A RESEARCH ON CONSUMER AWARENESS

ABOUT NON-STORE RETAILING IN RAJKOT

SUBMITTED TO:

Prof. Rutwa Mehta

Marwadi Education Foundations Group of Institutions

SUBMITTED BY: Urvi Pathak

Roll no: MPG1102021

CERTIFICATE

PREFACE
Experience is the best teacher. The saying has played a guiding role in the infusion of our practical work and learning from it. Person cant learn by merely reading hundreds of books on it. He/she requires practicing his hand at the helm of it. Similarly management learning remains incomplete without a test of real business life. Thus theoretical knowledge is not enough for management students; practical study holds an important place. Our knowledge remains incomplete without practical aspect like this assignment. True learning is born out of Experience and observation. Practical experience is one of the best types of learning that one can remember the aspects of administration and management.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Every study requires a guidance of someone who is working in that field. Firstly we would like to thank Dean of our college Prof. Dr. S.C. Reddy for providing an opportunity of preparing capstone major project report and allowing me to use the resources of the institution during this project.

I am extremely thankful to our Project Guide, Prof. Rutwa Mehta of Marwadi Education Foundations Group of Institutions for their precious guidance regarding the preparation of the Project Report. Their guidance has proved to be useful and without them, the preparation of this report might not have been possible.

I am also thankful to the other faculty members of MEFGI for extending their valuable support for this project. I also extend my sincere thanks to the Respondents, who helped us during the course of our project and for their gracious attitude.

I would like to take this opportunity to extend our warm thoughts to those who helped me in making this project a wonderful experience.

Yours faithfully, Urvi Pathak

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This study is about describing of both the awareness toward online shopping and the purchase intention. This work is done from an integrated research framework. A total of 100 respondent consumers selected randomly from the city of Rajkot. The results support to create Awareness about Non-store Retailing and to shed light on how consumers form their attitudes toward online shopping and make purchase intention. Online retailer should provide more benefits than ever before, with the consequence that consumers will hold a more positive attitude toward online shopping that leads to their purchase intentions. I used Questionnaire to collect information from the consumer as Primary Source of Data. Out of 100 Respondent consumers 88 consumers have awareness about Non-store Retailing, Out of that 88 consumer 73 are purchasing online.

Consumer shop online frequently, with high usage across all product categories. These shoppers are slightly more likely to be women than men and also are likely to be high school and college graduates. Most of the consumers are value seekers means they are price sensitive shoppers. They shop online primarily to find the best deals on products they want to buy. Most of the consumer shop fashion products and electronics.

In addition, consumers are focused on core functionality like price, product specifications and delivery information.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE....................................................................................................................................................................................... 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................................................................................ 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................................... 4 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................................................5 NON-STORE RETAILING: ................................................................................................................................................... 6 Direct Selling: ..................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Telemarketing:................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Online Retailing: .............................................................................................................................................................. 10 Automatic Vending: ......................................................................................................................................................... 11 Direct Marketing: ............................................................................................................................................................ 12 E-Retailing: ........................................................................................................................................................................ 14 SEGREGATION OF NON-STORE RETAILING SECTOR ............................................................................................ 14 LIST OF TOP 26 E-TAILING PLAYERS IN INDIA AS ON APRIL, 18 2012 ............................................................. 17 GROWTH OF NON-STORE RETAILING ........................................................................................................................... 22 LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................................................................................... 23 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE & METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................... 27 Objectives of the study: ..................................................................................................................................................... 27 Sampling methods used: ................................................................................................................................................... 27 Tools for data collection and analysis ............................................................................................................................ 27 Design of the study: ........................................................................................................................................................... 28 Limitation of the study: ..................................................................................................................................................... 28 ANALYSIS AND INTERPRITATION .................................................................................................................................... 29 FINDINGS & CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................................. 41 SUGGESTIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................................................................................ 42 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................................................................ 43 ANNEXURE ............................................................................................................................................................................... 44

INTRODUCTION

NON-STORE RETAILING:
The selling of goods and services without establishing a physical store is known as Non-Store Retailing. It includes such services as vending machines, direct-to-home selling, telemarketing, catalog sales, mail order, and television marketing programs.

The fast growing method used by retailers to sell products is through methods that do not have customers physically visiting a retail outlet. In fact, in many cases customers make their purchase from within their own homes. A large majority about 80% of retail transactions are made in stores. However, a growing volume of sales is taking place away from stores. It is estimated that non-store sales account for almost 20% of total retail trade.

Types of Non Store Retail Format: Following are the six types of non-store retailing: Direct selling, Tele marketing, Online retailing, Automatic vending, Direct marketing, and Electronics retailing.

In Home Retailing

Telephone Retailing

Catalogue Retailing

Non-Store Retailing
Direct Response Retailing

Automatic Vending Electronic Retailing

Direct Selling:
Direct selling is also defined as personal contact between a sales person and a consumer away from a retail store. This type of retailing has also been called in home selling. Annual volume of direct selling in India is growing fast from the beginning of the 21st century.

