fINAL REPORT - ONLINE PROJECT

INTRODUCTION OF ONLINE SHOPPING
A process in which images or listings of goods and services are viewed remotely via electronic
means, e.g., a vendor's Web site, items are selected for purchase, and the transaction is
completed electronically with a credit card or an established credit account. Various encryption
schemes may be, and usually are, used to reduce the risks of sending sensitive information,
such as credit-card numbers, over the Internet or other telecommunications facility.
INA wallet is a small software program used for online purchase transactions. Many payment
solution companies, such as CyberCash, offer free Wallet software that allows several methods
of payment to be defined within the wallet (for example, several different credit cards). Here's
how it works: When you order something, the order is sent to the merchant. The merchant
(actually, the merchant's server) sends back an invoice and asks the consumer to launch the
Wallet in his computer (or to download it quickly if the consumer doesn't have it yet).When the
consumer selects "Pay," the Cyber Cash software on the merchant server sends a message back
to the consumer's PC that activates the "Wallet" software. The consumer selects one of the cards
defined in the Wallet and clicks. The transaction includes real-time credit card authorization.
CyberCash says" Soon we will incorporate an electronic "Cash" and "Coin" system to use for
transactions that are considered small for credit cards.
Online shopping is the process consumers go through to purchase products or services over the
Internet. An online shop, e-shopping, e-store, internet shop, web shop, web store, online store,
or virtual store evokes the physical analogy of buying products or services at a bricks-and-
mortar retailer or in a mall. The metaphor of an online catalog is also used, by analogy with
mail order catalogs. All types of stores have retail web sites, including those that do and do not
also have physical storefronts and paper catalogs. Online shopping is a type of electronic
commerce used for business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions.
The term "Webshop" also refers to a place of business where web development, web hosting
and other types of web related activities take place (Web refers to the World Wide Web and
"shop" has a colloquial meaning used to describe the place where one's occupation is carried
out).
1
HISTORY OF ONLINE SHOPPING
The idea of online shopping predates the World Wide Web, for there are earlier experiments
involving real-time transaction processing from a domestic television. The technology, based on
Videotext, was first demonstrated in 1979 by Michael Aldrich, who designed and installed
systems in the UK, including the first Tesco pilot system in 1984. The first B2B was Thomson
Holidays in 1981. History of Online Shopping starts not so long ago. Tim Berners-Lee created
"The World Wide Web Browser" in 1990. In1994 few other developments took place. Online
bank, the first of its kind opened this year. Another development was opening of online pizza
shop by pizza hut.
In the same year Netscape introduced SSL encryption to enable encryption over the data
transferred online. This later became the necessity of online shopping. In 1995, Amazon started
operation, one of the largest online shopping mall now. Then in 1996 eBay started its online
shopping portal.
1998 witnessed use of electronic postage stamps, where people can download and print postal
stamps after paying nominal fee. In 1999 the first online shop in UK launched.
Cultural Impact
With its advent in the early 1990s, online shopping has spread into every corner of life, linking
people to the culture of capitalism in frequent and daily ways. It lets us buy what we want,
when we want, at our convenience, and helps us to imagine ourselves buying, owning, and
having positive outcomes by the goods available out there on the web. For some, shopping has
become a way of identifying oneself in today's culture by what we purchase and how we use
those purchases. Online shopping has always been middle to high class commodity since its
first arrival on the internet in society.
Customers
In general, shopping has always catered to middle class and upper class women. Shopping is
fragmented and pyramid-shaped. At the pinnacle are elegant boutiques for the affluent, a huge
2
belt of inelegant but ruthlessly efficient “discounters” flog plenty at the pyramid’s precarious
middle. According to the analysis of Susan D. Davis, at its base are the world’s workers and
poor, on whose cheapened labor the rest of the pyramid depends for its incredible abundance.
Shopping has evolved from single stores to large malls containing many stores that most often
offer attentive service, store credit, delivery, and acceptance of returns. These new additions to
shopping have encouraged and targeted middle class women.
In recent years, online shopping has become popular; however, it still caters to the middle and
upper class. In order to shop online, one must be able to have access to a computer, a bank
account and a debit card. Shopping has evolved with the growth of technology. According to
research found in the Journal of Electronic Commerce, if we focus on the demographic
characteristics of the in-home shopper, in general, the higher the level of education, income, and
occupation of the head of the household, the more favorable the perception of non-store
shopping. An influential factor in consumer attitude towards non-store shopping is exposure to
technology, since it has been demonstrated that increased exposure to technology increases the
probability of developing favorable attitudes towards new shopping channels.
Online shopping widened the target audience to men and women of the middle class. At first,
main users of online shopping were young men with a high level of income and a university
education. This profile is changing. For example, in USA in the early years of Internet there
were very few women users, but by 2001 women were 52.8% of the online population.
Sociocultural pressure has made men generally more independent in their purchase decisions,
while women place greater value on personal contact and social relations. In addition, male
shoppers are more independent when deciding on purchasing products because, unlike women,
they don’t necessarily need to see or try on the product.
Trends
One third of people that shop online use a search engine to find what they are looking for and
about one fourth find websites by word of mouth. Word of mouth has become a leading way by
which people find shopping websites. When an online shopper has a good first experience with
a certain website, sixty percent of the time they will return to that website to buy more.
3
Books are one of the things bought most online. However, clothes, shoes, and accessories are all
very popular things bought online. Cosmetics, nutrition products, and groceries are increasingly
being purchased online. About one fourth of travelers buy their plane tickets online because it is
a quick and easy way to compare airline travel and make a purchase. Online shopping provides
more freedom and control than shopping in a store.
From a sociological perspective, online shopping is arguably the most predictable way to shop.
One knows exactly what website to go to, how much the product will cost, and how long it will
take for the product to reach them. Online shopping has become extremely routine and
predictable, which is one of its great appeals to the consumer.
Logistics
Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the retailer directly, or do a
search across many different vendors using a shopping search engine.
Once a particular product has been found on the web site of the seller, most online retailers use
shopping cart software to allow the consumer to accumulate multiple items and to adjust
quantities, by analogy with filling a physical shopping cart or basket in a conventional store. A
"checkout" process follows (continuing the physical-store analogy) in which payment and
delivery information is collected, if necessary. Some stores allow consumers to sign up for a
permanent online account so that some or all of this information only needs to be entered once.
The consumer often receives an e-mail confirmation once the transaction is complete. Less
sophisticated stores may rely on consumers to phone or e-mail their orders (though credit card
numbers are not accepted by e-mail, for security reasons).
Payment
Payment by credit card is the widely accepted method of payment for online shopping.
However the other methods, like using e checks, payment & bank transfer are also common.
The method of payment is decided upon the mutual trust and familiarity between online
merchant and the customer. Various methods of payment are described below.
4
Online shoppers commonly use credit card to make payments, however some systems enable
users to create accounts and pay by alternative means, such as:
• Debit card
• Various types of electronic money
• Cash on delivery (C.O.D., offered by very few online stores)
• Cheque
• Delivery on payment
• Postal money order
• Bill Me Later
• Money bookers
• Reverse SMS billing to mobile phones
• Direct debit in some countries
Some sites will not allow international credit cards and billing address and shipping address
have to be in the same country in which site does its business. Other sites allow customers from
anywhere to send gifts anywhere. The financial part of a transaction might be processed in real
time (for example, letting the consumer know their credit card was declined before they log
off), or might be done later as part of the fulfillment process.
While credit cards are currently the most popular means of paying for online goods and
services, alternative online payments will account for 26% of e-commerce volume by 2009
according to Celent.
Product delivery
Once a payment has been accepted the goods or services can be delivered in the following ways.
• Download: This is the method often used for digital media products such as software,
music, movies, or images.
• Shipping: The product is shipped to the customer's address.
5
• Drop shipping: The order is passed to the manufacturer or third-party distributor, who
ships the item directly to the consumer, bypassing the retailer's physical location to save
time, money, and space.
• In-store pickup: The customer orders online, finds a local store using locator software
and picks the product up at the closest store. This is the method often used in the bricks
and clicks business model.
Shopping cart systems

