A Project Report
A Project Report
A Project Report
ON
A PROJECT SUBMITTED
TO
University of Mumbai for partial completion of
the degree of
Bachelor in Business Management Studies
(Finance)
By
Under the
Guidance of
PROF.SHARAVATHI.C
MAHATMA EDUCATION
SOCIETY’S
PILLAI COLLEGE OF ARTS COMMERCE AND
SCIENCE,
PLOT NO 10, SECTOR- 16, NEW PANVEL-
410206
2019-
20
(AUTONOMUS)
DECLARATION BY LEARNER
Name
and Signature of the Learner
Certified by
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Lastly, I would like to thank each and every person who directly
or indirectly helped me in the completion of the project
especially my Parents and Peers who supported me throughout my
project.
INDEX
SR CHAPTERS PAGE
NO. NO.
7 CHAPTER 7: BIBLIOGRAPHY 72
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 INTRODUCTION TO E-COMMERCE
E-commerce means using the Internet and the web for business transactions and/or commercial transactions,
which typically involve the exchange of value (e.g., money) across organizational or individual boundaries
in return for products and services. Here we focus on digitally enabled commercial transactions among
organizations and individuals.
E-business applications turn into e-commerce precisely, when an exchange of value occurs. Digitally enabled
transactions include all transactions mediated by digital technology and platform; that is, transactions that
occur over the Internet and the web.
Hence, e-tailing is a subset of e-commerce, which encapsulates all “commerce” conducted via the Internet.
It refers to that part of e-commerce that entails the sale of product merchandise and does not include sale of
services, namely railway tickets, airlines tickets and job portals.
The term electronic commerce or e-commerce refers to any sort of business transaction that involves the
transfer of information through the internet. By definition it covers a variety of business activities which use
internet as a platform for either information exchange or monetary transaction or both at times.
MEANING OF E-COMMERCE:
E-Commerce or Electronic Commerce means buying and selling of goods, products, or services over the
internet. E-commerce is also known as electronic commerce or internet commerce. These services provided
online over the internet network. Transaction of money, funds, and data are also considered as E-commerce.
These business transactions can be done in four ways: Business to Business (B2B), Business to Customer
(B2C), Customer to Customer (C2C), Customer to Business (C2B).
The standard definition of E-commerce is a commercial transaction which is happened over the internet.
Online stores like Amazon, Flipkart, Shopify are examples of E-commerce websites. By 2020, global retail
e-commerce can reach up to $27 Trillion. Let us learn in detail about what is the advantages and
disadvantages of E-commerce and its types.
(1)
For example, the numbers of consumer brand retail sites like information about products and also allows
monetary transactions to happen over the internet. On the contrary there are the auctions sites like
Quickr.com and Ebay.com where the information about certain listed products and services are provided but
the monetary transactions normally happen physically.
Apart from these two categories of e-commerce sites, there are some sites which enable businesses to
exchange trading goods and also service between two or more companies. All of these forms of internet-
based business platforms are known as e-commerce.
Over the last decade the advent of e-commerce has actually transformed the manner in which people used
internet. People now are not only just using internet for gathering information, leisure or socializing online
but also at the same time they are seeking measures to conduct business.
OBJECTIVES OF E-COMMERCE:
1. Development of Business Relationship
2. Better customer service
3. Getting more customers
KEY FEATURES:
Feature 1. E-Commerce is Technology-Enabled:
Traditional commerce is taking place since times immemorial but E-commerce is result of integration of
digital technology with business processes and commercial transactions. The technological foundations of
E-commerce are internet, WWW and various protocols.
Feature 3. Universality:
Buying and selling take place through websites in E-Commerce. The websites can be accessed from
anywhere around the globe at any time therefore it possesses the feature of universality.
Feature 4. Intercommunication:
E-commerce technology ensures two-way communications between buyer and seller. On one hand by using
E- commerce firms can communicate with customers through E-commerce enabled websites. On the other
end, customers can also fill order forms, feedback forms and can communicate with business operating firms.
(2)
Feature 9. Customization:
With the use of E-commerce technology, the world is moving from mass-production to mass-customization.
Product customization ensures that goods are tailor made as per the requirements and preferences of
customers.
Like Dell Computers Website www(dot)dell(dot)com enables the consumers to mention configuration of a
Computer and then the product is made available and delivered as per the configuration ordered by the
customer.
TYPES OF E-Commerce:
5 Major Types: Business-to-Business, Business-to-Consumer, Business-to-Government, Consumer-to-
Consumer and Mobile Commerce.
The major different types of E-Commerce are:
I. Business-to-Business (B2B);
II. Business-to-Consumer (B2C);
III. Business-to-Government (B2G);
IV. Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C);
V. Mobile Commerce (M-Commerce).
(3)
Type I. Business to Business (B2B):
1. Business to Business or B2B refers to E-Commerce activities between businesses.
2. In E-Commerce B2B, transactions are usually carried out through Electronic Data Interchange or EDI.
EDI is an automated format of exchanging information between businesses over private networks.
3. EDI is composed of standards that enable businesses’ computers to conduct transactions with each other,
without human intervention.
4. For Example- Manufacturers and wholesalers are B2B companies.
(4)
Type V. M-Commerce (Mobile Commerce):
1. M-commerce (mobile commerce) is the buying and selling of goods and services through wireless
technology i.e., handheld devices such as cellular telephones and personal digital assistants. Japan is seen as
a global leader in m-commerce.
2. As content delivery over wireless devices becomes faster, more secure and scalable, some believe that m-
commerce will surpass wire line e-commerce as the method of choice for digital commerce transactions.
This may well be true for the Asia-Pacific where there are more mobile phone users than there are Internet
users.
3. E-commerce stands for electronic commerce, wherein shopping is done over the internet. ... M-commerce
implies the use of mobile devices, so people can do their business transactions anywhere they go as long as
they can access the internet on their smartphones and can perform transactions with just a few taps on the
screen.
4. M-commerce (mobile commerce) is the buying and selling of goods and services through wireless
handheld devices such as smartphones and tablets.
2. Cost Efficiency- At the beginning of the internet age in the 1990s, creating websites was a costly
undertaking. As the years passed, building websites became less and less expensive. In fact, small businesses
can now build their own sites.
3. Faster Information- The information superhighway permits speedy exchange of data across the world,
which also means new information, is available faster.
4. Enhanced Service- Development of E-Commerce equipped domestic providers to offer more services to
clients.
Some of the other reasons for need of E-Commerce in modern economy is:
1. Wider audience reach.
2. Purchase decisions are influenced by E-Commerce
3. E-Commerce provides convenience
4. Store promotions becomes easy with E-Commerce
(5)
Business Applications: Sale, Purchase of Goods, Real Estate Market, Online Banking,
Delivery of Goods, Import and Export, E-Tailing and a Few Others.
Following are the major business application areas where E-Commerce is used widely:
1. Sale, Purchase of Goods:
By using E-Commerce, consumers can buy the various products and services from the different
manufacturers. Industries can purchase raw materials, components etc. using E- Commerce. Sellers can sell
their products by using E-commerce.
3. Online Banking:
Online Banking is also known as electronic banking, Net banking, virtual banking and internet banking
online banking is defined as automated delivery of new and traditional banking products and services through
electronic and interactive communication channels. Customers can access online banking services by using
electronic devices like laptop, ATM.
4. Delivery of Goods:
E-Commerce allows the delivery of products. For example, the computer software is directly downloaded
by the software manufacturer on computer of the customer.
(6)
7. E-Tailing:
E-tailing refers to retailing over the internet. Thus an E-t is a B2C business that executes a transaction with
the final consumer. E-tailer can be pure play businesses like amazon.com or businesses that have evolved
from a legacy business, Tesco.com.
E-COMMERCE CHANNELS:
1. COMMERCIAL CHANNELS:
These channels provide information, news, libraries, education, travel, sports and reference, entertainment,
shopping services, dialogues opportunities and e-mail etc.
2. THE INTERNET:
The Internet is a global web of computer networks that has made instantaneous and decentralised global
communication possible.
Product/Service, Processing Mechanism, Payment Gateway, Delivery of Product, After Sale Service and
Reverse Logistics. E-commerce operates digitally. It has some unique ways to put a business transaction in
place. Let’s see how this happens:
1. Product/Service:
For E-commerce to happen there should be a prod-uct or service that has value and for which someone is
willing to pay a price. If this criterion is met, then you can sell anything on ecommerce websites—gadgets,
books, automobiles, grocery, toys, apparel, vegetables and digital goods such as music, e-books, software,
air tickets, magazine subscriptions and the like.
(7)
2. Processing Mechanism:
The ecommerce website of a company should put an easy process in place so that the customer browsing
through the site can place an order. The software that makes this happen is called a shopping cart.
3. Payment Gateway:
Once the customer fills the cart with items that he or she has shopped, the site should take the customer
towards the payment gateway, which collects money electronically. If the product is downloadable such as
music, e-book etc., the website must also provide for that after accepting payment from customer.