Like other forms of non-store retailing, direct selling is utilized in most countries. It is particularly widespread in Japan, which accounts for about 35% of the worldwide volume of direct selling. The U.S. represents almost 30% of the total and all other countries the rest.

The two kinds of direct selling are: Door to door Party plan

Direct retailing originated several centuries ago and has mushroomed into a $9 billion industry consisting of about 600 companies selling door-to-door, office-to-office, or at private-home sales
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meetings.

The

forerunners

in

the

direct-selling

industry

include

The Fuller

Brush

Company (brushes, brooms, etc.), Electrolux (vacuum cleaners), and Avon (cosmetics). In addition, Tupperware pioneered the home-sales approach, in which friends and neighbors gather in a home where Tupperware products are demonstrated and sold. Network marketing, a direct-selling approach similar to home sales, is also gaining prevalence in markets worldwide. Network marketing companies such as Amway and Shaklee reward their distributors not only for selling products but also for recruiting others to become distributors. In 2007, Amways parent company tested an Internet recruitment model by launching Fanista, a Web site that sells entertainment media such as books, movies, and music, while rewarding users for bringing other customers to the site.

Reasons for the growth in direct marketing:

Advantages of Direct Selling:

Consumers have the opportunity to buy at home or at another convenient Non-Store location that provides the opportunity for personal contact with a sales person. For the seller, direct selling offers the boldest method of trying to persuade ultimate consumers to make a purchase. The seller takes the product to the shoppers home or work place and demonstrates them for the consumer.

Limitations of Direct Selling: Sales commissions run as high as 40 to 50%of the retail price; of course, they are paid only when a sale is made. Recruiting sales people most of whom are part timers are difficult tasks. Some sales representatives use high pressure tactics or are fraudulent.

Telemarketing:
Sometimes called telephone selling, telemarketing refers to a sales person initiating contact with a shopper and closing a sale over the telephone. Telemarketing many entail cold canvassing from the phone directory. Many products that can be bought without being seen are sold over the telephone. Examples are pest control devices, magazine subscriptions, credit cards and cub memberships.

Telemarketing is not a problem free retailing. Often encountering hostile people on the other end of the line and experiencing many more rejections than closed sales, few telephone sales representatives last very long in the job. Further some telemarketers rely on questionable or unethical practices. For instance firms may place calls at almost any hour of the day or night. This tactic is criticized as violating consumers' right to privacy. To prevent this, some states have enacted rules to constrain telemarketers' activities. Despite these problems, telemarketing sales have increased in recent years. Fundamentally, some people appreciate the convenience of making a purchase by phone. Costs have been reduced by computers that automatically dial telephone number, even deliver a taped message and record information the buyer gives to complete the sale. The future of telemarketing is sure to be affected by the degree to which the problems above can be addressed and by the surge of online retailing.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Telemarketing:

There are many advantages and disadvantages of telemarketing. Telemarketing is a somewhat stressful career choice. It really depends on what type of telemarketing that you do. Collection call telemarketing can be one of the worst telemarketing jobs that you can have. No matter which path of telemarketing you take you will run into a lot of rude people. Everybody knows that people do not like to get interrupted by telemarketers at home. When I see a telemarketer call or when I hear a pause on the line, I hang up the phone.
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You can do telemarketing from home. Usually companies will pay you at least ten dollars an hour to do this from your home. One company that hires telemarketers is known as Baby to Bee. This job is better than your average telemarketing companies because you are calling expectant mother and fathers and offering them baby coupons. Usually these people sign up on the website to receive these things and they are happy to hear from you. It's probably one of the only telemarketing jobs that people will be excited to talk to you.

As with any telemarketing company you will run into dead leads such as people sign up and can't remember or they never signed up. With a lot of companies it has been a long time since they signed up for whatever it was they were looking to get. The best way to have a successful call is to establish a rapport with your parent. If they trust you and you are friendly they will be more likely to end the call with you on a good note. With telemarketing you cannot get upset with people who call you names and hang up on you.

Telemarketing allows you to stay at home and work which means that you save on gas money and other things. You can wake up and sign on whenever you choose to, as long as you get the hours in that are required. All you need for telemarketing is a computer with an internet connection and some type of headset which has a built in microphone. You can purchase a headset from Best Buy or an electronics store for around $30.00. It's not one of these jobs where you need to purchase $300 worth of things to get started working from home. It allows you to stay at home and have a flexible schedule.

Online Retailing:
When a firm uses its website to offer products for sale and then individuals or organizations use their computers to make purchases from this company, the parties have engaged in electronic transactions (also called on line selling or internet marketing).

Many electronic transactions involve two businesses which focus on sales by firms to ultimate consumers. Thus online retailing is one which consists of electronic transactions in which the purchaser is an ultimate consumer. Online retailing is being carried out only by a rapidly increasing number of new firms, such as Busy.com, Pets Mart and CD Now.com. Some websites feature broad assortments, especially those

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launched by general merchandise retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target. Some Internet only firms, notably Amazon.com are using various methods to broaden their offerings.

