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ABSTRACT
Purpose
Online shopping in India is at a very nascent stage but is gradually gathering steam. Research on what factors affects the female buying behavior has typically been disjointed. The purpose of this study is to examine the different factors that influence the female shoppers' attitude towards online shopping.
Design/methodology/approach
After a thorough study of literature review, factors were identified that affected the online consumers buying behaviour. A questionnaire was developed for the study and a survey was conducted amongst the female consumers across India. Factor analysis was done and a pattern was established between various variables. These factors were also evaluated with the help of AMOS and a model was developed showcasing different aspects of female consumer behavior.
Findings
The result shows that convenience to shop online came out to be the most important factor for the female shoppers to shop online while risk of doing transactions along with preference towards traditional shopping and reliability issues acted as the biggest impediment towards the growth of online shopping in India.
Research limitations/implications
The factors considered in the conceptual model are limited and other factors might also influence the shopping behavior. Future research can be done to explore the effects of different types of products, online retailers' characteristics and other environmental influences which can help in improving the conceptual model proposed.
Practical implications
The research has implications for online retailers and female shoppers in India. Female online shoppers in India are looking for risk free and easy online shopping experience. Online retailers should work on the privacy and security issues with introduction of multiple payment methods and should focus on making online shopping an easy process.
Originality/value
With the incredible growth of e-commerce in India, there is a vital need to understand the factors that influence Indian female consumers to shop online. There are very few studies done on Indian context and the results of this study can help the online retailers and vendors to design their marketing strategies in a much better way.
Keywords: Online shopping, Female Consumer Behavior, Buying Behavior, Indian Consumers, Online Retailing, Risk, Reliability, Convenience, Traditional Shopping, E-Commerce.
1. INTRODUCTION
According to Internet World Stats in December 2013, India has the second largest number of internet users in Asia...