4. Delivery of Product:
Once customers make the payment, the e-com-merce site must ensure the delivery of product in good
condition on time. Logistics is a specialized function, so most sellers outsource it to third party logistics
providers. Like Amazon using the services.
6. Reverse Logistics:
There is no guarantee of supplying an error-free product. If products get damaged or stop functioning after
a while, or a wrong product is delivered—the ecommerce seller must ensure the flow of products in the
reverse direction—known as reverse logistics—where goods flow from customer to the seller.
Younger users of Internet in general place a greater value in information, entertainment, socialising etc. Old
users are more likely to use Internet for investment and more serious matters. In general, Internet users
respond to messages aimed at selling, and receive information about products and services.
Internet ‘search engines’ such as “Yahoo” and “Google” give consumers access to varied information
sources, making them better informed and more discerning shoppers.
(8)
E-COMMERCE FOUR MAJOR MARKET SEGMENTS
E-commerce is a means of conducting business, where the buying or selling of goods and services or the
transmitting of funds or data, occur via electronic medium. There are no physical market places and the
entire process of marketing and selling of goods, takes place on-line or electronically. This means, the buyer
and the seller do not often meet face to face. It is a replica of a physical market place in the virtual world.
E-commerce, also called e-trading, operates in all four major market segments – Business to Business,
Business to Consumer, Consumer to Consumer and Consumer to Business. Examples of E-commerce
include on-line shopping, electronic payments, on- line auctions, internet banking, on-line ticketing etc.
(1) E-TAILING:
E-Tailing is the abbreviation of electronic retailing. It is the sale of goods and services through the internet.
E-tailing involves business-to-business or business-to-customers transactions. It can be regarded as the
internet front of any traditional retailer.
E-tailing shops believe in building strong brands. The web sites they create are easily understood by the
visitors. They also provide discounts and offers to engage the customers. The pricing, in E-tailing shops, is
generally lower than that of a traditional shop.
In this way the e-tailing shops lure the customers to make purchases on-line. The customers also get benefited
from the fact that he/she does not need to physically visit the shop for making the purchase. The customers
are free to make their own decisions regarding the purchase, at their own leisure time. However, e-tailing
shops need to have a strong distribution network in order to secure the delivery of the products.
(2) E-ADVERTSING:
E-Advertising is the mechanism of promoting products or services on-line. It is the process of gaining
attention of the customers, through the digital media.
The main purpose of e-advertising is to reach out to a wider range of customers. It is more cost effective
when compared to the traditional forms of advertising. E-advertising also enables you to target the specific
customers.
On safeguard to be taken regarding E-advertising is that advertisement had to be consistently monitored and
controlled because if it is done poorly, it can severely damage the image of the company.
(9)
(3) E-Marketing:
Electronic marketing (e-marketing) is also known as internet marketing, web marketing and digital
marketing on on-line marketing. It is the process of marketing a product or service using the internet, e-mail
and wireless media. Unlike e-advertising, e- marketing is very subtle. It is not always a direct message of
persuasion but rather it is something which will educate the customers and convince them to buy the product
or service.
Digital marketing techniques include Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM),
content marketing, e-commerce marketing, social media marketing, display advertisement, marketing
through SMS and on-hold mobile ring tones, etc.
When compared to the means of traditional marketing, e-marketing offers several advantages. E-marketing
provides much better return on the investment made by the marketer. It reduces the cost of marketing
campaign. The marketer can easily monitor and track activities.
IMPACT OF E-COMMERCE:
E-commerce has made a profound impact on society. People can now shop online in the privacy of their own
homes without ever having to leave. This can force larger brick and mortar retailers to open an online
division. In some cases, it can also force smaller businesses to shut their doors, or change to being completely
online.
It also changes the way people look at making purchases and spending money. E-commerce has changed the
face of retail, services, and other things that make our economy work. Undoubtedly, it will continue to
influence how companies sell and market their products, as well as how people choose to make purchases
for many years to come.
THE IMPACTS OF E-COMMERCE ON ECONOMY ARE AS FOLLOWS:
(1) Impacts on Directing
Product promotion
Customer service
Direct savings
Advertisements
Customization
(10)
(2) Impacts on Organisation
Technology and organisational learning
Changing nature of work
New product capabilities
(3) Impacts on Manufacturing
(4) Impacts on Finance
(5) Impacts on Supply Chain Management
ADVANTAGES:
e-commerce provides the following main advantages:
(1) Convenience –
Customers can order products or services 24 hours a day wherever they are.
(2) Information –
Customers can find reams of comparative information about companies, products, competitors and prices
without leaving their office or home.
(11)
(4) Quick Adjustment to Market Conditions by Marketers –
Companies can quickly add products to their offering and change prices and descriptions.
(9) E-Commerce –
E-commerce through Internet and web site can access and retrieve information very fast, compared to
overnight mail and even fax.
(11) Internet newsgroups set up for commercial purposes help companies place on-line advertisements and
thus save cost and time.
(12) New groups, Bulletins board systems (BBSs) and Web committees help also buyers, sellers and people
in general to have access to valuable information on diverse topics including information of cultivation for
farmers.
(12)
DIS-ADVANTAGES:
1. Security:
Security continues to be a problem for online businesses. Customers have to feel confident about the integrity
of the payment process before they commit to the purchase. Banks such as ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, State
Bank of India have added secure payment gateways to process online bank-ing transactions quickly and
safely.
3. System Scalability:
A business develops an interactive interface with customers via a website. After a while, statistical analysis
determines whether visitors to the site are one-time or recurring customers. If the company expects 2 million
customers and 6 million show up, website performance is bound to experience degradation, slowdown, and
eventually loss of customers. To stop this problem from happening, a website must be scalable, or upgradable
on a regular basis.
8. Corporate Vulnerability:
The availability of product details, catalogues, and other information about a business through its web-site
makes it vulnerable to access by the competition. The idea of extracting business intelligence from the
website is called web framing. And such threats are in-creasing day by day.
In India, cash on delivery is the most preferred payment method, accumulating 75% of the e-retail
activities. Demand for international consumer products (including long-tail items) is growing faster than
in-country supply from authorised distributors and e-commerce offerings. In 2017, the largest e-commerce
companies in India were Flipkart, Amazon, Paytm, and Snapdeal. In 2018, Amazon beat Flipkart and was
recorded the biggest ecommerce in India in terms of revenue.
According to reports published by International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Central Statistics Office (CSO),
India is among the fastest growing economies in the world. Among several factors, a conscious
patronization of online commerce, and an emergence of retail as a dominant market segment have
contributed to the unprecedented growth of eCommerce in India.
(14)
For the financial year 2016-17, eCommerce sales reached the US $16 billion with a projection of a seven-
fold growth within the next two fiscals as estimated by Morgan Stanley. By 2020 online commerce sales is
expected to cross $120 billion.
The three principal driving factors for this growth in eCommerce sector of India are:
Participation of niche companies in online trading
Unmatched FDI (Foreign Direct Investment)
Uniform GST (Goods and Services Tax)
Specialization and customization are the underlining features of online trading. eCommerce companies are
specializing in exclusive items and have consciously moved away from the ‘one for all’ concept. Every new
company is focusing on a definite item or targeting a particular demographic segment. So instead of
addressing universally, it is better to concentrate on a single area and execute it to your best ability.
Consumers prefer this kind of preferential treatment and personalized attention.
India, being a land full of diversity offers ample scope for new companies to join in this eCommerce business
tirade. Business opportunities are limitless considering the innumerable clothing, food, and cultural habits
of Indian communities.
2. Role of FDI:
Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), till lately, was not allowed in eCommerce for single brand or multi-brand
retail companies. It was only allowed for B2B businesses. Now, FDI is allowed in cases of wholesale trading
or in cases where involvement is limited to use of technology platform.
The ever-expanding Indian eCommerce market has attracted companies from Europe and United States who
are joining as conglomerates. Though FDI has been successful in lending variety to online market of India,
their full participation is limited by government laws.
3. Implementation Of GST:
A uniform taxation structure, which GST (Goods and Services Tax) purports to achieve would contribute to
the success of eCommerce business in India. Online business is carried out pan-India, and a uniform tax
structure makes calculations easier and uniform. Same tax for same product or service across Indian Territory
would certainly help in maintaining price uniformity. For online business operators, differential tax structure
was a deterrent.
(15)
Today, technology has advanced at a rapid pace and with the use of smart phones, the online shopping
experience has become seamless for customers. With easy to use mobile apps with elaborate store catalogues,
e-commerce has ushered new opportunities for both traders and consumers.
India is one of the largest markets of e-commerce players. With giants like Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, and
Myntra, new entrants like PayTm Mall, Shopclues, etc are also establishing a strong hold in the Indian
market.
(16)
1. Amazon:
Amazon is one of the biggest online stores with a global presence. It not only provides a variety of product
choices but also provides a great user experience and splendid customer service. Besides putting prominence
to personalization, Amazon also monitors user’s browsing and purchase patterns in order to provide them
recommended products for future purchases. It operates in India as a marketplace rather than a retailer.
