Impact of the E-Commerce on Consumer Behaviour

Research Proposal On:

Investigating an impact of the e-commerce on consumer’s shopping experience/consumer behaviour: A case analysis of Amazon 

Introduction

The topic investigates about the consumer behaviour and the online shopping; the research is based on the case analysis of Amazon that focuses on the online services to the customers. In the e-commerce industry there is the adoption of technology because customers are focus on the improving standards of living, in various countries there is the increasing in young population, the population is getting interested in online websites as there is the increasing access or the use the Internet based on the reasons that customers are buying the products (Prashar, Vijay, & Parsad, 2017). E-commerce is increasing in the customer behaviour because everyone across countries has the personal Smartphones and tablets. The increase in the global e-commerce is providing the website satisfaction to the customer. People are focused on various websites on the Social media so that there could be the focus on the new opportunities to consumer (Oliveira & Martins, 2010).

E-commerce is providing the various benefits to the consumers, as they can get the products and services of their own choices through the social interaction on the internet. The companies are focused on to increase the satisfaction, in order to provide them with the increased level of satisfactions, thus, technology acceptance model by the companies are impacting in the mind of the consumer. The companies like Amazon are using the web technology for the social interactions so that customers through the use of the Internet can continue to increase the sales. The customers, in the countries ‘go online’ for the e-commerce. In order to focus on the e-commerce impact on the consumer’s shopping experience, the study did the analysis of the business model of Amazon, as Amazon through the distribution of products is focused on the purchase intentions of the consumer. Amazon through the Internet is providing the low-cost services to the consumers, which is analyzed as successful or booming drivers of the online- based businesses (Hajli, 2014).

Amazon is focused on the providing the good quality of service to the customers and it is known that customers are getting better online or e-commerce experiences through the online distribution channels. E-commerce is influencing on the mind of the consumers and there is the increase in the online sales because Amazon and online services companies have understood the goal-orientated behaviours for the consumers. Amazon is providing the customers with the great online products and services, the company has the efficient book supply chain. There are the good service quality and effective interactions between the customers and the companies like Amazon. Amazon has the satisfied customers across the globe and there is the positive impact of the e-commerce services by Amazon on the consumer’s shopping experience because it is has increased the company profitability and there are numerous positive impacts on the company’s sales. It is identified that there are also psychological perspectives that are increasing the sales of the online purchases, example customers are satisfied and trust the online companies because e-commerce has changed the meaning of e-commerce and the retail environment as the prime example of this business are Amazon. Amazon has the partners on an internet and the company is directly benefiting the businesses process through the online services (Klaus, 2013).

Aims and objectives

The aims and objectives of this study are given as follows:

• To investigate the impact of the e-commerce on the customers purchasing behaviour
• To investigate that what are the factors of online buying and how customers shopping behaviour is satisfied under the e-commerce.
• The study also investigates and identifies the preferences of consumers for the online shopping that how Amazon business model maintains the customer loyalty.

Existing Research Gap

To classify the impact of the e-commerce on the buying behaviour of the consumers, it is found out that there is the vast gap in the existing literature because online purchase intentions of the consumers are not focused through the Amazon. However, there is need to find the gap between the consumers emotional effect and the online shopping buying behaviour that how shopping motivations are focused by Amazon in order to satisfy the complex buying behaviour of the consumer across the world.

Literature Review

E-commerce refers to any kind of business or transaction that includes the transmission of information crossways the Internet. It is a model that allows organizations to conduct business through electronic transactions. Organizations have established their market presence due to e-commerce. Their existing market position has enhanced because companies are capable of offering good services at reasonable prices. E-commerce has introduced more efficient supply chain for products and services. Many people participate in e-commerce every day when they buy anything online. Over the past few years, electronic commerce has increased and it has expanded business. Now organizations do perform more operations on the internet and they are emphasizing electronic sales. However, many countries lag behind in e-commerce facilities than the developed countries (Oliveira & Martins, Literature Review of Information Technology Adoption Models at Firm Level, 2011).

There are multiple benefits that are associated with e-commerce such as ease in selection, and convenience. Companies are dealing 24/7 due to online services so consumers can buy anything, anytime, anywhere. Selection of products has also become easier such as customers can choose any product from a wide variety. Now customers can buy anything at home and they don’t need to visit the market. It allows consumers to exchange services and goods electronically with no barrier of distance or time. According to (Franco & S, 2016), e-commerce industry is growing in a remarkable way due to the use of sophisticated electronic devices. E-commerce has given many options to customers so they can buy goods online and save their plenty of time. There are numerous reviews about products and services so customers can easily compare and choose a product that seems best.

