The factors and relationships that influence the browsing and buying behavior of individuals when they shop on-line are very complicated. Specifically, they are interested in individual buyers using business to consumer sites. In general, advantages of online shopping as perceived by consumers include convenience, selection, price, original services (services that may be available online but not elsewhere), personal attention (some consumers perceive that they get more personal attention from merchants by going online), easy and abundant information access, privacy (consumers may be able to view, compare, and buy items that they might be reluctant to buy in-store, and freedom from sales people).
One of the benefits of online shopping is the ability to obtain information and make comparisons, provided consumers know how to make efficient searches. However, it can lead to information overload, which in turn, might turn people off from online shopping. How do consumers balance these pressures? The primary reason for shop online was convenience, characterized as shopping from home and avoiding hassles of parking, salespersons and checkout lines. Other reasons included better prices, and saving time. Availability of products / services, as in access to variety, was also indicated as a significant reason for shopping online.
The people are more interested in convenience than in price, are interesting because they contrast the popular belief. This finding has strong implications for businesses and managers working in this area and should be considered while designing e-commerce strategies as well as websites.
The second leading reason for not buying online was the lack of customer service. This includes the inability to reach someone if the consumer has a problem while shopping as well as post-purchase service problems. Lack of social interaction was cited as a third reason for not shopping online. Social interaction implies the opportunity to interact with a salesperson.
It also includes the perception of shopping as a social activity with friends. The latter interpretation may also account for a higher percentage of the group indicated this to be a problem. There was also a perception that products bought online are more expensive. This appears to contradict better prices being a reason to shop online. However, we believe that the Internet shopping mall is perceived to be more expensive because of shipping costs.
It is also possible that people feel that they have not got the best deal. While comparison-shopping is possible, it is limited by the sites that the respondent visits. If the consumer feels that s/he does not have sufficient expertise to navigate the web, s/he may also feel that the best deal has not been secured.
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