• Simple systems allow the offline administration of products and categories. The shop is
then generated as HTML files and graphics that can be uploaded to a web space. These
systems do not use an online database.
• A high end solution can be bought or rented as a standalone program or as an addition to
an enterprise resource planning program. It is usually installed on the company's own
web server and may integrate into the existing supply chain so that ordering, payment,
delivery, accounting and warehousing can be automated to a large extent.
• Other solutions allow the user to register and create an online shop on a portal that hosts
multiple shops at the same time.
• Commercial systems can also be tailored to ones needs so that the shop does not have to
be created from scratch. By using a framework already existing, software modules for
different functionalities required by a web shop can be adapted and combined.
Consumer expectations
The main idea of online shopping is not in having a good looking website that could be listed in
a lot of search engines and it is not about the art behind the site. It also is not only just about
disseminating information, because it is all about building relationships and making money.
Mostly, organizations try to adopt techniques of online shopping without understanding these
techniques and/or without a sound business model. Rather than supporting the organization’s
culture and brand name, the website should satisfy consumer's expectations. Many researchers
notify that the uniqueness of the web has dissolved and the need for the design, which will be
user centered, is very important. Companies should always remember that there are certain
things, such as understanding the customer’s wants and needs, living up to promises, never go
6
out of style, because they give reason to come back. And the reason will stay if consumers
always get what they expect. McDonaldization theory can be used in terms of online shopping,
because online shopping is becoming more and more popular and website that wants to gain
more shoppers will use four major principles of McDonaldization: efficiency, calculability,
predictability and control.
Market share:-
E-commerce product sales totaled $146.4 billion in the United States in 2006,
representing about 6% of retail product sales in the country. The $18.3 billion worth of clothes
sold online represented about 10% of the domestic market.
For developing countries and low-income households in developed countries, adoption

of e-commerce in place of or in addition to conventional methods is limited by a lack of
affordable Internet access.
Convenience:-
Online stores are usually available 24 hours a day, and many consumers have Internet
access both at work and at home. A visit to a conventional retail store requires travel and must
take place during business hours.
Searching or browsing an online catalog can be faster than browsing the aisles of a
physical store. Consumers with dial-up Internet connections rather than broadband have much
longer load times for content-rich web sites and have a considerably slower online shopping
experience.
Some consumers prefer interacting with people rather than computers (and vice versa),
sometimes because they find computers hard to use. Not all online retailers have succeeded in
making their sites easy to use or reliable.
In most cases, merchandise must be shipped to the consumer, introducing a significant

delay and potentially uncertainty about whether or not the item was actually in stock at the time
of purchase.
7
Bricks and clicks stores offer the ability to buy online but pick up in a nearby store.
Many stores give the consumer the delivery company's tracking number for their package when
shipped, so they can check its status online and know exactly when it will arrive. For efficiency
reasons, online stores generally do not ship products immediately upon receiving an order.
Orders are only filled during warehouse operating hours, and there may be a delay of anywhere
from a few minutes to a few days to a few weeks before in-stock items are actually packaged
and shipped. Many retailers inform customers how long they can expect to wait before
receiving a package, and whether or not they generally have a fulfillment backlog. A quick
response time is sometimes an important factor in consumers' choice of merchant. A weakness
of online shopping is that, even if a purchase can be made 24 hours a day, the customer must
often be at home during normal business hours to accept the delivery. For many professionals
this can be difficult, and absence at the time of delivery can result in delays, or in some cases,
return of the item to the retailer.
Information and reviews:-

Online stores must describe products for sale with text, photos, and multimedia files,
whereas in a physical retail store, the actual product and the manufacturer's packaging will be
available for direct inspection (which might involve a test drive, fitting, or other
experimentation).
Some online stores provide or link to supplemental product information, such as

instructions, safety procedures, demonstrations, or manufacturer specifications. Some provide
background information, advice, or how-to guides designed to help consumers decide which
product to buy.
Some stores even allow customers to comment or rate their items. There are also
dedicated review sites that host user reviews for different products.
In a conventional retail store, clerks are generally available to answer questions. Some
online stores have real-time chat features, but most rely on e-mail or phone calls to handle
customer questions.
8
Price and selection:-
One advantage of shopping online is being able to quickly seek out deals for items or
services with many different vendors (though some local search engines do exist to help
consumers locate products for sale in nearby stores). Search engines and online price
comparison services can be used to look up sellers of a particular product or service.
Shoppers find a greater selection online in certain market segments (for example,
computers and consumer electronics and in some cases lower prices. This is due to a relaxation
of certain constraints, such as the size of a "brick-and-mortar" store, lower stocking costs (or
none, if drop shipping is used), and lower staffing overhead.
Shipping costs (if applicable) reduce the price advantage of online merchandise, though
depending on the jurisdiction, a lack of sales tax may compensate for this.
Shipping a small number of items, especially from another country, is much more
expensive than making the larger shipments bricks-and-mortar retailers order. Some retailers
(especially those selling small, high-value items like electronics) offer free shipping on
sufficiently large orders.
Privacy Online:-
Many online malls use cookies to track the user activity for showing relevant results to
maximize the shopping experience. It can also be used to track your personal details. Thus
before you pass your personal information, ensure the credibility of the online merchant. Good
companies post their privacy policy (that is how they are going to use the personal information
about you) on the website. Read carefully.
Security & Safety Online:-

The important considerations after privacy are the security and safety features used by
online malls. Remember that good websites are made in compliance with industrial standards
such as SSL (secured socket layer). These standards use encryption technology to transfer
information from your computer to online merchant's server.
9
By using SSL the information you sent are scrambled, this means it is not possible to get
details without encryption code. Since this is done automatically in merchant’s server, it can be
ensured that your personal details are secure. Thus make sure that you always do payment over
SSL. When the company you want to deal is new to you, try to get maximum information about
them before making any orders. Keep your password secret and make it in such a way that other
may not be in a position to guess it.
Credit card transactions are considered to be the safest mode of payment for online
shopping. Make yourself understood with the company's policies especially on how they are
going to keep your financial and personal data secured.
Keep printed copies of purchase order and confirmation details, so that it can be used in
the event of disputes. Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption has generally solved the problem
of credit card numbers being intercepted in transit between the consumer and the merchant.
Identity theft is still a concern for consumers when hackers break into a merchant's web site and
steal names, addresses and credit card numbers. A number of high-profile break-ins in the 2000s
have prompted some U.S. states to require disclosure to consumers when this happens.
Computer security has thus become a major concern for merchants and e-commerce service
providers, who deploy countermeasures such as firewalls and anti-virus software to protect their
networks.
Phishing is another danger, where consumers are fooled into thinking they are dealing with a
reputable retailer, when they have actually been manipulated into feeding private information to
a system operated by a malicious party. Denial of service attacks are a minor risk for merchants,
as are server and network outages.
Online shopping procedure
10
Online Shopping Guide - Steps When Buying Online
Online shopping malls are just an electronic catalogue of products. Hence to facilitate
easier access to required products, almost all major online malls allow searching the entire
catalogue.
The first step in the online shopping is to search for the specific product categories using
integrated search function. Once you find the required product, put it in a virtual "Shopping
Cart" and continue shopping.
After you have added enough items in shopping cart, check out each of them. You can add or
delete the contents in shopping cart.
The next step is to login using a username and password. Many online malls first require you to
register with them before allowing you to pay for the bought items. Enter the address to which
you want the product to be delivered. You might also want to select the payment modes for
payment here. After choosing the mode of payment there will other boxes to fill your billing
address or the payment details. Some online malls even ask for your email, phone numbers etc.
11
Then wait for the confirmation of your order, you can also modify the order by adding or
removing items. You can also cancel order if needed.
Keep the printed copy of the purchased order and confirmations for records. In the event of any
disputes, you will need to show these documents for verification.
Online Payment Gateway

It provides a secure connection between your online store and your internet merchant
account. The service that automates the payment transaction between the shopper and merchant.
It is usually a third-party service that is actually a system of computer processes that process,
verify, and accept or decline credit card transactions on behalf of the merchant through secure
Internet connections. The payment gateway is the infrastructure that allows a merchant to accept
credit card and other forms of electronic payment. When referring to payment gateways used for
Internet transactions. How it works.
Diagram
12
1. Visitor places the order on the website and it is sent to the merchant's web server in
encrypted format. This is usually done via SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption.
2. The transactions details are then forwarded to the concerned Payment Gateway.
3. The transaction information is then passed on to the merchants acquiring bank by the
Payment Gateway.
4. Merchants acquiring bank then forwards the transaction information to the issuing bank
(one that issued the credit card to the customer).
5. Then the card issuing bank sends a response back to the Payment Gateway. The
response includes information that whether the payment has been approved or declined.
In case of declination the reason is also sent in the response.
6. The response is then forwarded by the Payment Gateway to the merchants server.
7. At merchants server the response is encrypted again and is relayed back to the customer.
This allows the customer to know that whether the order has been placed successfully or
not.
8. The entire process typically takes less than 5 seconds. At the end of the bank day (or
settlement period), the acquiring bank (or card issuing bank) deposits the total of the
approved funds in to the merchant’s nominated account.
Online Shopping Tips

