SUMMER TRAINING PROJECT REPORT

ON
"DIGITAL MARKETING OF AMAZON"

Submitted to
Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow
(A Central University)

FOR THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD

OF DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 2019-22

UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF : SUBMITTED BY:

Prof. Kushendra Mishra Kumari Ankita
(Head of Department) BBA 5th Semester
Department of Rural Management Enroll No. 1125/19
BBAU, Lucknow Roll No. 194132

Department of Rural Management

BABASAHEB BHIMRAO AMBEDKAR UNIVERSITY, LUCKNOW
(A CENTRAL UNIVERSITY)

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 BABASAHEB BHIMRAO AMBEDKAR UNIVERSITY, LUCKNOW
(A CENTRAL UNIVERSITY)
VIDYA VIHAR RAIBARELI ROAD, LUCKNOW-226025 Letter
No.: ………………….
Date - ___/___/___

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the project report "DIGITAL MARKETING OF

AMAZON" is the bonafide work of Kumari Ankita, Roll No. (194132) BBA (2019-
22) of department of Rural management of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar
University, Lucknow (A Central University), carried out under the supervision.
Place : Lucknow
Date : __/__/__
Supervision

Prof. Kushendra Mishra

(Head of Department)
Department of Rural Management
BBAU, Lucknow
DECLARATION

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I Kumari Ankita student of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow,

here by declare that the project entitled "DIGITAL MARKETING OF AMAZON" or

part there of has not been previously submitted by me for any other degree or diploma of

any university or scientific organization. The project is the result of my Bonafide work and

the sources of literature used and all assistance received during the course of investigations

have been duly acknowledged.

Lucknow:

Date:

Kumari Ankita
Roll No. : 194132

BBA 5th Semester

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

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I would like to express my sincere thanks to Head of the Department and my project guide

Prof. Kushendra Mishra, Head of department and Dept. of Rural Management,

BBAU for guiding me right from the inception till the successful completion of the project.

I sincerely acknowledge his for extending their valuable guidance, support for literature,

critical reviews of project and this project and this report and above all for the morale

support he provided me at all stages of the project.

I personally would like to thanks my coordinator Prof. Kushendra Mishra Sir, Head of

Department BBAU for giving me this opportunity to do so this project.

Secondly, I would also like to thank my parents and friends who helped me a lot in finalizing

this project within the limited time frame.

PREFACE

Today human beings are the most critical resource of an organization needs to have human

resource to perform all operations. Human resource is not only an active sensitive and

essential factor of production but also it activates other factors of production so that all

factors of production are useable without human factor. Development of organization is

based on the development of human resource. The performance of human beings can be

developed by motivating and satisfying them and combing the individual under

organizational goals re achieved effectively and efficiently.

It was a privilege for us to work in a reputed organization- Amazon.

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This has given us an opportunity to work in a truly professional environment where team

work score over individual effort, where there is a helpful atmosphere. A well planned,

properly executed and evaluated training helps a lot in inoculating good work culture. The

project on "DIGITAL MARKETING OF AMAZON" has been made to facilitate

effective understanding about the marketing aspects. The project training has provided me

an opportunity to gain practical experience, which has helped me to increase my sphere of

knowledge to a greater extent. I have tried to summarize all our experience and knowledge

acquired up till now, in this report. This project is a keen effort to obtain the expected

results and fulfill all the information required.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Certificate from the organization ii

Declaration ii

Acknowledgement iii

Preface iv

CHAPTERS

1. Introduction

2. Review of Literature

3. Company Profile

4. Research Methodology

5. Data Analysis And Interpretation

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6. Findings

7. Conclusion

8. Recommendation and Suggestion

9. Bibliography

10. Annexure

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 INTRODUCTION

Digital Marketing

At a high level, digital marketing refers to advertising delivered through digital channels

such as search engines, websites, social media, email, and mobile apps. Using these online

media channels, digital marketing is the method by which companies endorse goods,

services, and brands. Consumers heavily rely on digital means to research products. For

example, Think with Google marketing insights found that 48% of consumers start their

inquiries on search engines, while 33% look to brand websites and 26% search within

mobile applications.

While modern day digital marketing is an enormous system of channels to which marketers

simply must onboard their brands, advertising online is much more complex than the

channels alone. In order to achieve the true potential of digital marketing, marketers have

to dig deep into today’s vast and intricate cross-channel world to discover strategies that

make an impact through engagement marketing. Engagement marketing is the method of

forming meaningful interactions with potential and returning customers based on the data

you collect over time. By engaging customers in a digital landscape, you build brand

awareness, set yourself as an industry thought leader, and place your business at the

forefront when the customer is ready to buy.

By implementing an omnichannel digital marketing strategy, marketers can collect

valuable insights into target audience behaviors while opening the door to new methods of

customer engagement. Additionally, companies can expect to see an increase in retention.

According to a report by Invesp, companies with strong omnichannel customer engagement

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strategies retain an average of 89% of their customers compared to companies with weak

omnichannel programs that have a retention rate of just 33%.

As for the future of digital marketing, we can expect to see a continued increase in the

variety of wearable devices available to consumers. Forbes also forecasts that social media

will become increasingly conversational in the B2B space, video content will be refined

for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes, and email marketing will become even

more personalized.

Digital marketing communications can be distributed at a faster rate and broader reach than

traditional marketing communications. While this idea is undoubtedly true, reaching a mass

audience quickly by using digital technolgy does not constitute Digital Marketing.

In fact, reaching a more targeted audience iteratively is a more clear definition of Digital

Marketing

Marketing executive are most supportive of Digital Marketing because of the ability to

easily track and measure results of the marketing communication. Because of the use digital

technology, the results of a digital marketing effort can be tracked by reach, views, clicks,

visits, response rates, purchases made and so on. I will explore the details and importance

of these types of measurement techniques in thecoming weeks, but for now understand that

Digital Marketing requires the ability to measure the results of a digital marketing

campaign. The use of digital technologies to create an integrated, targeted and measurable

communications which help to acquire and retain customers while building deeper

relationships with them is digital marketing. It must be digital because of the technology.

It is targeted because of the value in the technology allows it to be. It must establish

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relationships because marketing using digital technology generally requires input from

potential consumers. It must be measurable because measurability is inherent in the use of

digital technology andinherentintheuseofmarketing.

India has around 13.5 crore internet users today where as the number of homes with Cable

and Satellite (C&S) television is 10.5 crore. The expected internet users will reach a figure

of 30 crore by 2015 and C&S homesare expectedto be 14 croreby 2015. Thus India has a

tremendous internet growth and with the customers getting accustomed to ecommerce, the

future of e-commerce sector is definitely rosy. An approximated 25 lakh people have

transacted online this year, the number is all set to increase with time. Also to mention most

of the Amazon customers use internet from PC's/Laptops to order goods. The use of mobile

internet is very less at the moment, but with the advent of smart phones the use of mobile

internet for e-commerce transactions will soar with time. India has 8 crore mobile net users

at the moment, the number is expected to swell to 22.5 crore by 2015.

The digital marketing strategy of Amazon:

Amazon has been using digital for both building the brand and acquiring consumers.

Amazon has been mostly marketed by word of mouth advertising. Customer satisfaction

has been the best marketing medium for them. Amazon very wisely used SEO (Search

Engine Optimization) and Google Ad-words as the marketing tools to have a far reach in

the online world. Amazon.com official Facebookpagehasclose to 10 lack 'likes'. Amazon

recently launched a series of 3 ads withthe tag line - "No Kidding No worries". Kids were

used to create the adverts to send out the message - if a kid can do it, you can also do it.

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From a brand preference point of view, if the message is complex, the traditional medium

works better as there are some restrictions in terms of innovation on digital. But that doesn’t

really mean that traditional media is imperative and is a must for building a brand. Social

media has guaranteed a large reach for the companies. Today, one of the primary reasons

that people are coming on to internet is Facebook. The objective on social media is to build

a deeper engagement with theaudience on these platforms.

The company has built a great brand name, they just have to maintain and enhance the

same. It needs to keep introducing more products, adapting to the changing needs of the

customer with time. Theentryof Amazon.com in 2012 in the Indian e-commerce space has

been cited as a big challenge to Amazon. However Amazon is a respected Brand name in

India and should be able to compete with Amazon. Amazon being a very big company can

bring in serious competition to Amazon, since Amazon can bear more losses in the

beginning to gain customer base. But again Indian market is growing at a rapid pace as

access to internet increases and people become more aware of e-commerce sites and start

trusting the same; hence Indian market is sufficiently big at-least for these two giants to co-

exist beneficially. The company is currently valued at around 1 billion dollars i.e. 5000

crore. More importantly Amazon has usheredin the e-commerce era in India. This has

generated massive interest in e- commerce sector; people are opening websites to sell

anything from shoes to apparels to jewels to baby care products etc. This has helped in

creating a lot of job opportunities and thus helps the Indian Inc. growth story as well.