Amazon has started two new initiatives for sellers in India: the ‘Self Service Registration (SSR)’ and
‘Amazon Easy Ship’.
Amazon SSR allows sellers to self-register in Amazon marketplace, irrespective of location and size of the
catalogue. It enables sellers to start selling within a day without any third-party intervention. With Amazon
Easy Ship, the seller has to pack the shipment and confirm to Amazon that they are ready to ship. Amazon
Logistics ensures that the pack is delivered to the customers within two to three working days.
With new features such as Amazon Prime, customers can receive delivery of products within 24 hours. By
reducing the shipping time, Amazon keeps both retailers and customers happy and increases customer
stickiness on the website. Right from mobile phones, to fashion products, electrical appliances, books, and
grocery, Amazon has become a one-stop shop for all consumer needs.
2. Flipkart:
Flipkart is an Indian based e-commerce venture and over the years, it has garnered a lot of interest in the
minds of Indian consumers. It has opened up the scope for Indian e-tail market in a tremendous way. It
started out as an online bookstore and now it has a gamut of products ranging from: books, apparels,
electronics, digital music, home care and beauty. Moreover, it has now become a mega marketplace.
Flipkart’s fundamental differentiator is its supply chain efficiency— definitive delivery of goods. It has been
continuously developing and improving the customer experience. The website is easy to browse, hassle-free,
and convenient.
Two of the most important reasons for Flipkart’s grand success are the discounts and the option of Cash- on-
Delivery which makes consumers more confident in purchasing products. Flipkart has an amazing customer
retention rate with 70% of repeat customers. Apart from the shopping experience, Flipkart’s biggest online
shopping festival – Big Billion Days is one of the most successful campaigns and it churns out millions of
orders during that shopping season.
3. Jabong:
Jabong came into the e-commerce market with a bang and created a revolution within 6 to 7 months of 3
third-party sellers. They predominantly cater to apparel, footwear, jewellery, and accessories and catalogue
more than 50,000 products across 700 brands.
(17)
Jabong is known for its own logistics network that ensures fast delivery. If you are in a city like Delhi, you
are bound to receive the product within 24 hours of order placement. Jabong is also trying to expand its
international presence through its site ‘JabongWorld.com’. It ships Indian products to international
customers.
One of Jabong’s uniqueness lies in its new idea of a fashion magazine— “The Juice “an interesting blend of
fashion, people, trends and pop culture. The magazine has everything in it that readers would love to read in
a fashion magazine. Jabong has also collaborated with films such as “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag”, “Main Tera
Hero”, and “Humpty Sharma ki Dulhaniya” to offer exclusive products inspired by the movie. The various
payment gateways offered by Jabong have made it convenient for consumers to order products from the
website. In 2016, Jabong was acquired by Myntra.
4. Snapdeal
Snapdeal is a successful e-commerce portal catering to customer’s buying needs at a much wider aspect. It
was established with a concept of making products available to the customers at a discounted rate through
offers and Snapdeal coupons.
It gives you the best deals in a particular city in various service categories ranging from: restaurants, spas
and salons, apparel, footwear, baby care, home and décor. It has adopted the marketplace business model.
Snapdeal came up with a unique idea of permitting local vendors and manufacturers to publish their product
catalogue and sell it on the Snapdeal portal. This avoids expensive costs involved in building own inventory.
Snapdeal’s business model was awarded with mammoth funding to scale up their products, business and
operations. It focuses on logistics and efficient delivery to customers. It operates in such a fast pace that a
new product is added in every 30 seconds.
5. Myntra
Myntra is one of the largest shopping e-tailers in fashion and lifestyle merchandise. It supplies a wide range
of products from clothing to footwear and accessories. It focuses on bringing the most fashionable brands
for its customers. In 2014, Myntra was acquired by Flipkart. Myntra has created a niche in the territory of e-
commerce and subtle trust from people. Additionally, from discounts to Cash-on-Delivery benefits, the
Myntra success mantra belongs to its hybrid logistics model. It takes uttermost care of its supply chain
management and employs delivery agents with high experience.
Myntra has also come up with a complete guide to your everyday fashion and latest style trends. The
“MyntraLookGood” is a daily fix of style tips, beauty tricks, celeb fashion, and non-stop entertainment. The
tie-ups with celebrities and events are an outstanding strategy by Myntra to represent that fashion is in its
DNA. Myntra has many celebrity brands— Hrithik Roshan’s HRX, Salman Khan’s Being Human, Deepika
Padukone’s All About You, and Farhan Akhtar’s MARD. They believe that Bollywood influences fashion
and frequent tie-up with celebrities helps to bring customers closer to Myntra.
(18)
6. Shopclues
Shopclues is the latest addition to the top e-commerce websites in India. Unlike Amazon and Flipkart,
Shopclues is a market place that focuses on unstructured categories of home, electrical, fashion, and daily
utility items. The mass market of shopclues comes from tier 2 and tier 3 cities and most of its business
comes from smaller cities. Shopclues helps give brands from unstructured markets a voice of its own.
Shopclues has a comparatively larger merchant base. It focuses on small and medium sized traders located
in smaller cities and helps them take their business online. With over 50 million visitors on its website, one
of the major revenues generating categories has been the home and kitchen appliances category.
7. PayTm
PayTm is the second largest e-commerce platform in India and has also made its way to the list of unicorn’s
start-ups. Primarily started as a mobile wallet, in 2016, PayTm entered the e-commerce industry with PayTm
Mall. As the name suggests, it is an online market place for products ranging from electronics to daily
consumer needs.
One of the attractive features of PayTm has been its cashback feature. Consumers are given a variety of
discount coupons to choose from and also provide good savings on the purchase of goods. With close to 120
million buyers on the platform, PayTm Mall is finding new ways to enhance the buying experience. It is also
collaborating with retail brick-and-motor stores and with use of its mobile app and QR codes, it takes the
customer through an online shopping experience with attractive discounts.
Thus, India is a growing marketplace and e-commerce industries are bound to flourish. But with the right
technology and design strategy, new entrants can have a competitive edge.
Be it a website, a mobile app, or even building a market place software from scratch, GoodWorkLabs has
helped clients in the retail, real estate, and fashion industry build powerful e-commerce applications for their
business.
History of ecommerce dates back to the invention of the very old notion of "sell and buy", electricity, cables,
computers, modems, and the Internet. Ecommerce became possible in 1991 when the Internet was opened
to commercial use. Since that date thousands of businesses have taken up residence at web sites. The history
of E-commerce begins with the invention of the telephone at the end of last century. EDI (Electronic Data
Interchange) is widely viewed as the beginning of ecommerce if we consider ecommerce as the networking
of business communities and digitalization of business information. Large organizations have been investing
in development of EDI since sixties. It has not gained reasonable acceptance until eighties. The meaning of
electronic commerce has changed over the last 30 years.
Originally, electronic commerce meant the facilitation of commercial transactions electronically, using
technology such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). These were
both introduced in the late 1970s, allowing businesses to send commercial documents like purchase orders
or invoices electronically. The growth and acceptance of credit cards, automated teller machines (ATM) and
telephone banking in the 1980s were also forms of electronic commerce. Another form of E-commerce was
the airline and railway reservation system.
At first, the term ecommerce meant the process of execution of commercial transactions electronically with
the help of the leading technologies such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer
(EFT) which gave an opportunity for users to exchange business information and do electronic transactions.
The ability to use these technologies appeared in the late 1970s and allowed business companies and
organizations to send commercial documentation electronically.
Online shopping, an important component of electronic commerce was invented by Michael Aldrich in the
UK in 1979. The world’s first recorded business to business was Thomson Holidays in 1981. The first
recorded Business to consumer was Gateshead SIS/Tesco in 1984. During the 1980s, online shopping was
also used extensively in the UK by auto manufacturers such as Ford, General Motors and Nissan. The
systems used the switched public telephone network in dial-up.
From the 1990s onwards, electronic commerce would additionally include enterprise resource planning
systems (ERP), data mining and data warehousing. An early online information marketplace, including
online consulting, was the American Information Exchange, another pre-Internet online system introduced-
in 1991.
In 1990 Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web and transformed an academic telecommunication
network into a worldwide everyman everyday communication system called internet/www(dot)Commercial
enterprise on the Internet was strictly prohibited until 1991.
(20)
Although the Internet became popular worldwide around 1994 when the first internet online shopping
started, it took about five years to introduce security protocols and DSL allowing continual connection to
the Internet. By the end of 2000, many European and American business companies offered their services
through the World Wide Web. Since then people began to associate a word “E-commerce” with the ability
of purchasing various goods through the Internet using secure protocols and electronic payment services.
Although the Internet began to advance in popularity among the general public in 1994, it took approximately
four years to develop the security protocols (for example, HTTP) and DSL which allowed rapid access and
a persistent connection to the Internet. In 2000 a great number of business companies in the United States
and Western Europe represented their services in the World Wide Web. At this time the meaning of the word
ecommerce was changed. People began to define the term ecommerce as the process of purchasing of
available goods and services over the Internet using secure connections and electronic payment services.