1. If you go for online shopping, always better to deal with the companies which are known to
you. Sometimes you tend to deal with unfamiliar companies. In such circumstances you can do
few things so as to ensure the credibility of the company. If any phone number is given make a
call and do some queries. Also ensure that you get satisfied with their answers. You can even
ask for references. You can also contact any friends or relatives who are staying near to the
address of company.
2. Good online merchants have cut out privacy and security policies so as to build the customer
confidence. Check whether the website contains these policies. However keep it in mind that
these policies can be changed at varied circumstances.
13
3. When you transfer data online, ensure that you are using a secure website. Secure websites
send the data in scrambled form (encrypted). Check the following conditions to ensure the
security of the website.
a) Look at the bottom of your browser for padlock displayed. If the padlock remains closed, the
site is secure.
b) Look at the website address and see that it contains https:// where "s" denotes the secured
connection.
c) Ensure that you are actually visiting the real website rather than look-alike websites (made in
order to deceive customer). You can check the address bar on browser to check the address,
which is called uniform resource locator (URL).
4. Credit card transactions are considered safest while doing online shopping. All the other
modes have limitations or are in risk of malpractices.
5. Sometimes few company as many questions for the purpose of marketing. You can avoid
answering questions you feel uncomfortable to answer. If the website keep on insisting
answering those questions, it is better to avoid shopping from that site.
6. Watch out for extra ordinary claims or unbelievably low prices for the product with an
critical eye. You are suggested to approach cautiously in such cases.
7. Ensure that your credit card number is not misused in any circumstances. Make it as a
practice that you are regularly checking the credit card transactions. If any irregularities are
found, immediately contact the credit card company and withhold the operation in that number.
8. Ensure that your choice of shipping is in compliance with what offered by merchant. Also
note down the shipping cost, duration to get delivered etc. Note down who is paying the
shipping charges and ensure that it is reasonable.
14
9. Good companies have their order cancellation or good return policies. Make a note of it
imagining such a situation. Also note down the warranty period and warranty conditions. Check
out how the company is proposed to attend the complaints and clear it.
Online Shopping Advantages
The major advantage of online shopping is the convenience it offers. By sitting back at
home you can now shop anything from candles to vehicles by several clicks of mouse buttons.
The worry you may have on travelling, traffic blocks and parking constraints in real world
shopping can be avoided while shopping online. With online shopping, you need not have to
worry about weather conditions as well.
Another big advantage of online shopping is the flexibility of shopping. Unlike offline shops,
online shops have no holidays, closing times or any other problems. You can shop 24hrs a day,
7 days a week and 365 days a year. Is n't that amazing to have a shop open always?
One of the advantages of online shopping is the facilities available for product, price
comparisons. Since so many companies have come up with the facilities of online shopping, the
price comparison and quality comparison of the products and services are possible. Some online
malls also provide customer reviews about each product, thus you can easily find out what other
customers think about the product or services before buying it.
You can efficiently use these facilities to decide weather a product or service is worth the price
quoted. If you are lucky you will be also getting amazing offers from different online stores that
will effectively reduce the price than buying offline.
In short, online shopping offers more convenience and save time in comparison with real -
world shopping
15
Online Shopping Disadvantages
One of the important disadvantages of online shopping is lack of personal interaction.
Another disadvantage of online shopping is tangibility factor. Seeing the picture of a product is
far inferior to that of seeing it in real world. When you go for real world shopping, you can
actually touch, feel or sense it with different means, but for online shopping you can only view
the electronic catalogues. Even though this problems has been rectified to certain extent by use
of 3D product catalogues, some online malls still uses the old fashioned images in product
catalogues.
Another factor is shipping cost. If the shipping cost is more than that you need to actually carry
the product home, then online shopping become un attractive.
Yet another concern is about online security. If you are shopping online, you have to take
additional care about your credit cards so that to protect from unauthorized usage.
Online shopping lacks the real world shopping experience that we get shopping with relatives
and friends offline. Even though online shopping has several disadvantages, the advantages
outnumber the disadvantages and thus more and more people started buying online.
16
INTRODUCTION OF ONLINE SHOPPING WEB PORTALS
ONLINE STORE WAL-MART
Founded- 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas
Founder – Sam Walton
Headquarter- Bentonville, Arkansas
Key peoples- CEO-H.Lee Scott, Chairman of the Executive committee of Board- S. Robson
Walton
Industry – Retail, Discount stores, Supercenters, Neighborhood market
Employees – approximate 21, 00,000(2008)
Websites- www.walmart.com, www.walmartstores.com
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is an American public corporation that runs a chain of large, discount
department stores. It is the world's largest public corporation by revenue, according to the 2008
Fortune Global 500. Founded by Sam Walton in 1962, it was incorporated on October 31, 1969,
and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. It is the largest private employer in the
world and the third-largest utility or commercial employer, trailing the British National Health
Service, and the Indian Railways. Wal-Mart is the largest grocery retailer in the United States,
with an estimated 20% of the retail grocery and consumables business. It also owns and
operates the North American company, Sam's Club.
Wal-Mart operates in Mexico as Walmex, in the UK as ASDA, and in Japan as Seiyu. It has
wholly owned operations in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Wal-Mart's
investments outside North America have had mixed results: its operations in South America and
China are highly successful, while it was forced to pull out of Germany and South Korea when
ventures there were unsuccessful.
17
Wal-Mart has been criticized by some community groups, women's rights groups, grassroots
organizations, and labour unions, specifically for its extensive foreign product sourcing, low
rates of employee health insurance enrollment, resistance to union representation, and alleged
sexism. Conversely, others point out that Wal-Mart's rapid growth and logistical efficiency has
enabled it to bring lower prices to consumers and more jobs and new small businesses to the
communities in which it operates.
History
Sam Walton's original Walton's Five and Dime store in Bentonville, Arkansas, now serving as
the Wal-Mart Visitor's Center.
Sam Walton, a businessman from Arkansas, began his retail career
when he started work on June 3, 1940, at a J.C. Penney store in Des
Moines, Iowa where he remained for 18 months. In 1945, he met
Butler Brothers, a regional retailer that owned a chain of variety
stores called Ben Franklin and that offered him one in Newport,
Arkansas.
On July 2, 1962, Walton opened the first Wal-Mart Discount City
store located at 719 Walnut Ave. in Rogers, Arkansas. The building
is now occupied by a hardware store and a pawn shop. Within five
years, the company expanded to 24 stores across Arkansas and
reached $12.6 million in sales. In 1968, it opened its first stores
outside Arkansas, in Sikeston, Missouri and Claremore, Oklahoma.
18
About Wal-Mart-
Our Purpose
We save people money so they can live better. Find out what we're passionate about, our
strengths, and our reason for being.
Our Culture
What is “Culture?” It’s how we treat each other; it’s our special way of doing business. It’s
what makes us one of the world's most-admired companies.
Our Principles
Our founder Sam Walton gave our company a sense of honor and a set of values that are still
very important to us. Starting with Sam’s 3 Basic Beliefs, here’s what makes us proud to be part
of the Wal-Mart family.
Our Operations
Today, over 7,800 Wal-Mart stores and Sam’s Club locations in 16 markets worldwide employ
more than 2 million associates, and serve more than 100 million customers per year. All around
the world, we save people money, so they can live better. That’s good news – in any language.
Incorporation and growth:-

In the 1980s, Wal-Mart continued to grow rapidly, and by its 25th anniversary in 1987 there
were 1,198 stores with sales of $15.9 billion and 200,000 associates.[ This year also marked the
completion of the company's satellite network, a $24 million investment linking all operating
units of the company with its Bentonville office via two-way voice and data transmission and
one-way video communication. At the time, it was the largest private satellite network, allowing
the corporate office to track inventory and sales and to instantly communicate to stores. In 1988,
Sam Walton stepped down as CEO and was replaced by David Glass. Walton remained as
Chairman of the Board, and the company also rearranged other people in senior positions.
19
Recent initiatives
In June 30, 2008, Wal-Mart unveiled a new company logo, featuring the non-
hyphenated name "Wal-Mart" followed by a stylized spark, as it is referred to on store
advertisements. The new logo received mixed reviews from some design critics, who question
whether the new logo is as bold as competitors such as the Target bulls eye or as instantly
recognizable as the former company logo, which was used for 18 years. The new logo made its
debut on the company's walmart.com website on July 1, 2008, although the old logo still
appears on the corporate site, walmartstores.com. The new logo will eventually replace store
logos at the company's US locations throughout the year. Wal-Mart international have not yet
adopted the new logo.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Wal-Mart Discount Stores
Sam Walton opened his first Wal-Mart discount store
in 1962. Today, there are 886 stores offering a
pleasant and convenient shopping experience across
the United States. The size of an average store is
107,000 square feet. Each store employs about 225
associates. Our stores feature wide, clean, brightly-lit
aisles and shelves stocked with a variety of quality, value-priced general merchandise,
including:
Family apparel Automotive products

Health and beauty aids Home furnishings
Electronics Hardware
Toys Sporting goods
Jewelry House wares
Wal-Mart Supercenters
20
Our Supercenters were developed in 1988
to meet the growing demand for convenient, one-
stop family shopping featuring our famous Every
Day Low Prices. We save you time and money by
combining a full grocery and our general
merchandise under one roof. There are 2,622
Supercenters nationwide, and most are open 24
hours. Supercenters average 187,000 square feet and employ about 350 or more associates.
Supercenter groceries feature:
Bakery goods Deli foods

