) Your online purchases-

 High value products like watches ,computers etc
 Flowers
 Cd’s/videos
 Travel bookings
 Other (please specify)_____________________
 Purchasin
  g Online
High value products like watches ,computers etc 12
Flowers 32
Cd's/videos 19
Travel bookings 26
Other 11

Generally Indian people purchasing decision is very historical as adding to this

now growing internet uses now customer are ready to purchase the some of
them product through Internet. 32% of the people suggested that they are
purchasing flowers through Online. Although 26% of the people suggested that
people prefer Travel booking.
6) Your Budget for online purchases-
 (Rs)0-500
 (Rs)501-5000
 (Rs)5001-50000
 (Rs)Above 50000

Online
  Purchasing
 0-500 17
501 to 50000 59
5001 to 50000 14
Above 50000 10

As per our study suggested that Indian people are very conservative inters of the
online marketing and there spending power, although people are prefer to
purchase through internet and we try to find how many people spending how
much money through online. 59% of the people suggested that there purchasing
is limited to Rs. 501 to 50000 and only 10% of the people suggested that there
spending power is over the above than 50000.

8. The age of the respondents can be shown under the following heads. The
respondents can be divided into the following categories
 Age of the respondents

6% 0-15
16%
15-30

30-40
31% 47%
40-60

It is known from the graph that the main respondents are belonging to 20 - 30
age-group i.e. 47% people out of surveyed sample size i.e. 100 are under 30
years of age it showing that good business for the online shopping because
young want to have a mobile devices with him/her at any circumstances.

FINDINGS AND INFERENCE

The following are a few things an internet marketer can do to maximize
the potential of his website: -
 Domain Fault Repair – This function directs the web visitor to the right site
after she/he potentially may have typed in the wrong Internet address.
 Site Customization: - One of the web-based CRM most important advantages
is the volume of information available to the browsing customer.
Unfortunately, the sheer volume of information can be one of the weaknesses
of web-based CRM design. Sites that offer customization features allow user
to filter the content they see. The future of truly web-based CRM will be the
completely “one-to-one” web sites. When properly customizable on the first
 visit, the customer on a next entry can choose to see only his/her own
preferences. (Example: yahoo.com; my yahoo)
 Alternative Channels – Different ways to contact the company are offered, for
instance, Email, Fax toll-free numbers, Postal Address, Call back button and
Voice over IP.
 Local Search Engine – Allows the visitor to search on key words to quickly
locate specific answers on the website.
 Membership – The visitor can request a password. With this password he can
continue surfing on password protected web pages within the website.

LIMITATIONS

Many constraints were involved in doing this study. Some of them are as follows.
 The most significant limitation has been the individuals involved in this
study were very busy and did not spare much time in discussion.
 The sample size selected for the survey was too small as compared to
large population.
  The project was carried out only in the Delhi, so findings on data gathered
can be best true for Delhi only and not applicable to other parts of state
and country.
Indian stock market is a market where sentiments play a major role in price;
hence 100% accurate predictions cannot be made about its future path

RECOMMENDATION

 Mailing List – To receive more information, the visitor can add his/her email
address to a list to receive automated emails. Often, this is called a
newsletter.
 Site tour – The visitor can follow a tour through the website.
 Site Map – This is a hierarchical diagram of the pages on the website, also
called a site overview, site index, or site map.
 Introduction for First-Time Users – Visitors, who enter the site for the first
time, can surf to an introduction page. This page contains information about
“How to use the site most efficiently”
 Chat – A main advantage of the Internet is its self-generating advantage. By
allowing visitors to interact with each other and with the site, they create
content for the site. The chat features allows a visitor to enter a real-time
conferencing between two or more users on the website.