The dot-com collapsed in 2000 led to unfortunate results and many of ecommerce companies disappeared,
the "brick and mortar" retailers recognized the advantages of electronic commerce and began to add such
capabilities to their web sites (e.g., after the online grocery store Webvan came to ruin, two supermarket
chains, Albertsons and Safeway, began to use ecommerce to enable their customers to buy groceries online).
By the end of 2001, the largest form of ecommerce, Business-to-Business (B2B) model, had around $700
billion in transactions.
3.4
2.8
2.4
2.1
1.8
1.6
1.2
1
0.6
E-commerce sales
(21)
According to all available data, ecommerce sales continued to grow in the next few years and, by the end of
2007, ecommerce sales accounted for 3.4 percent of total sales.
Ecommerce has a great deal of advantages over "brick and mortar" stores and mail order catalogues.
Consumers can easily search through a large database of products and services. They can see actual prices,
build an order over several days and email it as a "wish list" hoping that someone will pay for their selected
goods. Customers can compare prices with a click of the mouse and buy the selected product at best prices.
Online vendors, in their turn, also get distinct advantages. The web and its search engines provide a way to
be found by customers without expensive advertising campaign. Even small online shops can reach global
markets. Web technology also allows to track customer preferences and to deliver individually-tailored
marketing.
History of ecommerce is unthinkable without Amazon and Ebay which were among the first Internet
companies to allow electronic transactions. Thanks to their founders we now have a handsome ecommerce
sector and enjoy the buying and selling advantages of the Internet. Currently there are 5 largest and most
famous worldwide Internet retailers: Amazon, Dell, Staples, Office Depot and Hewlett Packard. According
to statistics, the most popular categories of products sold in the World Wide Web are music, books,
computers, office supplies and other consumer electronics.
Amazon.com, Inc. is one of the most famous ecommerce companies and is located in Seattle, Washington
(USA). It was founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos and was one of the first American ecommerce companies to
sell products over the Internet. After the dot-com collapse Amazon lost its position as a successful business
model, however, in 2003 the company made its first annual profit which was the first step to the further
development.
At the outset Amazon.com was considered as an online bookstore, but in time it extended a variety of goods
by adding electronics, software, DVDs, video games, music CDs, MP3s, apparel, footwear, health products,
etc. The original name of the company was Cadabra.com, but shortly after it become popular in the Internet
Bezos decided to rename his business "Amazon" after the world's most voluminous river. In 1999 Jeff Bezos
was entitled as the Person of the Year by Time Magazine in recognition of the company's success. Although
the company's main headquarters is located in the USA, WA, Amazon has set up separate websites in other
economically developed countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and
China. The company supports and operates retail web sites for many famous businesses, including Marks &
Spencer, Lacoste, the NBA, Bebe Stores, Target, etc.
Amazon is one of the first ecommerce businesses to establish an affiliate marketing program, and nowadays
the company gets about 40% of its sales from affiliates and third-party sellers who list and sell goods on the
web site. In 2008 Amazon penetrated into the cinema and is currently sponsoring the film "The Stolen Child"
with 20th Century Fox.
(22)
According to the research conducted in 2008, the domain Amazon.com attracted about 615 million
customers every year. The most popular feature of the web site is the review system, i.e. the ability for
visitors to submit their reviews and rate any product on a rating scale from one to five stars. Amazon.com is
also well-known for its clear and user-friendly advanced search facility which enables visitors to search for
keywords in the full text of many books in the database.
One more company which has contributed much to the process of ecommerce development is Dell Inc., an
American company located in Texas, which stands third in computer sales within the industry behind
Hewlett-Packard and Acer.
Launched in 1994 as a static page, Dell.com has made rapid strides, and by the end of 1997 was the first
company to record a million dollars in online sales. The company's unique strategy of selling goods over the
World Wide Web with no retail outlets and no middlemen has been admired by a lot of customers and
imitated by a great number of ecommerce businesses. The key factor of Dell's success is that Dell.com
enables customers to choose and to control, i.e. visitors can browse the site and assemble PCs piece by piece
choosing each single component based on their budget and requirements. According to statistics,
approximately half of the company's profit comes from the web site.
In 2007, Fortune magazine ranked Dell as the 34th-largest company in the Fortune 500 list and 8th on its
annual Top 20 list of the most successful and admired companies in the USA in recognition of the company's
business model.
History of ecommerce is a history of a new, virtual world which is evolving according to the customer
advantage. It is a world which we are all building together brick by brick, laying a secure foundation for the
future generations.
Michael Aldrich. Michael Aldrich (22 August 1941 – 19 May 2014) was an English inventor, innovator and
entrepreneur. In 1979 he invented online shopping to enable online transaction processing between
consumers and businesses, or between one business and another, a technique known later as e-commerce.
History of ecommerce dates back to the invention of the very old notion of "sell and buy", electricity, cables,
computers, modems, and the Internet. Ecommerce became possible in 1991 when the Internet was opened
to commercial use. Since that date thousands of businesses have taken up residence at web sites.
(23)
INDIAN SCENARIO:
There is no denying the fact that e-commerce has re-entered India and is here to stay. Even the small and
medium retailers of the country want to ride the wave and are ready to make a fortune out of the market
place concept. It may be now that online shopping has become popular but the concept of e-Commerce was
introduced long back in the 20th century.
(24)
CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH
METHADALOGY
2.1 OBJECTIVE OF
STUDY
The objective of this study is to use of e-commerce domain companies and consumers. This study is
conducted to evaluate the perception and attentive and secure recommending payment method based on
analysis and study. The results are expected to contribute significantly towards the current thinking, security
regarding e-commerce online transactions. The main objectives are involved an attempt to determine the
current awareness and alert in the particular area in ecommerce like security issues, Screening,
Recommended payment method, Internal order cancellations. This study provides best solution to e-
commerce domain companies/industries and alert and awareness to common man.
For safe and secure transaction consumers and e-commerce domain companies should follow some basic
rules and regulations with latest technologies. Hacking is now a day’s very common so we consumers’ and
companies they should maintain their transaction more secure and safe in this regards our study proposing
and recommending best payment method and discussing Internal order cancellation. This is an alarming sign
for the whole world.
(1) VISION STATEMENT:
1. To meet the altering & challenging needs of society in the field of E-commerce Online
transactions by innovation, problem solving, eradicating threats;
2. To make Cyber world safer, better managed and easy for the common man, E-commerce
companies;
3. To STOP victimizing the innocent;
4. To promote the e-commerce transactions by making it Safe and Secure.
5. To enhance the confidence level of the common people to carry e-commerce activities like online
transactions, purchases, auctioning;
6. To look toward a next generation approach to security engineering by Research;
7. Safe and secure solution solutions in the payment method.
8. Simple and easy flow chart for Internal order cancellation to Companies.
Our driving vision is a networked world in which software and systems can be understood far better and
faster is possible today.
2. To spread the small-scale retails into large level business, e-commerce is developed with best-in-
class features. In simple, it is a big opportunity for small vendors to huge traffic of customers.
3. To learn about the major components of E-commerce infrastructure and about the major E-commerce
security.
4. To identify and assess major technologies and methods for securing E-commerce access and
communications.
5. To ensure one needs not to maintain the whole stock of products in most cases. To build brands more
quickly since many people can access it through social networks. To allow easy diversification of
brands once they have been built.
4. The most prominent domain in India in which e-commerce is used most frequently.
7. To study which sector of occupation use e-commerce websites the most for online shopping.
9. To analyse that people of which age group are most frequent users of e-commerce websites in India.
(26)
There is high scope of e-commerce in each aspect of business, at present it is in the embryonic stage but in
future e-commerce would be the part of day to day activity of business firms.
The primary attribute of this growth is undoubtedly the rise of 3G/4G mobile internet users and a large
number of smartphone users because the same mobile commerce is expected to change how business
transactions happen in India.
The scope of eCommerce business is turning out to be more famous day-after-day according to the market
demand. And this requirement is generating innovations worldwide focused on delivery time, ease of
transactions and several features served by eCommerce businesses, for example, drone delivery or artificial
intelligence.
Though e-commerce offers many advantages to customers, business, society and nation, there are still
some areas of concern that need to be addressed. There are to types of difficulties in e-commerce study: (a)
Technical limitations (b) Non-technical limitations. The following are some of the limitations or
disadvantages of e-commerce:
1. Security
The biggest drawback of e-commerce is the issue of security. People fear to provide personal and financial
information, even though several improvements have been made in relation to data encryption. Certain
websites do not have capabilities to conduct authentic transactions. Fear of providing credit card
information and risk of identity limit the growth of e-commerce.
2. Lack of privacy
Many websites do not have high encryption for secure online transaction or to protect online identity.
