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A PROJECT REPORT ON
CUSTOMERS SATISFACTION TOWARDS THE SERVICES OF
E-COMMERCE IN SHIMLA REGION OF HIMACHAL PRADESH
A TREATISE
SUBMITTED TO THE HIMACHAL PRADESH UNIVERSITY, SHIMLA
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE
AWARD OF DEGREE OF

MASTER OF COMMERCE
(2019 -2020)

SUPERVISED BY SUBMITTED BY
Dr. S.S. NARTA RAJNI SHARMA
Professor 180091220036

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
HIMACHAL PRADESH UNIVERSITY
(NAAC Accredited ‘A’ Grade University)
SUMMER HILL, SHIMLA-171005
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CERTIFICATE

It gives me immense pleasure to certify that the project report entitled “Customer satisfaction
towards the services of e-commerce in Shimla region of Himachal Pradesh” submitted by Nidhi
Kashyap, Nisha Devi, Priyanka and Rajni Sharma have been carried out under my supervision
and guidance. I further certify that this project report has been completed in a group and all the
students have equally contributed in the completion of this project report.
The technique used and the data reported in the project report are genuine to the best of my
knowledge. It represents the original work of the group and the project report is worthy of
consideration for the award of Master of Commerce.

S.S. NARTA
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is proud privilege to release the feelings of indebtedness to several persons who helped
directly or indirectly to complete this project work. First and foremost, we bow our head in
reverence of the almighty god for providing us the positive strength and energy to work on this
project report and enabling us to reach far beyond our restricted ambit of thoughts and actions.
We wish to express our indebtedness and deep gratitude to Prof. S.S. Narta, under whose able
supervision and guidance we carried out this study. It would not have been possible for us to
complete this piece of work without his help and encouragement throughout from planning of
this project work. The words are inadequate to explain his meticulous nature.
Mere words of acknowledgement will never express the sense of regards and indebtedness
towards our esteemed and lovable parents whose love, ever encouraging moral support and self-
sacrifice that enabled us to pursue our studies with unfailing passion and devotion. And may it
not be possible to mention all those people who helped us during our project work, so we thank
all of them sincerely. Nevertheless, all the errors are ours.
We would like to express our gratitude to all our friends, members of department of commerce
and fellow classmates of M.Com who directly or indirectly helped us to complete this project
work.
Last but not the least we also acknowledge with deep sense of reverence and gratitude to all our
respondents whose responses helped us in completion of our project report. In the present world
of competition there is a race of existence in which those are having will to come forward
succeed. Project is like a bridge between theoretical and practical work. The study has indeed
helped us to explore more knowledgeable avenues related to our topic.

PREFACE
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The project is an integral part of VI semester curriculum of Master of Commerce. The purpose
of this project report is to study what customers think about the online services which are being
offered by different service providers.

The globalization of business, widespread technological innovations, social and political

changes and an increased awareness in customers are some of the factors that have increased
the use of E-Commerce at large level. Keeping in view these ever increasing complexities we
did a descriptive study about “Customers Satisfaction towards the Services of E-Commerce in
Shimla Region of Himachal Pradesh”. E-commerce provides multiple benefits to the consumers
in form of availability of goods at lower cost, wider choice and save time. Managing customer
trust, satisfactions, and loyalty attitudes of e-commerce services is very important for long-term
growth of many businesses. Previous research has shown that e-retailers experiences difficulties
in maintaining customer loyalty despite the recent rapid growth in Business to Consumer
application. Every organization is ready to pay any means to identify and understand the
customers and their needs. It is an effective reaction of the consumers when their desires and
expectations have been either met or exceeded in the course of experiencing the services.
Therefore, this study attempts to fill gap by examining the relationship between customer
satisfaction and customer loyalty in Shimla region.

E-commerce is the process whereby consumers directly buy goods, services from the seller
interactively in real-time without an intermediary service over the internet. E-commerce is
entirely automated facility based on information technology delivery mechanism to
conventional internet users. The internet facility has transformed the business world in terms of
managing business. Although, technological advancements are happening everyday but not
every advancement has been welcomed and adapted by the business units and customers. The
business unit and customers go with the changes has to come over some back drops in order to
avail advantages of new changes. In todays, competitive world business has to come with new
ideas and creativity in order to satisfy needs and wants of customers and on the other hand if
customers want to avail those products and services need to meet the expected money value of
product and services which has been fixed by the service providers. Today e-commerce is the
most popular service delivery system not just in India but in whole world. As demand for e-
commerce is increasing it brings some demerits with it some of them are: it is costly exercise, to
provide e-commerce facilities it requires proper steps to be followed with can be quite
expensive. Then come security issues related to e-commerce, resistance of customers to
overcome from traditional method of purchasing as they consider online purchasing is risky and
chances of fraud.
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In the first chapter, an attempt has been made to discuss the meaning and basic concept of e-
commerce. The focus of chapter is on what is e-commerce, historical background of e-
commerce, types of e-commerce services, need of e-commerce, benefits of e-commerce in
modern era of business, elements of e-commerce. The second chapter comprises of outline of
previous work on the relevant topic or study areas. The chapter presents review of literature.
The third chapter compacts of research methodology which includes meaning of research
methodology, topic of study or we can say area of problem, purpose of study, sampling units,
sampling size, sampling methods, research design, collection of data (methods used for data
collection), objectives of study and the last hypothesis of study. Chapter four covers data
analysis and interpretation which helped us to know what are the customer preferences and
satisfaction level from the e-commerce services. The chapter is explained with help of tables
and charts. Then comes the findings followed by conclusion and suggestions. And the ending of
study work is references and appendix.

No words can express our gratitude, indebtedness to our mentor Dr. S.S. Narta, Professor,
Department of Commerce, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla whose sincerity, flexibility
and professionalism guided us throughout this research work. His valuable suggestions,
constructive criticisms and constant engorgement kept us going on with the study. We are
particularly grateful to the time he spent teaching and guiding us the various statistical
procedures and how to use data efficiently.

We also extend our deep sense of thanks to the department faculty members and scholars for
their valuable and cooperative attitude. Without their help we are not able to complete our
research wok in time. And the individuals who are directly or indirectly helped us in completing
our study we take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to all of them

Rajni Sharma

CONTENT
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Chapters Title Page Number

Certificate 2
Acknowledgement 3
Preface 4-5
CONTENT
1 Introduction 7-22
 E-commerce 7-9
 History 9-11
 Features of e-commerce 11-12
 Types of e-commerce 12-15
 E-commerce models 16
 Market segments of e-commerce 16-19
 Need of e-commerce in modern era 19-22
2 Review of literature 23-29
 Meaning 23
 Purpose 23
 Study of review of literature 24-29
3 Research Methodology 30-37
 Study 30
 Purpose of study 30-31
 Sampling units 31
 Sample size 31
 Sampling methods 31
 Research design 31-32
 Collection of data 32-33
 Objective of study 33
 Hypothesis of study 33-37
4 Data analysis and Interpretation 38-46
5 Summary, Findings, Conclusion and Suggestions 47-50
5.1 Summary 47
5.2 Findings 48
5.3 Conclusion 49
5.4 Suggestions 50

Bibliography 51
Annexure 52-56

CHAPTER- 1
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INTODUCTION
E-commerce
E-commerce means using the Internet and the web for business transactions and/or commercial
transactions, which typically involve the exchange of value (e.g., money) across organizational
or individual boundaries in return for products and services. Here we focus on digitally enabled
commercial transactions among organizations and individuals. E-business applications turn into
e-commerce precisely, when an exchange of value occurs. Digitally enabled transactions
include all transactions mediated by digital technology and platform; that is, transactions that
occur over the Internet and the web. The term e-commerce was coined back in the 1960s, with
the rise of electronic commerce – the buying and selling of goods through the transmission of
data – which was made possible by the introduction of the electronic data interchange. Fast
forward fifty years and e-commerce has changed the way in which society sells goods and
services. E-commerce has become one of the most popular methods of making money online
and an attractive opportunity for investors. For those interested in buying an e-commerce
business this article serves to provide an introduction to e-commerce, covering the reasons for
its popularity, the main distribution models and a comparison of the major e-commerce
platforms available.

‘E-commerce’ and ‘online shopping’ are often used interchangeably but at its core e-commerce
is much broader than this – it embodies a concept for doing business online, incorporating a
multitude of different services e.g. making online payments, booking flights etc. E-commerce
has experienced rapid growth since its humble beginnings with e-commerce sales projected to
grow to 599.2 billion USD by 2024. The COVID-19 outbreak saw e-commerce sales spike 25%
in March 2020 alone. The power of e-commerce should not be underestimated as it continues to
pervade everyday life and present significant opportunities for small, medium, and large
businesses and online investors. You don’t need to look far to see the potential of e-commerce
businesses. Amazon, for example, which set the standard for customer-orientated websites as
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well as a lean supply chain, is selling over 4000 items in a minute from SMBs alone. E-
commerce is ability of a company to have dynamic presence on the internet which allowed the
company to conduct its business electronically, in essence having an electronic shop. Products
can be advertised, sold and paid for all electronically without the need for it to be processed by
a human being. E-commerce is not about the technology itself, it is about doing business using
technology. E-commerce involves the automation of a variety of Business to Business and
Business to Consumer transactions through reliable and secure connections. It includes the use
of electronic transmission medium such as telecommunication or wireless to carry out the
exchange of business document including buying and selling products and services digitally
form one location to another using computer and internet media. E-commerce, which can be
conducted over computers, tablets, or smartphones, may be thought of like a digital version of
mail-order catalog shopping. Nearly every imaginable product and service is available through
e-commerce transactions, including books, music, plane tickets, and financial services such as
stock investing and online banking. As such, it is considered a very disruptive technology. E-
commerce has helped businesses establish a wider market presence by providing cheaper and
more efficient distribution channels for their products or services. For example, the mass
retailer Target has supplemented its brick and mortar presence with an online store that lets
customers purchase everything from clothes to coffeemakers to toothpaste to action figures.

