COMMONWEALTH JOURNAL OF COMMERCE &
MANAGEMENT RESEARCH
Vol.2, Issue 7 (July 2015) ISSN: 2393-851X Impact Factor: 0.612
FACTORS INFLUENCING ONLINE SHOPPING
BEHAVIOR OF CUSTOMERS: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY
Dhirendra Kumar Gupta
Research Scholar, Dept. of Business Administration, MLSU, Udaipur
Dr. Pradeep Kumar Khincha
Lecturer, Govt. College, Nathdwara
ABSTRACT
The present research paper aims to study the various factors which
affect online shopping behavior of customers. To serve the
objective descriptive research design is used and primary data is
collected from 50 respondents with the help of questionnaire. Data
is analyzed with the help of frequency distribution, weighted
arithmetic mean and t-test. It has been concluded that time saving
and cash on delivery facility are major factors that influence
online shopping behavior of customers and customers are satisfied
with online shopping.
Keywords: Online shopping, Customer behavior, Customer
Satisfaction
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COMMONWEALTH JOURNAL OF COMMERCE &
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Vol.2, Issue 7 (July 2015) ISSN: 2393-851X Impact Factor: 0.612
INTRODUCTION
The rapid growth of internet has given rise to online marketing where firms can promote
and enhance images of product and services through web site. Therefore, detailed product
information and improved service attracts more and more people and in the result customers are
shifting from traditional purchase to online purchase.
Basically, online shopping is one of the most widely used words in the business world. It
is very common in developing and developed countries. Now virtual store, market spaces are
very commonly used word. In India during last ten years online shopping has grown very fast. A
lot of online shopping websites have been developed. In the past decade, there has been a
dramatic change in the way consumers have altered their way of shopping. Although consumers
continue to purchase from a physical store, yet consumers feel very convenient to shop online
since it frees the customer from personally visiting the store, online shopping has lots of
advantages like it saves time, energy of the consumer while buying. ( In case of online shopping
buying decisions can be made at home by comparing the products with the competitor’s products
with lots of varieties. Keeping it in view this study aims study the factors affecting online
shopping behavior of customers.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Rastogi (2011) found that online shopping has become a significant part of our life as a result of
the growing internet and our busy schedule. This adds up to faster, easier, safer and less costly
shopping. Online shopping has a great advantage for customers as it is time saving and also a
wide range of products can be selected with the best offer.
Anderson & Swaminathan (2011) investigated the factors that drive customer satisfaction and
loyalty in e-markets. Six factors are found that significantly affect satisfaction in e-businesses are
adaptation, commitment, network, assortment, transaction ease, and engagement.
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COMMONWEALTH JOURNAL OF COMMERCE &
MANAGEMENT RESEARCH
Vol.2, Issue 7 (July 2015) ISSN: 2393-851X Impact Factor: 0.612
Nagra & Gopal (2013) revealed that on-line shopping in India is significantly affected by
various Demographic factors like age, gender, marital status, family size and income.
Karim (2013) discovered that respondents use internet to purchase products through online
websites because they believe it is convenient to them. The term convenient includes elements
such as time saving, information availability, opening time, ease of use, websites navigation, less
shopping stress, less expensive and shopping fun. In contrast, along with respondents’ mind-sets,
online payment security, personal privacy and trust, unclear warranties and returns policies and
lack of personal customer service are the foremost barriers of online shopping.
Sareen & Jain (2014) identified various factors that have potential to influence online
customer's behavioral intention to transact in virtual environment. The study has identified
technical environment, socio-individual belief, effort expectancy and customer's attitude are
influential factors to the customer's intention to purchase online.
Kushwah & Bhargav (2014) tried to know the difference between the expectations and
perceptions of youngsters towards online shopping websites. The results of this study
emphasized that the online shopping websites need to work on their performance to remove the
gap between expectations and perceptions of youngsters towards online shopping websites.
Kumawat & Tandon (2014) examined the factors that influence customer’s satisfaction level
towards online shopping in Jaipur and Gurgaon through self-administered questionnaire. The
results indicated that availability of unique product, expectation and on time delivery of the
product insist customer to shop again from online stores and affect their overall experience with
the online shopping.
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COMMONWEALTH JOURNAL OF COMMERCE &
MANAGEMENT RESEARCH
Vol.2, Issue 7 (July 2015) ISSN: 2393-851X Impact Factor: 0.612
OBJECTIVE
The purposes of this research paper are as follows:-
1. To study the factors influencing customer purchase decision towards online shopping.
2. To measure customer satisfaction towards online shopping
HYPOTHESIS
H0: Customers’ satisfaction with online shopping is not affected by frequency of online purchase.