The future of digital marketing based on the study:

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Shift from Tactical SEO to SEO Strategy

Last year, with the launch of humming bird update from Google, search engine behavior

changed and search engine algorithm improved for better. Therefore, SEO has to evolve

now from tactical approachto long termSEO strategy. SEO strategy is the basically to

• define the targetaudience,

• focus on keywords that are relevant to the audience not search

• enhance quality of the content

• improve the presentation of search engine listings with mark ups

• reach the audience wherever they’re online

engage audience and help boost user generated content

• integrate SEO with complete digital strategy

• Concentrate on all organic such as organic SEO, organic link building etc.
Rise of Social Media Marketing in India

At 82 million monthly active users, India is the second largest audience base for Facebook

in the world and it may possibly dethrone US on Facebook soon. India is positioned second

for user population of LinkedIn at 20 million users, while for YouTube and Twitter user

population from India goes up to 52 million and 42 million. There is easier and cost-

effective access to middle class to upper middle class people in India, that are mostly young

and capable to spend large amounts, and they’re target audience to almost all brands.

Interestingly, local businesses are using social media especially Facebook to sell online in

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India. Hence, we can expect an unprecedented growth in social media users in India that

will help social media marketing to experiment and become more popular tool for branding,

online selling and customer engagement amongbusinesses/brands.

Content Marketing

Content Marketing will be throughout in limelight. In India, people are extensively

searching, researching and consuming content – text, audio (not that popular), image and

video. Largely, social media networks are pushing for improved, meaningful and creative

content marketing. Text is the foremost tool in SEO that will easily help you acquire higher

ranks, reach targeted audience, engage your audience and convert them. It’s at the top of

all the game that you maybe planning. Images are usually subordinate to text and

complement it, and they are highly popular among Indians. Images are known to trigger

imagination and help in building trust. India has 54 million viewers that are spending

uncountable hours to watch 3.7 billion videos per month. Brands in India are now realizing

the power of video marketing and now developing creative and innovative video marketing

campaigns to build their brand identity. All – text, image and video – constitute your

content marketing. And more and more brands, businesses and organizations in India will

understand its importanceandwilluseit optimallyin coming years.

Key Performance Indicators and Return on Investments

Brands andbusinesses were onlyinvesting without caring much for the returns on digital

marketing. The ‘conversion rate’, ‘key performance indicators’ and ‘return on investments’

will catch in trend across all sections of digital marketing in India. With the availability of

deep analytics and increasing awareness of clients in India, the marketers will have to

explain digital marketing ROI. Furthermore, Indian digital marketing consultants will use

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KPIs and ROItoimprovetheirconversion rate, enhance customer experience and brand

reputation. Today to convince an aware Indian client, its necessary to elaborate the possible

cost-per-lead, each digital spend, return on each spend, and key performance indicators.

Viral Video Marketing

With up to 250 million Internet users in India, it’s easy to go viral with something awesome.

Brands and businesses will be planning to use viral video marketing with the help of social

media networks more effectively to reach large audience in India. Essentially, with video

marketing in India it has become easier to buildbrand identity, improve brand storytelling

and engage audience, and enhance brand loyalty. Viral video marketing will increasingly

find many takers in India, given many advantages. At present, big brands, Indian cinema,

Indian music, government of India, political parties, Indian educational organizations, and

many others are successfully using video to entertain, educate and emotionalize audience

in India.

Responsive/Mobile Marketing

Firstly, the easy availability of smartphones, tablets, phablets, and touchpads that is

redefining mobility in India. Secondly, there is large audience (approx 130 million users

according to IAMAI and IMRB) in India accessing Internet through mobile devices.

Thirdly, Gartner says India to have 72 per cent mobile penetration by the year 2016.

Fourthly, India’s mobile video consumption has doubled and more than 65 per cent of

Indians are sharing videos on mobile. Lastly, according to Facebook, there are 62 million

Indians accessing Facebook through mobile. Mobile is the way forward in India, to reach

Indians across India. In 2014, mobile applications, mobile advertising, mobile video

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marketing, and marketing on popular mobile networking apps such as WeChat, Line,

Whatsapp, Vine, Snapchat, Instagram and others will increase exponentially. Return on

mobile marketing investment will remain an issue that may disturb marketers. However,

with m-commerce, mobile payments, and innovations by Google India, Amazon and many

other market leaders, some breakthrough could be seen that would increase ROI on mobile

marketing.

Localization

In India, localization has become endemic. It will gain further ground with the help of

Google India search engine, Google Maps, online classifieds (e.g. Quicker), local online

search engines (e.g. Just Dial), local listing websites (e.g. Grotal), vertical search engines

(e.g. Zomato and ThinkVidya) and others. Moreover, websites will increasingly localize as

well. In digital marketing industry, localization will increase among brands/businesses.

Many local joints, bars, clinics, super stores, shops, restaurants, clubs, pubs, companies,

organizations etc. will also invest in digital marketing to reach their audience online and

specifically on mobile. In localization – timing, limited budget, content strategy, mobile

marketing and advertising – will be great challenges that may disturb marketers.

Personalization

Personalization will evolve overtime in to much larger. However, there are privacy issues

attached with it, but despite that, there are many takers for personalization to improve

customer experience and delight. Google acquired NEST labs for US$ 3.2 billion. NEST

labs manufactures smart home thermostat. Google uses NEST to know more about its

customer for better customer experience. The point is personalization will not expand

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world, but also in India at much higher speed especially in e- commerce industry. As all

are trying to enhance customer experience to push sales, by providing them more

personalized services.

For effective personalization, businesses have to deeply understand their customer behavior

and clickstream, and analytics will help them a lot to understand this. Variety of analytics

and testing will be used in further years such as heatmaps, deep analytics, customer journey,

A/B testing etc. in order to know what their customers’ wants, needs, and requirements in

any particular time, season and moment.

Online and Social Customer Relationship Management

Many Indian e-commerce websites, portals and others do not have effective online

customer- relationship management systems. Moreover, many customers are now

comfortable on chat, email, mobile chat and social media. Therefore, companies are

expanding its outreach to improve their CRM systems and enhance customer delight.

Social CRM would be strategic of all, as many Indians are comfortable in using social

CRM on the go.

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Conversion Rate Optimization and Testing

Recently, conversion rate optimization and testing in digital marketing industry of India is

picking upfast due to e-commerce boom in India. Conversion rate optimization and testing

will be strategic to improve digital strategy, enhance outcomes and sales, and perk up

customer delight. In India, many SEOs and digital marketers tend to ignore analytics, but

in future, analytics will regain its due importance in digital strategy. Moreover, deeper

analytics is bound to take place as Google has improved Google Analytics for deeper

understanding of customer online behavior and background. In addition, analytics will

largely drive CRO and testing in India. The CRO in mobile in India might also take place,

as we know it increasingly in India users are purchasing through mobile apps on their

smartphones and tablets. The biggest challenge for CRO and Testing will be the limited

budget and ignorance.

Innovations in Online PaymentSystem

There are lots of innovations in online payment system with new launches expected this

year and boost in Indian e-commerce industry. Just recently, Visa and MasterCard launched

new mobile payment services. With this technology, you can make payment through

KitKat OS and NFC powered Smartphone. It uses Host Card Emulation feature of Android

to save card details remotely in encrypted form and can be disabled remotely if phone is

lost. In 2013, Amazon launched ‘PayZippy’, which is an online payment system made for

Indian e-commerce websites. Similarly, PayU India also emerged as prominent contender,

which is increasingly becoming popular among small/niche vendors. PayPal will have

to optimize its system according to Indian situation and needs. For digital marketing

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industry, all these happenings will help them increase conversion rate of e- commerce

websites and improve customer delight. Because most of the time in India, the cart

abandonments take place because of the limitations in the online payment systems.

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Ad Micro Targeting and Re-Targeting/Re-Marketing

In India, online advertising is set to reach INR 7,000 crore by 2015, according to Indian e-

Retail report. This growth will be further fueled by improvements in ad targeting and re-

targeting.