Whatever their differences, e-retailers are likely to share an attribute. They are unprofitable or best, barely profitable. Of course, there are substantial costs in establishing an online operation. Aggressive efforts to attract shoppers and retain customers through extensive advertising and low prices are also expensive. The substantial losses racked by online enterprises used to be accepted, perhaps even encouraged by investors and analysts. The rationale was that all available funds should be used to gain a foothold in this growing market.

Despite these challenges, online retailing is expected to grow, rapidly and significantly for the foreseeable future. Online sales represented about 1% of retail spending in 2005, but one research firm estimates that consumer purchases on the Internet with triple by the year 2010.

Which product categories are consumers most likely to buy on the Internet in the future? Consumers' shopping intentions in 2005 placed the following goods and services at the top of the list: books, music and videos, computer hardware and software, travel and apparel. Of course, given that change on the Internet occurs, these categories soon may be surpassed by others - perhaps groceries, toys, health and beauty aids, auto parts or pet supplies.

Advantages of Online Retailing: Bargaining power of consumers. They enjoy a wider choice Supplier power. It is more difficult for consumers to manage a non-digital channel. Internet increases commoditization. Threat of new entrants. Online means it is easier to introduce new services with lower overheads Threat of substitutes Rivalry among competitors. It is easier to introduce products and services to different markets

Automatic Vending:

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The sale of products through a machine with no personal contact between buyer and seller is called automatic vending.

The appeal of automatic vending is convenient purchase. Products sold by automatic vending are usually well-known presold brands with a high rate of turnover. The large majority of automatic vending sales comes from the "4 C's: cold drinks, coffee, candy and cigarettes.

Automatic vending is a unique area in non-store merchandising because the variety of merchandise offered through automatic vending machines continues to grow. Initially, impulse goods with high convenience value such as cigarettes, soft drinks, candy, newspapers, and hot beverages were offered. However, a wide array of products such as hosiery, cosmetics, food snacks, postage stamps, paperback books, record albums, camera film, and even fishing worms are becoming available through machines. Advantages and disadvantages: Vending machines can expand a firm's market by reaching customers where and when they cannot come to a store. Thus vending equipment is found almost everywhere, particularly in schools, work places and public facilities. Automatic vending has high operating costs because of the need to replenish inventories frequently. The machines also require maintenance and repairs.

Future Expectations: The outlook for automatic vending is uncertain. The difficulties mentioned above may hinder future growth. Further, occasional vending-related scams may scare some entrepreneurs away from this business.

Vending innovations give reason for some optimism. Debit cards that can be used at vending machines are becoming more common. When this card is inserted into the machine, the purchase amount is deducted from the credit balance. Technological advances also allow operators to monitor vending machines from a distance, thereby reducing the number of out-of-stock or out-of-order machines.

Direct Marketing:

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There are no consumers on the exact nature of direct marketing. In effect, it comprises all types of non-store retailing other than direct selling, telemarketing, automatic vending and online retailing. In the context of retailing, it has been defined as direct marketing as using print or broadcast advertising to contact consumers who in turn, buy products without visiting a retail store.

Direct marketers contact consumers through one or more of the following media: radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, catalogs and mailing (direct mail). Consumer orders by telephone or mail. Direct marketers can be classified as either general - merchandise firms, which offer a variety of product lines, or specialty firms which carry - only one or two lines such as books or fresh fruit. Under the broad definition, the many forms of direct marketing include: Direct mail - in which firms mail letters, brochures and even product samples to consumers, and ask them to purchase by mail or telephone. Catalog retailing - in which companies mail catalogs to consumers or make them available at retail stores. Televised shopping - in which various categories of products are promoted on dedicated TV channels and through infomercials, which are TV commercials that run for 30 minutes or even longer on an entertainment channel.

Advantages of Direct Marketing:

Direct marketing provides shopping convenience. In addition, direct marketers enjoy comparatively low operating expenses because they do not have the overhead of physical stores.

Disadvantages of Direct Marketing: Consumers must place orders without seeing or touching the actual merchandise. To off-set this, direct marketers must offer liberal return policies. Furthermore, catalogs and to some extent, direct mail pieces are costly and must be prepared long before they are issued. Price changes and new products can be announced only through supplementary catalogs or brochures. Direct marketing's future is difficult to forecast, given the rise of the Internet.

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The issue is whether or not firms relying on direct marketing can achieve and sustain a differential advantage in a growing competition with online enterprises.

E-Retailing:
Internet Retailing or e-retailing as is usually referred to as covers retailing using a variety of different technologies or media. It may be broadly be a combination of two elements. Combining new technologies with elements of traditional stores and direct mail models using new technologies to replace elements of stores or direct mail retails. Internet retail also has some elements in common with direct mail retailing. For example, e-mail messages can replace mail messages and the telephone, that are used in the direct mail model as means of providing information, communication and transactions while on-line catalogues can replace printed catalogues.