Some websites illegally collect statistics on consumers without their permission. Lack of privacy
discourages people to use internet for conducting commercial transactions,
3. Tax issue
Sales tax is another bigger issue when the buyer and seller are situated in different locations. Computation
of sales tax poses problems when the buyer and seller are in different states. Another factor is that physical
stores will lose business if web purchases are free from tax.
4. Fear
People fear to operate in a paperless and faceless electronic world. Some of the business organizations do
not have physical existence, People do not know with whom they are conducting commercial transactions.
This aspect makes people to opt physical stores for purchases.
5. Product suitability
People have to rely on electronic images to purchase products. Sometimes, when the products are
delivered, the product may not match with electronic images. Finally, it may not suit the needs of the
buyers. The lack of ‘touch and feel’ prevent people from online shopping.
6. Cultural obstacles
E-commerce attracts customers from all over the world. Habits and culture of the people differ from nation
to nation. They also pose linguistic problems. Thus, differences in culture create obstacles to both the
business and the consumers.
(28)
8. Legal issues
The cyber laws that govern the e-commerce transactions are not very clear and vary from country to country.
These legal issues prevent people from entering into electronic contracts.
9. Technical limitations
Some protocol is not standardized around the world. Certain software used by vendor to show electronic
images may not be a common one. It may not be possible to browse through a particular page due to lack of
standardized software. Insufficient telecommunication bandwidth may also pose technical problems.
IN INDIAN MARKET:
It is not possible for any market study to make it accurate due to many hurdles in the collection of
data. Some limitations of the study are listed below,
1. The sampling frame to conduct the study has been restricted to area near Kolkata.
3. Findings of the study are based on the assumption that respondents have disclosed in the
questionnaire.
Thus, though E-commerce has several benefits which have a significant impact on the economy but there
are also some obstacles that are mentioned above which hinders this process.
(29)
Also, Electronic business techniques allows business, companies and organizations to link their
internal and external data processing systems more efficiently and flexibly, to work more closely with
the suppliers and partners and to better cope up the needs and expectations of the customers.
Through e-commerce consumers are give more choices on what product they will buy. Consumers can
open process and conduct the transactions whenever they want to as long as they have their gadgets
in their hands.
Thus, this study of e-commerce is very important and plays a significant role as it helps in improving
the marketing strategies which helps in increasing the sales and this results in improving the market
of the economy. This study is important as it helps in creating strong brand image which thereby helps
in attracting customers and gaining their loyalty.
(30)
SAMPLING PROCEDURE;
To obtain the representative sample, a non-probability sample can be drawn, In this study the method of
selecting samples is convenience sampling.
TOOLS:
The tools used for analysing data are rating method, graphs, pie charts etc. Questionnaire is distributed to
the individual respondents and special care has been taken to make him/her comfortable, so that he/she could
answer the questions. Convenience method is used for sampling. This method is used to follow the unbiased
answers.
MEANING:
Primary data is data that is collected by a researcher from first-hand sources, using methods like
surveys, interviews, or experiments. It is collected with the research project in mind, directly from
primary sources. The term is used in contrast with the term secondary data.
SECONDARY METHOD:
MEANING:
Secondary data refers to data that is collected by someone other than the user. Common sources of
secondary data for social science include censuses, information collected by government
departments, organizational records and data that was originally collected for other research
purposes. Secondary data can save time that would otherwise be spent collecting data, particular in
case of quantitative data.
A literature review is a comprehensive summary of previous research on a topic. The literature review
surveys scholarly articles, books, and other sources relevant to a particular area of research. ... It should
give a theoretical base for the research and help you (the author) determine the nature of your research.
The estimated internet penetration in Asia is by far the largest among any continent accounting for 42% of
the world usage. Being the second largest country in Asia, India has an internet penetration rate of 6.9%
for the year 2010, and is ahead of China in e-readiness (VAITHIANATHAN, 2010). The potential for
banking service is very high in India 2 as compared to other countries, which is evident from the
comparative statistic of number of customers per traditional bank branch among various countries
(MARAKARKANDY and DAPTARDAR, 2011) and the increase in internet usage.
In online buying the rate of diffusion and adoption of the online buying amongst consumers is still
relatively low in India. In view of above problem an empirical study of online buying behaviour was
undertaken. Base on literature review, four predominant psychographic parameters namely attitude,
motivation, personality and trust were studied with respect to online buying. The online buying decisions
are based on four parameters were designed after statistical analysis. These models were integrated with
business intelligence, knowledge management and data mining to design Behavioural Business
Intelligence framework with cohesive view of online buyer behaviour.
For better understanding the factors of internet and consumer buying behaviour towards internet shopping,
this chapter would provide academic research reviews and relative ideas expressed in the literature that is
associated with this subject.
Furthermore, a number of hypothesis will be tested to answer the research questions that is already
mentioned in the introduction.
Due to recent research shows the internet shopping becomes a full and effective business model, therefore
there are several studies that already investigated more or less related on internet shopping and consumer
behaviour. In the following chapters, some point of view will be taken from literatures, and needs careful
review to achieve them as the basis of subsequent research investigation.
Also, in this study, a narrative literature review regarding culture and e-commerce website design has been
introduced. Cultural aspect and e-commerce website design will play a significant role for successful
global e-commerce sites in the future. Future success of businesses will rely on e-commerce. To compete
in the global e-commerce marketplace, local businesses need to focus on designing culturally friendly e-
commerce websites. To the best of my knowledge, there has been insignificant research conducted on
correlations between culture and e-commerce website design. The research shows that there are
correlations between e-commerce, culture, and website design. The result of the study indicates that
cultural aspects influence e-commerce website design.
The purpose of this paper is to take a look at the current state of the research related to consumer emotions
in the context of electronic commerce (e-commerce). As the popularity of online shopping is constantly
growing, the author performed an integrative literature review of 66 journal articles on e-emotions
(consumer emotions visible in an online environment) and classified the articles into four groups.
According to the analysis of the groups, consumer emotions are present at various points of the e-
commerce relationship from pre-purchase intentions to post consumption behaviour. Based on this
literature review, directions for future research in e-emotions are also introduced.
As we all know, internet and e-commerce are entirely committed towards every developed country. But we
think it can be accomplished and can make a remarkable benefit to developing countries also if an ideal
business purpose can be made. Ohidujja man clearly discussed that E-commerce is a revolution & turning
point in online business practices and can make a huge contribution to the economy and Hasan also
indicated that currently, e-commerce organizations have increasingly become a fundamental component of
business strategy and a strong catalyst for economic development.
A huge amount of research works has been done on e-Commerce which is basically on online shopping. A
large group of researchers has found out and also pointed out the necessity and possibilities of Online
Shopping. On the other hand, limitation of ecommerce is found and at the same time, they provided
essential suggestion and came to a prediction to make Online Shopping more useful for the consumers. But
the contribution of traditional marketing is also inescapable but compare to online shopping it is less
effective we think. So on this basis, Mehrdad Salehi found out distinguish between online marketing &
traditional marketing. Though most of the people of Bangladesh especially the rural people are not enough
capable of operating internet to run the online business. For that reason, they need to be dependent on
traditional marketing.
Thus, a literature review discusses published information in a particular subject area, and sometimes
information in a particular subject area within a certain time period. A literature review can be just a
simple summary of the sources, but it usually has an organizational pattern and combines both summary
and synthesis.
The literature review acknowledges the work of previous researchers, and in so doing, assures the reader
that your work has been well conceived. It is assumed that by mentioning a previous work in the field of
study, that the author has read, evaluated, and that work into the work at hand. A literature review creates a
"landscape" for the reader, giving her or him a full understanding of the developments in the field.
Firms across the globe have adopted e-commerce (EC) in their operations and have reaped benefits thereof.
While firms in technologically developed countries like US and UK has deployed EC to its advantage,
whereas firms in developing countries like India failed to follow the suit. Though it has been widely
acknowledged by the researchers that the adoption of EC by businesses in developing countries is an
important economic indicator of growth; many firms in India still have not realized the potential benefits of
EC. This study examines the existing status of EC in India and reviews the available literature on E-
commerce adoption in India and puts forth opportunities for future research. The study might serve as a
starting point for further research in e-commerce in India.
Gupta (2014) in her paper “E-Commerce: Role of e-commerce in today’s business”, presents a
comprehensive definition of e-commerce while isolating it from e-business. The paper enlists the different
ecommerce models i.e. B2B, B2C, B2G and C2C, narratively analysing the nitty gritty of each. Rina (2016)
also elaborates the different applications of e-commerce in “Challenges and Future Scope of Ecommerce in
India”, at the same time, defining the degree to which they are operational in the country. Gunasekaran,
Marri, MCGAUGHEY, & NEBHWANI (2002) give a broad outlook of electronic commerce within
organisational systems in “E-commerce and its impact on operations management”, defining it with
reference to e-trading and elaborating- how it has permeated every field of business. The paper identifies the
revolutionary role played by earlier internet applications like e-mail and electronic data interchange and
details the revolutionary changes brought by the internet technologies in manufacturing, marketing,
purchasing, design, production, selling and distribution, warehousing and human resource management.