In social media, Facebook has introduced promoted posts, customization in audience,

whereas Twitter, improved interest, device selection, geo-targeting and others of promoted

post, and while LinkedIn, also improved targeting. More customization, microtargeting and

re-targeting features and tools can be expected from these popular social media networks.

Google also have improved its re- marketing/re- targeting capabilities, and many special

and exciting updates can be expected in future. Atpresent, e-commerce industryin India is

extensivelyusingre-marketingand micro targetingonline. In India, businesses are spending

huge in advertising, therefore, there would be rise of many startups offering innovative

solutions in advertising itself.

Ever-Evolving UX and Web Designs

In the world of digital marketing, user experience and web design are ever evolving, where

interactivity, rich content and speed are essential components. There are some innovations

in user experience and web designing. Mostly, e-commerce websites in India will drive

these innovations, and more will jump into the bandwagon. In CRO and testing, user

experience and web designing are strategic, which directly enhance incredibly conversion

rates with simple and innovative changes and improvements. In India, news sites and e-

commerce have been experimenting with web and user experience designing.

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Humanization of Digital Marketing

Digital marketing will humanize further, where brands/businesses will understand the

importance of conversations and engagements. Moreover, Google ranks higher only those

contents that have higher likes, shares, comments and other customer engagement signals.

Companies will try to connect and converse more through digital marketing with their

target audience. And we can expect, this will only increase customer retention, brand

loyalty and word-of-mouth. Digital strategies in future will be based on co-creation and

collaboration concept, where humanization of business, interactivity and engagement will

help in delivering value.

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Multi-Channel/ Integrated Marketing

In India, multi-channel/integrated marketing will grow in popularity and effectiveness. As

many brands/businesses in India are increasingly embracing this concept to attract and

engage customers on all online and offline platforms. All businesses/brands in India, will

try to integrate their marketing efforts, especially their digital marketing with offline

marketing. In India, brands are realizing of importance integrated marketing

communications, in which conveying single message across all platforms helping them to

improve brand experience, brand loyalty, keep brand top-of-the- mind, and increase sales.

However, there are challenges such as mobile and disintegrated marketing teams, which

are plaguing the effectiveness of integrated marketing leading to no credible business value

generation. Nevertheless, given advantages of multi- channel marketing/integrated

marketing, large number of businesses in India will embrace it.

OPPORTINITIES AND CHALLENGES IN DIGITAL MARKETING IN INDIA

The explosion of digital connectivity, the significant improvements in communication and

information technologies and the enforced global competition are revolutionizing the way

business is performed and the way organizations compete. Anew, complex and rapidly

changing economic order has emerged based on disruptive innovation, discontinuities,

abrupt and seditious change. In this new landscape, knowledge constitutes the most

important factor, while learning, which emerges through cooperation, together with the

increased reliability and trust, is the most important process (Lundvall and Johnson, 1994):

The competitive survival and ongoing sustenance of an organisation primarily depend on

its ability to redefine and adopt continuously goals, purposes and its way of doing things

(Malhotra, 2001). While digital marketing is a part of mainstream marketing activity in the

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more developed markets, in India it is still in the teething stage. Lack of awareness of the

potential of internet and mobile, low awareness of how digit~ marketing works and a

general unwillingness to "try new things", accounts for the low level of digital marketing

activity in India. However, in the last two years, online marketing has seen a steep growth

and seem to be gathering critical mass. Given the criticality of the Digital platforms as an

emerging medium and the opportunities it offers for marketing, the Internet and Mobile

Association convenes this conference with the aim of providing a common platform to

advertisers, agencies, online publishers, mobile marketing companies and other

stakeholders to collectively drive home the importance of Digital marketing.

As multi-national companies and Indian corporations continue to grow their Indian offices

(expected growth in MNC hiring in tech sector to double in 2007) and global work-

practices begin to be seen in India, the always-on connected professional is increasingly

visible. Flexi hours and home-office culture has set-in in the tech cities making laptop usage

and home Wi-Fi a necessity. The small business enterprises are contributing significantly

to the mobile workforce by becoming the fastest growing segment in laptop consumption.

The Indian Government is considering halving excise duty on hardware (proposal status as

of January 2007) which will likely bring in taxation level on par with China. Should this

become a reality, PC and laptop costs will come down further increasing consumption even

more. telephony arrived. However, in India, mobile penetration (for basic voice) has

already exceeded PC penetration several fold. PC sales are growing at around 25% year to

year. Notably laptop sales have been doubling. The annual PC sales in 2005-06 were below

the 5 million mark. Forecasts for 2006-07 estimate that over 5;6 million PCs would be sold

in India. It is important to note that the prices of PCs have been consistently falling. Dell

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Inc. has just announced setting up of a manufacturing facility near Chennai, a major metro

in southern India, for making low cost PCs. India's Internet –service provider market has

some major players who are not telecom operators. Like other countries, India has separate

licensing system for ISPs, and a number of ISP-only firms are offering Internet access and

bandwidth. Like elsewhere, ISPs in India started off with dial-up offerings, started moving

to wired broadband connections and now increasingly to wireless routes to the home and

enterprise. The value proposition of the Indian software industry can be summed up as

"faster, better, and cheaper." The Indian companies have taken responsibility on an end-to-

end basis for new software development and for re-engineering.

The advent of the internet, digital connectivity, the explosion and use of ecommerce and e-

business modeless in the private sectors are pressurizing the public sector to re-think

hierarchal, bureaucratic organizational model. Customers, citizens and businesses are faced

everyday with new innovative e-business and e-commerce models implemented by the

private sector and made possible by ICT tools and applications are requiring the same from

governmental organization. Osborne and Gaebler 1992 referred to citizens as customers for

convergence, since convergence 1eed to empower rather than served. Governments world

wide are faced with the challenge of transformation and the need to modernized

administrative practices and management systems (Tapscott, 1996). recently, the public

sector has began to recognize the potential opportunities offered by ITC and ebusiness

model to fit with citizens demand, to offer better services to citizen and to increase

efficiency by streamlining internal processes. Tapscott and caston 1993 argued that ICT

causes a "paradigm shift" introducing "the age of network intelligence" , reinventing

businesses, convergence and individuals. Paradigm shifts prevail in the public sector too.

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The traditional bureaucratic paradigm, characterized by internal productive efficiency,

functional rationality, departmentalization, hierarchical control and rule based management

is being replaced by competitive, knowledge based economy requirements, such as

flexibility, network organization, vertical or horizontal integration, innovative

entrepreneurship, organization learning, speed up in service delivery and a customer driven

strategy. These new paradigm thrust the shift towards e-government paradigm, which

emphasizes coordinated network building, collaboration and customer services.

n the new economy, underpinned by revolutionary changes in science and technology,

information and knowledge has become a key factor in economic competitiveness.

Developing countries must pursue a non; active role in the formulation of national policies

and strategies to promote the information economy, to reap huge benefits in terms of

economic and social growth/development. E Government is believed to playa fundamental

role to this end. It does not only facilitate market- led initiatives but it also plays a major

role in initiating the process of capability building and in coordinating the actions of a large

number of interested stakeholders (Mansell and Wehn, 1998). It offers the potential of

reshaping the public sector activities and processes, building relationships between citizens

and the government, enhancing transparency, increasing government capacity and

providing a "voice" for those outside the government. In fact, the development of ICT and

the growth of digitalization in various sectors of the economy can be effectively harnessed

for being used as useful marketing strategies for both the domestic and the foreign

companies in India.

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LITERATURE REVIEW

According to Dasgupta, and Ghatge (2015), Because of the easy incorporation and

compatibility of the Internet with several types of digital devices such as tablets, mobile

phones, watches, and so on, its remnants at the central part of digital marketing. Almost

certainly, the most significant development of the twentieth-century is the Internet, which

has altered the range of marketing. Besides, the Internet has appeared by means of a tool

aiding the multi-faceted purpose of marketing, circulation, and connection constructing,

sales. Nowadays products are placed, advertised, circulated and bought with the help of the

internet. The mixed strategy of traditional marketing is altered by the Internet.

Additionally, it allows the salesperson to advertise added multiplicity of mass modified

goods. In order to compare the price among existing goods, facilitates of the Internet is

notable. Furthermore, a new-fangled mode of circulation which is expedient, rapid and

easy, is added by the Internet. Advertising has practiced the archetype change whereby

discussions have occupied the place of moneymaking messages, as well as consumers, have

turn out to be storytellers. Nowadays, Salesperson and marketers are practicing various

methods of marketing for implementing the strategy of digital marketing similar to “SEO”

(Search Engine Optimization), “SEM” (Search Engine Marketing), then “PPC”

(Pay-per-click) and others.