As with direct mail businesses, critical success factors include: (1) Use of customer databases (2) Easy ordering (3) Quick Delivery

Operational elements that the Internet retail model shares with both the retail store and direct mail models include: (1) Billing of customers (2) Relationships with supplier

There are, therefore, many elements that Internet retail and more traditional retail models have in common. Indeed many of the most successful Internet retailers have been those that have been able to successfully transfer critical elements from traditional retailing to the Internet, such as customer service and product displays.

SEGREGATION OF NON-STORE RETAILING SECTOR

If one were to segregate the non-store retailing sector, most transactions would fall into the
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following categories.

Business to Users:

1. Where businesses and organizations directly offer their products and services to the users over the net. Airlines, movie theatres, publishing houses and travel agencies are predominantly present in this category. A lot of SMEs have also started offering these services to their customer base. (eg.www.makemytrip.com)

2. Certain organizations use this mode to gain access to talent and freelancers over the internet and carry out projects for a global clientele. (eg. www.chillibreeze.com)

3. In India banks have now almost entirely migrated to accessing through e-commerce. There is now a fee charged to customers for transactions carried out through the branches or for the physical documents provided.

User to User:

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1. Web 2.0 has given rise to unique opportunities to this type of transactions. Bazee.com (which was later taken over by e-bay) kicked off this trend in India. A number of other community and forum sites have also sprung up catering to this category.

2. Currently newer opportunities to use web 2.0 in terms of interaction of agencies (e.g. insurance agencies) are being explored.

Online Resource transfer:

This transaction majorly deals with transfer of resources (in most cases money) over the net. Many businesses use this mode of e-commerce to eliminate physical documentation and reduce transaction time. (Eg. PayPal, banks, western Union)

Trade portals:

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Similar to User to user format trade portals are meeting point for trade agencies to interact and promote or search for specific products for import-export purposes. (Alibaba com is among the more popular sites in this category)

Ad-space sales:

1. Sale o f a d -space i s an attractive way for earning money. Although an outright purchase would be similar to buying of media space there are popular formats which make use of pay- per-click to ensure the right value of the ad-space. (Google Ad- sense has gained an expertise over this format). There are individuals who make a career out of this format. 2. Another variation of this format is the presence of invisiads wherein games are designed by portals for companies as a part of their branding strategy. Users join in to play a game but end up leaving with information being propagated about that particular brand.

Content Access:

Although still in the nascent stage in India, content access is a major shareholder in the ecommerce traffic in India. Many sites provide limited access to free users and retain the full usability of their sites for premium paying customers. Market research agencies and publishing houses are major users of this format. With the arrival of internet TV and pay-per-view access in India, this category is expected to grow.

LIST OF TOP 26 E-TAILING PLAYERS IN INDIA AS ON APRIL, 18 2012

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Position
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
Source: http://indiaranker.com/websites/ecommerce

Online Shopping Websites

Infibeam.com Indiaplaza.in Tradus.in Flipkart.com Myntra.com FutureBazaar.com Bookmyshow.com Indiatimes Rediff Shopping Homeshop18.com 20north.com Yebhi.com SnapDeal.com Dealsandyou.com Dell.co.in Fernsnpetals.com IndianGiftsPortal.com Talash.com Zoomin.com Snapfish.in Picsquare.com Mithaimate.com Yatra.com IRCTC.co.in Makemytrip.com Expedia.co.in

1. Snap deal: Snap Deal operates much the same way that Groupon does, but there are differences. The most notable of these is that there is no ground floor number of deals which
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must be sold before it will go live. Businesses simply offer up the coupons or discounts and let the buying begin. Beyond that, though, SnapDeal has a category difference that Groupon has yet to do SnapDeal will sell physical merchandise. With discounts as deep as 90-percent in some cases, SnapDeal has found a niche with the typically touch and feel culture of Indian consumers. Grabbing Grabbon: Snap deal acquired Bangalore-based group buying startup Grabbon in the second half of 2010 and its interesting to note how it all happened. With Snapdeals revenues currently heading north of Rs.100crores.

2. Flipkart: Flipkart is an Indian e-commerce company headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka. Flipkart was established in 2007 by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, both alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. They worked for Amazon.com before quitting and founding their own company. Initially they used word of mouth marketing to popularize their company. With another category, Flipkart is slowly but surely establishing itself as THE ECommerce site in India or as people say "Amazon of India". I wish other e -commerce ventures take a cue from their success and strive for a better customer experience.

However, as Flipkart expands it will face significant challenges in maintaining the service standards it has set for itself. The overall e- commerce ecosystem is also turning better with the likes of Infibeam etc. doing rather well. The journey to reach the zenith of Indian E-commerce will no doubt be tough for Flipkart but the way they are expanding, they look the most likely to win the e-commerce battle in India.

3. Amazon.com: The company began as an online bookstore. While the largest brick-and- mortar bookstores and mail-order catalogs might offer 200,000 titles, an online bookstore could sell far more. Bezos wanted a name for his company that began with "A" so that it would appear early in alphabetic order. He began looking through the dictionary and settled on "Amazon" because

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it was a place that was "exotic and different" and it was the river he considered the biggest in the world, as he hoped his company would be.