By contrast, Amazon launched its business with an e-commerce-based model of online sales
and product delivery. Not to be outdone, individual sellers have increasingly engaged in e-
commerce transactions via their own personal websites. Finally, digital marketplaces such as
eBay or Etsy serve as exchanges where multitudes of buyers and sellers come together to
conduct business. As economies across the world gradually reopen, life is slowly inching back
to normal after a series of lockdowns and over six months of pandemic-induced mayhem.
However, the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has provoked on both businesses and
humanity is large-scale in an unprecedented way. India has been among the worst-hit countries
with the number of cases soaring each day. While businesses have borne the brunt of the crisis,
they have also evolved to a great extent. The pandemic has reshaped the way businesses
function and for the country’s e-commerce industry, the crisis has presented a plethora of
opportunities to evolve and thrive.

One of the key elements powering this evolution of the highly lucrative e-commerce industry is
changing consumer behavior. Online shopping has gained immense traction and transformed
drastically in recent times. A report by Bain and Flipkart estimates that by 2025, there will be
over 350 million online shoppers in the country, and consumer behavior in this segment has
been evolving continuously. Here are some areas where consumer behavior in online shopping
has evolved due to the pandemic. Up until recently, a vast majority of people opted for imported
goods from various countries. However, the pandemic has not only disrupted supply chains,
making it nearly impossible for goods to be transported long distances due to movement
restrictions but has also shed light on the staggering amount of dependence that India has on
China and other countries. The ‘Vocal for Local’ movement has steadily been gaining
popularity as people gravitate more towards home-grown brands and support small businesses
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and locally sourced products. This not only hands over the reins to local e-commerce sellers and
third-party aggregators who can capitalize on the demand but is also a major step in building a
self-reliant India. Opting for locally made products is one of the biggest shifts in consumer
behavior. After six months of complete lockdown, it is a no-brainer that safety, health, and
hygiene have hopped to the top of the priority list for both businesses and individuals. In the
online shopping segment, too, there is a notable shift in consumer behavior as consumers have
moved from aggressively shopping for fashion apparel to products for better health and
hygiene. Post the Unlock Phase-I, the demand for the health and beauty segment surged to 32
per cent, underscoring the changing consumer behavior where products in the health well-being
department are given priority as compared to other products. In today’s fast-changing world,
where Internet and technology are omnipresent, people prefer quick doorstep services—and this
applies to shopping too. Although the pandemic has given a boost to online shopping, the
transition hasn’t been out of the blue. Online shopping has become increasingly popular and
players in the e-commerce industry such as aggregators and sellers are now looking to create a
seamless post-order experience for customers. This is where hyper local deliveries come into
the scene. Since hyperlocal deliveries cater to a smaller geographical area, brands can fulfill
same-day and next day deliveries, thus ensuring immaculate customer experience and boosting
customer satisfaction, retention and acquisition. The advent of social media has truly been a
revolution of sorts in a world driven by technology where everything is accessible at the click of
a button. The pandemic has resulted in people spending more time indoors browsing through
their social media newsfeeds, purchasing, and reviewing products. To keep customers engaged,
brands have now shifted to social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter by
integrating their websites with these social media networks to interact with customers and build
their brands. Social media and online shopping through social media are trending and this trend
is likely to remain the same even in the distant future.

Consumer behavior in online shopping is evolving rapidly and businesses are coming up with
innovative solutions to cater to consumers’ demands. Digitizing the business is one of the first
steps that companies can take to create a wider reach, and aggregators are doing just that to
enable small-time sellers to take their businesses online. While it is not easy to say if the current
trends will remain, one thing is for certain – the pandemic has transformed the online shopping
segment and consumer behavior will continue to evolve in the future.

 History
The history of E-commerce begins with the invention of the telephone at the end of last century.
EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) is widely viewed as the beginning of ecommerce if we
consider ecommerce as the networking of business communities and digitalization of business
information. Large organizations have been investing in development of EDI since sixties. It
has not gained reasonable acceptance until eighties. The meaning of electronic commerce has
changed over the last 30 years. Originally, electronic commerce meant the facilitation of
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commercial transactions electronically, using technology such as Electronic Data Interchange

(EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). These were both introduced in the late 1970s,
allowing businesses to send commercial documents like purchase orders or invoices
electronically. The growth and acceptance of credit cards, automated teller machines (ATM)
and telephone banking in the 1980s were also forms of electronic commerce. Another form of
E-commerce was the airline and railway reservation system. Online shopping, an important
component of electronic commerce was invented by Michael Aldrich in the UK in 1979. The
world’s first recorded business to business was Thomson Holidays in 1981. The first recorded
Business to consumer was Gates head SIS/Tesco in 1984. During the 1980s, online shopping
was also used extensively in the UK by auto manufacturers such as Ford, General Motors and
Nissan. The systems used the switched public telephone network in dial-up and leased line
modes.

From the 1990s onwards, electronic commerce would additionally include enterprise resource
planning systems (ERP), data mining and data warehousing. An early online information
marketplace, including online consulting, was the American Information Exchange, another pre
Internet online system introduced-in 1991. In 1990 Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide
Web and transformed an academic telecommunication network into a worldwide everyman
everyday communication system called internet/www (dot) Commercial enterprise on the
Internet was strictly prohibited until 1991. Although the Internet became popular worldwide
around 1994 when the first internet online shopping started, it took about five years to introduce
security protocols and DSL allowing continual connection to the Internet. By the end of 2000,
many European and American business companies offered their services through the World
Wide Web. Since then people began to associate a word “E-commerce” with the ability of
purchasing various goods through the Internet using secure protocols and electronic payment
services. The Internet was conceived in 1969, when the Advanced Research Projects Agency (a
Department of Defense organization) funded research of computer networking. The Internet
could end up like EDI without the emergence of the World Wide Web in 1990s. The Web
became a popular mainstream medium (perceived as the fourth mainstream medium in addition
to print, radio and TV) in a speed which had never been seen before. The Web users and content
were almost doubled every a couple of months in 1995 and 1996.

The term electronic commerce or e-commerce refers to any sort of business transaction that
involves the transfer of information through the internet. By definition it covers a variety of
business activities which use internet as a platform for either information exchange or monetary
transaction or both at times. For example, the numbers of consumer brand retail sites like
Amazon (dot) com and Flipkart(dot)com which normally provides information about products
and also allows monetary transactions to happen over the internet. On the contrary there are the
auctions sites like Quicker (dot) com and EBay(dot)com where the information about certain
listed products and services are provided but the monetary transactions normally happen
physically. Apart from these two categories of e-commerce sites, there are some sites which
enable businesses to exchange trading goods and also service between two or more companies.
All of these forms of internet based business platforms are known as e-commerce. Over the last
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decade the advent of e-commerce has actually transformed the manner in which people used
internet. People now are not only just using internet for gathering information, leisure or
socializing online but also at the same time they are seeking measures to conduct business.
Even popular social networking sites like Facebook(dot)com are allowing people to promote
and sell products and services online and the introduction of computer and mobile based e-
commerce application software like Shopify provides evidence of how e-commerce have
boomed over the past 5 years.

 Features of e-commerce:

 E-Commerce is Technology-Enabled:
Traditional commerce is taking place since times immemorial but E-commerce is result of
integration of digital technology with business processes and commercial transactions. The
technological foundations of E-commerce are internet, WWW and various protocols.

 Technology Mediated:
In E-commerce buyers and sellers meet in cyber space rather than physical place. Hence E-
commerce does not involve face to face contact.

 Universality:
Buying and selling take place through websites in E-Commerce. The websites can be accessed
from anywhere around the globe at any time therefore it possess the feature of universality.

 Intercommunication:
E-commerce technology ensures two way communications between buyer and seller. On one
hand by using E- commerce firms can communicate with customers through E-commerce
enabled websites. On the other end, customers can also fill order forms, feedback forms and can
communicate with business operating firms.

 Delivery of Information:
E-commerce serves as the best channel of communication. E-commerce technologies ensure
speedy delivery of information at very low cost and considerably increase information density
as well.

 Electronic Completion of Business Processes:

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By using E- commerce we can perform business transactions like accounting and inventory
through computers at global level.

 Virtual Communities:
Virtual Communities are online communities created by means such as chat rooms and
specifically designed sites like, where people can interact with each other having common
interest using the internet.

 Inter-Disciplinary in Nature:
Implementation of E-Commerce needs a lot of knowledge of managerial, technological, social
and legal issues. Besides this, understanding of consumer behavior, marketing tools and
financial aspects is as crucial as designing interactive E- Commerce websites.

 Customization:
With the use of E-commerce technology, the world is moving from mass-production to mass-
customization. Product customization ensures that goods are tailor made as per the requirements
and preferences of customers. Like Dell Computers Website www (dot) dell (dot) com enables
the consumers to mention configuration of a Computer and then the product is made available
and delivered as per the configuration ordered by the customer.

 Types of e-commerce:
 Business to Business (B2B):
Business to Business or B2B refers to E-Commerce activities between businesses. In E-
Commerce B2B, transactions are usually carried out through Electronic Data Interchange or
EDI. EDI is an automated format of exchanging information between businesses over private
networks.

For Example- Manufacturers and wholesalers are B2B companies.

 Business to Customer (B2C):

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Business to Customer or B2C refers to E-Commerce activities that are focused on consumers
rather than on businesses.

For instance, a book retailer would be a B2C company such as Amazon.com.

 Customer to Business (C2B):

Customer to Business or C2B refers to E-Commerce activities, which use reverse pricing
models where the customer determines the price of the product or services.

For example – tele workers and online auctions are C2B processes.

 Customer to Customer (C2C):

Customer to Customer or C2C refers to E-Commerce activities, which uses an auction style
model.

Customers are also the business and C2C enables customers to directly deal with each other. An
example of this is peer auction giant, E Bay.
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 M-Commerce (Mobile Commerce):

M-commerce (mobile commerce) is the buying and selling of goods and services through
wireless technology i.e., handheld devices such as cellular telephones and personal digital
assistants. Japan is seen as a global leader in m-commerce.