An interlinked network of computers, connected universally by means of dedicated

routers and servers is referred by the term Internet. In context to the universal network,

computers possess files recognized as web pages, which are capable to access through

the further interconnected computers. “Intranet”, “Extranet” and “Web” are three main

types of the network by which the internet is formed. By applying “Hypertext mark-up

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Language (HTML)”, Intranet practices inwardly in an organization. On the other hand,

Extranet is contained of two networks or more than two custody networks which are

linked by means of the intention of allocating information. A graphic user interface is

supported by the Web for navigation of hypertext through a browser. In the year 1972,

initial public demonstration of “Advanced Research Project Agency Network”

(ARPANET), the forerunner of the present day’s electronic mail and the internet was

created. By dint of the year 1985, as a technology, the internet was already well

established in order to support an extensive group of investigators and inventers. By the

development of “World Wide Web (WWW)”, by Tim Berners- Lee in 1991, fuelled the

revolution of the internet revolution. Moreover, from the year 1993, the internet was

completely unbolted for commercial aspects.

Rendering to Nair (2015), Internet too progressed intensely then permitted persons to

produce as well as share content with other persons through web 2.0 technology. Moreover,

the internet provided benefits such as customization, interactivity, personalization, and

connectivity that transformed the behavior of consumers correspondingly. Mass media

multiplied advance through new-fangled services, devices, and networks that applied

thoughtful impacts on customers together with a salesperson, in addition, digital channels

turn out to be the most significant way of marketing. Here and now the internet is used by

the customers for diverse kinds of explanations extending from searching, socializing,

buying, downloading, reading, uploading and comparing, as well as marketing to providing

feedback. The Internet is developing as a principal terminus in order to search for various

information. Most of the customers are starting their decision-making journey with the

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internet.Internet marketing has been described simply as ‘achieving marketing objectives

through applying digital technologies’ (Chaffey et al., 2009). Digital marketing is the use

of technologies to help marketing activities in order to improve customer knowledge by

matching their needs (Chaffey, 2013). In the developed world, companies have realized the

importance of digital marketing. In order for businesses to be successful they will have to

merge online with traditional methods for meeting the needs of customers more precisely

(Parsons, Zeisser, Waitman 1996). Introduction of new technologies has creating new

business opportunities for marketers to manage their websites and achieve their business

objectives (Kiani, 1998). Online advertising is a powerful marketing vehicle for building

brands and increasing traffic for companies to achieve success (Song, 2001). Expectations

in terms of producing results and measuring success for advertisement money spent, digital

marketing is more cost-efficient for measuring ROI on advertisement (Pepelnjak, 2008).

Today, monotonous advertising and marketing techniques have given way to digital

marketing. In addition, it is so powerful that it can help revive the economy and can create

tremendous opportunities for governments to function in a more efficient manner (Munshi,

2012). Firms in Singapore have tested the success of digital marketing tools as being

effective and useful for achieving results. (Teo, 2005). More importantly, growth in digital

marketing has been due to the rapid advances in technologies and changing market

dynamics (Mort, Sullivan, Drennan, Judy, 2002).

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In order for digital marketing to deliver result for businesses, digital content such as

accessibility, navigation and speed are defined as the key characteristics for marketing

(Kanttila, 2004). Other tried and tested tool for achieving success through digital marketing

is the use of word-of-mouth WOM on social media and for making the site popular (Trusov,

2009). In addition, WOM is linked with creating new members and increasing traffic on

the website which in return increases the visibility in terms of marketing. Social media with

an extra ordinary example Facebook has opened the door for businesses to communicate

with millions of people about products and services and has opened new marketing

opportunities in the market. This is possible only if the managers are fully aware of using

the communication strategies to engage the customers and enhancing their experience

(Mangold, 2009). Marketing professional must truly understand online social marketing

campaigns and programs and understand how to do it effectively with performance

measurement indicators. As the market dynamics all over the world are changing in relation

to the young audience accessibility to social media and usage. It is important that strategic

integration approaches are adopted in organization’s marketing communication plan

(Rohm & Hanna, 2011). With the above reviews we can assume that GST is a tax reform

which will change the scenario of the country as a support for this review study.

Blogs as a tool for digital marketing have successfully created an impact for increasing

sales revenue, especially for products where customers can read reviews and write

comments about personal experiences. For businesses, online reviews have worked really

well as part of their overall strategic marketing strategy (Zhang, 2013). Online services

tools are more influencing than traditional methods of communication (Helm, Möller,

Mauroner, Conrad, 2013). As part of study, it is proven that users experience increase in

21
self-esteem and enjoyment when they adapt to social media which itself is a motivating

sign for businesses and marketing professional (Arnott, 2013). Web experiences affect the

mental process of consumers and enhance their buying decision online (Cetină, Cristiana,

Rădulescu, 2012).

The Internet is the most powerful tool for businesses (Yannopoulos, 2011). Marketing

managers who fail to utilize the importance of the Internet in their business marketing

strategy will be at disadvantage because the Internet is changing the brand, pricing,

distribution and promotion strategy.

The Internet, as a mean for both firms andindividuals to conduct business, is nowadaysone

of the most widely used non-storeformats.With popular trends and demands the concept of

the Internet as the way forward to increase profit margins, companies new and old are

creating websites here and there. The significance for retailers to having a web site is that

a web site is informational and transactional in nature,as the web site can be used for

advertising and direct marketing; sales; customer support and public relations.It has been

more than a decade since business-to-consumer E-commerce first evolved. Scholars

andpractitioners of electronic commerce constantly strive to gain an improved insight into

consumer behaviour incyberspace.

Internet is changing the way consumers shop and buy goods and services, and has rapidly

evolved into a globalphenomenon. Many companies have started using the Internet with

the aim of cutting marketing costs, therebyreducing the price of their products and services

in order to stay ahead in highly competitive markets. Companiesalso use the Internet to

convey, communicate and disseminate information, to sell the product, to take feedback

22
andalso to conduct satisfaction surveys with customers. Customers use the Internet not only

to buy the product online,but also to compare prices, product features and after sale service

facilities they will receive if they purchase theproduct from a particular store. Many experts

are optimistic about the prospect of online business. A brand is the idea or image of a

specific product or service that consumers connect with, by identifying the name, logo,

slogan, or design of the company who owns the idea or image. Branding is when that idea

or image is marketed so that it is recognizable by more and more people, and identified

with a certain service or product when there are many other companies offering the same

service or product. Advertising professionals work on branding not only to build brand

recognition, but also to build good reputations and a set of standards to which the company

should strive to maintain or surpass. Branding is an important part of Internet commerce,

as branding allows companies to build their reputations as well as expand beyond the

original product and service, and add to the revenue generated by the original brand.

Initially, Branding was adopted to differentiate one person's cattle from another's by means

of a distinctive symbol burned into the animal's skin with a hot iron stamp, and

wassubsequently used in business, marketing and advertising.

Customer perception is a marketing concept that encompasses a customer's impression,

awareness and/or consciousness about a company or its offerings. Customer perception is

typically affected by advertising, reviews, public relations, social media, personal

experiences and other channels.

Consumer behaviour is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes

they use to select, secure, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy

23
needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society.It blends

elements from psychology, sociology, social anthropology and economics. It attempts to

understand the decision-making processes of buyers, both individually and in groups. It

studies characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics and behavioural

variables in an attempt to understand people's wants. It also tries to assess influences on

the consumer from groups such as family, friends, reference groups, and society in general.

Customer behaviour study is based on consumer buying behaviour, with the customer

playing the three distinct roles of user, payer and buyer. Research has shown that consumer

behaviour is difficult to predict, even for experts in the field. Relationship marketing is an

influential asset for customer behaviour analysis as it has a keen interest in the re-discovery

of the true meaning of marketing through the re-affirmation of the importance of the

customer or buyer. A greater importance is also placed on consumer retention, customer

relationship management, personalisation, customisation and one-toone marketing. Social

functions can be categorized into social choice and welfare functions.

The ultimate goal of most businesses is to increase sales and income. Ideally, you want

toattract new customers to your products and encourage repeat purchases. Brand

awarenessrefers to how aware customers and potential customers are of your business and

its products.Brand Awareness is the extent to which a brand is recognized by potential

customers, and is correctly associated with a particular product. Expressed usually as a

percentage of target market, brand awareness is the primary goal of advertising in the early

months or years of a product's introduction.