Product Lines: Books Videotapes Consumer Electronics Apparels Sporting Goods Beauty Products Amazon Fresh Amazon Web Services

4. Bookmyshow.com: Today, BookMyShow is India's premiere online ticketing site, having sold movie tickets worth Rs 6.21 crore (Rs 62.1 million) for Avatar and Rs 9 crore (Rs 90 million) for 3 idiots early this year.

Book My Show is one of India's top five websites in terms of transactions, with sales of over 750,000 tickets and customer spends of over Rs 100 million, on an average, every month Realizing that technology will be critical if BookMyShow is to keep ahead of the competition from recent launches such as KyaZoonga; Hemrajani says he has a few tricks up his sleeve.

For one, BookMyShow has launched a Facebook application called 'Ticket Buddy' that allows customers on Facebook to block a maximum of 10 seats of forthcoming movies without having to pay for all; they can even invite friends to join them on the show.

The application was developed because Hemrajani believes that films are a social viewing exercise in India. "The best part is that the Facebook friends can choose to pay for their own tickets and invite others in the group to join and pay accordingly," he says.

5. Naaptol.com:
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Manu Agarwal got into the business of e-commerce in 2008. He launched Naaptol, which is essentially a price comparison engine. But, a lot has changed since then. Today, Naaptol is virtually an online market place with the company facilitating transactions worth Rs 1.5 crore every single day. Selling is not done directly by Naaptol, but it initiates. With the sudden upsurge of brands and stores, both online and offline that claim to sell the best of the products at the most reasonable price which opens the shoppers eyes wide. This portal helps the users save two most important things in one go money and time. Naaptol covers wide range of Gadgets, Automobiles, Home appliances, Jewels, Gifts, Health & beauty products, Apparels, Sports apparels & equipments and Books. It doesnt stop there. Naaptol also helps the users by directing them to the websites where they can buy air tickets and reserve hotel rooms. Users can login and view their history on Naaptol which shows the products reviewed by naaptol users, products browsed by them and searches performed.

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GROWTH OF NON-STORE RETAILING

(Since last 7 years)
Non-store retailing grew at a much faster rate than store-based retailing during the review period. While direct seller Amway embarked on an aggressive brand campaign in 2008, it was Internet retailing which drove growth, riding on increasing Internet penetration, the reduced cost of Internet access, and greater familiarity with on-line purchasing.

With some market observers predicting that by the year 2000 non-store retailing will handle 30 percent of all general merchandise sold, non-store channels may become a powerful force in the retailing industry.

This graph represents that the importance and the share of the retail online sales is increasing at an increasing rate. It also signifies that with the time constraint coming in the life-style of many buyers the non-store based retailing and e-tailing will be the core of the retailing business around the world in near future.

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LITERATURE REVIEW
Petrovic Dejan (2006) in his study on Analysis of consumer behavior online explained that the most relevant behavioral characteristics of online consumers and examine the ways they find, compare and evaluate product information. Comparison of the newly collected survey data with the existing consumer behavior theory resulted in detection of a number of issues related to a specific consumer group. The purpose of this report is to translate these findings into a set of implementation activities on strategic and technological level. Executionof these recommendations will result in better conversion of visitors intocustomers and encourage customer loyalty and referrals. The focus group of this study will be young adults aged between eighteen and thirty-four interested in buying a mobile phone or a related product.

Shun &Yunjie (2006) in their study showed that there are product types, which are more likely to be sold online such as software, books, electronics and music. Reason for this is that when purchasing these types of products, one does not require personal inspection and most, if not all features, can be outlined in the product description and images. Most products in the mobile phone family belong to this category. According to the recent research on consumer behavior on the Internet users (Cotte, Chowdhury, Ratenshwar& Ricci, 2006), there are four distinct consumer groups with different intentions and motivations: Exploration Entertainment Shopping Information

Music Videos, Lyrics -Daily updated collection of music videos and lyrics. Majority of young adults interviewed for purpose of this research tend to be active information seekers. A high level of technological confidence within this group tends to be an encouraging factor when it comes to product information research online. The following analysis presents both, focus group results and behavioral theory in a parallel fashion divided into two main research topics: Information Retrieval and Search Patterns Perception of Product Information Online These two areas is mutually dependent and particularly important in a market where consumers have the power to choose the right product from a number of competing suppliers. Well-structured product information that cannot
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be found easily online is as much of a problem as is having easily accessible information that does not meet the consumers expectations. Ogenyi Ejye Omar, Alan Hirst (2006) in their study they evaluates womens attitude as an overall inclination towards apparel shopping online via e-mail questionnaire. Its findings suggest that women generally show positive attitudes towards shopping online for apparel. Women who shop for apparel online are aware of some of the discouraging features of online shopping, but these features do not deter them from buying online. The implication for online retailers is that they should focus on making the experience of online shopping more accommodating and more users -friendly. This is important because the positive features of online shopping ('convenience', 'usefulness', 'ease of use', and' efficiency') appear to be more important than the negative features ('lack of security', 'privacy of information' and 'online fraud'). Anders Hasslinger; Selma Hodzic; Claudio Opazo (2008-02-01)In their study they showed that developed into a new distribution channel and online transactions are rapidly increasing. This has created a need to understand how the consumer perceives online purchases. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine if there are any particular factors that influence the online consumer. Primary data was collected through a survey that was conducted on students at the University of Kristiansand. Price, Trust and Convenience were identified as important factors. Price was considered to be the most important factor for a majority of the students. Furthermore, three segments were identified, High Spenders, Price Easers and Bargain Seekers. Through these segments we found a variation of the different factors importance and established implications for online book stores.