In addition, businesses are growing faster than ever before due to online sales. Transactions process has become easier so customers can buy anything without any worry. The competition among businesses has increased and they are trying to attract more customers through electronic commerce. Consumers can easily reach to coupons, deals, discounts and they can save their money. Finding a quality product with multiple alternatives has become easier,(Franco & S, 2016). There are many advantages of e-commerce for business as well such as an increase in customer base, business reach has expanded, sales are increasing, and payments become easier (Zhu, Yang, Ou, Liu, & Davison, 2015).

Moreover, privacy and security is a major issue and there are chances that customers’ confidential information may leak. Some products may include a hidden cost so customers should be aware of product’s actual cost, shipping cost, and other possible taxes otherwise the cost of the product will exceed than the same product that is available in physical store (Lee, Shi, Cheung, Lim, & Sia, 2011). When consumers make a purchase there are chances that websites will steal confidential information of customers. E-commerce can contain many rules and regulations regarding return policy which can cause customers to trouble if they ignore those rules at the time of purchase. Businesses can also face different issues due to e-commerce such as security issues, credit issues, e-commerce infrastructure expenses, sufficient internet services, and problems in the supply chain. (M, N, & Chahar, 2013).

Impact of the E-commerce on Consumer Behaviour

E-commerce is affecting consumer shopping behaviour in different ways. According to the study, e-commerce has a significant impact on consumer behaviour. Shopping opportunities have increased and customers have more convenient options. The trend of online sales has increased and many people prefer to buy goods and services online due to the lack of time. Professionals or working people don’t have time to visit market so they acquire their desired services at their doorstep or offices. They admire online purchase due to its numerous benefits. (Mittal, 2013).

Organizations have adopted many strategies so that they can facilitate consumers. Businesses are making more sales and profits because people like to place orders online. The result of the study shows that consumers’ perceived risk and consumer trust have a strong impact on their purchasing decisions. Privacy concern and consumer trust are major factors that have the influence of internet shopping. Purchasing decisions of consumers can change due to these factors. Some customers still not buy goods online because they are not satisfied with the quality of products or they don’t feel safe while performing online transactions (Lip-Sam & Hock-Eam, 2011).

Furthermore, many internal and external factors that influence consumer behaviour. External conditions (culture, demographics, socio-economics, marketing, and technology) cause external factors while consumers’ mind is the origin of the internal factors (learning, attitudes, perception, self-image, motivation, and semiotics). All of these factors can influence consumer’s shopping behaviour. The behaviour of consumers can be influenced by seller’s ads. Companies attract customers by advertisements and increase their sales. There are some similarities and differences between internet shopping and traditional shopping. For instance, traditional shopping gives live experience with the comfortable environment while internet shopping givesconvenience.

Consumers purchase products on the basis of their trust level so companies need to maintain trust among their target audience. Many companies fail to build trust and good relationship with their customers online so they lose their potential customer and their trustworthiness. (P & E, 2013).

A study that is conducted to check the motivational factors that are extrinsic and intrinsic for the consumer to buy and sell online reflect that the online shopping is an activity that is goal oriented for the customers. The intrinsic elements like entertainment are one of the major reason for which internet is used. The study also explains that this type of intrinsic motivation may be a source of the acceptance of the consumer for the online shopping. The other motivational factor that is also intrinsic is the variety on one click and the way of negotiation with the supplier. These methods also encourage a consumer to shop online. The result of this explains that the value that is perceived is not a precursor of the shopping that is online. While on the other hand, the hand the experience of cognitive amalgamation on the website has much importance as compared to the factors that are extrinsic in the behaviour of consumer on online shopping. The entertainment and satisfaction is a source of motivation for online consumption (Lima, Osmanb, Salahuddinc, Romled, & Abdullah, 2016).

The study on the acceptance of e-shopping by consumers reflects that this activity is made for enjoyment and to show the trust on the technology so they try to do e-shopping for their satisfaction. This study show four dimensions for the e-shopping of apparel that are consumer service, a design of website, security and experimental. This type of shopping determines the quality, the point of view of usefulness, enjoyment as well as trust. The thought of consumers about e-shopping and its usefulness with the response of consumer toward e-shopping have much influence to create intensions towards e-shopping, on the other hand, it is a fact that the ease of use has not impact on this type of shopping. The major role that becomes the reason of the adoption of online shopping is trust and enjoyment. The study also tells about e-tailers that they should keep the fact in mind while designing the web site that together with enjoyment and trusts the consumers also want to fulfill their needs of experiments and good service (Chang & Graham, 2012).

However, there is also some limitations that are applied in the finding of the study like the limited numbers of the respondent of a particular area and the easy process of sampling with not enough sample size. Despite these types of limitations, there is a level of correlation among the variable of interests (Keisidou, Sarigiannidis, & Maditinos, 2011).