Meat and dairy products Frozen foods
Fresh produce Canned and packaged goods
Dry goods and staples Condiments and spices
Beverages Household supplies
Vision centers Health clinics
Tire & Lube Expresses Employment Agencies
Brand-name fast food restaurants Hair salons
Marketside
Opened in 2008, Marketside stores are small
community pilot grocery stores specializing in
fresh, delicious meals at great prices. In our
stores, customers can shop for a variety of fresh
ingredients, restaurant-quality prepared meals
and their everyday favorite national brands - even freshly baked breads and a wide assortment
of wines. We provide a fresh and convenient shopping experience for busy people who want an
easy answer to the question, 'What's for dinner?
21
Market side is a new chain of grocery stores opened in October 2008, the stores are said to be
less than half the size of a conventional supermarket, as stated in the backgrounder found on
Wal-Mart's official homepage. Each of their stores is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Marketside offerings include:
• ENTRÉES AND SIDES inspired by classically trained chefs and ready to serve in
minutes.
• An assortment of HOT FOODS like pizzas, roasted chickens, soups and breads that are
fresh out of our oven.
• Daily deliveries of fresh produce, meats and flowers for GUARANTEED FRESHNESS.
• More than 300 NATURAL AND ORGANIC products throughout the entire store.
• A vast assortment of wines, with over 200 under $10.*
• Plus, all the GROCERY BRANDS you want at low, low prices!
Wal-Mart Neighborhood Markets
Neighborhood Markets offer a quick and

convenient shopping experience for customers
who need groceries, pharmaceuticals, and
general merchandise all at our famous Every
Day Low Prices. First opened in 1998, there are
now 150 Neighborhood Markets, each
employing about 95 associates? A typical store
is about 42,000 square feet. Neighborhood Markets feature a wide variety of products,
including:
Fresh produce Deli foods

Meat and dairy products Bakery items
Frozen foods Canned and packaged goods
Dry goods and staples Condiments and spices
Health and beauty aids Pet supplies
Stationery and paper goods Household supplies
Drive-through pharmacies One-hour photo centers
Walmart.com
22
Founded in 2000, Walmart.com brings the convenience, great merchandise selection, friendly
service and Every Day Low Prices of your neighborhood Wal-Mart to the Internet.
Walmart.com features more than 1,000,000 products, plus easy-to-use music downloads and
digital one-hour photo services. And, we’re adding more great products every day.
During the holidays, Walmart.com features many special offers available only online. It’s also a
convenient place to find out about our exciting in-store holiday specials.
With our innovative “Site to Store” program, you can purchase items at Walmart.com and then
have them shipped free to your local store for pickup.
Wal-mart in India-
Wal-Mart
ran into a little trouble with it planed to expand into India earlier this year. India has tough
Foreign Direct Investment regulations (FDI) preventing companies from moving into India
directly. But Wal-Mart or as it Indians pronounce it, Wal-Mart, found a partner to further
explore the possibilities with. Wal-Mart is partnering with Bharti Enterprises in order to become
a player in the Indian market, which is expected to double in size by 2015. India is already one
of Wal-Mart's biggest sources of product.
If your an advertiser it means that you have to figure out a way for Wal-Mart not to be hated by
the small stores that it is going to displace. I don't know if Wal-Mart really does this, I've never
spoken with a shop keeper that has been displaced. That doesn't really matter, because the
perception exists. Wal-Mart is slowly changing their tune in the U.S., they should consider
something similar in India sooner than later.
23
In August 2007, Wal-Mart announced an agreement with Bharti Enterprises to establish
a joint venture, Bharti Wal-Mart Private Limited, for wholesale cash-and-carry and back-end
supply chain management operations in India. Over the next seven years, the venture is
expected to open 10 to 15 wholesale cash-and-carry facilities and employ approximately 5,000.
A typical facility will stand between 50,000 and 100,000 square feet and sell a wide range of
fruits and vegetables, groceries and staples, stationery, footwear, clothing, consumer durables
and other general merchandise items. As a wholesale cash-and-carry business, Wal-Mart will
continue to work with and develop local suppliers and create local beneficiaries along the
supply chain. Wal-Mart is one of the top two sourcing retail companies from India, often
helping small and medium sized enterprises transform into exporters with access to global
markets over time. Learn more about Indian suppliers who have transformed their business
through working with Wal-Mart in segments produced by CNBC TV-18, available in our
Featured Video section on the right side of this page.
Bharti Enterprises and Wal-Mart join hands in wholesale cash-and-carry to

serve small retailers, manufacturers and farmers-
• Business-to-business wholesale cash-and-carry joint venture to set up world-class

modern supply chain and back-end logistics infrastructure
• Driving efficiencies across the supply chain will help minimize wastage and provide
small retailers quality merchandise at competitive wholesale prices
New Delhi, August 6, 2007: Bharti Enterprises and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. today announced that
they have signed an agreement to establish Bharti Wal-Mart Private Limited, a joint venture for
wholesale cash-and-carry and back-end supply chain management operations in India, in line
with Government of India guidelines. Under the agreement, Bharti and Wal-Mart will hold a
50:50 stake in Bharti Wal-Mart Private Limited.
Wholesale cash-and-carry operations provide small retailers and business owners a wide range
of quality products at competitive wholesale prices that help them enhance their businesses and
profitability. The Bharti Wal-Mart business-to-business (B2B) wholesale cash-and-carry joint
venture will serve kirana stores, fruit and vegetable resellers, restaurants and other business
24
owners. It also will serve other retailers such as Bharti Retail, which is setting up a chain of
stores in India that are 100 percent owned and operated by Bharti.
The wholesale cash-and-carry venture will invest in setting up an efficient supply chain. This
will link farmers and small manufacturers directly to retailers, thereby maximizing value for
farmers and manufacturers on the one end and retailers, and in turn, consumers on the other.
The venture will support farmers and small manufacturers who have limited infrastructure and
distribution strength, and the supply chain will enable minimum wastage, particularly of fresh
foods and vegetables.
“We are delighted to partner with Wal-Mart for wholesale cash-and-carry and back-end supply
chain management operations in India,” said Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Group CEO,
Bharti Enterprises. “Wal-Mart's global expertise in supply chain and logistics will bring
enhanced efficiencies across the retail ecosystem. This venture promises to bring great value to
millions of farmers, artisans, small manufacturers and retailers across India. We are pleased to
be a partner in developing this sector which is set to become a significant engine of India’s
economic growth.”
Mike Duke, Vice Chairman, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. said, “We are delighted that, in Bharti, we
have a well-respected partner who has a deep understanding of the local market. Through our
wholesale cash-and-carry joint venture, we will help drive efficiencies across the supply chain
and work towards the betterment of India’s farmers, small manufacturers and retailers, in line
with our global vision of saving people money so they can live better. We would also like to
leverage our global scale to transform some of these suppliers into exporters with access to our
global markets over time.”
The first wholesale cash-and-carry facility is targeted to open by the end of next year. Over the
next seven years, the venture is expected to open 10 to 15 wholesale cash-and-carry facilities
and employ approximately 5,000. A typical facility will stand between 50,000 and 100,000
square feet and sell a wide range of fruits and vegetables, groceries and staples, stationery,
footwear, clothing, consumer durables and other general merchandise items.
Bharti Wal-Mart Private Limited will bring modern supply chain and back-end logistics
expertise to India, bringing Wal-Mart’s global best practices in such areas as just-in-time
inventory, retail information systems, cold chain infrastructure, GPS for truck and trailer
tracking, and fuel management systems.
25
In addition, Bharti Enterprises’ 100% subsidiary Bharti Retail, that will own and manage
the retail stores, has entered into a franchise agreement with Wal-Mart which will provide
technical support to Bharti Retail.
Rajan Bharti Mittal, Managing Director, Bharti Enterprises said, “Creating a strong
back-end infrastructure will be one of the critical components in the development of modern
retailing in India. This partnership is committed to bringing in world-class processes and
technologies in the area of supply chain, logistics and cold chain that will be bring immense
value to retailers, both big and small, across the country and ultimately benefit the entire retail
ecosystem through better quality, and more choice at better prices.”
“One of the key reasons for Wal-Mart’s international success is the fact that in every location
where we operate, we are local,” said Raj Jain, Country President for Wal-Mart's operations in
India, who will oversee the India joint venture. “We source local products from local suppliers
that appeal to local tastes, needs and fashions. As a wholesale cash-and-carry business, our
endeavor is to work with and develop local suppliers and create local beneficiaries along the
supply chain. It is our hope that big and small retailers and businesses will be our customers,
take advantage of the efficiencies we provide and derive significant benefits for their
businesses.”
About Bharti Enterprises:-

Bharti Enterprises is one of India’s leading business groups with interests in
telecom, agribusiness, insurance and retail. Bharti has been a pioneering force in the telecom
sector with many firsts and innovations to its credit. Bharti Airtel Limited, a group company, is
one of India’s leading private sector providers of telecommunications services with an
aggregate of 44.67 million customers as of end of June 2007 spanning mobile, fixed line,
broadband and enterprise services. Bharti Airtel was recently ranked amongst the best
performing companies in the world in the Business Week IT 100 list 2007. Bharti Teletech is
the country’s largest manufacturer and exporter of telephone terminals. Bharti has a joint
venture with FFF India Ltd. – ‘Field Fresh Foods Pvt. Ltd’ - for global distribution of fresh
fruits and vegetables. Bharti also has a joint venture - ‘Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company
Ltd.’ - with AXA, world leader in financial protection and wealth management. Bharti has
recently forayed into the retail business under a company called Bharti Retail Pvt. Ltd.
26
After signing the deal, Bharti and Wal-Mart Stores Inc have also unveiled the
initial retail plans for their joint venture-
• Bharti - Wal-Mart to have equal stake in the company.