Brand awareness is the extent to which the consumer associates the brand with the product

he desires to buy. It is the brand recall and the brand recognition of the company to the

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consumers. Brand recall is the ability of the consumer to recollect the brand with reference

to the product whereas brand recognition is the potential of the consumer to retrieve the

past knowledge of the brand when enquired about the brand or shown an image of the brand

logo. Brand awareness is an essential part of brand development which helps the brand to

stand out from the others in this monopolistically competitive market.

Digital marketing involves the promotion of products and services using digital distribution

channels that reach consumers in a timely, relevant, personal, and cost effective manner.

At a high level, digital channels can have many categories, such as the internet, mobile,

digital outdoors, and any form of interactive digital media. Each category has multiple

digital tools/ sub-channels that can support digital marketing. These include:

• Internet- Email banner ads, dedicated websites, pop-up ads, sponsored content, paid

keyword search, podcasts, etc… Newer channels comprise social networks, blogs,

wikis, widgets, virtual words, online gaming etc…

• Mobile- SMS,MMS, mobile Web, mobile application and mobile video

• Digital outdoors – Stills,/ video digital display, interactive kiosks

• Interactive digital medium – interactive television channels

Any combination of the above channels can be used to gain maximum visibility with utmost

impact among targeted customers, thereby enabling more business at a reasonable cost.

While digital channels empowermarketers with a tremendous advantage in terms of their

extensive reach, leveraging their potential requires effective management of multiple

channels with complex variables to realize optimal value.

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1.1 INTERNET USAGE IN INDIA

Internet in India report says that India’s internet user base has gone well above 100 million

– that’s just fewer than 10% of the population. India’s internet user base was growth was

very sluggish until 2007-08, but has picked up rapidly thereafter.

At about 150 million Internet users, India now has 3rd largest Internet population in the

world after China (at 575m) and the US (at 275m). At 150 million total Internet users, the

Internet penetration in India remains at 12 per cent vs. 43 per cent in China and 80 per cent

in the US. However, the low penetration means that India presents unmatchable growth

opportunity for the Internet sector in coming years. In our view, India will likely see golden

period of the Internet sector between 2013 to 2018 with incredible growth opportunity and

secular growth adoption for E-Commerce, Internet advertising, social media, search, online

content, and services relating to E-Commerce and Internet advertising.

Here is the India Internet outlook for 2013, the first year for this golden period.

• Internet penetration will reach 15%. Expect India to add 30 million new Internet

users in 2013 and total Internet population to touch 180mm. This implies a 20%

growth in the Internet population.

• Time spend online will rise and directionally become comparable to US and

China. As per research estimates, an Internet user in India on average is spending

13 hour per week and this number will likely reach 16 hours per week. The

incremental time spend online will largely be spent on social media, photo/video

sharing, E-Commerce, and utilities/banking/bill payments.

• Mobile Internet users to touch 100M. India has nearly 950 million mobile

subscribers and close to 50 million or fewer than 6 per cent of these mobile

26
 subscribers access Internet via mobile handsets. And estimate that in 2013 the

mobile Internet penetration will go up from close to 6 per cent to 10 per cent and

India could double its mobile Internet population in 2013 at 100 million estimated

mobile Internet users by end of 2013.

• Internet usage will likely grow faster for female and from home. So far India

Internet usage is heavily screwed towards male gender and from work and

educational establishments. In 2013, Internet usage will grow much faster for

female and from home access. This acceleration will likely happen due to overall

Internet adoption moving to masses.

• E-Commerce will likely touch $900M in 2013. As per the estimates, in 2012 India

E-Commerce reached $550 million in gross revenue and we expect E-Commerce

to touch $900 million in gross revenue by end of 2013.

• Majority of E-Commerce growth will come from emerging cities. While, top 8

cities in India may remain at 45 per cent to 65 per cent of total E-Commerce for

various E-Commerce companies, we believe that higher growth delta for

ECommerce in 2013 will come from emerging cities. We define emerging cities

as the cities other than Top-40 cities in India e.g. Bhatinda in Punjab or Kota in

Rajasthan.

• Internet advertising will be the fastest growing sub-sector of the India Internet. As

per the estimates, India Internet advertising generated $300 million in revenue in

2012 and can double in 2013 to reach $600 million. Also believe that lots of Internet

advertising growth will come due to the rise in social media, mobile Internet, and non-

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search and content driven online ad formats such as lead generation, affiliate marketing,

and email marketing etc.

• Funding environment for the Internet start-ups to remain challenging in 2013.

Funding environment for the Internet start-ups to remain challenging in 2013 in

India. In last 17 years, India has created less than $5 billion in Internet market

capitalization vs. $600 billion by US Internet sector and $250 billion by Chinese

Internet sector. Lot many Internet companies have to become a lot bigger for the

funding environment to ease off.

• E-Commerce will likely see emergence of disruptive business models and

consolidation. E-Commerce companies that are focusing on fundamental issues

will likely disrupt the E-Commerce industry in 2013. On one hand, the

fundamental issues are the issues that matter for improving customer experiences

and the state of the ecosystem, on other hand focusing on fundamentals of business

vs. throwing money at the problem will become absolutely imperative. Majority of

the inventory led E-Commerce business models will likely either merge with each

other or take a niche vertical position.

• Start-up culture and ecosystem to become more widespread. In our view, the

startup culture and start up ecosystem are becoming more widespread. The seed

and angel rounds are no longer limited to Mumbai, Delhi or Bangalore and

emergence of start-up is no longer limited to IITs or big cities. While, India has

long way to go vs. having a true Silicon Valley start-up culture, ecosystem and

support system, India is headed in that direction. Founding a start-up immediately

after graduation or leaving a rewarding corporate job to join a start-up, or find or

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become an angel investor is no longer uncommon. While, the 2013 Internet

funding environment will likely be challenging, the overall Internet start-up

ecosystem will become stronger and more ubiquitous.

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1.2 RETAILING

Retailing is selling of merchandise and certain services to the consumer. Retailing began

several thousand years ago.The activities involved in the selling of goods to ultimate

consumers for personal or household consumption. It is extremely competitive, and the

failure rate of retail establishments is relatively high. Price is the most important arena of

competition, but other factors include convenience of location, selection and display of

merchandise, attractiveness of the establishment, and reputation. The diversity of retailing

is evident in the many forms it now takes, including vending machines, door-todoor and

telephone sales, direct-mail marketing, the Internet, discount houses, specialty stores,

department stores, supermarkets, and consumer cooperatives.

Whatever form it takes, however, the essence of good retailing remains the same: attractive,

appropriate merchandise offered for sale in an attractive, eye-catching manner at a

reasonable price at a convenient location.

It ordinarily involves the selling of individual units or small lots to large numbers of

customers by a business set up for that specific purpose. In the broadest sense, retailing can

be said to have begun the first time one item of value was bartered for another. In the more

restricted sense of a specialized, full-time commercial activity, retailing began several

thousand years ago when peddlers first began hawking their wares and when the first

marketplaces were formed.

As with most other business activities, retailing is extremely competitive, and the mortality

rate of retail establishments is relatively high. The basic competition is price competition,

but this is moderated somewhat by such non-price forms of competition as convenience of

location, selection and display of merchandise, attractiveness of the retail establishment

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itself, and intangible factors such as reputation in the community. Competition for sales

has led to a blurring of traditional product lines in retailing, and many establishments offer

a much wider variety of merchandise than their basic classification would indicate (e.g.,

drugstores may carry food, clothing, office supplies, hardware, etc.).

Terms Defined:

Vending Machine- a coin-operated machine for selling small articles, beverages, etc.

Direct-mail marketing- reaching the desired clients using print ads in a form of leaflets, e-

mails.

Discount houses- retail store that offers merchandise for sale at lowerprices than

conventional stores that sell merchandiseat list prices or suggested retail prices;

Specialty stores- are small stores which specialise in a specific rangeof merchandise and

related items.

1.3 INTRODUCTION TO ONLINE SHOPPING

Online shopping is the process whereby consumers directly buy goods, services etc. from

a seller interactively in real-time without an intermediary service over the internet. Online

shopping is the process ofbuying goods and services from merchants who sell on the

Internet. Since the emergence of the World Wide Web, merchants have sought to sell their

products to people who surf the Internet. Shoppers can visit web stores from the comfort

of their homes and shop as they sit in front of the computer.Consumers buy a variety of

items from online stores. In fact, people can purchase just about anything from companies

that provide their products online. Books, clothing, household appliances, toys, hardware,

software, and health insurance are just some of the hundreds of products consumers can

buy from an online store.