As content delivery over wireless devices becomes faster, more secure and scalable, some
believe that m-commerce will surpass wire line e-commerce as the method of choice for digital
commerce transactions. This may well be true for the Asia-Pacific where there are more mobile
phone users than there are Internet users.

 Why Do People Buy ‘Online’?

 Lower Prices: Managing an online storefront is far cheaper than an offline, brick and mortar
store. Typically less staff are required to manage an online shop as web-based management
systems enable owners to automate inventory management and warehousing is not
necessarily required (as we discuss later). As such, e-commerce business owners can afford
to pass operational cost savings on to consumers (in the form of product or service
discounts) whilst protecting their overall margin. Furthermore, with the rise of price
comparison websites, consumers have more transparency with regard to prices and are able
to shop around, typically purchasing from online outlets instead.
 Accessibility and Convenience: Unlike many offline stores, consumers can access e-
commerce websites 24 hours a day. Customers can read about services, browse products and
place orders whenever they wish. In that sense, online shopping is extremely convenient and
gives the consumer more control. Furthermore, those living in more remote areas are able to
order from their home at a touch of a button, saving them time travelling to a shopping
center.
 Wider Choice: For the past twenty years, the growth of online shopping has to a largely
extent been based around increased choice. With an almost endless choice of brands and
products to choose from, consumers are not limited by the availability of specific products in
their local town, city or country. Items can be sourced and shipped globally. Interestingly,
one recent study found that consumers are actually involving in e-commerce sites which
offer too many choices. Whichever way you look at it though, more choice has likely been a
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good thing over the long term. Naturally e-commerce has significant benefits for the
consumer, but it has also been useful for businesses too. Next, we look at some of the
reasons why businesses have been quick to race into the space.

 Why Do Businesses Sell ‘Online’?

 Higher Margins: Setup costs and ongoing operational costs such as rent, heating,
electricity, warehousing (if operating a drop-ship model) and inventory management are
often significantly reduced or otherwise eliminated. Further, customer service and other
administrative tasks can be automated or outsourced at a relatively low-cost. As such,
higher margins can usually be achieved when selling via an online store compared to
operating an offline business.
 Scalability: With a brick and mortar business, the owner is often limited by the amount of
people who can physically be in the store at any one time. There is no limit when trading
online. Furthermore, online platforms enable rapid scaling. With the emergence of social
media and content marketing as well as the option of generating traffic and conversions
through pay-per-click (PPC), expanding into new regions or markets can happen quickly. A
great example of this in practice is choxi, a business that experienced 1,023% growth in
revenue in just one year.
 Consumer Insight / Technology: E-commerce businesses typically collate a tremendous
amount of customer data. With every element of consumer behavior being tracked, e-
commerce business owners are able to understand, tweak and improve the customer
shopping experience for customers – making data-led decisions to increase conversion rates
and sales. With technology rapidly evolving, it is important that online retailers use tools
such as Google Analytics correctly to understand their customers’ buying habits, unlocking
insight from this data presents a unique advantage, not available to offline stores. Those
who leverage the right systems and technology can see their businesses grow extremely
quickly.

 E-commerce models:
There are three main fulfillment models associated with e-commerce that dictate the role of the
retailer as well as the way in which a product is stored and distributed to the end-user. These
models have a significant impact on the operational characteristics of the business and its day-
to-day running as well as the overall operating margin. The three main models are:

 Drop shipping Model

In a drop shipping model, the e-commerce business takes no physical possession of the items on
sale. The store owner does not keep products in stock and there is no inventory held. Instead,
orders are sent directly to the manufacturer, who is responsible for storing the items and
shipping them to the customer. In this sense, the merchant never sees or touches, the products,
which has some unique advantages over adopting a more traditional order fulfillment model.
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 Traditional Order Fulfillment Model

Buying wholesale is arguably closest to the traditional offline retail model. In effect, the
business owner (retailer) acquires stock directly from a wholesaler at a discounted rate, applies
a margin onto each product and decides to deliver to consumers directly.

 Market segment of e-commerce:

E-commerce, also called e-trading, operates in all four major market segments – Business to
Business, Business to Consumer, Consumer to Consumer and Consumer to Business. Examples
of E-commerce include on-line shopping, electronic payments, on- line auctions, internet
banking, on-line ticketing etc.

 E-Tailing:
E-Tailing is the abbreviation of electronic retailing. It is the sale of goods and services through
the internet. E-tailing involves business-to-business or business-to-customers transactions. It
can be regarded as the internet front of any traditional retailer.

E-tailing shops believe in building strong brands. The web sites they create are easily
understood by the visitors. They also provide discounts and offers to engage the customers. The
pricing, in E-tailing shops, is generally lower than that of a traditional shop.

In this way the e-tailing shops lure the customers to make purchases on-line. The customers also
get benefited from the fact that he/she does not need to physically visit the shop for making the
purchase. The customers are free to make their own decisions regarding the purchase, at their
own leisure time. However, e-tailing shops need to have a strong distribution network in order
to secure the delivery of the products. Otherwise, the purpose of the e-tailing site will be
defeated. Big e-tailing sites like EBay (dot) com and Amazon (dot) com are making great
business in this country. No requirement of physical infrastructure. Order completion is
smoother than that of physical shops. Customers might get addicted to on-line shopping, which
in turn boost sales and increase revenue. It is easy to review the product before, actually,
purchasing it. Most items available on-line are cheaper with quick and easy shipping and
returns. Creating and maintaining an e-tailing web site is an expensive process. Customers do
not often get to check the actual dimensions of the products and the quality displayed there.
Customers may have trust issues before providing their personal details and credit card details.

 E-Advertising:
E-Advertising is the mechanism of promoting products or services on-line. It is the process of
gaining attention of the customers, through the digital media.
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The main purpose of e-advertising is to reach out to a wider range of customers. It is more cost
effective when compared to the traditional forms of advertising. E-advertising also enables you
to target the specific customers. On safeguard to be taken regarding E-advertising is that
advertisement had to be consistently monitored and controlled because if it is done poorly, it
can severely damage the image of the company. E-advertising will only be published on the
internet. Sometimes e-advertising will provide hyperlinks to the company’s web site.

Types of E-Advertising:

There are various types of e-advertising:

(a) Wallpaper Advertising – It changes the background of the web site to the chosen promotion.

(b) Pop-Up Advertising – It pops up a new screen upon clicking on a certain link on the web
site, that it advertises the product.

(c) Floating Advertising – The floating e-advertising is a kind of a floating banner on the web
site, which tempts the visitor to click on it.

(d) Ad Sense Advertising – This refers to companies’ paying major search engines (such as
Google) to promote their business within the first three links that appear when a search is
entered.

 E-Marketing:
Electronic marketing (e-marketing) is also known as internet marketing, web marketing and
digital marketing on on-line marketing. It is the process of marketing a product or service using
the internet, e-mail and wireless media. Unlike e-advertising, e- marketing is very subtle. It is
not always a direct message of persuasion but rather it is something which will educate the
customers and convince them to buy the product or service.

Digital marketing techniques include Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine
Marketing (SEM), content marketing, e-commerce marketing, social media marketing, display
advertisement, marketing through SMS and on-hold mobile ring tones, etc. When compared to
the means of traditional marketing, e-marketing offers several advantages. E-marketing
provides much better return on the investment made by the marketer. It reduces the cost of
marketing campaign. The marketer can easily monitor and track the results of the campaign.
The results are often easily measurable and quickly obtained. E-marketing allows marketers
to create viral content, allowing viral marketing. Devising a strong online marketing
campaign involves spending money, the cost of which is ultimately borne by the customer. The
cost of website design, software, hardware, maintenance of website, online distribution cost and
 18

invested time, are also factored in, while deciding the cost of providing a service or a product
online. Website of the company has to be constantly updated, which required research and skills
and thus timing of updates are also critical. Digital marketing is not suitable for marketing of
industrial goods and pharmaceutical products making it useful for only specific categories of
products, namely consumer goods.

Types of E-Marketing:

There are several options through which the e-marketers can promote their
product and services:
1. Article Marketing – Writing articles about products and services often helps in the process of
educating the customers.

2. Affiliate Marketing – It is a kind of referral marketing where reference of any product will be
provided on the other websites and when the customer buy’s the product based on the
recommendation this website owner with gets commission.

3. Video Marketing – In this kind of e-marketing, a video will be shared describing the usage
and benefits of the product or a service. It is often similar to television commercials.

4. Email Marketing – Direct emails are being sent to potential customers describing benefits of
the product or service.

5. Blogging – Publishing blogs about similar products is also a very subtle way of marketing
some business.

6. Social Media Marketing – This form of marketing means promoting company’s products and
service on social media handles like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – It is cost-effective
because these platforms allow business to create profiles for free.

Consumers gain the following capabilities in the E-commerce providing

information-rich regime:
They can get objective information for multiple brands, including costs, prices, features and
quality without relying on the manufacturer or retailers. They can initiate requests for
advertising and information from manufacturers. They can use software agents to search for and
invite offers from multiple sellers. These new buyer capabilities mean that the exchange process
in the age of information has become customer initiated and customer controlled. Marketers and
their representatives are held at bay till customers invite them to participate in the exchange
process; customers define the rules of engagement, and insulate themselves with the help of
agents and intermediaries. Customers define what information they need, what products or
services they are interested in and what prices they are willing to pay.
 19

 Need of e-commerce in modern era:

 Wider Audience- The internet provides businesses, access to millions and millions of people.
A 2010 survey by Internet World Stats showed there are 266,244,500 internet users in North
America. On the World Wide Web, companies move beyond geographic limits to reach
wider audience.

 Cost Efficiency- At the beginning of the internet age in the 1990s, creating websites was a
costly undertaking. As the years passed, building websites became less and less expensive.
In fact, small businesses can now build their own sites.

 Faster Information- The information superhighway permits speedy exchange of data across
the world, which also means new information, is available faster.