Another study on the trust of consumers on e-commerce revealed the background and penalty of consumers on this regards. But the study is limited to the area of United States, China, and Singapore. The study highlights the positive relationship between the repute of the internet service provider and the height of the trust of the consumer. The trust of the consumes are positively related with the attitude of the consumers and negatively associated with the risks that may include (Worasesthaphong, 2015). It is also revealed in this study that if the background and the previous buying and selling experience of a buyer and seller is good with each other than in future both will prefer to make such type of transaction in future as their level of trust on each other as well as on the good or service is developed now (Armağan & Çetin, 2013).

This study is a contribution to the literature about trust in different ways.  Like in this study the trust on the vendor of e-commerce and consumers include in a single study so that their relationship can be found. The study also reveals that the attributes of trustees and trustors are the major factors that can determine the level of trust across several countries. The results of this study also confirm the effect of the attribute that is dyadic of trustees as well as trustors on the basic of trust. Some researchers also give much importance to the system of a transaction in the process of creating the trust that is not much common before it (Noor, 2012).

A study is conducted to check the loyalty of the customers in e-commerce. The study reflects the past history as well as the cost of the consumers as well as the cost of the loyalty of the consumers in the B2B business that is called online business to consumers. The study discover almost eight factors that are care, customization, community, cultivation, character, choice, contact, interactivity of contact that have the strong impact on the loyalty of the consumers at e-commerce and help in making the scale to measure it (Kumar, Batista, & Maull, 2011). The results from the collected data show that all the factors that are discussed above except convince have the influence over loyalty. The study also discuss that the loyalty related to e-commerce has an impact on the outcomes that is related to the customers that are the promotion of the words of mouth and the willingness of the customers to pay more for any good or services that they are going to consume (Ling, Chai, & Piew, 2010). Loyalty is the thing that is required in any kind of the business either it is based on physical market or online. But in the case of e-commerce the need of this factor increase, because both producers and consumers are unaware of each other and for making any kind of transaction the trust is a major factor because both the parties are not in front of each others. In this kind of market the good repute of sellers can lay an important role (Lu, Zhao, & Wang, 2010).

Research Methodology

Research Design

The research design of the present study is known as explanatory because there is the focus to find the relationships between the variables example, the impact of the ecommerce and the consumer behaviour (Kumar R. , 2010). Thus, the practices of the Amazon id also considered, in order to know the satisfaction model that maintains the customer loyalty. For the explanatory research design there is focus on the quantitative methods of research.

Population

The population of the present research study is consist of the people who are online on the different social media websites for the purchases of the products and services, there is the online survey, the information regarding the Amazon services can be collect.

Sample Selection

The sample size that selected for this research is decided to be 100 online customers, as this number of consumers is appropriate and can be easily handled because in this way, we can gather the objectives of present research.

Sampling Technique

We can use the simple random sampling technique for this research because there is focus on the probability sampling technique, there is the authenticity of the research results because the consumer online purchase behaviour through investigating ecommerce can be known, the investigation can be done from the customer that uses the Amazon websites.

Instrument Development

For the instrument development of this research, we have focused on the questionnaire instrument. However, questionnaire instrument is considered important and the research uses the adoptive questionnaire in order to check the reliability and validity, questionnaire is considered important to investigate the variables relationship.

Data collection procedures

For the data collection procedure, there will be the focus on administering the data personally so that the data could be collected through the ethical ways, the respondents will be informed about the purpose of the data collection and it is their choice that they are willing to fill the data or not. However, they will be informed that questionnaires are not for the commercial purposes.

Data analysis technique

In the data analysis technique, there will be the interpretation of collected data and for that we focus on the descriptive data analysis and the inferential data analysis of the data. However, in the descriptive data analysis, there will be the analysis through the frequencies, percentage or graph charts etc. and in the inferential data, there will be the analysis through correlation and regression so that the relationship in the variables can be known.

Limitations

However, there can be the limitations in the research, as the quantitative data is considered while designing the questionnaire and through the numerical and standardized data the exact analysis cannot be done of the online shopping behaviour of the people. The study may not find out the relevant practical behaviour of the people, as there can be the hidden characteristics and there may not be the in-depth survey on Amazon Company.

Conclusion

While concluding the research, it could be said that through investigating the aspects of the ecommerce on the consumer behaviour and by doing analysis of Amazon, it is known that consumers have adopted the technology and they have the satisfaction, however, Amazon is focused on the providing the good quality of service to the customers therefore, there are numerous positive impacts. Through focused on the literature review it is known that e-commerce has a significant impact on consumer behaviour. Moreover, research focus on impact of ecommerce on the customers purchasing behaviour, thus, the study uses the explanatory techniques and research is done on social media websites by the simple random sampling technique and through questionnaire instrument so that there could be better analysis of the customer behaviour status and purchase intentions regarding ecommerce.

Amazon Goes Global Case Study Analysis

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