Harris Interactive (2009) in their study of online customer experience. The survey found that online customer experience reached an inflection point in 2009. The percent of consumers who have experienced problems when conducting transactions online showed its first substantial decrease in five years -- from approximately 87% in all previous Tealeaf surveys to 80% in 2009. While the percent of consumers experiencing online transaction problems, at 80%, remains high (the potential online shopping dollars impacted by transaction problems rings up at $47.6 billion), this improvement points to a growing business focus on delivering better customer experiences. The survey sheds light on forces driving this accelerated online customer experience focus, including the down economy and increased consumer power due to experience-sharing via social media. It also examines consumer behavior when transacting online, call center behavior related to online issues

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and mobile commerce. Verticals represented in the findings include retail, insurance, travel and financial services.

Tomomi Hanai, Takashi Oguchi (2009) in their study to investigate what kind of information contributes to trust formation in online shopping. Twenty-seven female undergraduate students were recruited and asked to evaluate the trustworthiness of 20 online shopping websites. All the online shopping websites dealt with branded products where there is greater emphasis on the trustworthiness of online shops or products. The results show that information described on the websites was classified into two categories, firstly, information about the shop and its procedures and services. Secondly, the concrete information necessary for the consumption process, such as payment information and return information, which heightens the reliability of these shops. The term brand originally refers to a description or trademark which indicates a t ype of product made by a particular company. However, in modern Japanese society it refers to those branded products that are perceived to have a higher quality than other similar products. Thus, the term brand authenticates that its products belong to a high-class, and the people who possess these branded products are regarded as exclusive people through the basking-in-reflected glory process (Cialdini, Borden, Thorne, Walker, Freeman, & Sloan, 1976). The branded products interest female young people and recently they have been more inclined to purchase them via online shopping. However, they tend to refrain from purchasing these products via online shopping due to their distrust of it. Consequently, it becomes more and more important to analyze what kind of information contributes to trust formation in online shopping. Female Undergraduate Students Attitudes toward Branded Products First, we introduce several surveys for determining the attitude towards, and ownership of, branded products among female young people, especially female undergraduate students in Japan, who are the target group of this study. Info plant (2007) showed that nearly half of all people are interested in some branded products. Although branded products generally attract the attention of various kinds of people, young females are especially interested in branded products. Info plant (2007) revealed that more than 60% of female sunder 20 years of age and nearly 80% of females in their twenties has purchased some branded products. Furthermore, the percentage of people who usually buy new branded products is about 20% among females under 20 years of age and more than 10% in females in their twenties

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San Francisco, CA 6th October 2009 - the leader in online Customer Experience Management software (CEM), today announced the results of the 5th annual survey of online consumer behavior, commissioned by Tealeaf and conducted by Harris Interactive [results available

atwww.tealeaf.com/Harris]. The survey found that 48% of U.S. online adults say that they are now conducting more online transactions than they did in the past given the current economic climate. However, 80% of adults who have conducted an online transaction in the past year experience problems when doing so in2009. Previous Tealeaf surveys have consistently shown that approximately 87% were affected. This improvement over prior years may be attributed to a growing business focus on delivering better online customer experiences. While this reported decline in online transaction issues is good news, online customer experience is still very much a work in progress. The percentage of consumers affected by issues such as error messages (38%), endless loops (19%) and login problems (28%) is still extremely high. Further, the resulting business impact is significant, as 32% of those who experience issues when conducting transactions online.

Bikramjit Rishi (2010) in their study on online shopping is an innovative option of distribution available in the hands of marketers. It is innovative and creative because marketers can experiment with it in form, content, visibility and availability. In India online shopping is considered as a relevant alternative channel for retailing and it is no wan important part of the retail experience. This research study is an empirical study to find out the motivators and decisional influencers of online shopping. The sample has been selected from the youth population as this group of people actually use internet to buy online. The study highlights that reliability; accessibility and convenience are the major motivator factors which motivate the Indian consumer to buy online. Similarly, reluctance and preference are the two decisional factors which influence the decision.

Kamali and Loker (2002) in their study Internet retail sales represent a new and increasingly vital commercial milieu. E-commerce or electronic commerce saw sales revenues grow 12.1 percent in 2001 to $31.4 billion a figure expected to reach $81.1 billion by 2006 (Kamali & Loker, 2002). While it is clear that many more consumers are electing to shop online than in the past a shift in behavior that may be due to the sense that online shopping is safer and more secure than it was initially and to the adoption of alternative shopping avenues. This essay will examine these issues, arguing that browsers become buyers in cyberspace as perception of safety, product quality, and retailer reliability increase an idea also advanced by Li, Luo, Lepkowaska-White and Russell.(1)

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RESEARCH OBJECTIVE & METHODOLOGY

Objectives of the study:

The main objective of this research is to know about consumer awareness for non-store retailing.