Internet based technologies have enabled businesses to shorten development, purchase and procurement
cycles, maintain up to date product and market information.
Also, it significantly increases the speed of communications and increase the quality of customer
relationships by facilitating close contact and constant communication. The paper studies in depth, the
significance of web-based technologies in different business operations, thus, improving their efficiency
through effective B2B e-commerce.
MISHRA and KOTKAR (2015) trace the timeline and development of B2C e-commerce in “A Study on
Current Status of E-Commerce in India: A Comparative Analysis of Flipkart and Amazon” with its inception
in the mid-1990s through the advent of matrimonial and job portals. However, due to limited internet
accessibility, weak online payment systems and lack of awareness, the progress was very slow. The Indian
B2C e-commerce industry got a major boost in mid 2000s with the expansion of online services to travel
and hotel bookings which continue to be major contributors even today. Das & Ara (2015) observe in
“Growth of E-Commerce in India” that though online travel and hotel bookings still control the lion’s share
of e-commerce market, their share has comparatively fallen over the years due to the recent augmentation
and consequent rise of e-tailing services. There has been a tremendous surge in the volume of investment in
this sector. With the e-commerce markets in the west reaching their saturation, investors see tremendous
potential in the Indian market, in the light of which, many start-ups have received funding from venture
capitalists and private equity firms.
China's Alibaba Group and affiliate Ant Financial became the largest shareholders of One97
Communications, the parent of Indian E-TAILER Paytm, by investing $680 million, in 2015 (AULAKH,
2015). To tap the potential of what it regards as “underdeveloped internet economy” of India, Japanese
investment company and technology powerhouse Softbank invested $627 million into online retailing
marketplace Snapdeal and $210 million in Ola cabs. (Mac, 2014). Similarly, New York firm Tiger Global
Management has funded companies such MakeMyTrip, Flipkart, MYNTRA and QUICKR.
The availability of funds has presented a favourable ecosystem and growth opportunities for big as well as
small companies. It has enabled local start ups to survive in cut throat competition against foreign giants and
has facilitated the penetration of e-commerce to every facet Growth of E-commerce in India: An Analytical
Review of Literature DOI: 10.9790/487X-1906019195 www.iosrjournals.org 93 | Page of human life; such
that the differentiation between e-commerce and traditional business is getting blurred.(Aggarwal, 2014).
Through “PROBLES and PROSPECTS of E-Commerce”, RAGHUNATH & PANGA (2013) present a
comprehensive analysis of various nuances of e-commerce while accentuating that, in present time every
business activity, be it advertising, ordering, payment etc, can be performed in the digital ecosystem. The
paper also enlists numerous points on the importance of e-commerce which are responsible for its
development as the new convention. It has enabled the creation and exploitation of new business
opportunities, at the same time increasing the say of customers in the development of new products and
services.
E-commerce has not only augmented the performance of internal business management, but, has also
enabled better customer relationships by promoting a business model that is essentially based on information
sharing. The accessibility of internet connectivity and other online tools herald a new revolution. SWOT
analysis of e-commerce conducted by AWAIS & SAMIN (2012) highlights ubiquity, low operating cost,
improved customer interaction and time saving as the unique strengths of e-commerce, but, at the same time
accentuates upon the necessity for the firms to adapt themselves to the changing environment and innovate
constantly to come up with better offerings for customers.
With an increase in the number of players in the B2C segment, competition for the first position is set to
intensify, making it imperative for the firms to enhance service quality and to invest in logistics, so as to
derive benefits from increase in the disposable income of households, rise in internet subscriptions and
infiltration of mobile commerce.
(Das & Ara, 2015). In the face of rising competition, the survival of the firms will depend upon how
efficiently they are able to bridge the existing gaps in e-commerce transactions. The ubiquitous nature of
internet has enabled e-commerce to defy geographical boundaries and permeate different markets, so as to
elicit demand from sub-urban and rural areas, after having successfully tapped its potential in metropolitan
cities.
In anticipation of increasing demand from Tier 2 and 3 cities, many e-commerce firms are undertaking efforts
to widen their reach by investing in better infrastructure. In the light of growing number of websites, offering
similar goods and services, greater significance is being attributed to Internet Marketing, which shall play
an unparalleled role in audience acquisition for e-commerce websites, by displaying the advertisements on
search engine result pages and other portals. Internet Marketing shall not only propel ecommerce but will
also emerge as an important support tool to brick and mortar stores. (GANGESHWAR, 2013).
Apart from Internet Marketing, DESHMUKH & THAMPI (2013) recognise another important development:
m-commerce, which they identify as a subset of e-commerce. “Transformation from Ecommerce to M-
commerce in Indian Context” reviews the current and potential status of e-commerce and m-commerce in
the Indian market, while projecting the latter as the potential future. The paper discerns ubiquity,
personalization, flexibility and immediacy as the singular advantages of m-commerce. The authors affirm
the idea that smart phone penetration and rise in internet user base, mostly driven by youth, shall propel the
growth of e-commerce.
Statistical data is used to emphasize that the infrastructure requisite for m-commerce development already
exists, however, it is yet to be properly deployed. With mobile penetration providing a boost to digital
downloads and enabling cheaper monetary transfers, the need of the hour is to enhance customer confidence
by providing them assurance of safety and privacy, which shall accelerate movement towards a cashless
economy. Despite innumerable prospects, the growth of e-commerce in India has not been up to its full
potential.
The growth of digital commerce in India is impeded by inadequate infrastructure, logistics failure, lack of
tax uniformity and declining margins. In the face of intense competition, firms have to pamper the customers
with huge discounts, everyday offers and liberal returns policy which proves detrimental to their profits.
As against the firms following inventory model, e-market places are more adversely affected by subsidies
as they have to offer incentives to the seller for listing their products on the website in addition to the
humungous discounts and wide range of offers to the customers. The increasing fulfilment costs (includes
every cost incurred from the point an order is placed till the time its delivered to the customer.), lack of last
mile connectivity in many sub-urban and rural areas and the rising reverse logistics also hinder the growth
of e-commerce firms by resulting in huge loss.(Rina, 2016).
Also, Businesses use IT innovations to achieve strategic objectives (Pandya, 2008). The use of internet and
other networking technologies for conducting business transactions is called as electronic commerce
(VAITHIANATHAN 2010). India's overall e-commerce potential is estimated at 146.2 million or 61.3% of
total consumer households in the country for the year 2009–2010 (Internet and Mobile Association of India
report, 2011).
In Online buying the rate of diffusion and adoption of online buying amongst consumers is still relatively
low in India There are four parameters in literature review. The online buying decision process models were
designed after statistical analysis. These models were integrated with business intelligence, knowledge
management and data mining.
India's overall e-commerce potential is estimated at 146.2 million or 61.3% of total consumer households in
the country for the year 2009–2010 (Internet and Mobile Association of India report, 2011). The size of
Indian business to customer (B2C) segment in the e-commerce industry has been growing tremendously
over the last few years with an annual growth rate of 30% (2010). Internet is not considered as merely
information sharing resource but is increasingly used as distribution channel (KARDARAS and
Papathanassiou, 2001), to advertise financial services (Birch and Young, 1997) and to carry out financial
transactions (VIJAYGEETA, 2011).
The estimated internet penetration in Asia is by far the largest among any continent accounting for 42% of
the world usage. Being the second largest country in Asia, India has an internet penetration rate of 6.9% for
the year 2010, and is ahead of China in e-readiness (VAITHIANATHAN, 2010). The potential for banking
service is very high in India 2 as compared to other countries, which is evident from the comparative statistic
of number of customers per traditional bank branch among various countries (MARAKARKANDY and
DAPTARDAR, 2011) and the increase in internet usage.
Keyword search on “E-commerce adoption in India”, “E-Business in India”, “E-commerce and India”, “E-
Business and India” in various databases like EBSCO, ProQuest and Emerald Management Xtra found the
following E-commerce research articles done in Indian context:
(1) Raven et al.
(2) Malhotra and Singh,
(3) Vishwanathan and Pick.
(4) Dasgupta and Sengupta.
(5) Tarafdar and Vaidya.
Also, in India a narrative literature review regarding culture and e-commerce website design has been
introduced. Cultural aspect and e-commerce website design will play a significant role for successful global
e-commerce sites in the future. Future success of businesses will rely on e-commerce. To compete in the
global e-commerce marketplace, local businesses need to focus on designing culturally friendly e-commerce
websites. To the best of my knowledge, there has been insignificant research conducted on correlations
between culture and e-commerce website design.
The research shows that there are correlations between e-commerce, culture, and website design. The result
of the study indicates that cultural aspects influence e-commerce website design. This study aims to deliver
a reference source for information systems and information technology researchers interested in culture and
e-commerce website design, and will show less focused research areas in addition to future directions.
A conceptual framework is an analytical tool with several variations and contexts. It can be applied in
different categories of work where an overall picture is needed. It is used to make conceptual distinctions
and organize ideas. Strong conceptual frameworks capture something real and do this in a way that is easy
to remember and apply.