• Bharti group will lead and manage the front end operations. Wal-Mart will power the
logistics and back end operations.
• Bharti has committed an immediate investment of $100 Million
• Bharti-Wal-Mart venture will start hiring for retail operations this week.
• First store to be opened on 15th of August 2007.
• Bharti-Wal-Mart to have Hyper marts and Neighbourhood stores [Just like the Reliance
group]
• Bharti will very soon engage in talks with major real estate developers across India for
store space.
• Wal-mart to get 3% royalty for their brand name [Unconfirmed]
27
Wal-Mart Logo Timeline
1964 – 1981
Also known as the "Frontier Font Logo," this was the

first official and consistently used logo.
1968-1981
The Discount City mark was used in print advertising,

on the uniforms/smocks, in-store signing, and other
things. However, it was never used as building
signage or in an annual report.
1981 – 1992
The logo was updated again in 1981.
1992 – 2008
The star was adopted as an update to the existing logo

in early 1992.
2008
New logo adopted by Wal-Mart Stores U.S.
28
ONLINE SHOPPING WEBSITES
Some important online shopping websites.

www.fabmart.com
www.skumars.com
www.indiagifts.com
www.indiastores.com
www.indbazaar.com
www.indiashop.com
www.malamall.com
www.chennaibazaar.com
www.futurebazaar.com
www.indianpurchase.com
www.buy.com
www.ebay.com
www.americangreetings.com
www.amazon.com
www.mypoints.com
www.egreetings.com
www.coolsavings.com
www.bargainsbazaar.com
www.rediffshopping.com
29
Shopping.Rediff.com Review-
CORPORATE PROFILE
Rediff.com (NASDAQ: REDF) is one of the premier worldwide online providers of news,
information, communication, entertainment and shopping services.
Rediff.com provides a platform for Indians worldwide to connect with one another online.
Rediff.com is committed to offering a personalized and a secure surfing and shopping
environment
Rediff.com additionally offers the Indian American community one of the oldest and largest
Indian weekly newspapers, India Abroad
Founded in 1996, Rediff.com is headquartered in Mumbai, India with offices in New Delhi,
Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and New York, USA.
Mission In The Internet Space:-

To provide world-class online consumer service offerings to Indians worldwide.
PRODUCT AND SERVICE OFFERINGS

INDIA ONLINE BUSINESS:-
The Rediff.com India website consists of information, communication and content services,
free and paid community features and products, including e-commerce and mobile services.
Information and Content:-
Information and content channels currently include news, business, movies, cricket/sports
and several other topics of interest.
Rediff.com additionally offers the Indian American community one of the oldest and largest
Indian weekly newspapers, India Abroad.
Founded in 1996, Rediff.com is headquartered in Mumbai, India with offices in New Delhi,
Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and New York, USA.
News content includes:
 Current affairs and breaking news: Rediff provides breaking news focused on events
of interest to Indians, including feature news stories, interviews and online chats with
leading Indian personalities.
30
 Business: This channel covers the happenings of corporate India, stock market quotes
and analysis, regular columns and feature stories, as well as personal portfolio tracker.
 Movies and Entertainment: For latest news and trends from Bollywood and
Hollywood. Box office information, regular columns, feature stories, interviews with
movie personalities, movie reviews and slide shows.
 Sports and Cricket: Provides coverage of Indian and global sporting news. There is in-
depth coverage of cricket news from India and around the globe, with statistics, scores
and schedules, regular columns, feature stories and interviews.
 Community Features and Products- A key focus for Rediff.com is using world-class
technology to drive community building. Through a single login facility, Rediff.com
provides a combination of free and paid community features and products to consumers
and businesses. These include e-mail, instant messaging, Search, Chat, Blogs, Message
Boards, Social Networking, Mobile services, online shopping and auctions.
 Rediffmail: Rediffmail is the flagship product of Rediff.com. It is one of the most
popular web email service used by Indians worldwide. Rediffmail offers users a
complete outlook desktop experience with features like unlimited storage, instant mail
preview, quick attachments of up to 10 MB, Drag & Drop facility to manage your
folders and auto address completion. It supports eleven Indian languages and also comes
with the integrated web-messenger allowing all Rediffmail users to chat in real-time
with all their Rediff (Instant Messenger) users within their inbox.
 Job Search is vertical search product which allows users to search for jobs across
various job sites in India under several categories and locations in India.
 Rediff Product Search allows users to compare products across brands, features, price
points, user ratings and check availability of the products in their city at local stores with
complete contact details. The service covers more than 16 product categories under
electronics and also covers Cars and Bikes as new categories.
31
E-commerce
Rediff Shopping is an online marketplace where users can purchase products and services
from various merchants. Users can avail of a variety of payment options such as Cash on
delivery (COD), Internet banking, credit card and cheques.
Rediff Auctions is an e-commerce platform, which enables sellers to sell their products at
dynamic prices based on supply and demand. This gives buyers a chance to buy their
desired products at competitive prices.
Rediff Books is one of the biggest online book stores offering users the biggest catalogue of
books. Users can choose from over 2 million books or search for books from over 4000
authors.
FutureBazaar.com-
About the Future Group
Future Group, led by its founder and Group CEO, Mr. Kishore Biyani, is one of India’s
leading business houses with multiple businesses spanning across the consumption space. While
retail forms the core business activity of Future Group, group subsidiaries are present in
consumer finance, capital, insurance, leisure and entertainment, brand development, retail real
estate development, retail media and logistics.
Led by its flagship enterprise, Pantaloon Retail, the group operates over 11 million square
feet of retail space in over 63 cities and towns and 65 rural locations across India. Pantaloon
Retail was awarded the International Retailer of the Year - 2007, by the US-based National
Retail Federation, the largest retail trade association and the the Emerging Market Retailer of
the Year 2007 at the World Retail Congress in Barcelona.
Future Group believes in developing strong insights on Indian consumers and building
businesses based on Indian ideas, as espoused in the group’s core value of 'Indianness'. The
group's corporate credo is, 'Rewrite rules, Retain values'.
32
FutureBazaar.com is owned and operated by Future Bazaar India Ltd. (FBIL). FBIL is a
part of the Future Group, India’s largest retail conglomerate. FBIL is the e-commerce arm of the
Future Group. The company was incorporated in 2006 and began business in 2007.
As part of India’s largest retail chain, we enjoy the benefits of buying in bulk for the entire
group. Our aim is to get you a great range of products at great prices.
Core Competency of the business…what makes us different from others!
 A choice of more than 20,000 products