To check the awareness level of consumer for online shopping. To know which kind of product consumer like to shop through online. Which website they prefer the most to shop.

Sampling methods used:

PROBABILITY APPROACH: - Since every unit in the sampling frame has an equal chance of being included in the sample probability approach is used.

PROCESS: - A rigorous random selection process is undertaken to rule out the bias occurring on account of sampling. The sampling frame is serialized and then subject to a random number table selection of the sampling units is made.

Tools for data collection and analysis

Questionnaire method is used to collect the primary data. Simple random sampling is used to collect primary data. Each unit in the population has an equal chance of being included in the sample.

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Design of the study:

a. Secondary data collection b. Analysis of secondary data c. Find the gaps in information in the secondary data d. Data collection through questionnaire method e. Analysis of primary data f.

Prepare the final report

Limitation of the study:

The limitation of the study is that it is intact or we can say it is bounded up to a fix area. One can go beyond cities or towns but everywhere results and its availability will differ. Consumer has different perception about online shopping. So difficult to interpret that.

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ANALYSIS AND INTERPRITATION

Sample size is 100.

1. Age:-

AGE
20-30
36

31-40
33

41-50
21

ABOVE 50 10

AGE
20-30 31-40 41-50 ABOVE 50

10% 21%

36%

33%

The above chart shows age of the customers. Out of 100%, 33% customers are between 31 - 40 year. So the online buyer is youngsters and business class people.

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2. Qualification :-

QUALIFICATION
UNDER POST GRADUATE GRADUATE GRADUATE OTHERS 14 36 38 12

QULIFICATION
UNDER GRADUATE GRADUATE POST GRADUATE OTHERS

12%

14%

38%

36%

This chart describes the qualification of customers. It is a good thing to know that 38% of post graduates shop online.

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3. Income :-

INCOME
BELOVE 15000 15001-25000 25001-35000 35001-45000 ABOVE 45000

INCOME
BELOVE 15000 15001-25000 25001-35000 35001-45000 ABOVE 45000

11% 24%

9% 22%

34%

This chart is about the income of customers. There are 34% of 100 customers who shop online and their income is between 2500135000. 22% of 100 customers are having more than 45000.

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4. Do you use Internet?

DO YOU USE INTERNET?

YES 87 NO 13

YES 13%

NO

87%

The above chart shows the % of internet users 87%, out of 100% consumers are using internet.

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5. For which purpose do you use internet?

FOR WHICH PURPOSE DO YOU USE INTERNET?

SURFING TRADING SHOPPING 35 22 30 SOCIAL NETWORKING 28 OTHER 10

SURFING

TRADING

SHOPPING

SOCIAL NETWORKING

OTHER

8% 22%

28%

18% 24%

Most of the consumer are using internet for surfing. Out of 100 consumer 24% are using internet for shopping. The rest of 22% are for social networking, 18% are for trading.
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6. Are you aware about online shopping?

ARE YOU AWARE ABOUT ONLINE SHOPPING?

YES
88

NO
12

YES 12%

NO

88%

The chart shows about the awareness of online shopping. Its good thing to know that 88%, out of 100 consumers are aware about online shopping.

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7. If yes, than have you ever purchased online?

IF YES, THAN HAVE YOU EVER PURCHASED ONLINE? YES NO 73 27

YES

NO

27%

73%

The above chart shows the actual purchase of consumer through online. 73% consumer who actually shop online in Rajkot.

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8. If yes, than what is the most appropriate reason for purchase

online?( tick any one)

IF YES, THAN WHAT IS THE MOST APPROPRIATE REASON FOR PURCHASE ONLINE?
24/7 AVAILABILITY 21 TIME SAVING 22 VARIETIES OF GOODS 31 CUSTOMISED PRODUCTS 20 OTHE R 6

24/7 AVAILABILITY

TIME SAVING

VARIETIES OF GOODS

CUSTOMISED PRODUCTS

OTHER

6% 20%

21%

22% 31%

The above chart described that out of 100 consumer 31% are buy online for varieties of goods. 22% are buy online because they believe it is time saving. And the rest of 21% & 20% consumers reason for shop online are 24/7 availability and customized products.

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9. Which things do you generally buy online?

WHICH THINGS DO YOU GENERALLY BUY ONLINE?

CLOTHES 16 CONSUMER DURABLES 35 GIFTS 21 BOOKS 28 OTHER 12

CLOTHES

CONSUMER DURABLES

GIFTS

BOOKS

OTHER

11% 25%

14%

31% 19%

The above chart shows the 31% consumer shop consumer durables through online. The other 25% are buy books, 19% are buy gift and 14% are buy clothes.