 Enhanced Service- Development of E-Commerce equipped domestic providers to offer more

services to clients.
 Quickly find the product: Through e-Commerce, somebody could find the desired product
quickly. A person just has to visit an e-commerce website and search for the desired product
in the search box and then finalize the purchase online and it will be delivered to the home of
the client. I market sometimes it’s difficult to find a product but through e-commerce one
can find his desired result immediately.
 Provide abundant information: Ecommerce provides a lot of information to clients about
different products that are available worldwide.in physical stores, the workers of the store
just provide the required information to the clients that they are allowed by the management.
But in e-Commerce stores are allowed to provide full and complete information to clients so
that they can be satisfied before purchasing the product. Benefits of E-Commerce
 All-time Availability: Physical tore is not available every time in the day and night. But e-
Commerce stores are available at any time a customer could visit the e-Commerce website
places the order and gets the desired product at any time. (Advantages, 2009)
 The market for niche-products: In the physical store, it is difficult to locate or find niche
products for buyers. But e-Commerce has made it very easy and comfortable for the
customers to search for the product in the search engine and many products will be made
available to you through different e-Commerce websites and clients if free to choose his
desired product.

In the last era, we have seen E-Commerce websites working on the Internet. Every businessman
is looking to have an online store where they can sell their range of products and services by
expanding the requirement for the E-Commerce industry. One can get a lot of benefits by opting
for E-Commerce as it delivers a comprehensive range of benefits to retailers and merchants. It
goes without saying that your company is your priority in this case; but without satisfied
 20

customers, there won’t be a successful company – which means that everything goes hand in
hand.

The benefits your business will experience if you invest in an E-Commerce website for it are
abundant. First of all, think about how expensive it is to rent out a shop space where your shop
is well seen and in a prime area. If you have your shop online, anyone can see it; not only the
people who happen to walk past it. This benefit saves you and your business plenty of money.
We’re not saying that you should give up having a floor shop altogether, but it certainly saves
you from having to rent out something extravagant in an expensive area or shopping center. To
generate an E-Commerce website requires very little capital investment compared to purchasing
business premises. The difficulty with ‘physical’ business premises is that there is a need for
high visibility and the location will always be a key issue. The design and development of an E-
Commerce website can be a comparatively moderate investment relative to a business’s
turnover. The potential to save money on personnel as checkout, payments, delivery and all
over operational processes can be fully automated in the E-Commerce website.

E-Commerce becomes one of the preferred ways of shopping as they enjoy they are online in
today’s the world, because of its easiness and convenience. They are allowed to buy products or
services from their home at any time of day or night. The best thing about it is buying options
that are quick, convenient and user-friendly with the ability to transfer funds online. The
consumers can save their lots of time as well as money by searching their products easily and
making purchasing online. If you are running a store, it will be bounded to the geographical
region for which you can provide service, but on the other hand with an E-Commerce website,
you can sell your goods and services globally. Additionally, the remaining limitation of
geography has dissolved by m-commerce that is also known as mobile commerce.

E-Commerce provides new channels for you to reach more customers. Whether you’re just
starting out or an existing seller, there are new customers to serve. Existing brick and mortar
sellers can be limited by their location. Customers must travel to visit your store. With E-
Commerce, you can sell to customers anywhere, anytime. This allows you to serve customers
across or internationally. Any new or existing business has the ability to create and run a
successful E-Commerce website. The technology is in position for any business to hold the
Internet and enjoy the many benefits which E-Commerce offers. As discussed, the costs of
running such a business are minimal and the initial investment is moderately low. Many of the
barriers which are associated with having a physical business location are removed and a
business only has to concentrate its efforts on creating a service which addresses the needs of its
customers. At IT companies, we specialize in E-Commerce solutions and would welcome the
opportunity to discuss your requirements.

In present scenario, ecommerce web development is gaining huge popularity. These stores not
only help you in selling your products but also enable you to create your distinct identity on
web. These days, the importance of ecommerce has increased in the business. Ecommerce can
be understood as the doing business or buying or selling products or services over the internet
 21

or electronically. These electronic systems are the networks through which the desktops are
connected to the World Wide Web. This has become a prominent activity over the internet.
With this increasing popularity of ecommerce, ecommerce web development has also got huge
importance. Thus, for the web developers, e-commerce website development has become a
latest business trend. This new concept has revolutionized the way of doing business on
internet. By providing the superior quality ecommerce solutions, this business has emerged as
the most innovative way of doing business. Further, it has a great impact over the online
business.

There are a huge number of small businesses that have started their online shops. Hence, this
has resulted in raising the demand of shopping cart development. E-commerce website
development offers greater chances of understanding the client’s requirements and offers easy
and quick interaction to approach various dimensions. For creating an online store, it is very
necessary to develop an e-commerce website which is highly attractive, eye-catchy and feature-
rich. All these things help the businesses to attract more and more customers towards their
website. Various software tools like shopping cart, X-cart, Magento, Mambo and osCommerce
are used to develop these e-commerce websites. By adopting this method of ecommerce web
development, the sale of the products and services increase automatically over the internet and
that too without compromising the flow, attributes and performance.

There are various professional e-commerce website development companies, available in the
market, which are providing these ecommerce solutions to their clients. These companies
enable to maintain client’s trust, reliability and confidence over these online businesses. Hence,
the developers are responsible to create the website that understands the client’s requirements,
create healthy relations between the business and the clients and provide better opportunities for
growth of the company. For starting an online store, it is very necessary that an enterprise must
hire a well-known ecommerce website design company that can fully understand the business
needs and objectives.

CHAPTER 2
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REVIEW OF LITERATURE
A literature review is a comprehensive summary of previous research on a topic. The literature
review surveys scholarly articles, books, and other sources relevant to a particular area of
research. The review should enumerate, describe, summarize, objectively evaluate and clarify
this previous research. It should give a theoretical base for the research and help you (the
author) determine the nature of your research.  The literature review acknowledges the work of
previous researchers, and in so doing, assures the reader that your work has been well
conceived.  It is assumed that by mentioning a previous work in the field of study, that the
author has read, evaluated, and assimilated that work into the work at hand. A literature review
creates a "landscape" for the reader, giving her or him a full understanding of the developments
in the field.  This landscape informs the reader that the author has indeed assimilated all (or the
vast majority of) previous, significant works in the field into her or his research. 

Research gap:
1. Arvind Panagariya (2000) reported that access to e-commerce, which in the WTO parlance
often means access to e-exports, has two components that must be distinguished sharply.
The former deals with to access to Internet infrastructure while the latter relates to specific
commitments in electronically tradable services. E-commerce offers unprecedented
opportunities to both developing and developed countries. In the short run, the gain are
likely to be concentrated in developed countries have more to benefit. This is because, in the
short run, developing countries lack the infrastructure necessary to take full advantage of
Internet. For many countries, especially developing ones in these countries, most consumers
do not have computers or Internet access. A likely scenario, therefore, is one in which a
handful of independent entrepreneurs will receive the product by Internet, convert it into
physical form such as CDs and sell the latter to consumers. But this activity may itself be
costly using up real resources. Buy in the long run. They can leapfrog, skipping some of the
stages in the development of Information Technology through which developed countries
have had to pass. Elizabeth Goldsmith and Sue L.T. McGregor (2000) analyzed the impact
of e-commerce on consumers, public policy, business and education. A discussion of public
policy initiatives, research questions and ideas for future research are given.

2. Jackie Gilbert Bette Ann Stead (2001) reviewed the incredible growth of electronic
commerce (e-commerce) and presented ethical issues that have emerged. Security concerns,
spamming, websites that do not carry an “advertising” label, cyber squatters, online
marketing to children, conflicts of interest, manufacturers competing with intermediaries
online and “dinosaurs” were discussed.
3. Patric Barwise (2001) reported that probability 99 % of e-commerce today is done using
PCs either desktops or Laptops. For B2B e-commerce this is unlikely to change for B2C e-
commerce however, things will be more complex, there will be wider range of relevant
 23

media including interactive digital TV and a range of mobile 51 and wireless service there
will be huge difference between different consumers ownership of equipment and access
technology. Some will have broadband access and others have no digital communication at
all. Current and Future B2C digital media :Digital media able to support consumer e-
commerce can be grouped under five main headings within the home PCs, IDTV and within
next five years a range of other online device such as games, computers, utility meters etc. in
summary, the online PC is well established while the other B2C digital media are still
emerging.

4. Andrew D. Mitchell (2001) examined the key issues that electronic commerce poses for
Global trade, using as a starting point the General Agreement on trade in services (GATS),
the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement most relevant to e-commerce.

5. Nir B. Kshetri (2001) this paper attempts to identified and synthesized the available
evidence on predictors of magnitude, global distribution and forms of e-commerce. The
analysis indicated that the twin forces of globalization and major revolutions in ICT are
fuelling the rapid growth of global e-commerce.

6. Prithviraj Dasgupta and Kasturi Sengupta (2002) reported that the recent growth of
Internet Infrastructure and Introduction of economic reforms in the Insurance sector have
opened up the monopolistic Indian Insurance market to competition from foreign alliances.
Although the focus of e-commerce has been mainly on business to consumer (B2C)
applications the emphasis is now shifting towards business to business (B2B) applications.
The Insurance Industry provides an appropriate model that combines both B2C and B2B
applications.