 Delivery across more than 1500 cities and towns in India covering around 16,000 pin
codes
 Fast deliveries – tie ups with world leaders in logistics & transportation services
 A dedicated Customer Care helpline for any queries
 Always offering Manufacturer’s guarantee as opposed to Seller’s guarantee, which
most of the other online shopping sites offer
 Aggressive Prices –FutureBazaar.com has the benefit of leveraging the sourcing
network of the Future Group’s retail chains. This sourcing network straddles a wide
range of product requirements, thus being able to offer us economies of scale thereby
- unbelievable prices to it’s customers
 Unmatched Selection of Products and Brands – We have more than 20,000
products which create the flexibility to offer a large range of choices to customers.
We also have partnerships with most of the brands available in the country, which
allows us to get the latest in the range to our customers. We have been able to create
some major popularity ripples with our corporate clients with products like mobiles,
electronics, laptops, MP3 players, T-shirts, Gift Vouchers and so on.
 Seamless end-to-end Logistics Solution – We pride ourselves in having built an
end-to-end logistics solution; right from stocking, dispatching, and delivery
confirmation upto post-sales support. Our back-end infrastructure enables us to
service around 15000 pin codes across India.
33
The FutureBazaar.com Promise-
Manufacturer’s warranties on all products
FutureBazaar sells only original products from authorized dealers; so all applicable products
carry the original manufacturer’s warranty. Customers can visit any of the authorized service
centers of the manufacturer if required. The invoice accompanying the product is your warranty
document, so please preserve it.
Guaranteed Delivery:-
Futurebazaar guarantees to deliver the exact product you selected, without defects. In case you
have received a different product, or if the product was damaged in transit, please let us know
and and we will ensure that we replace the product or ensure that your money is refunded.
Please note that delivery times vary according to products. 95% of our deliveries take place
within the committed time period. For the occasional delays, we will contact you and update
you about the status.
Secure Payments:-
We are committed to ensuring that no payment misuse happens, so we work with banks and
payment gateways to ensure that your information is protected. Payments are protected both by
us and by the policies of your bank, and the chances of fraud in these channels are actually very
low. We also have a Risk Management team that scrutinises all payments to ensure that there
are no fraudulent transactions. Our office address is also available for any one who wishes to
contact us in person. Moreover, being part of India’s largest retail company with a presence all
over India, we are omnipresent!
Prompt Customer Support
Our Customer Care is manned by dedicated personnel, who can take decisions and resolve your
problems. They are empowered to solve your problems and are aware of the processes and
means to handle them. In case they cannot solve the problem at their end, they will trigger the
required action on your behalf or advise you the best possible method to a successful fulfillment
of all your queries/issues. Be assured that when you call us, your call is being taken seriously.
34
Amazon.com
Founded -1994
Founder- Jeffery p.Bezos (CEO)
Headquarter –USA
Area served-Worldwide
Industry-Retail (Amazon.com, A9.com)
Advertising –Web banners and video
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) is an American electronic commerce (e-commerce)

company in Seattle, Washington. It is America's largest online retailer, with nearly three times
the internet sales revenue of runner up Staples, Inc.
Jeff Bezos founded Amazon.com, Inc. in 1994 and launched it online in 1995. It started
as an on-line bookstore but soon diversified to product lines of VHS, DVD, music CDs and
MP3s, computer software, video games, electronics, apparel, furniture, food, toys, etc.
Amazon has established separate websites in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany,
France, China, and Japan. It also provides international shipping to certain countries for some of
its products. On January 15, 2009, a survey published by Verdict Research found that Amazon
was the UK's favorite music and video retailer, and came third in overall retail rankings.
Amazon was founded in 1994, spurred by what Bezos called "regret minimization framework",
his effort to fend off regret for not staking a claim in the Internet gold rush. While company lore
says Bezos wrote the business plan while he and his wife drove from New York to Seattle.
The company began as an online bookstore named "Cadabra.com", a name quickly abandoned
for sounding like "cadaver"; while the largest brick-and-mortar bookstores and mail-order
catalogs for books might offer 200,000 titles, an on-line bookstore could offer more. Bezos
35
renamed the company "Amazon" after the world's biggest river. Since 2000, Amazon's logotype
is an arrow leading from A to Z, representing customer satisfaction (as it forms a smile) and the
goal to have every product in the alphabet.
Amazon's initial business plan was unusual: the company did not expect a profit for four to five
years; the strategy was effective. Amazon grew steadily in the late 1990s while other Internet
companies grew blindingly fast. Amazon's "slow" growth provoked stockholder complaints:
that the company was not reaching profitability fast enough. When the dot-com bubble burst,
and many e-companies went out of business.
The company remains profitable: 2003 net income was $35.3 million, $588.50 million in 2004,
$359
Amazon has announced plans to move its headquarters to the South Lake Union neighborhood
of Seattle beginning in mid-2010, with full occupancy by 2011. This move will consolidate all
Seattle employees onto the new 11-building campus.
Product lines:-
Amazon has steadily branched into retail sales of music CDs, videotapes and DVDs, software,
consumer electronics, kitchen items, tools, lawn and garden items, toys & games, baby
products, apparel, sporting goods, gourmet food, jewelry, watches, health and personal-care
items, beauty products, musical instruments, clothing, industrial & scientific supplies, groceries,
and more.
The company launched Amazon.com Auctions, its own Web auctions service, in March 1999.
However it failed to chip away at industry pioneer eBay's juggernaut growth. Amazon Auctions
was followed by the launch of a fixed-price marketplace business called zShops in September
1999, and a failed Sotheby's/Amazon partnership called sothebys.amazon.com in November.
The list of products registered for coverage by the trademark grew to include items such as
paints, carpets, wallpaper, hair accessories, clothing, footwear, headgear, cleaning products, and
jewelry
36
Review of literature
1. Abstract:Alejandro Zentner, School of Management, New Delhi 2007

This paper uses phonebook records of music retailers in the United States for the years 1998 and
2002 to examine how Internet use, file sharing, and online sales of records have affected the
entry and exit of brick and mortar music specialty retailers. By merging music store information
with data on Internet activity and broadband connectedness at the Metropolitan Statistical Area
(MSA) level, with the number of broadband providers at the zip code level, and with a database
of the location of universities, I analyze how online purchases, broadband, and Internet use
affected the survival probability and the change in the number of music stores between 1998
and 2002. I further study whether the number of employees and chain membership affected the
survival probability. I find that broadband connectedness increased the death rate of brick and
mortar music stores and reduced their number. I also find that the presence of a university led to
a reduction in the number of music specialty stores in the zip code.
2.Abstract: Abhishek Malhotra University of Delhi- Department of Economics, 2007

Every new method of trade offers an opportunity for economic agents to compare its costs and
benefits relative to the status quo. Such comparison motivates sorting across market segments
and reshapes the whole marketplace. The Internet provides an excellent example: it introduces
substantial search cost savings over brick and mortar retail stores but imposes new obstacles for
sellers to convey quality. Using sports card trading as a case study, we provide empirical
evidence on (1) the sorting of product quality between the online and offline segments, (2) the
changes for retail outlets after the Internet came into place, and (3) how supporting industries
such as professional grading and card manufacturing adapted to take advantage of the new
market.
37
3. Abstract: Vipul Patel, Department of Management, Business school, Mumbai, 2006
The problem studied in this paper is a predigestion of the decision faced by online retailers that
advertise on publisher or comparison-shopping websites. A retailer may sell its product not only
through its online and bricks-and-mortar stores, but also through the websites of one or more
third parties. However, the retailer has to pay a certain amount to such third parties in an action-
based payment scheme, such as a cost-per-click (CPC) scheme. Under the CPC scheme,
payment is based solely on click-through, which means that the retailer pays only when a
shopper clicks through to the product page of its website. Only a fraction of such clicks lead to
actual sales. The extra cost that is associated with shoppers who first click through to the third-
party websites makes them less attractive as customers than those who directly visit the retailer's
online store. Moreover, the CPC rate for a prominent placement is normally set by competitive
bidding, and thus varies over time. Therefore, the retailer needs to decide dynamically whether
or not to list on a third-party website. The structural properties of the optimal policy are
discussed, and numerical examples are given to show the revenue impact of dynamic listing
control.
4. Abstract: Ramayya Krishnan, School of Public Policy and Management, 2005

Two conflicting predictions have emerged regarding the effect of low-cost information on price.
The first states that all Internet retailers will charge the same low price for mass produced
goods. The second states that Internet retailers will differentiate to avoid intense price
competition. Using data collected in April 1999 on the prices of 107 books in thirteen online
and two physical bookstores, we find similar average prices online and in physical stores and
substantial price dispersion online. Analysis of product differentiation yields no clear results.
The substantial premium charged by Amazon provides indirect evidence of product
differentiation.
38
5. Abstract: Patrick Lunnemann, Banque Central du Luxembourg 2006
This paper studies the behaviour of Internet prices. It compares price rigidities on the
Internet and in traditional brick-and-mortar stores and provides a cross-country perspective. The
data set covers a broad range of items typically sold over the Internet. It includes more than 5
million daily price quotes downloaded from price comparison web sites in France, Germany,
Italy, the UK and the US. The following results emerge from our analysis. First, and contrary to
the recent findings for common CPI data, Internet prices in the EU countries do not change less
often than online prices in the US. Second, prices on the Internet are not necessarily more
flexible than prices in traditional brick-and-mortar stores. Third, there is substantial
heterogeneity in the frequency of price change across shop types and product categories. Fourth,
the average price change on the Internet is relatively large, but smaller than the respective
values reported for CPI data. Finally, panel legit estimates suggest that the likelihood of
observing a price change is a function of both state- and time-dependent factors.
6. Abstract: Operations, and Management Sciences .2007
Online price comparison agents (shop bots) allow consumers to instantaneously receive price
and other information from many online retailers. Online consumer click stream data from
ComScore Inc. demonstrate that consumers are increasingly using shop bots to conduct search.
This phenomenon raises such questions as "how do shop bots change consumers' search
behavior?" and "do they reduce consumers' online search?" Conventional wisdom suggests that
consumers are expected to search less because shop bots have displayed prices and other
relative information from retailers on the search result page(s). Surprisingly, this study
demonstrates the opposite result. That is, consumers are actually visiting more online retailer
web sites after using shop bots. This finding suggests that after searching for an item through a
shop bots and receiving the price information, consumers will continue to look for detailed
information about the online retailers by visiting their web sites. The empirical finding is
explained by an analytical model, which shows that on the one hand shop bots reduce the
marginal benefit of searching additional online stores; on the other hand they reduce the cost of
search. Therefore whether shop bots reduce consumer search depends on the cost of reducing
per unit of risk, which is decided by a number of factors, such as marginal search costs, price
39
dispersion and quality differentiation among stores, price and quality correlation, and
consumers' relative preference for service quality.
7. Abstract: Faculty of Business and Economics (FBE), 2006
Research on shelf effects in traditional grocery stores has shown that a product's absolute and
relative shelf position may strongly affect consumer choices. In this paper, we examine whether
and how such shelf effects translate into a stores grocery context. We find that a product's
choice probability increases when presented on the first screen or located near focal items -
especially when the latter are out-of-stock. These primacy and proximity effects have a stronger
impact on choice decisions when assortments are more difficult to evaluate and when a clear
shelf organization facilitates the use of shelf-based choice heuristics.
Keywords: Effects, Shelf, Choice
8. Abstract: Compass Lexicon, Washington, DC, Dec.2008