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Many people choose to conduct shopping online because of the convenience. For example,

when a person shops at a brick-and-mortar store, he has to drive to the store, find a parking

place, and walk throughout the store until she locates the products she needs. After finding

the items she wants to purchase, she may often need to stand in long lines at the cash

register.

Despite the convenience of online shopping, not everyone chooses to purchase items and

services online. Some people like the idea of physically going to a store and experiencing

the shopping process. They like to touch the merchandise, try on clothing, and be around

other people. Online shopping doesn't permit shoppers to touch products or have any social

interaction. It also doesn't allow them to take the merchandise home the same day they buy

it.

Online shopping allowsbrowsing through endless possibilities, and even offers

merchandise that's unavailable in stores. If someone is searching for a niche product that

may not be distributed locally, they're sure to find what they're looking for on the internet.

What's even more useful is the ability to compare items, similar or not, online. He can

search through multiple stores at the same time, comparing material quality, sizes and

pricing simultaneously.

Shopping via the internet eliminates the need to sift through a store's products with potential

buys like pants, shirts, belts and shoes all slung over one arm. Online shopping also

eliminates the catchy, yet irritating music, as well as the hundreds, if not thousands, of

other like-minded individuals who seem to have decided to shop on the same day. Online

shopping transactions occur instantly-saving the time to get your other errands done!

Additionally, unlike a store, online shopping has friendly customer service representatives

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available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to assist you with locating, purchasing and shipping

your merchandise.

1.3.1 Factors influencing consumer to shop online

Though there are several factors that influence consumers to shop online, but there are

mainly four factors which influence consumer to shop online after reading literature in the

field on consumer attitudes towards online shopping and these factors are discussed below

in brief.

1.3.1.1 Convenience

Convenience factor refers that it is easy to browse or search the information through online

is easier than the traditional retail shopping. Through online, consumers can easily search

product catalogue but if the consumer look generally for the same product or item in a

traditional store manually it is difficult to visit physically and time consuming also.

Convenience has always been a prime factor for consumers to shop online. According to

the Robinson, Riley, Rettie and Wilsonz (2007) the major motivation for online purchasing

is convince in terms of shop at any time and having bundles of items delivered at door step.

Rohm and Swaminathan’s (2004) claims in “typology of online shoppers into”:

Convenience shoppers, balanced buyers, variety seekers and store-oriented shoppers, based

upon their present shopping motivation. Through online purchase consumers can easily

compare the price than the traditional purchase. So price comparison is also another

convenience factor of online shopping.

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1.3.1.2 Time saving

Time savings is one of most influencing factors of online shopping. Browse or search an

online catalogue can save time and patience. People can save time and can reduce effort by

shopping online. One possible explanation that online shopping saves time during the

purchasing of goods and it can eliminate the traveling time required to go to the traditional

store. On the other side, some respondent think that it is also time taken for delivery of

goods or services over online shopping.

Unexpectedly time saving is not the motivating factor for the consumers to shop online

(Corbett, 2001) because it takes time receiving goods or delivery. But time saving factor

can be seen through different dimensions i.e. “person living in Florida can shop at Harod’s

in London (through the web) in less time than it takes to visit the local Burdines department

store”. So the importance of the time saving factor cannot be neglected as motivation

behind online purchasing. Additionally Goldsmith and Bridges (2000) emphasize that there

is a discrimination between online shopper and non-online shoppers, online shoppers are

more worried about convenience, time saving and selection whereas non online shoppers

are worried about security, privacy and on time delivery.

1.3.1.3 Website design/features

Website design and online shopping activity is one of the vital influencing factors of

onlineshopping. Website design, website reliability/fulfilment, website customer service

and website security/privacy are the most attractive features which influence the perception

of the consumer of online buying Shergill & Chen (2005). Kamariah and Salwani (2005)

claims the higher website quality, the higher consumer intends to shop from internet. Web

design quality has important impacts on consumer choice of electronic stores, stated by

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Liang and Lai (2000). Website design one of the important factor motivating consumers

for online shopping.

Website design features can be considered as a motivational factor that can create positive

or negative feelings with a website. If website is designed with quality features it can guide

the customers for successful transactions and attract the customers to revisit the website

again. However, worse quality website features can also hamper online shopping.

According to Liang and Lai (2000), web design quality or website features has direct

impact on user to shop online.

1.3.1.4 Security

Security is another dominant factor which affects consumers to shop online. However many

internet users avoid online shopping because of credit card fraud, privacy factors, non-

delivery risk, post purchase service and so on. But transaction security on the online

shopping has received attention. Safe and secured transaction of money and credit card

information increases trust and decreases transaction risk. In 1995, UK has introduced

Fraud free electronic shopping and later on Europe and Singapore introduced secured

electronic transaction (SET). According to Bhatnagar and Ghose (2004) Security is one of

the attributewhich limits buying on the web as they claim that there is a large segment of

internet shoppers who don’t like to buy online because of their thinking about the security

of their sensitive information.

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 COMPANY PROFILE

Amazon.com, Inc. (/ˈæməzɒn/ AM-ə-zon) is an American multinational technology

company which focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial

intelligence. It is one of the Big Five companies in the U.S. information technology

industry, along with Google (Alphabet), Apple, Facebook (Meta), and Microsoft. The

company has been referred to as "one of the most influential economic and cultural forces

in the world", as well as the world's most valuable brand.

Jeff Bezos founded Amazon from his garage in Bellevue, Washington, on July 5, 1994. It

started as an online marketplace for books but expanded to sell electronics, software, video

games, apparel, furniture, food, toys, and jewelry. In 2015, Amazon surpassed

Walmart as the most valuable retailer in the United States by market capitalization. In

August 2017, Amazon acquired Whole Foods Market for US$13.4 billion, which

substantially increased its footprint as a physical retailer. In 2018, its two-day delivery

service, Amazon Prime, surpassed 100 million subscribers worldwide.

Amazon is known for its disruption of well-established industries through technological

innovation and mass scale. It is the world's largest online marketplace, AI assistant

provider, live-streaming platform and cloud computing platform as measured by revenue

and market capitalization. Amazon is the largest Internet company by revenue in the world.

36
It is the second-largest private employer in the United States and one of the world's most

valuable companies. As of 2020, Amazon has the highest global brand valuation.

Amazon distributes a variety of downloadable and streaming content through its Amazon

Prime Video, Amazon Music, Twitch, and Audible subsidiaries. Amazon also has a

publishing arm, Amazon Publishing, film and television studio Amazon Studios, and a

cloud computing subsidiary, Amazon Web Services. It produces consumer electronics

including Kindle e-readers, Fire tablets, Fire TV, and Echo devices. Its acquisitions over

the years include Zoox, Ring, Twitch, Whole Foods Market, and IMDb. Amazon is

currently in the process of purchasing film and television studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Amazon has been criticized for practices including technological surveillance overreach,a

hyper-competitive and demanding work culture, tax avoidance, and anti-competitive

behavior.

Amazon is the largest Internet-based retailer in the world by total sales and market

capitalization. It is one such internet company in the world that has revolutionized the

business landscape as a whole. It was founded on July 5, 1994, in Washington, United

States by Jeff Bezos who is also currently the CEO of the company. The initial success of

Amazon was lightning quick as without taking any help from the press for promotions, it

was still able to sell books across 45 countries in just two months.

From starting up as an online marketplace for books, it went on expanding its offerings.

Now Amazon sells almost anything and everything on its platform and has a presence in

200+ countries. It has more than 40 subsidiaries under its umbrella which includes the likes

of Audible, Twitch, IMDb, and Amazon Web Services.

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It became a publicly listed company back in 1997 and is currently listed on NASDAQ in

the United States. It operates its business under the name Amazon India in India.

38
Amazon India’s Target Audience

Amazon India offers a wide range of products and services to its customers with the

convenience of ordering from home through their mobile devices. So to keep it short,

Amazon targets every person in the country as its potential customer. Amazon also has

around 40+ subsidiaries that specifically cater to a specific set of customers. Here’s a

breakdown of the same.

Amazon Target Group/Audience

Amazon.com General Public

Audible and Kindle Book Readers

Twitch Gaming Community

IMDb, Prime Video, Music General Movies and Entertainment Audience

Amazon Web Services Corporates and Businesses, Bloggers, Freelancers

As you can see from the table, how Amazon India targets its audience broadly with its

eCommerce platforms as well as targeting the audience of specific groups and interests

with its other group of companies.