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10.Through which website do you shop/ buy product?

THROUGH WHICH WEBSITE DO YOU SHOP?

FLIPKART AMAZON REDIFF INDIATIMES EBAY OTHER 15 20 19 18 23 5

FLIPKART

AMAZON

REDIFF

INDIATIMES

EBAY

OTHER

5% 23%

15%

20%

18% 19%

The chart shows that more than 20% Consumer shop through Ebay. 20% consumers are shop through Amazon. 19% are through Rediff and 18% are through Indiatimes.

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11.Rank the most preferred website for online shopping?

RANK THE MOST PREFERRED WEBSITE FOR ONLINE SHOPPING?

FLIPKART 16 AMAZON 22 REDIFF 14 INDIATIMES 15 EBAY OTHER 27 5

FLIPKART

AMAZON

REDIFF

INDIATIMES

EBAY

OTHER

5%

16%

28%
22%

15% 14%

Out of 100, 28% consumers prefered Ebay to shop. Than 22% are prefered Amazon. So the most preferable webside of consumer is Ebay and Amazon.

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12.Do you agree that online purchasing is better than purchasing at

physical store? (Tick mark)

DO YOU AGREE THAT ONLINE PURCHASING IS BETTER THAN PURCHASING AT PHYSICAL STORE?
STRONGLY AGREED 37 AGREED 30 NUTURAL DISAGREED 22 8 STRONGLY DISAGREED 3

STRONGLY AGREED

AGREED

NUTURAL

DISAGREED

STRONGLY DISAGREED

8% 22%

3% 37%

30%

The above chart shows the online shopping is far better than shopping at physical store. 37% out of 100% consumer are strongly agreed to shop online is better than compare to physical store. And 30% are agreed to accept that.

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FINDINGS & CONCLUSION

From the research that is done based on the questionnaires it is indicating that out of 100 consumers 88 are aware about online shopping. And 73 consumers are purchasing online. Ebay and Amazon are the most preferable website of consumer. Most of the consumers are agreed on online line shopping is better than shopping at physical store. Five major forms of non-store retailing such as direct selling, telemarketing, automatic vending, on line retailing and direct marketing are discussed in detail. Each type has advantages as well as drawbacks. As per the research on consumer awareness about non-store retailing I conclude that Rajkot people have more interest in shopping at physical store but there are so many people who would like to purchase online. The importance and the share of the retail online sales are increasing at an increasing rate. It also signifies that with the time constraint coming in the life-style of many buyers the nonstore based retailing and e-tailing will be the core of the retailing business around the world in near future and in India as well. Offline experiences, such as a day at a fancy hotel, don't have to be sent through the mail. Thus, the most common types of offers on most group buying sites are deals on retail services, the most popular being restaurants, spas and salons.

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SUGGESTIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS

The following parameters may be taken care of, for the success of e-retailing a. Loyalty b. Customer acquisition c. retentions
d. per-transaction value

The sites must be made more users friendly. There must be an e-relationship software that synchronize all of the customer contact channels and prioritize means of conduct namely phone, Fax, Pager, or e-mail according to individual customer preferences.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/365730/marketing/27254/Retailershttp://www.google.c om/ http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/2148725/india_eretail_etailing_market_companies http://www.scribd.com/doc/19615001/Non-Store-Retailing http://www.toponlineshopping.com/ http://www.grokdotcom.com/2008/05/22/top-10-online-retailers-by-conversion-rate-april-2008/ www.knowthis.com/.../retailing/retail-categories-distribution-method/ http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reportinfo.asp?report_id=64364 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-storeretailing

(1) http://www.scribd.com/doc/51201120/A-study-on-consumer-behavioural-attitude-towardsonline-shopping

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Annexure

Note:
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This Questionnaire Is For Academic Purpose Use Only And The Information Provided By The Respondent Will Be Secured Not Be Revealed Out.
1. Age:20-30 31-40 41-50 Above 50

2. Qualification:Under graduate Graduate Post Graduate Other, Please specify___________

3. Income :Belove 15000(p.m.) 15001-25000(p.m.) 25001-35000(p.m.) 35001-45000(p.m.) Above 45000(p.m.)

4. Do you use Internet?

Yes No

5. For which purpose do you use internet?

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Surfing Trading Shopping Social networking Other, Please specify________________

6. Are you aware about online shopping?

Yes No

7. If yes, than have you ever purchased online?

Yes No

8. If yes, than what is the most appropriate reason for purchase online? (Tick any one)
24/7 availability Time saving Varieties of goods Customized product Other, Please specify___________________________________

9. Which things do you generally buy online?

Clothes Consumer durable like mobile, laptop, household appliances Gifts Books Other, Please specify___________________________________

10.Through which website do you shop/ buy product?

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Flipkart Amazon Rediff Indiatimes Ebay Other Please specify___________________________________

11.Rank the most preferred website for online shopping?

Flipkart Amazon Rediff Indiatimes Ebay

12.Do you agree that online purchasing is better than purchasing at physical store? (Tick mark)
Agreed Disagreed

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