7. James Christopher (2004) examined all the best element of e-commerce does not guarantee
consumers will visit or remain loyal. But looking at what they want and their satisfaction
levels of other 53 well established e-tailors such as Amazon and eBay who have already
invested significant resources to understand what consumer’s needs, wants and desires.
Perhaps it would be useful to emulate these established pure players since they have been
and continue to be highly successful as retain high marks for customer satisfaction
continuously increasing despite of tough economic problems. This industry is adopting
application of B2B and B2C. This industry has changed the ways of do business for
traditional ways to modern way i.e. e-commerce via web and other online transaction
software. Web is changing the behavior of consumers are well as they are becoming less
loyal, take less time for choosing and consuming the tourism products. As this industry is
service oriented business industry, companies are implementing various new techniques to
satisfy consumer needs and providing information to them through web and different value
generating strategies like value extraction, value capture, value addition value creation.
Travel and tourism is information based service oriented business and the product is termed
as “confidence good” and prior comprehensive Assessment of quality is impossible however
 24

due to use of e-commerce feedbacks from consumers can be obtained in short span of time
and this services can be enhanced accordingly. Due to adoption of e-commerce in travel and
tourism industry consumers are becoming more powerful players as they can choose their
destination and sites in few minutes whereas travel agents, travel websites etc. see
diminishing power in sales however they are providing new market functionality using new
technologies to attract more consumers. Many tour operator, travel agents online travel
agents are using these strategy to attract more consumers however using more high-tech
technologies needs huge investments need more high skill human resource etc.

8. Kim (2004) examined there are main two factors for conducting successful e-commerce
strategy which are security of the e-commerce system and user friendly web interface.
Security means not only securing own system but also providing security assurance to users
who are using the sites or online software user friendly web interface give consumer trust
and it’s easy to convenience for customers. Beside these factors other factors are also
essential to succeed which are top management support, IT infrastructure and customer
acceptance. Top management support plays vital role as per Kim as they are the decision
makers and their support and decision will direct the company to use the strategy. Further he
also explained that with-out proper IT structure and skilled human resources, e-commerce
strategy will fail. One of the factors he explained is customer acceptance; customer
acceptance means the way customer accepts the web or online software of the company and
it should have very rich contents and very easy to use these factors will decide whether
business will get more customers.

9. Zabihollah Rezaee, Kenneth R. Lambert and W. Ken Harmon (2006) reported that the
rationale for infusion of e-commerce education into all business courses is that technological
developments are significantly affecting all aspects of today’s business. An E-commerce
dimension can be added to the business curriculum by integrating e-commerce topics into
existing upper-level business courses. Students would be introduced to ecommerce
education and topics covered a variety of business courses in different disciplines e.g.
accounting, economics, finance, marketing, management, management information systems.
To help assure that all related business courses in all disciplines such as e.g. Accounting,
finance, economics, marketing, management, information systems pay proper attention to
the critical aspects of e-commerce, certain e-commerce topics should be integrated into
existing business courses.

10.Mallikarjun Rao (2006) while studying the “Factors affecting growth of e-commerce in
India” concluded that there was a close association between online purchase and availability
of information about the vendors, hence, suggested that more information will increase
respondents comfort level for online trade. Gnana (2006) concluded that today e-commerce
as an alternative/additional mode is being accepted by many businesses, but the rate of
adoption of e-commerce is varying in different industries, for instance, a traditional industry
 25

like automotive industry in India is yet to adopt e-commerce in a big way. Ming-Hsien,
Chandlrees, Binshan, Hung-Yi (2009) opined that consumers will trust the website if they
feel the site keeps a good e-commerce ethical performance, such as, practicing the privacy
policies and stating it explicitly, describing products or services in an appropriate way.
While analyzing the Trends in e-commerce, Rekha (2010) stated that e-buyers need to adapt
to a safe mode of on-line payment and use alternative modes of payments, such as, virtual
credit cards that involve less risk in diversifying the information for payment.

11.Rashad, Abhinav, Wan, Mahan & Shahriar, (2011) studied the “Factors influencing
perception of consumers in e-business, Gaining trust in e-commerce: With reference to the
Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)” and found that the perception of the consumers
influencing their decisions have been addressed in order to understand why the people want
to use an online service for perception or discard their purchase. Mustafa (2011) studied the
determinants of e-commerce customer satisfaction, trust and loyalty in Saudi Arabia and
found that in B2C E-commerce customer loyalty in Saudi Arabia is strongly influenced by
customer satisfaction but weakly influenced by customer trust. Khushbu (2012) found that
social media platforms do have an impact on business and marketing. In a study on
“Perceptions towards Online Shopping”: An Empirical Study of Indian Consumers”, Zia
(2012) opined that the perception of online shoppers is independent of their age and gender.
In a study on “Perceptions towards Online Shopping”: An Empirical Study of Indian
Consumers, Muhammed (2013) concluded that very poor positive perceptions about Bosnian
companies’ web presences and their online activities. Namita and Preeti (2013) concluded
that online consumer behaviour using factor analysis and the reasons for using online
shopping like, trust, information about the product and services, convenience, effortless
shopping. You-Qinghe (2014) inferred that online marketers and retailers have to develop
appropriate market strategies, make technological advancements and make the correct
marketing decisions in order to retain current customers and attract new customers.

12.While studying “Effectiveness of Digital Marketing in the Challenging Age: An Empirical

Study”, Afrina (2015) concluded that companies should create innovative customer
experiences and specific strategies for media to identify the best path for driving up digital
marketing performance. Sumanjeet (2010) examined the state of e-commerce laws in India:
A review of Information Technology Act and expressed that there are many prominent
issues which are critical for the success of e-commerce that the present IT Act is weak on
several fronts and in the absence of sound legal framework of e-commerce cannot create a
success story in India. Indian Government must increase the safe and secure business
environment on cyberspace and must protect the interests of Indian software industries, BPO
sector and other stakeholders. In a study on “Antecedents of Online Shopping Behavior in
India”: An Examination, Rakesh and Khare (2011) examined that a survey of 325 students
 26

studying in Indian universities was conducted. The results indicate that Indian students'
intention to buying online is influenced by utilitarian value, attitude toward online shopping,
availability of information and hedonic values. Male students have a more positive attitude
toward online shopping compared to female students. Gehrt, Rajan, Shainesh, Czerwinski &
O'Brien, (2012) studied the “Emergence of online shopping in India: Shopping orientation
segments” and surveys were collected from 536 consumer panel members. Three segments
were identified: Value singularity, quality at any price and reputation/recreation. The quality
at any price and reputation/recreation segments was playing the major role in online
purchase decision in India.

13.Rakesh & Khare, (2012) analyzed the “Impact of promotions and value consciousness in
online shopping behavior in India” and the study observed that online shopping continues to
attract investment from retailers and offers or other promotional methods of e-retailers are
not influenced by Indian consumers. Promotions may not be essentially viewed by
consumers as an important attribute while purchasing products or services online.

14.Kalia, Arora & Law, (2016) noticed that legal validity of electronic transactions, security,
content regulation, intermediary liability and jurisdiction are partially addressed by IT Act,
whereas, junk mail and spamming, intellectual property, payment, taxation of e-commerce
transactions and consumer protection are unaddressed. This Information is useful for policy
and decision makers in government and e-commerce businesses.

15.Chatterjee, (2016) studied the “E-Commerce in India: A review on culture and challenges”
and the study observed that E-Commerce business throughout the world has brought a
remarkable change in the business landscape and it also has redefined the business scenario
by radically changing contours of space and time and it has reshaped the conception of
nature of business management. India having large population with internet users is expected
to be one of the major players in E-Commerce environment. In a study on customer
perception towards online precious metal jewelry shopping in India Rekha, (2016)
examined that surveyed the twelve statements were grouped into four factors i.e., Product,
Convenience, Service and online shopping hindrances and the composite score were
calculated for each grouping factor. A significant difference is observed in the perception of
two groups in case of three set of factors i.e., Product, Convenience and Service. While
analyzing “e-commerce in India: Evolution and revolution of online retail”, Kalia, Kaur &
Singh, (2017) inferred that India is third biggest nation in terms of internet users.
 27

16.India will drive e-commerce in Asia pacific region after China and Indonesia and the study
concludes that there will be a prospective growth of electronic commerce in India is
extremely positive. Arora & Rahul, (2018) studied that the key components of perceived
risk (security risk, privacy risk, product risk and non-delivery risk) in e-commerce and the
impact of perceived risk on online shopping attitude among online women shoppers in India
and the study proved that perceived risk is not a significant factor influencing attitude of
women shoppers in India. Security risk was marginally significant out of the different types
of risks considered in the study.

The above review may reveal that the most of the research meant for understanding the security
measures of digital marketing and factors influencing the e-business through the consumers’
perceptions. But, specifically the studies were not conducted to analyze the recent e-commerce
growth and industry segment in India together. Thus, this study aimed at filling the gap with the
objectives as: i) analyze the growth of E-commerce in India and ii) Present E-commerce
industry segments in India by restricting to B2C business model. The source of data is
secondary in nature and collected from the past studies.

CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
 28

Research methodology is the specific procedures or techniques used to identify, select,

process, and analyze information about a topic. In a research paper, the methodology section
allows the reader to critically evaluate a study's overall validity and reliability. Research is
defined as the creation of new knowledge and/or the use of existing knowledge in a new and
creative way so as to generate new concepts, methodologies and understandings. This
definition of research encompasses pure and strategic basic research, applied research and
experimental development a careful consideration of study regarding a particular concern or
problem using scientific methods. According to the American sociologist Earl Robert Babbie,
“Research is a systematic inquiry to describe, explain, predict, and control the observed
phenomenon. Research involves inductive and deductive methods.” Inductive research methods
are used to analyze an observed event. Deductive methods are used to verify the observed
event. Inductive approaches are associated with qualitative research and deductive methods are
more commonly associated with quantitative research.

The topic of study has been chosen based on the emerging issues in the economy. And
according to our observation and research, as economy is shifting to digitalization of services it
brings a lot of merits and demerits with it. So we decide to carry our study on topic:

“Customers Satisfaction towards the Services of E-Commerce in Shimla Region of Himachal

Pradesh”

 Statement of the problem:

Research problem is selected for the purpose of this project is to study the satisfaction,
perception, expectations, preferences, dissatisfaction and to take opinions of customers of
Shimla region regarding the changing scenarios of e-commerce.