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Now that you have an idea of its offerings and audience demographics, let us understand

the Digital marketing strategies and campaigns implemented by Amazon India to retain its

existing customers and how they target new customers.

Digital Marketing Strategy of Amazon

As we all know, Amazon is an internet eCommerce company, this alone makes its business

capable of utilizing all the tools of digital marketing to its full potential and it has been

doing well on these aspects way better than its competitors.

We will understand Amazon India’s marketing strategy one by one in the coming sections.

Let’s start by knowing how it implements its social media marketing strategies.

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Amazon’s Social Media Marketing Strategy

Amazon promotes its products on social media, successfully tapping into the social

networks’ audience and linking them back to their product pages for the sale.

In today’s times, everyone is on social media. To engage with its audience better it has

partnered with several micro and macro-influencers of the country as well.

Let’s see how Amazon uses various social media platforms, suffice it to say, they leverage

all available channels. It’s on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, and Pinterest as well.

1. Amazon on Facebook

There are 10 million fans who follow Amazon India on Facebook. It uses Facebook mainly

for posting company updates and promotions. It uses aggressive promotion strategies to

promote its Sale Days. It also stays relevant by putting out topic-based posts.

Let’s now understand its Facebook marketing campaigns in detail.

i. Sale Day Promotions

Amazon announces various sales such as Freedom Sale around independence day and

various other sales during a particular year. This year it introduced BookBazaar Sale,

Apni Dukaan Sale, Wardrobe Refresh Sale, and many more. Amazon’s Freedom Sale and

Amazon’s Wardrobe Refresh Sale promotions were held this year.

ii. Topical Promotions

Amazon also celebrates festivals and other memorable days such as Doctors Day, Mothers

Day, Fathers Day, Raksha Bandhan, Holi, Diwali, and many more

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These minimal creatives with simple messages also help consumers engage with the

brands. Here Amazon is also not promoting any of its products or services. It just presents

a simple message.

iii. Highlights of Amazon’s Stories

Amazon motivates and supports those with small businesses who become the most

inspiring entrepreneurs and sellers. In the below image, Monika Agarwal is one of the

inspiring sellers of Amazon who tells her story- she owns Swara Creations, in Mumbai,

which offers traditional and modern fashion accessories.

This also encourages many small businesses and retailers to sell their products on this

platform and thus resulting in Amazon onboarding more sellers who offer customers

everything they need.

2. Amazon on Instagram
Amazon’s marketing strategy on Instagram has mainly been used for interviews with

various artists from different backgrounds and primary promotions. It has about 2.8 million

followers on Instagram.

Its strategy on Instagram is very similar to how it uses Facebook, except for company news

updates, the posts are almost the same both on Instagram & Facebook.

Here are few notable promotions are done by Amazon to create spread laughs and

inspiration.

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i. Prime Day Promotion

On Amazon’s recent Amazon Prime Day, it partnered with 14 very popular stand-up

comedians in India to promote their Sale Day.

The caption put up was, “Your 10-minute breather is here. Enjoy your

#AmazonPrimeDay shopping with 14 comedians keeping your company, every hour.

#DiscoverJoy”, this seemed to be interesting and that attracted many customers to shop. ii.

Amazon HandMade

Recently, Amazon celebrated women-owned businesses on @AmazonHandmade

Instagram profile. The women with small businesses are the ones who are inspiring to other

women out there.

They have turned their passion and creativity into handcrafted products for customers

around the world with the hashtag #BossBabe. This move encouraged women from all over

the globe to start their business and use Amazon as its distribution channel.

3. Amazon on Twitter

Amazon India uses a very different approach to acquire new customers on Twitter. It keeps

its followers engaged, uses a wide variety of content, creates customer-acquiring contests,

uses multiple accounts, and participates in trends. It has a fan base of 2 million on Twitter,

which is one the best followers count in the industry.

It uses a conversational tone on Twitter that presents content in such a way that seems to

us like personal recommendations than an advertisement. This has made Amazon seem to

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sell nearly everything and they also have content for nearly everything. Here are some of

the highlights from Amazon India’s Twitter handle.

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4. Amazon on YouTube

The best thing about Amazon’s YouTube advertisements is that they Hook people

immediately. Amazon always tries to keep its ads meaningful and engaging usually by

trying to connect with the customer using an emotional message. In today’s world, where

people are worried that the growth of technology is drawing them apart, Amazon Echo’s

new campaign aims to bring Indian families together with their smart speaker technology.

Another very popular campaign released by Amazon with the hashtag –

#MomBeAGirlAgain, revolves around a mother-son relationship, where the son gifts his

mother a Camera using Amazon’s services. YouTube offers brands with various field

formats to showcase its advertisement, like skippable in-stream ads, Non-skippable ads,

etc. Amazon uses all these formats from time to time, depending on the purpose.

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5. Amazon on Pinterest

Amazon’s account on Pinterest has over 1 lakh followers. They utilize their presence on

Pinterest by promoting their products based on various themes.

Amazon makes a collage of its most popular products in several thematic lifestyle buckets

such as for wedding planning, for home, office, kitchen, etc to lure a wide range of

consumer groups back to the products on its E-commerce website.

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 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The present study revolves around the following objectives:

• To study the concept of Digital Marketing in India and its applicability to

Various emerging facts of the Indian economy.

• To analyze the Digital Marketing strategy in India.

• To study the opportunities and challenges faced by the digital marketing sector

in India.

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 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Secondary data sources were used to gain a comprehensive and in depth understanding of

the digital marketing in India. Inputs related to internet users in India and segment -wise

users of internet in India etc. have been taken from I cube 2006 , a syndicated research

product of the technology group at IMRB International. These annual syndicated set of

reports on the internet market in India are based on a large scale primary survey covering

200 individuals across 15 cities in India Information - from various published resources

and other research bodies were also used to perform a data validation check and also to

reach at the final numbers.

Primary research was conducted using in-depth interview with large and - medium

sized digital marketing players. A detailed questionnaire was administered to the

players from various verticals of the digital marketing industry in India.

Hypothesis Research Objective:

This research is based on DIGITAL MARKETING. Companies in the Information

Technology (IT) field: software, hardware and networking suppliers- have a natural

affinity for the Internet. So I would like to make a research filled with proven

strategies, tactics and tips devoted strictly to the IT industries. Internet marketing

needs topics for research includes; making the most of the company website, using

search tools and new group for promotion, online-offline marketing and more. So In

a study it was revealed that earning members of the family spend more of their time

on internet as compare to television, so marketers follows the consumers. That's why

I feel Internet Marketing will be the next field in the Marketing.

48
 RESULTS, DATA ANALYSIS
AND DISCUSSIONS
This chapter aims obtain the objective of the study by critically analysing the qualitative

data through thoroughly examining the interviewee’s responses and beliefs. This has been

achieved through evaluating the most relevant responses by the participants. The data has

been analysed and discussed by comparing the comments made by the respondents with

the literature review keeping in mind the research objective of the study. Thus, the rationale

of this analysis is based on the personal answers provided by the respondents.

An appropriately designed questionnaire was used to collect the primary data for the study.

The data for 100 respondents was organized systematically in tables and graphs and then

was subjected to analysis using appropriate statistical tools. The results of the analysis are

presented in the following section in order to assess the customer perception towards online

shopping on Amazon.com in India.

Here for analysing, we are considering two factors. That is:

• Demographical factors

• Behavioural factors

49
Demography:
1. Gender of Respondents:
Table 4.1: Gender wise respondents
Male Female Total

Responses 58 42 100

Percentage 58 42 100

50
Graph 4.1: Gender wise respondents

Analysis and Interpretation:

According to demography profile, in this study 70 % male and 30% female respondents are
part of my target population and they help me to fulfil my questionnaire from different area
of Bangalore city. From these groups total respondents are 100. So, according to the survey
result,the male respondents are more and can be told that they interested to shop online
than female, even though both of them shop online.

2. Age Group:

Table 4.2: Age wise respondents

15 -25 25 -35 35 - 45 45 & above Total

No of respondents 63 24 12 1 100

Percentage 63 24 12 1 100

51
Graph 4.2: Age wise respondents

Analysis and Interpretation:

Below figure shows that 63% respondents are between 15-25 years old, 24% respondents
are between 25-35 years old, 12% respondents between 35-45 years old, and 1%
respondents are between 45&above. Overall result shows that between all of them the
respondents who has age limit between 15 to 35 years (63%+24%= 87%) people are more
familiar to shop online on my target population.

