Online Shopping: Research Paper Eimear Greene

My Objectives Why People shop online How Online retail has changed What category of product do people shop online for most The Factors Of shopping Online

Why People Shop Online I found that people shopped online because they found it easier to filter through products and that they can do it anytime. Another reason was the price but that was not as prominent as reason

Factors that are involved in decision making E information search- People want to see customer experiences before they pay for a product or service online. Business can also find out what they customer wants in a product or service by seeing their opinions posted online e-purchases- Convince is the main reason for consumers making purchases online. Consumer like how the web is becoming a one stop shop for all your needs and can be delivered to your door, sometimes free of charge. Price is also a huge factor most products are usually cheaper online, this is key in deciding to buy online, especially now in tough economic times. e-evaluation-Amazon and other early e-retailers used the lure of cheap prices to attract customers and this has still worked to this day, although from 2002 online prices have risen. Customers like to feel reassured with themselves that even though they have taken a risk with putting their card details online they will have saved money and will have some cash left over for other purchases

What Matters to the consumer When analyzing the responses to consumers, three common steps were indentified, Interactivity, Transaction, Fulfilment Interactivity starts with the e-retailer and the internet itself. Based on customer responses the speed of the online retailers site as the most prominent issue with any site. Web design is also a key factor as for the consumer to buy on that site. This may be down to the customers opinion if wither the site looks professional or not. Transaction analyses the factors that directly affect the consumers choice when they buy online, this includes, price, convince and how secure the website is. Fulfilment which includes factors such as delivery, return policies and product satisfaction, delivery charges, returns policy and the quality of support. The way a sites orders and processed and delivered could affect the shoppers perception of the e-retailer and the online shopping market in general

My Online Survey Result I conducted a survey myself to a pool of 28 people and found that the main reason for people shopping online is because of convenience, coming in second was the because it was cheaper. This shows to consumers between the ages of 18-29, Convenience and the ability to shop anywhere at any time was more of a concern than price. Another finding was that the majority of 36%, are shopping online every 3 months while only 21% shop every week, 72% of respondents still prefer shopping in store rather than online which I found interesting. The main types of products that were being bought online were mainly clothing at 71% while 55% of participants bought books, followed by 50% of participants who but electronics. Most participants used Amazon with 15 text responses while ASOS came second with 11 text responses, the third most popular online retailer was misguided.com with 5 text responses. These findings show me that although online shopping is a big part of today’s society people still like buying in store over online even though it is more convenient.

It can be argued that convenience consists of 3 dimensions. Time, place and effort. However critics say that the time and effort dimensions should be merged into a process of decision making and categorize connivance into 5 activity based dimensions which shows the activity that consumers undergo when they purchase the use of a service. These are Decision- The consumers use of time and effort expenditures to make a their decision to purchase the use of the service Access- The ability to access the content Transaction- to effect a transaction Benefit- The ability to use the companies benefits, e.g. free delivery Post Benefit Experience - The ability to use contact the company if something is not right e.g. retaining contact information for maintenance However the list is difference when it comes to retailing. Access- Consumers may research retailers and their history and creditability. Search- Consumers can search and select the products they want to purchase. Possession- Consumers can obtain desired products Transaction- Consumers can emend their transaction

Conclusion In conclusion the main findings of this paper concluded that There are more than what meets the eye when it comes to deciding to buy online. People put more thought when it comes to purchasing e.g. if the site is safe and how it will be delivered. However one thing I find sticks out is that it is more convince than price that pushes people to buy online and that is the main factor when people decided to shop online even though you can get some products cheaper and there is a global recession. That is not to say that price is not a big factor when it comes to the consumers decision making process, it is still a massive factor to consumers, it seems thought that it is not the number one factor.