The impact of product variety on welfare has received little attention in the electronic commerce
literature. The problem with product variety is that more variety does not necessarily imply
higher welfare. This paper finds the conditions under which more variety, if caused by lower
fixed costs, implies an unambiguous welfare gain. A calibration to the market of books confirms
the intuition that fixed costs - in particular, per-title fixed costs-are much lower at online stores
than at conventional stores and that the welfare gains from electronic commerce are likely to be
underestimated if one ignores changes in product variety.
Keywords: Fixed Costs, Product Variety, Electronic Commerce, Welfare, Internet
40
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
“If you know where you are going, any road will take you there”
Before the start of any research, it is very necessary to define the objective of the study i.e. what
we are going to study.
• To check the consumer awareness & perception of online shopping in India.

• Impact of advertising on online shopping.
• To study sales promotional techniques to boast online shopping in India.
• To find out influence of online advertising on the buying behaviour of the customer.
• Satisfaction level at various components of online shopping.
41
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
MARKETING RESEARCH
Marketing research covers the field of problems, techniques, and other aspects of marketing
and related decision-making and their implementation. It studies an economic unit in respect
of its various constituents such as consumers, buyers, and sellers. It studies their response
pattern towards prize, promotion, purchasing power, and loyalty towards specific brands and
similar other marketing activities. It also tries to determine the contribution of other relevant
factors such as habits, consumers, and preference to decision making.
TYPES OF RESEARCH DESIGN
• The research design adopted for this study is exploratory research design.
• Exploratory research includes survey and fact finding enquiries of different kinds.
• Research design is used to describe the state of affairs, as it exists at present.
RESEARCH INSTRUMENT
• A structured design questionnaire is used for surveying the consumers.
• Both open ended and close ended questions are included.
Data Sources
• Both Secondary and Primary Sources of data will be used.
• The major type of information used is primary data. This is done thru primary survey.
The literature review is a secondary data type. The sources include books, periodicals,
websites, printed literature etc.
SAMPLE SIZE
• A sample of 100 people will be taken for the survey. Business persons, Professionals,
Non-professional and Retired persons are included.
• Further these are only the people based on whom analysis and interpretation is done.
SAMPLING METHOD
42
• Random sampling method will be chosen to conduct the survey in which the samples are
selected randomly.
Methodology:
• The study will be conducted by Personal Interview with the customers who have
interest in shopping.
• Observing & studying the behavior of the customers & their demand towards the
different products.
• The study on the customer satisfaction level that can be obtained through well formatted
& designed questionnaire that is mentioned in the subsequent chapter.
Process of collection & analysis of Data:
After collecting the entire filled questionnaire the collected data will be transferred to a
worksheet, the data related to set objectives will then be classified and the findings will be
graphically represented.
Schedule: Time frame for completion of the Project is 4months
Sample unit- Jalandhar, Amritsar
43
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
1. How often you go for shopping
Response No. of respondent

Daily 7
Once a week 25
Once a month 55
Fortnightly 5
Quarterly 8
INTERPRETATION- Of the consumers approached, 100 people agreed to fill in the

questionnaire and this specific question. This question is aimed at understanding how frequently
consumers visit shops and buy their products or avail of their services. The frequency points
laid before the respondent have been the result of observation and interview. By analysing the
responses to this question, we, the researchers, as well as companies, can identify the number of
times a customer is likely to shop in a month’s time.
44
.
2. How do you make a purchase?

Online 45
Offline 55
INTERPRETATION-
Of the consumers approached, 100 people agreed to fill in the questionnaire and this specific
question. This question is aimed at analyzing the preferences of consumers purchase
behaviour.The survey indicate that most of respondent make the purchase through offline.
45
3. Rate of preference towards online shopping
Response No. of Respondent

Very interested 5
Interested 15
Average 25
Least interested 10
Not interested 45
INTERPRETATION-
question. This question is aimed at analyzing the preferences of consumers purchase behaviour.
The survey indicates that the maximum respondent were not interested in online shopping. The
reason behind is that they believe in the offline shopping. In online shopping, only those were
interested who have no time for offline purchase.
46
4. From where you get to know about online shopping

Friends 20
Internet 10
Magazines 5
Advertisement 15
Newspaper 0
Online Search 5
INTERPRETATION-
The survey depicts that the consumers are mostly quality and brand conscious. The promotional
advertisements also affect there buying behaviour. Most of the respondents were get to know
about online shopping from Friends, internet and advertisement of the online portals.
5. Do you have own credit card
47
Response No. of Respondent
Yes 55
No 0
Interpretation
question. This question is aimed to know about consumer have own credit card. Most of the
people which I have surveyed who were purchasing the goods through online have their own
credit card.
6. Why do you prefer online shopping
48
Convenient 7
Time saving 30
Less costly 4
Security 4
Any other 0
INTERPRETATION-
Out of 45 respondents, most of the respondent said that the big advantage of online shopping is
time saving process and providing the variety of the products.
7. Are you aware about online shopping portals

Yes 45
No 0
49
INTERPRETATION-
This question is aimed at analyzing the awareness of consumers among the different online
shopping portals. The highest number of responses has been attributed to online shopping
portals. Online shopping attracts people of many income groups, and offers products that appeal
to a wide array of consumers.
8. Awareness of various online Portals

Rediffshopping.com 17
Amazon.com 17
Futurebazaar.com 0
eBay.com 6
Malamaal.com 0
50
Wal-mart 0
Others 5
Interpretation
Of the consumers approached, only 45 people agreed to fill in the questionnaire and this specific
question. This question is aimed at analyzing the preferences of consumers among the different
online shopping portals. The highest number of responses has been attributed to
Rediffshopping.com/Amazon.com/eBay.com. They attract people of many income groups, and
offers products that appeal to a wide array of consumers.
9. What type of products you purchase through online shopping

Electronics goods 19
Gifts 4
Home goods 6
Cosmetics 0
Clothes and accessories 0
51
Others 16
Interpretation
Of the consumers approached, only 45 people agreed to fill in the questionnaire and this specific
question. This question is aimed at identifying the products consumers shop online. The high
number of responses indicate that a large number of consumers visit online portal for
Electronics goods/Home goods/gifts.
10. Do you think that online shopping is secure in terms of online payment

Strongly Agree 0
Agree 20
Neutral 15
52
Disagree 10
Strongly disagree 0
Interpretation
question. This question is aimed at understanding the satisfaction level of the consumers in
terms of online payment. This helps to understand the current consumer perception of the
security of online payment identified and the corresponding satisfaction levels. There are also
quite a few respondents who were strongly satisfied with the security of online payment.
11. Rate the payment preference

Debit Card 10
Credit card 8
Cash on Delivery 20
Cheque 7
SMS Billing 0
53
Postal money order 0
Interpretation
question. This question is aimed at understanding the payment preference of the consumer in
online shopping. This indicates that although most consumers were satisfied with the delivery
of the product.
12. Are the products purchases through online shopping as per the methodology of ‘What
you see is what you get’ (WYSWYG)?
Response No. of Respondents

Yes 23
No 22
Can’t Say 0
54
Interpretation
question. This question is aimed at understanding what elements attract the consumer the most.
The preference points laid before the respondent have been the result of observation and
interview. By analysing the responses to this question some were said satisfied and vice versa
with the online purchase methodology ‘What you see is what you get’ (WYSWYG)?
13. How do you rate the after sale support of the shopping portals from whom you purchase
the product.