H1: Customers’ satisfaction with online shopping is affected by frequency of online purchase.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
(a) Research Design: - To have a better understanding about the issue descriptive research
design was used. To get the primary data close ended questionnaire was administrated.
(b) Sample Design: - 50 respondents were selected through convenience sampling.
(c) Analysis: - The data collected was analyzed with the help of various statistical tools like
Weighted Arithmetic mean, chi-square test.
ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATIONS
1. Demographic Profile of Respondents:
Table 1 : Demographic Profile
Particulars Classification Frequency Percentage
Male 32 64
Gender
Female 18 36
Below 20 Years 10 20
21 - 40 Years 35 70
Age
41 - 60 Years 3 6
Above 60 Years 2 4
Area of Residence Urban 42 84
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Vol.2, Issue 7 (July 2015) ISSN: 2393-851X Impact Factor: 0.612
Rural 8 16
Govt. Employee 5 10
Private Employee 16 32
Business 8 16
Occupation
Housewife 4 8
Student 14 28
Other 3 6
Undergraduate 10 20
Graduate 12 24
Qualification
Post Graduate 23 46
Other 5 10
As per shown in table-2 demographics of respondents were classified according to their
Gender, Age. Area of Residence, Occupation and Qualification. Out of total 50 respondents 64%
are male & rests are female. 70% respondents belong to the age group of 21-40 years. Majority
of respondents (84%) were from urban areas while 16% respondents were from rural
background. In sample 32% respondents were private employees and 46% respondents were Post
graduate.
2. Online Shopping Behavior of Respondents
Online Shopping Experience
Respondents were asked that how long they have been shopping online and It can be seen from
table 2 that maximum number of respondents (N=20, Percentage=40) have been shopping online
from last 1 to 3 years. According to 36% respondents (N=18) they are shopping online from less
than one year followed by 16% (N=8) respondents who are shopping online from last 3 to 5
years. Only 8% respondents have online shopping experience of more than 5 years.
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COMMONWEALTH JOURNAL OF COMMERCE &
MANAGEMENT RESEARCH
Vol.2, Issue 7 (July 2015) ISSN: 2393-851X Impact Factor: 0.612
Table 2: Online Shopping Experience
Online Shopping Experience N Percentage
Less than 1 Year 18 36
1 to 3 Years 20 40
3 to 5 Years 8 16
More than 5 Years 4 8
Total 50 100
Online Shopping Frequency
Respondents were asked to indicate that how often they shop online. Majority of respondents
(N=25, Percentage=50) said that they occasionally shop online followed by 30% respondents
(N=15) who mostly do online shopping. There were few respondents (N=10, Percentage=20)
who said that they rarely shop online.
Table 3: Online Shopping Frequency
Frequency of Online Shopping N Percentage
Mostly 15 30
Occasionally 25 50
Rarely 10 20
Total 50 100
Online Shopping Payment Mode
When asked about payment mode during online shopping, majority of respondents (N=29,
Percentage=58) responded that they prefer cash on delivery facility followed by payment by
debit card option (N=13, Percentage=26). In the opinion of 14% (N=7) respondents mostly they
purchase online through credit card while remaining 2% respondents (N=1) consider other
options of payment.
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Vol.2, Issue 7 (July 2015) ISSN: 2393-851X Impact Factor: 0.612
Table 4: Online Shopping Payment Mode
Online Shopping Payment Mode N Percentage
Credit Card 7 14
Debit Card 13 26
Cash on Delivery 29 58
Other 1 2
Total 50 100
Trust on Online Shopping
It can be seen from table 5 that maximum number of respondents (N=43, Percentage=86) trust
online shopping while only 14% respondents (N=7) do not trust online shopping.
Table 5: Trust on Online Shopping
Response N Percentage
Yes 43 86
No 7 14
Total 50 100
Factors Influencing Online Shopping Behavior of Customers
Customers were asked to indicate the various factors influence their purchase during online
shopping on five point scale starting from extremely influential (5) to not at all influential (1).
Final ranking is obtained with the help of weighted arithmetic mean. In order to calculate total
weighted score, the numbers of respondents who have given score from 5 to 1 are multiplied by
5 to 1 respectively. The mean score is calculated by dividing the total score by total number of
weights (i.e. 15).
The table 6 shows that, the time saving factor was the most influencing factor affecting the
customers’ online purchase decision with a weighted mean score of 14.80 followed by cash
on delivery facility (Weighted Mean score = 13.93). More relaxing shopping ranked 3rd with a
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COMMONWEALTH JOURNAL OF COMMERCE &
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Vol.2, Issue 7 (July 2015) ISSN: 2393-851X Impact Factor: 0.612
Weighted Mean score of 13.67, followed by Money saving option that ranked 4th with a
weighted mean score of 13.53. Schemes and offers was the fifth influencing factor to affect
customers’ online purchase decision with weighted mean score of 13.47 tailed by availability of
variety of products at 6th rank with a weighted mean score of 13.40.