Isaiah Berlin used the metaphor of a "fox" and a "hedgehog" to make conceptual distinctions in how
important philosophers and authors view the world.[1] Berlin describes hedgehogs as those who use a single
idea or organizing principle to view the world (such as Dante Alighieri, Blaise Pascal, Fyodor Dostoyevsky,
Plato, Henrik Ibsen and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel). Foxes, on the other hand, incorporate a type of
pluralism and view the world through multiple, sometimes conflicting, lenses (examples include Johann
Wolfgang von Goethe, James Joyce, William Shakespeare, Aristotle, Herodotus, Molière, and Honoré de
Balzac).
Economists use the conceptual framework of "supply" and "demand" to distinguish between the behaviour
and incentive systems of firms and consumers. Like many conceptual frameworks, supply and demand can
be presented through visual or graphical representations (see demand curve). Both political Science and
economics use principal agent theory as a conceptual framework. The politics-administration dichotomy is
a long-standing conceptual framework used in public administration.[3] All three of these cases are examples
of a macro level conceptual framework.
A conceptual framework represents the researcher's synthesis of literature on how to explain a phenomenon.
It maps out the actions required in the course of the study given his previous knowledge of other researchers'
point of view and his observations on the subject of research.
Framework tells about the detail of how ecommerce can take place. It defines actually how e-commerce
implemented, how online trading or business can be done. It defines important components that should be
present to do some transaction.
Network Infrastructure is called as “Information super highway” is the path through which actual
information flows and moves between sender and receiver. The web allows small businesses and individuals
to develop content in the form of Hypertext mark-up language and publish it on a web server. Web provides
a means to create product information (content) and a means to publish it in a distribution centre. Once
contents have been created and stored on a server, messaging and information distribution methods carry
that content across the network. Network Infrastructure includes the different methods for facilitating online
buying and selling processes.
Common Business Service Infrastructure.
PUBLIC,
POLICY AND Messaging and Information Distribution TECHNICAL
LEGAL STANDARD
System.
PRIVACY FOR
ISSUES Multimedia Content and Network DOCUMENTS
, SECURITY
Publishing System.
AND
NETWORK
Network Infrastructure. PROTOCOL.
Thus, Framework tells about the detail of how ecommerce can take place. It defines actually how e-
commerce implemented, how online trading or business can be done. It defines important components that
should be present to do some transaction.
ABSTRACT:
The recent boom in the new economy of internet-based commerce has created a large number of firms with
a variety of business models that aim to leverage the power of the internet to further their business goals. In
this paper we attempt to provide a conceptual framework for understanding e-commerce business models on
a number of important dimensions - nature of consumer activity, nature of e-commerce activity, target
customers, targeting strategy, revenue generating modes, delivery modes, payment collection modes,
operating modes, market places, advantage mechanisms and domination characteristics. We also examine
means of improving value proposition and net-friendliness for e-commerce activities and identify areas
where e-commerce models have not been explored or fully exploited so far.
Since the range of economic activities on the internet is vast and growing, newer models and opportunities
are likely to emerge through improvements in internet technologies as well as innovations in their application
to business contexts. Hence any conceptual framework on e-commerce business models, including our own,
can never be comprehensive.
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK: NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL SCENARIO.
(FLIPKART)
NATIONAL SCENARIO:
Flipkart has worked wonders in the field of E-commerce, wholly revolutionizing the way Indians purchased
the products, that to directly from the conglomerates themselves. This was brought about by a sound Finance
System.
Initially the founders had spent Rs 4 Lakhs to set up the business. Flipkart has later raised funding from
venture capital funds Accel India (US$1 million in 2009) and Tiger Global (US$ 10 million in 2010 and
US$ 20 million in June 2011). On 24th August 2012, Flipkart announced the competition of its 4th round of
$150 million from MIH (part od Naspers Group) and ICONIQ Capital.
The company announced, on 10th July 2013, that it has raised and additional $200 million from existing
investors including Tiger Global, Naspers, Accel Partners and ICONIQ Capital.
Flipkart’s reported sales Rs 40 million in FY- 2008-2009, Rs 200 million in FY 2009-2010 and Rs 750
million for FY 2010-2011. In FY 2010-2011, Flipkart is set to cross the Rs 5 Billion (US $100 million) mark
as Internet usage in the country increases and people get accustomed to making purchases online. Flipkart
projects its sale to reach Rs 10 billion by 2014. On average, Flipkart sells 20 products per minute and is
aiming at generating a revenue of Rs 50,000 crore (US $ 8 Billion) by December 2015.
On November 2012, Flipkart became one of the companies being probed for alleged violations of FDI
regulations of Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.
In July 2013, Flipkart raised USD 160 million from private equity investors, taking the total to USD 360
million in its recent fund-raising drive to build and strengthen technology and bolster its supply chain.
In October 2013, it was reported the Flipkart had raised an additional $ 160 million from new investors
DRAGONNER Investment Group, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, SOFINA SA and Vulcan
Capital with participation from existing investor Tiger Global. With this, the company had raised a total
$360 million in its 5th round of funding, the largest investment raised by an Internet company in India,
emulating INMOBIS’S $200 million investment from Softbank in September 2011.
The company valued at approx. US$ 15.5 billion (May 2015), and plans to use the capital raised to improve
its technology and supply chain capabilities, enhance its end user experience and for hiring.
India’s E-commerce market was worth about $2.5 Billion in 2009, it went up to $6.3 Billion in 2011 and
$14 Billion in 2012. About 75% of this is travel related (Airline tickets, Railway tickets, Hotel bookings,
Online mobile recharge etc.) Online retailing comprises about 12.5% ($300 Million as of 2009).
India’s retail market is estimated at $470 Billion in 2011 and is expected to grow to $675 Bn by 2016 and
$850 Bn by 2020, - estimated CAGR of 7%. According to Forrester, the E-Commerce market in India is set
to grow the fastest within the Asia-Pacific Region at a CAGR of over 57% between 2012-16.
INTERNATIONAL SCENARIO:
Flipkart’s reach has not yet reached the International market so we cannot comment on this International
Scenario but the management has plans of extending its business to the South East Asian region.
CHAPTER 5: DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION.
MEANING:
Data analysis is, a process that involves examining, and moulding, collected data for interpretation to
discover relevant information, draw or propose conclusions and support decision-making to solve a research
problem. This involves interpreting data to answer research questions and making research findings be ready
for dissemination. Data analysis also serves as a reference for future data collection and other research
activities.
During data analysis:
1. Data collected is transformed into information and knowledge about a research performed.
2. Relationships between variables are explored.
3. Meanings are identified and information is interpreted.
Percentage. 63 24 12 1 100
Age Group
1%
12%
15-25
25-35
24%
35-45
63%
45 & above
Responses 58 42 100
Percentage 58 42 100
Gender
Male
42% Female
58%
Occupation
8%
7%
Business
39%
Housewife
Salaried
Student
46%
No. of 60 23 13 4
respondents.
Percentage 60 23 13 4
Annual Income
1%
13%
0-3L
3-6L
24% 6-9L
62%
9L & Above
Educational Qualification
2%
0%
18%
Graduate
Post Graduate
SSC or Equivalent
Others (PHD)
80%
Male 5 21 29 3 0 58
Female 4 14 23 1 0 42
Total 9 35 52 4 0 100
Chart Title
35
30
25
20
15
10
0
Always Often Sometimes Seldom Never
Male Female
(7) This survey is conducted on those people who do online shopping and are aware of Flipkart. So everyone
answered ‘YES’ for Question no.7.
(8) MODES OF AWARENESS OF FLIPKART.
Chart Title
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
No. of Respondents
Chart Title
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Every Time Ocassionally Most of the time Hardly Ever
No. of Respondents
Chart Title
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Electronics Apparels & Books, Movies & Statinary Healthcare & Home & Kitchen
Accessories Music Personalcare Items
No. of Respondents
No. of 41 29 8 17 5 100
Respondents
Percentage 41 29 8 17 5 100
Chart Title
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Fast Delivery Availibility After Sales Service Easy Payment Portal Features
Options
No. of Respondents
Chart Title
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Rating of the Product Discounts & Features Review about the Product Brand about the Product
No of Respondents
Chart Title
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
0
Out of Stock Payment Issues Replacement Delay in Faulty Product No. of Issues Others
Issues Delivery
No. of Respondents
Percentage 95 5 100
Chart Title
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Yes No
No. of Respondents
Percentage 7 11 16 49 17 100
Chart Title
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1 2 3 4 5
No. of Respondents
No. of 45 15 10 10 20
Recommendation.
Percentage 45 15 10 10 20
No. of Recommendations
20%
45%
10%
10%
15%
No. of 75 20 3 2 100
Respondents.
Percentage 75 20 3 2 100
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Excellent Good Average Bad
No. of Respondents
10%
90%
Yes No
While 10% among them said that they will not recommend.