Excellent 0
Good 10
Average 23
55
Bad 7
Extremely bad 5
Interpretation
question. This question is aimed at understanding, after sale support of shopping portals to the
consumer the most. So most of the consumer were satisfied with the after sale support of the
various shopping portals but some were not satisfied with after sale support.
14. Are you satisfied with mode of payment for online shopping

Yes 35
No 7
Can’t say 3
56
INTERPRETATION: -
Out of the different people I have surveyed most of the respondents were of the opinion that
they were satisfied with mode of online shopping payment. And some respondent were said that
they were not satisfied and some were have no opinion.
15. Rate the following portals of online shopping as per the performance

Highly satisfied 0
Satisfied 32
Neutral 10
Dissatisfied 3
57
Highly dissatisfied 0
INTERPRETATION:-
question. This question is aimed at analyzing the preferences of consumers purchase behaviour
towards the performance of shopping portals. Out of 45 consumers 32 respondents were
satisfied with the performance of online shopping portals and 3 percent were dissatisfied with
online shopping portal’s performance.
16. Do you recommend to your friends for online shopping

Yes 27
No 18
58
INTERPRETATION:-
Out of 45 respondent, most of respondent said that they would be recommended other to go for
online shopping because online shopping is the time saving process and some respondent said
that they would not be recommended other to go for online shopping .
FINDINGS
In the surveys, interviews and study conducted above, we came across many factors that
influence the consumers’ perception of a store and their subsequent shopping and buying
decisions. Here, we present the findings gathered and the suggestions we offer to companies
based on the data gathered and analyzed.
59
Respondents were asked to choose among five age group categories, viz., 18-30, 30-45, 45-60,
and above 60 years. The age groups were identified as key factors impacting shopping and
purchase decisions of consumers
• The highest responses have been attributed to once a month shopping. It can be deduced
that consumers who shop only once a month look to buy groceries and other essentials
to last them a month.
• Most of the respondents that I have been surveyed were spend on shopping in between
1000 to 6000.
• The highest number of responses has been attributed to offline purchase.
• The survey indicates that the maximum respondent were not interested in online
shopping. The reason behind is that they believe in the offline shopping. In online
shopping, only 45 consumers were interested because they have no time for offline
purchase.
• Most of the respondents were get to know about online shopping from Friends, internet
and advertisement of the online portals.
• All of the people which I have surveyed who were purchasing the goods through online
have their own credit card.
• Most of the respondent said that the big advantage of online shopping is time saving
process and providing the variety of the products.
• The highest number of responses has been attributed to online shopping portals.
• The highest number of response has been attributed to
rediffshopping.com/Amazon.com/eBay.com. They attract people of many income
groups, and offers products that appeal to a wide array of consumers.
• The high number of responses indicate that a large number of consumers visit online
portal for Electronics goods/Home goods/gifts.
• There are also quite a few respondents who were strongly satisfied with the security of
online payment.
• Most of the respondent who make the purchase through online, they were prefer to make
the payment on the delivery of the product.
60
• Most of the consumer were satisfied with the after sale support of the various shopping
portals but some were not satisfied with after sale support.
• Most the people who make the purchase through online were satisfied with the mode of
payment.
• Online shopping is the time saving process so most of the respondent said that they
would be recommended other to go for online shopping.
• As per the demographic distribution of sample size used in my research project I h have
to come a conclusion that the awareness of online shopping is mostly falls in age group
of 18-35 yrs which affects the people perception towards the online shopping is same as
the dependent factor of the respondent.
LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
And necessary data to complete the project may not gather in proper manner. The limitations
which we observe were as follows:
• With respect to actual population the sample size was too small. This might be effect the
final result.
61
• Since the responses were only from some part of Jalandhar, the report cannot be
generalized for whole Jalandhar.
• Respondents may have given bias information.
• The time limit for the research was small to collect adequate information for inference
for the consumer buying behavior.
• In the fast changing world the data collected soon become historic and research findings
based on them irrelevant.
• Some customer’s problems don’t lead to valid research conclusion.
SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATION
• Providing quality service at affordable prices and having different types of products for
different income customers is another advantage.
62
• Online portals have endorsed very famous personalities which has attracted a lot of
customers. This has resulted in increase of sale and the outdoor advertising techniques
have also helped the online portals.
• Considering the fact that there are a lot middle class families in India, online portals has
had a huge impact on the middle class section of India, the prices, quality and sales
strategy has helped in getting the middle income groups getting attracted towards online
shopping.
• Yet another concern is about online security. If you are shopping online, you have to
take additional care about your credit cards so that to protect from unauthorized usage.
So various online shopping portals has to provide the security on payment procedure.
• Online shopping lacks the real world shopping experience that we get shopping with
relatives and friends offline. Even though online shopping has several disadvantages, the
advantages outnumber the disadvantages and thus more and more people started buying
online.
• Delay in delivery and lower quality leads to dissatisfaction of customers. Due to factors
mentioned above online shoppers are not always satisfied, this is not a positive for the
shopping portals.
• People are loyal towards brand as they are highly satisfied with the quality and they
have an assurance from the brand for their continued supply of quality products.
Conclusion
Online shopping is a different experience and you can make the shopping creative over the
internet as you get used to it. There can be lot of apprehensions about online shopping when you
63
get in to it for the first time. As you experience more and more of it those apprehensions get
disappeared slowly. Remember that if you stick to the basics, online shopping become more
enjoyable and easier than real-world shopping.
In the conclusion part of my project, all people which I have surveyed were interested in
shopping but, most of the people were having preference to shop offline and very few were
interested to go online for shopping.
My survey indicates that the maximum consumer make the purchase offline because of the lack
of awareness towards online shopping and shopping portals. On the basis of survey the major
drawback of the online shopping is lack of the security in the shopping payment through
credit/Debit card. Most of the people preferred online shopping because it is a time saving
process.
WYSWYG (what you see is what you get)approach is not being followed whole heartedly by
online web portal as most of the people opined that the product purchase through online portals
differs significantly from its original form .The images of the product are mostly inflated which
affects the perception of consumers towards online shopping.
64

fINAL REPORT - ONLINE PROJECT

Transféré par

Informations du document

Description originale:

Titre original

Copyright

Formats disponibles

Partager ce document

Partager ou intégrer le document

Options de partage

Avez-vous trouvé ce document utile ?

Ce contenu est-il inapproprié ?

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

fINAL REPORT - ONLINE PROJECT

Transféré par

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

INTRODUCTION OF ONLINE SHOPPING

Shopping cart systems

For developing countries and low-income households in developed countries, adoption

In most cases, merchandise must be shipped to the consumer, introducing a significant

Information and reviews:-

Some online stores provide or link to supplemental product information, such as

Security & Safety Online:-

Online shopping procedure

Online Payment Gateway

Online Shopping Tips

Online Shopping Advantages

ONLINE STORE WAL-MART

Founded- 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas

Founder – Sam Walton

Headquarter- Bentonville, Arkansas

Industry – Retail, Discount stores, Supercenters, Neighborhood market

Employees – approximate 21, 00,000(2008)

Websites- www.walmart.com, www.walmartstores.com

Incorporation and growth:-

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Family apparel Automotive products

Jewelry House wares

Supercenter groceries feature:

Bakery goods Deli foods

Marketside offerings include:

Wal-Mart Neighborhood Markets

Neighborhood Markets offer a quick and

Fresh produce Deli foods

Bharti Enterprises and Wal-Mart join hands in wholesale cash-and-carry to

• Business-to-business wholesale cash-and-carry joint venture to set up world-class

About Bharti Enterprises:-

• Bharti - Wal-Mart to have equal stake in the company.

Also known as the "Frontier Font Logo," this was the

The Discount City mark was used in print advertising,

The logo was updated again in 1981.

The star was adopted as an update to the existing logo

New logo adopted by Wal-Mart Stores U.S.

Some important online shopping websites.

Mission In The Internet Space:-

PRODUCT AND SERVICE OFFERINGS

About the Future Group

Core Competency of the business…what makes us different from others!

 A choice of more than 20,000 products

Prompt Customer Support

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) is an American electronic commerce (e-commerce)

1. Abstract:Alejandro Zentner, School of Management, New Delhi 2007

2.Abstract: Abhishek Malhotra University of Delhi- Department of Economics, 2007

4. Abstract: Ramayya Krishnan, School of Public Policy and Management, 2005

8. Abstract: Compass Lexicon, Washington, DC, Dec.2008

• To check the consumer awareness & perception of online shopping in India.

• Research design is used to describe the state of affairs, as it exists at present.

• Both open ended and close ended questions are included.

Process of collection & analysis of Data:

Sample unit- Jalandhar, Amritsar

1. How often you go for shopping

Response No. of respondent

INTERPRETATION- Of the consumers approached, 100 people agreed to fill in the

2. How do you make a purchase?

Response No. of respondent

Response No. of Respondent

Response No. of respondent

5. Do you have own credit card