All this will help build a relationship with the customer and it will ultimately help
the marketer to achieve his objectives.
Finally I would like to end by saying that even though the internet has
opened up a new avenue for reaching the end consumer; it is still very much an
open field. This is true as there is no fixed way or strategy for Shopping on the
net. It is still very much an arena where ingenuity and creative thinking very much
rule the roost. Thus Shopping as usual has not changed, i.e. it is still the same
usual self

CONCLUSION
On-Shopping is a hot topic especially in these days of instant results. The
reason why i-Shopping has become so popular is because they provide three
major benefits to potential buyers:
1. Convenience: Customers can order products 24 hours a day wherever they
are. They don’t have to sit in traffic, and a parking space, and walk through
countless shops to find and examine goods.
2. Information: Customers can find reams of comparative information about
companies, products, competitors, and prices without leaving their office or
home.
3. Fewer hassles: Customers don’t have to face salespeople or open themselves
up to persuasion and emotional factors; they also don’t have to wait in line.
i-Shopping also provides a number of benefits to marketers:
1. Quick adjustments to market conditions: Companies can quickly add products
to their offering and change prices and descriptions.
2. Lower costs: On-line marketers avoid the expense of maintaining a store and
the costs of rent, insurance, and utilities. They can produce digital catalogs for
much less than the cost of printing and mailing paper catalogs.
3. Relationship building: On-line marketers can dialogue with consumers and
learn from them.
4. Audience sizing: Marketers can learn how many people visited their on-line
site and how many stopped at particular places on the site. This information can
help improve offers and ads.
Clearly, marketers are adding on-line channels to find, reach, communicate, and
sell. i-Shopping has at least five great advantages. First, both small and large
firms can afford it. Second, there is no real limit on advertising space, in contrast
to print and broadcast media. Third, information access and retrieval are fast,
compared to overnight mail and even fax. Fourth, the site can be visited by
anyone from any place in the world. Fifth, shopping can be done privately and
swiftly.

The Internet is a powerful tool for strengthening relationships. By offering

customers content and time value, E-Shopping has opened new vistas for
marketers. The greatest feature of the digital economy is that it enables the E-
Marketer to eradicate man traditional barriers before entering new markets.
These barriers include economies of scale and geographic positioning. The
innate strength of an E-Market comes not from the seamless flows of goods and
services from the producer to the customer but in the geometrically increasing
returns from converging ideas and technological change the strength of online
communities has never been so great, and companies have used them to
develop new markets. Notice how Linux distributed free on the Net has been able
to build up a faithful customer base. Ultimately here also the marketer has to
realize that nothing sells as well as a good product. But the beauty of the Internet
is that it offers constant opportunities for product enhancement based on
continuous customer feedback. Companies who have tuned their business
processes to incorporate these customer responses have been able to leverage
the power of the Web to gain competitive advantage.
 APPENDICES

Questionnaires

Which source influences the most your purchasing decision?

Newspaper
Television
Website
Friends and Relatives advice
Other (please specify)___________________

How frequently do you surf the internet?

Everyday
Several times a week
About once a week
Several times a month

Generally for what purpose do you use internet for ?

Information gathering
Shopping
News
Stock market
E-mailing
Other (please specify)_____________________

From where do you most often access the internet ?

Home
Office
Cyber café
Other (please specify)___________________
How did you find out about a particular website on the internet ?
Followed link from another web page
By using a search engine
Read about it in newspaper/magazine
Referred by friends &relatives
Other (please specify)_______________________

What kind of purchases you do online?

High value products like watches ,computers etc
Flowers
Cd’s/videos
Travel bookings
Other (please specify)_____________________

What value you would be comfortable for online purchases?

(Rs)0-500
(Rs)501-5000
(Rs)5001-50000
(Rs)Above 50000

The age of the respondents can be shown under the following heads. The
respondents can be divided into the following categories
0-15
15-30
30-40
40-60
 Bibliography

 Event Management Lynn Van Der Wagen & Brenda R. Carlos

 Principles of Marketing  Kotler & Amstrong
 Marketing Management  Philip Kotler
 Marketing is Business  Walter E. Vieira
 The Fundamentals & Practice of Marketing  John Wilmshurst