Study of preferences of Indian online shoppers: lessons for Indian e-retailers

Abstract

The Indian online retailing industry is currently estimated to have a size of approximately Rs. 250 cores and growing. While there has been a significant amount of research into online customers internationally there has not much published research on the Indian online shopper? After a review of published literature we have chosen to test validity of a framework, used to describe online shoppers in the West, among Indian online shoppers. The framework used is called the 8C s being Customization, Contact Interactivity, Care, Cultivation, Choice, Convenience, Character, and Community. A questionnaire was designed to test these concepts and circulated among the subscriber base of a leading Indian online retailer. The questionnaire was designed to test the relative importance of each of these elements and the current satisfaction levels of Indian online shoppers with Indian e-retailing sites on each of these elements. An analysis of the responses revealed that Choice and Character, implying the product range offered by sites and the reputation and security of the site were the most important parameters among Indian shoppers. It also revealed that customers were currently not satisfied with the level of range of products and brands offered by Indian online retailers although they were more satisfied with the security of transactions online and willing to pay online using their credit cards. It was also found that various segments of customers segmented on the basis of monthly spend in online stores frequency of shopping online or sex were fairly homogeneous in their responses.