(19) ANY DRAWBACKS IN FLIPKART?
Percentage 95 5 100
100
80
60
40 Column1
Column 2
20
No. of Respondents
0
Yes No
No. of Respondents
No. of 85 15 100
Recommendations.
Particulars 85 15 100
No
15%
Yes
85%
Yes No
(A) FINDINGS:
There is not much difference in gender for using online shopping.
Students and salaried persons are most frequent users of Flipkart. Frequency of purchase for
electronics, books and music, apparels and accessories are more in Flipkart.
Word of mouth was more influential in promotion as many people were made aware by their friends
and family when customers recommend this website to them.
Highly discounted products got out of stock quickly, since customers purchased it as on as they could
when they see high discount on good featured product.
The services provided by Flipkart are good and even more scope of development is there for
increasing the customer strength.
Digital marketing techniques like search engine marketing, links providing other website and
advertisement also functioned well for promotion of this website.
Different payment options available in Flipkart made customers more satisfied and comfort for
paying while purchasing product.
Customers feeling more secured when purchasing through Flipkart because of different policies and
services they have.
In comparison with competitors, Flipkart is charging free shipping for the purchase of 300 plus
rupees, while others free ship the service without any barrier.
Most of customers have good experience with Flipkart while purchasing products.
Most of them are satisfied with the services of Flipkart and so that they succeed in retaining the
customers.
Advertising is an important way to have the brand and products familiar to consumers Convenience
and time saving are two important factors that customer looking for while purchasing through online.
90% of the respondents feels safe in online shopping they have no fear and have started shopping
online while 10% are hesitant of shopping online they are the late majority type of customers who
adopt the technology and advancement in later stage.
85% of respondents prefer online shopping as they get variety of products at good quality at one
place while remaining respondents feel that they prefer shopping in stores.
Even though Flipkart does not have a big list of competitors’ there are online shopping websites who
has caught the attention of buyers such as SHEIN, JABONG, EBAY, MYNTRA, AMAZON, etc.
On scale of 1 to 10, Flipkart users have rated its behaviour 6 points to 9.5 points depending on their
personal experiences.
2% of customers have bad experience with the services provided by Flipkart, regarding time of
delivery and delay in the return of goods which is not a bad ratio and can be improved.
(B) SUGGESTIONS:
Flipkart has successfully placed itself into the prospects mind making it the India‘s largest online
store with huge range of products. But it still needs to work on their core competence that is books
and stationery items.
Delivery services can be improved mainly in rural areas by selecting appropriate courier service
which has services in customer area for dispatching an item.
Can include more coupon codes and gift vouchers for increasing the traffic of the customers.
Out of stock items can made available as soon as possible and intimate the needed customers.
Critical mass of Internet users–Internet users in India is increasing at increasing rate, so Flipkart can
target more & more cities that is not only tier 1 & 2 but also tier 3 & 4cities, which
will help generate stronger customer base & more revenues.
Should clearing focus on the Growing Online Apparel business & it can diversify into apparel
category either organically or inorganically by acquiring other portals.
Should comprehensively invest into E-CRM & online reputation management.
User Experience: Portal should continuously aim to work to improve the user experience by adding
more & more innovative features in the website like virtually shopping basket, virtual trial
rooms. In this competitive world to differentiate via user experience, the ultimate winner will be the
Indian online consumer.
Logistics & Supply Chain: can continuously aim to reduce the delivery time cycle.
Price will still be a factor as amazon being a huge company will use its economies of scale to remove
their competitors from the market; therefore, they need to be more competitive on that aspect.
Wide expansion of internet facilities in rural areas can bring more customers for the online shopping
sites.
Through prompt service, wide variety and easy accessibility even consumers from the remote are can
be tapped.
The cash on delivery will help a lot of traditional consumers turn to online shopping.
There is also a need to remove the fear in the mind of customers regarding the product quality,
durability and payments etc. in online shopping.
Calling facility to make an order and change an order as well as Urgent delivery with no extra cost
service can a cherry on the cake and would help Flipkart to perform even better than its competitors.
(C) CONCLUSION:
E-Commerce is not just about conducting business transactions via the Internet. Its impact will be far-
reaching, and more prominent then we know currently. This is because the revolution in information
technology is happening simultaneously with other developments, especially the globalization of the
business. The new age of global e-commerce is creating entirely new economy and that will tremendously
change our lives, will reshape the competition in various industries, and alter the economy globally. As
companies are gaining high profits, more and more other companies are developing their websites to increase
their profits. Since more businesses are being held online resulting in high economy development and
emergence of a more innovative and advanced technology.
After careful observation, it has come to my conclusion that e-commerce has undeniably become an
important part of our society. The world wide web is and will have a large part in our daily lives. It is
therefore critical that small businesses have their own to keep in competition with the larger websites. Since
web developers have lowered down the prices for their services, it has become more affordable for small
businesses to use the world wide web to sell their products.
Although there are negative aspects of e-commerce, small businesses have tried to accommodate to the needs
of the consumers. For example, one of the negative aspects of e-commerce is that consumers lack the advice
and guidance of sellers, to accommodate that, they have customer service through the phone of online to
answer any questions. It is also important to note that e-commerce does not benefit all small companies
equally
How much revenue a business gets from e-commerce depends on what kind of service it gives. For example,
most people would like to try on clothes before they buy them, so it probably would not benefit a small
business that sells clothes as much as a small business that sells home supplies or specialty books.
Nevertheless, e-commerce does benefit any business even in small ways. This is why it is crucial to
understand how e-commerce affects small businesses because it is becoming such a huge part of how society
functions that it effects the economy greatly and whatever happens to the economy affects us. This is why is
it important to understand this subject because in the long run, it will affect all of us.
INDIAN SCENARIO:
Online shopping is the new mantra of this age and the people of India are applying in their lives to a great
extent now a days. As we progress further, the growth rate on online marketing in our country will leap to
the stars. According to research report- State of E-commerce in India by COMMERCE for ASSOCHAM,
“India’s internet base, is already the third highest in the world after china and the US, is growing nearly by
40% every year.” Hence, the rise of online shopping in Indian subcontinent has been meteoric in the recent
years. The number of shopping websites has increased and so has the total number of people who prefer
online shopping.
The thorough study is based on the consumer behaviour analysis which serves a great idea regarding
consumer perception when they go for online shopping. In order to satisfy themselves consumer perceive
many things before buying products and they will be satisfied if the company meet their expectation. The
Overall Brand Value of Flipkart is good, but it is facing some tough competition from its global competitors
like EBAY and AMAZON. Talking about domestic market that is India, it is the most superior E-business
portal which is aggressively expanding & planting its roots deep into the Indian market & at the
same time shifting the mind-set of the people from going & shopping from physical store to online
stores, which is magnificent. Be very focused on consumers and build amazing experiences for the
customers.
At the end it can be said that Flipkart has become the fate of online business in India. The company is
currently valued at around 1 billion dollars that is 5000 crore. More importantly Flipkart has ushered in the
E-commerce era in India This has generated a massive interest in E-commerce sector; people are opening
websites to sell anything from shoes to apparels to jewels to baby care products etc. This has helped in
creating a lot of job opportunities and thus helps in Indian Income growth story as well.
CHAPTER 7: BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Information and data related to the project has been taken from the sources below, special thanks to the
editors for making the task easier.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Magazines
Economic Times Newspaper
Blogs
WEBLIOGRAPHY:
www.flipkart.com
www.commodityindia.com
www.marketoperation.com
www.nextbigwhat.com
www.britannica.com
www.ecommerce-land.com
www.commodityindia.com
www.marketoperation.com
www.slideshare.net
Wikipedia
APPENDIX.
QUESTIONNAIRE:
1. For how many years you are using e-commerce?
a. Less than one year.
b. One year but < five year.
c. More than five year.
d. Do not know/ Cannot say
3. From the various types of e-commerce, what according to you has the largest market share?
a. B2B Commerce
b. B2C Commerce
c. B2G Commerce
d. Others
4. According to you how is e-commerce helpful to the consumer in the e-business domain?
a. Broadens consumer choice
b. Encourages price transparency
c. Fastens business process
d. Do not know/ Cannot say
7. Do you agree that e-commerce as commercial means has its advantages over the traditional commercial
methods?
a. Agree
b. Disagree
c. Do not know/ Cannot say
8. Do you agree that e-commerce can provide an alternative marketing channel by eliminating middleman?
a. Agree
b. No
c. Do not know/Cannot say
11. Do you thing that the Govt. of India is doing its enough to promote e-commerce in India?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Do not know/Cannot say
12. What measure would you recommend for promotion of e- commerce in India?
a. Promotion of internet
b. To increase the awareness level of people
c. An integrated promotional approach
d. Other measures
23. Tick all the varieties you prefer to buy on the online store.
a. Clothing
b. Mobiles/Laptops
c. Watches
d. Personal Products
e. Books
f. Camera
d. Accessories
28. Will you recommend Flipkart to your friends and family members?
a. Yes
b. No