 Need of the Study:

 The main purpose of the study is to know that what consumers actually think about the
online services offered by the various service providers in the Shimla region.
 As we know economy is moving towards digitalization, business and service providers has
to uplift their standards to meet the need and wants of customers. But it is not possible till
customers come out of their set minds towards traditional method of purchasing. Traditional
method of purchasing means when customers visit stores personally and select the products
after physical evaluation.
 Customers are the apex body that affects the demand and supply of entire economy. In order
to provide 24/7 services, businesses are taking a step ahead by expanding services through e-
commerce. But still there is gap between the actual preferences and the products offered by
the business. The study will helps to know where the services are lacking behind and why
there is gap between interaction between customers and service providers.
 29

 And the last purpose of study is to know why customers still prefer traditional method of
purchasing and are reluctant to opt for online purchases.

 Objective of the study:

As we know there are variety of products and services offered by business units to customers,
but there are some areas in which business units are lacking behind and are not able to cater the
potential demand in market. A project report will help us to know what factors affect the buying
decision of customers and why customers are reluctant to move toward online purchasing.

The objectives of study are:

 To analyze customers satisfaction towards services of e-commerce.

 To observe customer preferences.
 To study how the satisfaction level varies from one variable to other.

 Hypothesis of study:
Hypothesis refers to a supposition or proposed explanation made on the basis of limited
evidence as a starting point for future investments. A hypothesis is a suggested solution for an
unexplained occurrence that does not fit into current accepted scientific theory. The basic idea
of hypothesis is that there is no pre-determined outcome.

Null hypothesis: there is no significant difference in level of satisfaction between genders of

respondents towards the services of e-commerce.

Alternative hypothesis: there is a significant difference in level of satisfaction between

genders of respondents toward the services of e-commerce.

 Research design:
A research design is set of methods and procedures used in collecting and analyzing measures
of variables specified in problem research. Research design is the framework of research
methods and techniques chosen by a researcher.

There are three main types of research design: Data collection, measurement and analysis.

An impactful research design usually creates a minimum bias in data and increases trust in the
accuracy of collected data. A design that produces the least margin of error in experimental
research is generally considered the desired outcome. The essential elements for research design
are:
 30

1. Accurate purpose statement`

2. Techniques to be implemented for collecting and analyzing the research.
3. The method applied for analyzing collected details.
4. Type of research methodology.
5. Probable objections for research.
6. Timeline
7. Measurement of analysis.

 Sampling units:
The sampling units are the local customers/respondents from Chakker, Sanjuli, Baluganj,
Kaithu areas in Shimla district.

 Sample size:
The questionnaire has been send to 180 respondents through online mode with help of
https://docs.google.com and respondents are asked to open the link and fill the survey. Out of
180 respondents 60 respondents did not fill the survey and 20 respondents returned survey
incomplete so we left with 100 respondents who fill the questionnaire complete and submitted
the responses. Therefore sample size was taken was 100.

 Sampling method:
The sampling method used for collection of data in project work is ‘Random Sampling
Method’. Random sampling method is one of the sampling technique in which each sample has
an equal probability of being chosen. Random sampling also known as probability sampling in
which each member of subset carries an equal opportunity of being chosen as a part of the
sampling process. Unbiased random samples are important to draw conclusions.

 Collection of data:
Source of information:
Basically the source of information or data for the project report is from the respondents
residing in chakkar, sanjuli, baluganj and kaithu area in Shimla region.
 31

Methods used for data collection:

 Primary sources
 Secondary sources

 Primary sources:
The primary data is collected by sending questionnaire’s to the respondents through
online/electronic mode. Electronic mode of survey is selected because of COVID it is not
possible to visit respondents personally and collect the required data. Survey is conducted by
sharing questionnaire through social websites like: whatsapp, hike, instagram and through mail.
And if respondents are having any queries related to any question was duly cleared by us
respectively. Primary data helps us to know what the issues are and flaws in online services and
what can be done to improve the services. We tried to collect data to utmost accuracy. And
close ended questions are used for the survey.

The tools/sources and techniques use to collect primary data are:

 Survey (electronic mode)

 Questionnaire (send through electronic mode)

An advantage of collecting primary data is that it helped us to know the key area of problem
which can be improved by the suggestions given by the respective respondents, which
according to them can help in improving e-commerce services in Shimla region.

 Secondary data:
Secondary data refers to data which is collected by someone other than the user. Secondary data
helped us to know what research has been already carried on the respective topic and also
helped us to know what the area where further study is required is.

The sources used to collect secondary data are:

 Newspaper
 Online websites
 Government publications
 32

The advantage of secondary data is that it helped us in gathering relevant information which
proved to be very useful in our study.

 Tools and techniques for data analysis:

 SPSS software (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences).
 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1flXeKkfRNA7LyEXBGJhTjcpuDo9NjCGiwAgNtA43G
/edit?chromeless=1
 Random sampling method
 Close ended questions
 Likert scale
 Descriptive study

Chapter 4
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
 33

Data interpretation refers to the implementation of processes through which data is reviewed for
the purpose of arriving at an informed conclusion. The interpretation of data assigns a meaning
to the information analyzed and determines its signification and implications. The importance
of data interpretation is evident and this is why it needs to be done properly. Data is very likely
to arrive from multiple sources and has a tendency to enter the analysis process with haphazard
ordering. Data analysis tends to be extremely subjective. That is to say, the nature and goal of
interpretation will vary from business to business, likely correlating to the type of data being
analyzed. While there are several different types of processes that are implemented based on
individual data nature, the two broadest and most common categories are “quantitative
analysis” and “qualitative analysis”.

The focus of this chapter is on Data analysis and the tools used for tabulation and codification
of data, afterwards interpretation of that data done on the basis of responses given by the
respondent. We have taken data analysis of question on the basis of coding. Each questions
answer is coded in format of 1, 2, and 3 respectively. All of this process has been done in
Microsoft excel with help of replace function. After the coding has been done the data is copied
to SPSS software which stands for Statistical Package for the Social Science. In SPSS we add
values to the code in variable view in order to apply various statistical tools. For data
interpretation and analysis we have done frequency distribution (likert scale), descriptive study
and hypothesis testing through Chi-square test.

Tabular analysis is the method to quantitatively analyze the relationship between multiple
variables. It is also known as contingency tables or cross tabs, cross tabulation groups variables
to understand the correlation between different variables. It also shows how correlations change
from one variable grouping to another. Descriptive statistics involves arranging, summarizing
and presenting set of data in such a way that information is produced. It make use of graphical
techniques and numerical descriptive measures (such as average) to summarize and present the
data.

There are mainly there types of data: interval data (real number and also referred as quantitative
or numerical data), nominal data (names or categories, also referred as qualitative or categorical
data) and ordinal data (categorical in nature, but their values have an order, e.g. student grades-
D, C, B, A).

Demographical Profile

Gender
 34

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent

Male 54 54.0 54.0 54.0

Female 46 46.0 46.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0

So at the time of conducting the survey it was found that out of the total 100 respondents 54
percent were male and the remaining 46 percent were female.

Case Processing Summary

Cases

Valid Missing Total

N Percent N Percent N Percent

 35

Gender * What is your age

100 100.0% 0 0.0% 100 100.0%
range?
Gender * Education
100 100.0% 0 0.0% 100 100.0%
qualification

 Gender * what is your age range?

Crosstab

What is your age range? Total

11-15 years 16-20 years 21-25 years old 26-30 years old above 30
old old
Count 1 2 38 9 4 54
Male
% of Total 1.0% 2.0% 38.0% 9.0% 4.0% 54.0%
Gender
Count 0 1 42 2 1 46
Female % of Total 0.0% 1.0% 42.0% 2.0% 1.0% 46.0%
Count 1 3 80 11 5 100
Total
% of Total 1.0% 3.0% 80.0% 11.0% 5.0% 100.0%

Chi-Square Tests

Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)

Pearson Chi-Square 7.194a 4 .126

Likelihood Ratio 8.031 4 .090
Linear-by-Linear Association 2.138 1 .144
N of Valid Cases 100
a. 6 cells (60.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum
expected count is .46.

Df =4 chi square of 0.05= 9.49

Since the calculated chi square value is greater than the table value at 5% level of significance
which rejects the null hypothesis. Thus it can be concluded that there is significant difference in
level of satisfaction between genders of respondents towards the services of e-commerce.
Symmetric Measures

Value Asymp. Std. Approx. Tb Approx. Sig.

Errora

Ordinal by Ordinal Gamma -.400 .211 -1.788 .074

 36

N of Valid Cases 100

a. Not assuming the null hypothesis.

b. Using the asymptotic standard error assuming the null
hypothesis.

Above bar chart represents different age group of male and female. In age group of 11-15 years
there are only 1% male respondents with no female respondents. In age group of 16-20 years
there are 2% of male respondents and 1% of female respondents which totals for 3%. In age
group of 21-25 years there are 38% of male respondents and 42% of female respondents which
totals for 80% of respondents. In age group of 26-30 years there are 9% of males’ respondents
and 2% of female respondents which totals for 11% of respondents. And last category above 30
years total 5% of respondents are there in which 4% are males and 1% is females.

 Gender * Education qualification

Crosstab
Education qualification Total
 37

up to +10 graduation post-graduation M.Phil. PhD

Count 5 29 14 2 4 54
Male
% of Total 5.0% 29.0% 14.0% 2.0% 4.0% 54.0%
Gender
Count 3 16 26 1 0 46
Female
% of Total 3.0% 16.0% 26.0% 1.0% 0.0% 46.0%
Count 8 45 40 3 4 100

Total
% of Total 8.0% 45.0% 40.0% 3.0% 4.0% 100.0%

Chi-Square Tests

Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)

Pearson Chi-Square 11.623a 4 .020

Likelihood Ratio 13.215 4 .010

Linear-by-Linear Association .225 1 .636

N of Valid Cases 100

a. 6 cells (60.0%) have expected count less than 5. The

minimum expected count is 1.38.

DF= 4 chi square of 0.05= 9.49

Since the calculated chi square value is greater than the table value at5% level of significance
which rejects the null respondents towards the services of e-commerce.

Symmetric Measures

Value Asymp. Std. Approx. Tb Approx. Sig.