Easier shopping graded at 7th place with a weighted mean score of 13.27, trailed by competitive
pricing at 8th rank with a weighted mean score of 12.73. More efficient mode of purchase ranked
as 9th important factor affecting customers’ online purchase decision with a weighted mean score
of 12.60, and Advanced Searching Options, Exchange Facility, Money Back Facility were not
considered as an influencing factor by the customers with a weighted mean score of 11.73, 11.40
and 11.07 respectively.
Table 6: Factors Influencing Online Shopping Behavior of Customers
Weights 5 4 3 2 1
Weighted Average
Somewhat Influential
Extremely Influential
Level of Influence
Not at All Influential
Weighted Total
Slightly Influential
Very Influential
Rank
S. No.
Decisive Factor
1 Saves Time 29 14 7 0 0 222 14.80 1
2 Saves Money 19 20 7 3 1 203 13.53 4
3 More Relaxing Shopping 19 18 12 1 0 205 13.67 3
4 More Easier Shopping 18 17 12 2 1 199 13.27 7
5 More Efficient 13 18 14 5 0 189 12.60 9
6 Availability of Variety of Products 16 22 9 3 0 201 13.40 6
7 Schemes & Offers 19 18 10 2 1 202 13.47 5
8 Cash on Delivery facility 25 14 7 3 1 209 13.93 2
9 Competitive Pricing 14 20 11 3 2 191 12.73 8
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COMMONWEALTH JOURNAL OF COMMERCE &
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Vol.2, Issue 7 (July 2015) ISSN: 2393-851X Impact Factor: 0.612
10 Advanced Searching Options 12 15 12 9 2 176 11.73 10
11 Exchange Facility 13 13 13 4 7 171 11.40 11
12 Return / Money Back Facility 14 11 10 7 8 166 11.07 12
Overall Satisfaction
Respondents were asked to indicate their overall satisfaction with online shopping and results
received are presented in table 7. Majority of respondents (N=33, Percentage=66) are satisfied
with online shopping followed by 16% respondents (N=8) who are neither satisfied nor
dissatisfied. 14% respondents (N=7) are highly satisfied with online shopping while 4%
respondents (N=2) are dissatisfied. The average score of 3.88 projects that respondents are
satisfied with online shopping
Table 7: Overall Satisfaction
Response N Percentage
Highly Dissatisfied 1 2
Dissatisfied 1 2
Neutral 8 16
Satisfied 33 66
Highly Satisfied 7 14
Total 50 100
Mean Score 3.88
Result Satisfied
3. Hypothesis Testing: -
H0: Customers’ satisfaction with online shopping is not affected by frequency of online purchase.
H1: Customers’ satisfaction with online shopping is affected by frequency of online purchase.
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Respondents were asked to indicate their overall satisfaction with online shopping as well as they
were also asked that how often they shop online. The responses received were cross tabulated
and then chi-square test was applied to measure the association between customers’ satisfaction
and frequency of online purchase as presented in table 8
Table 8: Association between Customers’ satisfaction and frequency of online
purchase
Frequency of Online Shopping
Calculated Value
Tabulated Value
Occasionally
Result
Mostly
Rarely
Satisfaction Level
Highly Dissatisfied 0 0 1
Dissatisfied 0 0 1
Neutral 3 3 2 18.61 15.507 Rejected
Satisfied 11 20 2
Highly Satisfied 1 2 4
Degree of freedom = 8, Level of Significance=5%
It can be observed that at 5% level of significance for 8 degree of freedom calculated value of chi
square is more than its tabulated value which leads to the rejection of hypothesis. So it can be
concluded that Customers’ satisfaction with online shopping is affected by frequency of online
purchase.
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COMMONWEALTH JOURNAL OF COMMERCE &
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Vol.2, Issue 7 (July 2015) ISSN: 2393-851X Impact Factor: 0.612
CONCLUSION
From this research following conclusions can be drawn:-
1. Respondents are having online shopping experience of 1-3 years and they use to shop
occasionally.
2. Cash on delivery is most preferred payment mode and respondents consider online
shopping trustworthy.
3. Time saving and cash on delivery facility are major factors that influence online
shopping behavior of customers.
4. Customers are satisfied with online shopping.
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COMMONWEALTH JOURNAL OF COMMERCE &
MANAGEMENT RESEARCH
Vol.2, Issue 7 (July 2015) ISSN: 2393-851X Impact Factor: 0.612
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