Errora
Ordinal by
Gamma .235 .159 1.453 .146
Ordinal
N of Valid Cases 100
 38

a. Not assuming the null hypothesis.

b. Using the asymptotic standard error assuming the null
hypothesis.

The above bar graph represents the education qualification of respondents. 8% of respondents
fall under the education qualification up to +10 in which 5% are males and 3% are females.
Next comes under graduation 45% of respondents are there in which 29% are males and 16%
are females. Under category of post-graduation there are total 40% of respondents in which
14% are males and 26% are females. 3% of respondents come under the category of MPhil and
remaining 4% under PhD.

 Do you agree that e-commerce as commercial means has advantage

over the traditional methods?

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative

Percent
Strongly disagree 6 6.0 6.0 6.0
Disagree 6 6.0 6.0 12.0
Neutral 30 30.0 30.0 42.0
Agree 52 52.0 52.0 94.0
 39

Strongly agree 6 6.0 6.0 100.0

Total 100 100.0 100.0

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent

Very unsafe 5 5.0 5.0 5.0

Not safe 23 23.0 23.0 28.0
Neutral 37 37.0 37.0 65.0
Safe 31 31.0 31.0 96.0
Very safe 4 4.0 4.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0

According to the respondents, 52 percent of the total respondents agree that E commerce as
commercial means has its advantage over the traditional methods and 6 percent strongly agree
with the statement.30 percent of the respondents were neutral means they were neither satisfied
nor dissatisfied with the statement. Whereas 6 percent of the respondents disagree and say that
Ecommerce as traditional means is more advantageous as compared to E commerce as
commercial means.
 How safe did you feel while sharing your card detail?
 40

So when it comes to safety while sharing the card details, according to the respondents 37
percent out of the total 100 respondents were neutral with the fact of sharing the card details.31
percent of the respondents feel safe and only 4 percent feel very much safe while sharing the
card details. It was also seen that for 23 percent respondents it wasn’t safe to share the card
details as there is lack of trust and they are afraid that their card details might get stolen.

 What according to you is the future of e-commerce in our society?

 41

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative

Percent

Extremely valuable 30 30.0 30.0 30.0

Very valuable 51 51.0 51.0 81.0
Somewhat valuable 12 12.0 12.0 93.0
Not so valuable 6 6.0 6.0 99.0
Not at all valuable 1 1.0 1.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0

When the respondents were asked regarding the future of E commerce, 30 percent of the
respondents believed that E commerce is going to be extremely valuable in the coming future
and for 51 percent of the respondents E commerce service is very valuable. Very less percent of
the respondents believe that there is no future in E commerce that is 6 percent of the total
respondents and it is somewhat valuable for remaining 12 percent.
 Overall how much satisfied are you with online e-commerce
services?
 42

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative

Percent

Very dissatisfied 11 11.0 11.0 11.0

Dissatisfied 66 66.0 66.0 77.0
Neutral 23 23.0 23.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0

So it can be determined from the above data that maximum number of the respondents were not
satisfied with online E commerce services that is 66 percent of the total respondents and 11
percent were very much dissatisfied. Whereas remaining 23 percent of the respondents were
neutral neither they were dissatisfied nor very dissatisfied with online e commerce services`

 How do you feel after online shopping?

 43

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative

Percent

Very dissatisfied 4 4.0 4.0 4.0

Dissatisfied 79 79.0 79.0 83.0
Neutral 9 9.0 9.0 92.0
Satisfied 8 8.0 8.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0

According to the respondents 79 percent of the total respondents were dissatisfied with online
shopping as consumers cannot examine the texture so consumers are likely to end up unhappy
with their purchase and they find online shopping complicated and 4 percent are very much
dissatisfied. Whereas 9 percent of the respondents fall under the category of neutral.
Satisfaction level of respondents is only 8 percent.

Statistic
 44

Gender Do you agree How safe did What according Overall how How do you feel
that e you feel white to you is the much satisfied after online
commerce as sharing your future of e are you with shopping?
commercial card details? commerce in online e
means has its our society? commerce
advantage over services.
the traditional
methods?

Valid 100 100 100 100 100 100

N
Missing 0 0 0 0 0 0

Mean 1.46 3.46 3.06 1.97 2.12 2.21

Std. Error of Mean .050 .093 .095 .087 .057 .064

Std. Deviation .501 .926 .952 .870 .573 .640

Variance .251 .857 .905 .757 .329 .410
Skewness .163 -1.050 -.193 .998 .006 1.669
Std. Error of Skewness .241 .241 .241 .241 .241 .241
Sum 146 346 306 197 212 221
Above table is revealing the satisfaction level of consumers towards the services of E
commerce:-
 When we talk about E commerce as commercial means has its advantage over the traditional
methods we come to know that 30 percent of the respondents are neutral and 52 percent are
agreeing with the statement. The mean value is 3.46 which show that it lies between neutral and
agree.
 While sharing card details according to the respondents 37 percent of the total respondents are
neutral and 31 percent feel safe while sharing the card details. The mean value is 3.06 which
shows it lies between neutral and safe
 The future of E commerce is very bright as 30 percent of the respondents feel that it is very
much valuable and 51 percent of the total respondents find it valuable. The mean value is 1.97
which shows it lies between extremely valuable and valuable.
 When it comes to satisfaction level with online E commerce services it can be determined that
66 percent of the respondents are dissatisfied with online services. Whereas 23 percent are
neutral that is neither they are very dissatisfied nor dissatisfied with online E commerce
services. The mean value is 2.12 so it lies between dissatisfied and neutral. Out of total 100
respondents 79 percent of the respondents felt dissatisfied after online shopping.

Descriptive Statistics
 45

N Minimum Maximum Sum Mean Std. Deviation Kurtosis

Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Std. Error Statistic Statistic Std.

Gender 100 1 2 146 1.46 .050 .501 -2.014 .4

What is your age range? 100 1 5 316 3.16 .060 .598 4.448 .4

Education qualification 100 1 5 250 2.50 .085 .847 1.440 .4

Are you aware about the online

100 0 1 1 .01 .010 .100 100.000 .4
shopping websites?

Which is your most preferred e-

100 1 5 176 1.76 .075 .754 2.043 .4
commerce websites?

According to you how e

commerce is helpful for the 100 1 3 182 1.82 .072 .716 -1.002 .4
business discourse?

How do you make payment

100 1 5 307 3.07 .160 1.603 -1.523 .4
shopping on the internet?

What is your main motivation for

100 1 5 259 2.59 .096 .965 -.272 .4
buying through business site?

Do you agree that e commerce can

provide an alternative marketing
100 0 2 52 .52 .086 .858 -.710 .4
channel by eliminating
middlemen?
Would you prefer e commerce to
Traditional method? Note:
100 1 3 169 1.69 .065 .647 -.686 .4
Traditional method means face to
face transaction.

Do you think that application of e

commerce has increased over the 100 0 1 2 .02 .014 .141 47.418 .4
years in India?

What measure would you

recommend for promotion of e 100 1 4 206 2.06 .083 .827 .413 .4
commerce in our society?

The table reveals the satisfaction level of consumers totals online E commerce services:-

 Out of the total 100 respondents 54 percent were male and remaining 46 percent were female.
The mean value is 1.46 and standard deviation is .501 and kurtosis value is -2.014.
 46

 For maximum number of respondents E commerce is helpful as it broaden the consumer’s

choice. 18 percent believe that it encourages price transparency for 16 percent it fastens
business process and others do not know. The mean value is 1.82. Standard deviation is 716 and
kurtosis is -1.002.
 According to the respondents 49 percent partially agree with statement of preferring E
commerce to traditional methods. While 10 percent not at all agree with it. The mean value is
1.69 standard deviation is .647 and kurtosis value is -.686
 It can be determined that main motivation for buying through online sites is that it saves time
and 54 percent respondents are in this favor for 19 percent it is convenient it is price effective
and also there is superior selection. The mean value is 2.59 and standard deviation is .965 and
kurtosis is -.272.
 For the promotion of E commerce in our society maximum numbers of respondents were in
favor of increase in the awareness level of people.23 percent recommended promotion of
internet and many other measures. The mean value is 2.06 standard deviation .827 and kurtosis
value is .413.

Chapter 5
SUMMARY, FINDINGS, CONCLUSION and SUGGESTIONS
 47

5.1 SUMMARY
As the time changes need and demand in market changes. E-commerce one of the emerging
trends because of the changing demand in society. E-commerce as the name suggests it is
electronic commerce whereby consumers directly buy goods and services from the seller
without any intermediary. The term e-commerce is coined back in 1960s. E-commerce provides
new channels for service provider to reach more customers. In present scenario e-commerce
web development is gaining huge popularity. These stores not only help in selling products but
also enable service provider to create distinct identity on web. E-commerce is not proved
convenient and useful to service providers but on other hand it provide different level of
advantages to the customers in form of economical tool, wide variety of products, easy to
access, less time consuming etc. In our project report we have tried to cover some important
areas of e-commerce. This study is undertaken to study the customer satisfaction towards the
services of e-commerce in Shimla region of Himachal Pradesh. The study is conducted in
Shimla region only and the respondents are mostly the people residing in the areas of Shimla
region. The main reason of this study is to know whether the people in society are aware of the
emerging new trends in e-commerce and what are the perception and satisfaction level of
people towards the services of e-commerce.

5.2 FINDINGS
The behavior of consumer is changing dramatically. E-commerce has truly revolutionized and
influenced the customers of Shimla region. The availability of wide variety of products at
 48

reasonable prices which is very convenient for the customers, quick and better services are
some of the reasons that influenced people in Shimla region towards e-commerce. While we
conducting the survey it was found that out of the total 100 respondents 54 percent were male
and the remaining 46 percent were female. On this study we analysis that 52 percent of the total
respondents agree that E commerce as commercial means has its advantage over the traditional
methods and 6 percent strongly disagree with the statement. 30 percent of the respondents were
neutral means they were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with the statement. Whereas 6 percent
of the respondents disagree and say that Ecommerce as traditional means is more advantageous
as compared to E commerce as commercial means. Next is the safety issue. While sharing the
card details, according to our study 37 percent out of the total 100 respondents were neutral
with the fact of sharing the card details. 31 percent of the respondents feel safe and only 4
percent feel very much safe while sharing the card details. It was also seen that for 23 percent
respondents it wasn’t safe to share the card details as there is lack of trust and they are afraid
that their card details might get stolen. Here we also determine that maximum numbers of the
respondents were not satisfied with online E commerce services that is 66 percent of the total
respondents and 11 percent were very much dissatisfied. Whereas remaining 23 percent of the
respondents were neutral neither they were dissatisfied nor very dissatisfied with online e
commerce services. Next we determine that the respondents of 79 percent of the total
respondents were dissatisfied with online shopping as consumers cannot examine the texture so
consumers are likely to end up unhappy with their purchase and they find online shopping
complicated and 4 percent are very much dissatisfied. Whereas 9 percent of the respondents are
neutral. Satisfaction level of respondents is only 8 percent. At the end when we take chi-square
test it shows chi square value is greater than the table value at 5% level of significance which
reject the null hypothesis. Thus it can be concluded that there is difference in level of
satisfaction between genders of respondents towards the services of e-commerce.

5.3 Conclusion
 49

⮚Change is law of nature. In the past consumers prefer traditional method of purchasing goods
and services which means physical examination of good. Many consumers had sufficient time
to visit shopping centers for various products and prefer bargaining and decide the purchase.
The entire process of purchasing can take place between few hours to few days depending on
the quality, quantity and source of purchase of product. Today radical change in entire process
of purchasing, everything in today’s scenario is internet oriented. Now consumers prefer to
shop online as compare to physical visit to shopping centers. E-commerce as the name suggests
it refers to electronic commerce, which means exchange of information using network based
technologies. From our study we come to conclusion that e-commerce is vast growing
technology and it can be used as competitive strategy by the service providers and can be prove
as economical instruments for the consumers which reveals a positive attitude and behavior
towards online shopping among people in Shimla region. But e-commerce lack in some areas,
according to our study consumers does not feel safe when it comes to pay for the services
through online mode they are reluctant to share their personal information. Whereas some of
customers think there are high chances of fraud so they resist changing their buying behavior.
And we also observe that there are some consumers who have a rigid or very less knowledge of
e-commerce. They do not know how to use e-commerce websites. On the other hand there are
some areas where service providers are not able to cope up with the need and demand of the
customers, which in turn lead to low satisfaction level of customers. Then comes the internet
issues, low signal strengths, buggy sites, denial of services, issues related to payments etc. these
are the areas which are to be improved or need a focus in order to provide good services.
Having access to e-commerce has truly revolutionized and influenced our society as a whole.
This use of technology has opened new doors and opportunities that enables foe a more
convenient lifestyle today. If it is properly utilized with assured safety and security for the
transactions, it will thrive into highly competitive and dynamic environment.

Limitation of study
 The sample size is small so it may be failing to represent actual trend fully.
 The study work is limited to the Shimla region so it is not relevant to compare it with other
regions.
 Study is conducted during the COVID-19 lockdown so some of the facts may vary because
of difficulty in data collection.
 Limited knowledge of respondents.
 Due to short span of time some factors may be missing.

5.4 Suggestion
 50

After analyzing customers satisfaction towards the services of e-commerce in Shimla region we
come to some suggestions which can used in order to improve e-commerce services. The
suggestions are as follows:
 Targeting the existing customers, this means resolving the issues of existing customers.
Compared to new customers and customers who only made few purchases for the services, a
focus on loyal customers is to be given.
 Display of icons which shows that the site is secure which is {https ://} (s) here represents
that site is full encrypted or we can say site is totally secured for the customers.
 As we know today and future is going to be technology oriented society. People in Shimla
region are not able to use e-commerce sites because of lack of knowledge of benefits of e-
commerce and how to actually use these sites. So people should be properly guided and a
proper knowledge is to be given which helps them to go for e-commerce.
 Lack on part of service provider as sites are very buggy, maximum times there is denial of
services and sometimes sites are not working properly. Service provider must fix all the
faults in the site in order to retain customers.
 Accessibility of e-commerce sites. Some of the sites are developed in such format that they
can be only opened on laptops and computers which is set-back for customers which mostly
prefer mobile. So service provide must develop sites keeping in mind the overall customers
in the society.
 Then comes site navigation. If customers are able to find what they want in shortest time that
means the customer will visit site again and again. But on the other hand if site navigation is
difficult the customer will not prefer to that particular website and go for other options, so in
our suggestions site navigation should be easy for customers.
 Some of the other suggestions are site speed, product copy and product image, seeking
reviews, display security badges, display social proof; create an FAQ page (which includes
questions related to experience of customer after purchasing from site).

BIBLIOGRAPHY
 51

 Arvind Panagariya (2000): Distinguished between access to e-commerce and access to e-

export.
 Jackie Gilbert Bette Ann Stead (2001): reviewed incredible growth of e-commerce.
 Patric Barwise (2001): Reported 99% of e-commerce today is done using PC’s`
 Farooq Ahmed (2001): reported some multifaceted issues in e-commerce.
 Andrew D. Mitchell (2001): Examined the key issues that electronic commerce poses.
 Nir B. Kshetri (2001): Global distribution and forms of e-commerce`
 Prithviraj Dasgupta and Kasturi Sengupta (2002): Reported recent growth of internet
infrastructure.
 James Christopher (2004): Examined all the best element of e-commerce does not guarantee
consumers will visit or remain loyal.
 Kim (2004): Examined there are main 2 factors for conducting successful e-commerce
strategy.
 Zabihollah Rezaee, Kenneth R. Lambert (2006): reported that the rationale for infusion of e-
commerce education into all business courses.
 Mallikarujan Rao (2006): reported “Factors affecting growth of e-commerce in India”.
 Rashad, Abhinav, Wan< Mahan and Shahriar (2011): studied the “factors influencing
perception of consumers in e-business, gaining trust in e-commerce”.
 Samanjeet (2010): examined the state of e-commerce laws in India.
 Rakesh and khare (2012): analyzed the “Impact of promotions and value consciousness in
online shopping behavior in India”.
 Kalia, Arora and law (2016): noticed legal validity of electronic transactions.
 Chatterjee (2016): studied: E-commerce in India: a review of culture and challenges”.

Websites

 www.wikipedia.com
 www.google.com
 www.encyclopedia.com
 www.sharenet.com
 www.indianmedia.com
 www.danikdhaskar.com
 https://www.ecommerce.indiatimes.com/articles
 https://onlineshoping.ringsurf.com/artandpeople

ANNEXURE
Questionnaire
 52

Customer Satisfaction towards the Services of E-commerce in Shimla Region of

Himachal Pradesh

Name ………………..

1. Gender :
o Male
o Female

2. What is your age rang?

o 11-15 years old
o 15-20 years old
o 20-25 years old
o 25-30 years old
o Above

3. Education qualification
o Up to 10+2
o Graduation
o Post-graduation
o MPhil
o PhD

4. What is your occupation?

o Self employed
o Employee
o House-wife
o Student
o Other

5. Are you aware about the online shopping websites?

o Yes
o No

6. Which is most preferred e-commerce websites?

 53

o Flipkart
o Amazon
o Myntra
o Snapdeal
o Other

7. How did you hear about e-commerce advertisement?

o Press and TV channel
o Word of mouth
o Friends and colleagues
o Social networks

8. Would you prefer e-commerce to traditional method? Note: traditional method means face
to face transaction.
o Very well
o Partially
o Not at all

9. Do you agree that e-commerce as commercial means has its advantage over the traditional
methods?
o Strongly agree
o Disagree
o Neutral
o Agree
o Strongly agree

10. Do you think that application of e-commerce has increased over the years in India?
o Yes
o No

11. Do you think that the government of India is doing its enough to promote e-commerce in
our city?
o Yes
o No
 54

12. What are the challenges to the implementation of e-commerce in our city
o Slow penetration
o Security concerns
o Lack of trust

13. Do you agree that e-commerce can provide an alternative marketing channel by eliminating
middlemen?
o Yes
o No
o Do not know

14. According to you how e-commerce helpful to the consumer in the e-commerce domain?
o Broadens consumer choices
o Encourage price transparency
o Fastens business process
o Do not know

15. What is main motivation for buying through online business sites?
o Convenience
o Price
o Save time
o Superior selection
o Others

16. For what purpose do you use e-commerce?

o For personal use

o For business use
o Both

17. How safe did you feel while sharing your card details?

o Very safe
o Not safe
o Neutral
 55

o Safe
o Very safe
18.Did you experience a hassle free payment experience?
o Yes
o No

19. According to you how e-commerce is helpful for the business discourse?
o Effectively caters to customers demand
o Smoothens business by creating customers and business networks
o Do not know

20.How do you make payment shopping on the internet?

o Credit card
o Digital cheque
o Third party (PayPal/ Google pay)
o Cash on delivery
o Others

21.Do you feel secure when shopping on internet?

o Yes
o No

22. What services you have taken?

o Sending or purchasing of property

o Holding packages
o Renting and PG accommodation
o Buying-selling of products
o Any other please specify

23. What according to you is the future of e-commerce in our society?

o Not at all valuable

o Not so valuable
o Neutral
 56

o Valuable
o Extremely valuable

24. Overall how much satisfied are you with online e-commerce services

o Very dissatisfied
o Dissatisfied
o Neutral
o Satisfied
o Very satisfied

25. How do you feel after online shopping?

o Not satisfied
o Satisfied
o Very much satisfied
o Cannot determine

26. Is the e-commerce is beneficial foe service sector?

o Yes
o No

27. What measures you recommend for promotion of e-commerce in our society

o Promotion of internet
o Increase awareness level of people
o An integrated promotional approach
o Other measures

28. How would you rate the e-commerce working in our locality?

o 10%
o 25%
o 40%
o 50%
 57

o Above

29. What according to you is the future of e-commerce?

30. Give your suggestions how to improve e-commerce in better way.