3. Occupation:

Table 4.3: Occupation wise respondents

Business House wife Salaried Student Total
person

No. of respondents 8 7 46 39 100

Percentage 8 7 46 39 100

52
Graph 4.3: Occupation wise respondents

Analysis and Interpretation:

In this survey, 46% of the respondents are salaried and 39% are students. So they both
together made majority of respondent’s percentage (85%). 8% are business persons and
7% are House wife. Salaried persons and students will always look for new technologies
and new services which make them more comfort.

4. Educational Qualification:

Table 4.4: Educational wise respondents

Graduate post SSC or Others

graduate Equivalent (PhD)

Number of respondents 63 36 0 1

Percentage 63 36 0 1

53
Graph 4.4: Educational wise respondents

Analysis and Interpretation:

All of them in this survey are graduate and above qualified peoples only. Among these 63%
are graduates, 36% are post graduates and one person is PhD.

5. Annual Income:

Table 4.5: Income wise respondents

0- 3 L 3-6L 6-9L 9 & above

Number of respondents 60 23 13 4

Percentage 60 23 13 4

54
Graph 4.5: Income wise respondents

Analysis and Interpretation:

Since 39% of this survey is students most of them are of 0-3L income range, ie 60%.
23% of them are in 3-6Lincome range, 13% in 6-9L and 4% is 9 & above.

Behavioural factors:
This survey is conducted on those people who do online shopping and are aware of
Amazon. So everyone answered ‘yes’ for those two questions.

6) Frequency of purchase from online:

Table 4.6: online shopping usage

Always Often Sometimes Seldom Never Total

Male 5 21 29 3 0 58

55
Female 4 14 23 1 0 42

Total 9 35 52 4 0 100

Graph 4.6: online shopping usage

Analysis and Interpretation:

More than half of them use online shopping sometimes, ie 52%. People who always and
mostly shop through online shopping are also good in number, 9 and 35, together 44%.
And who use online shopping rarely is very less in number 4%. Since only 44% are mostly
using this, there is a wide space to fill and to make online shopping a great success. And
there is not much gender difference inonline shopping, which means both males and
females enjoying online shopping and its benefits.
7)Mode of awareness about Amazon.com:

Table 4.7: Modes of awareness about Amazon

Word Advertisements, Blog Links Promotional Search Total

of newspapers, TV recommendations from emails engines(like
Mouth other Google)
websites

56
 No: of 39 22 2 15 5 17 100
respondents

Percentage 39 22 2 15 5 17 100

Graph 4.7: Modes of awareness about Amazon

Analysis and Interpretation:

Most of them are awareabout Amazon through word of mouth (39%) followed by television
and online advertisements (22%). Customers got awared through blog recommendations
(2%) and promotional e-mails (5%) are very less in number.
This means a good communicaton about Amazon is going on through friends and families,
which proves that word of mouth strategy by them is the most successful means of making
people aware about their products. Success can only be gained through delighted customers
who act as advocates for their products and there is a wide scope of other digital
advertisement techniques like search engine marketing, email- marketing, providing links
and blog recommendations inorder to make more customers.

57
8) Frequency of usingAmazon.com while online purchasing:

Graph 4.8: Frequency of using Amazon

Every Occasionally Most of the Hardly Total
time time ever

No: of 17 45 32 6 100
respondents

Percentage 17 45 32 6 100

Graph 4.8: Frequency of using Amazon

Analysis and Interpretation:

Here on this survey 17% are always choosing Amazon for online shopping, while 45% are
using it occasionally. Hardly ever using members are very less, and 32% are using it most

58
 of the time. Since more than half of them prefer Amazon while thinking of online shopping,
it means branding had done successfully by them either through advertisements, services
or providing good experience to customers.
9) Category that mostly prefer to buy from Amazon.com:
Graph 4.9: Category mostly prefer to buy from Amazon
Electronics Apparels & Books, Stationaries Healthcare Home & Total
Accessories Movies & Kitchen
& Music personalcare items

No: of 39 20 30 3 4 4 100
respondents

Percentage 39 20 30 3 4 4 100

Graph 4.9: Category mostly prefer to buy from Amazon

Analysis and Interpretation:

Electronic items, Books and Stationery, Apparels& Accessories, cameras, watches and
others (bags, belts, etc.) are purchased more. 39% of respondents are preferred to buy

59
Electronics items followed by Books and Stationery (30%) and Apparels and Accessories
(20%). Books & stationery and electronics items are more famous among the students and
that may be the reason for large purchase of those items from Amazon.com.

10) Reason for customer’s preference on Amazon.com than others:

Table 4.10: Customers expecting feature of Amazon

Fast Availabilit After Sales Easy Portal Total
Deliver y Services Payment Features
y options

Responses 41 29 8 17 5 100

Percentage 41 29 8 17 5 100

Graph 4.10: Customers expecting feature of Amazon

Analysis and Interpretation:

One of the most efficient features in Amazon is fast delivery when compared to other
online shopping websites. So, most of the customers prefer this website for shopping with

60
 the perception of quick delivery (41%) and availability of product (29%), followed by
easy payment options (17%). And there is a scope of increasing after sales services and
portal features when comparing with other features.
11) Product selection from the categories given by Amazon.com:
Table 4.11: On the basis where product is chosen
Rating of the Discounts and Review about the Brand of the Total
product features product product

No: of 14 48 26 12 100
Responses
Percentage 14 48 26 12 100

Graph 4.11: On the basis where product is chosen

Analysis and Interpretation:

Customer perception varies while using Amazon; it is one of the online shopping sites
which give high discounts and offers. Most of them in this survey (48%) are looking for
good featured product with high discounts while purchasing products from Amazon. And
also customers more often go through the product review (26%) before making their
decision topurchase. Product review is a kind of word of mouth strategy where product

61
 usersleave their review on their experiences with Amazon. Customers are giving priority
to these two features while brand of product (12%) and rating of product (14%) also taken
care by some other customers.

12) Rating of services on Amazon.com (in a scale of Excellent, Good, Average,

below average, Poor)

Table 4.12: Rating of Amazon services

Excellent Good Average Below Poor
Average

Cash on delivery 46 45 5 2 2

30 days replacement 23 55 20 2 0
policy

EMI options 21 48 25 5 1

Free shipping 35 34 17 12 2

62
Graph 4.12: Rating of Amazon services

Analysis and Interpretation:

46% of respondents are rated excellent for cash on delivery service, while for 30 days
replacement policy 55% rated good and 23% rated excellent. For EMI options 48% rated
good and 21% rated excellent, and for free shipping 35% rated excellent.
While analysing the data, customers have more interest in two services of Amazon: That
is,
30 days replacement policy and EMI options.
Since Amazon is providing 30 days replacement policy for all the products in the platform.
And this combined mix service increased the customer trust.
In case of EMI options, Amazon is the only site which accepts all credit cards and thus it
provides a better payment options to the customers.
Cash on delivery is a compactable service that provided to the customers and they are much
satisfied on that service also. Even some rated less for this service, may be because of less
customised experience on cash on delivery.

63
In case of free shipping, Amazon provide this service for total purchase of rupees 300 and
above only. So it may affect some of the customers who purchase less price products
frequently.

FINDINGS:
• There is not much difference in gender for using online shopping.

• Students and salaried persons are most frequent users of Amazon.

• Frequency of purchase for electronics, books and music, apparels and

accessoriesare more in Amazon.

• Word of mouth was more influential in promotion as many people were made aware

by their friends and family when customers recommend this website to them.

• Highly discounted products got out of stock quickly, since customers purchased it

as soon as they could when they see high discount on good featured product.

• The services provided by Amazon are good and even more scope of development

is there for increasing the customer strength.

• Digital marketing techniques like search engine marketing, links providing other

website and advertisement also functioned well for promotion of this website.

• Fast delivery is one of best service Amazon is providing.

• Different payment options available in Amazon made customers more satisfied and

comfort for paying while purchasing product.

• Customers feeling more secured when purchasing through Amazon because of

different policies and services they have.

64
• In comparison with competitors, Amazon is charging free shipping for the purchase

of 300 plus rupees, while others free ship the service without any

barrier.

• Out of stock is the main issue faced by Amazon.

• Most of customers have good experience with Amazon while purchasing

products.

• Most of them are satisfied with the services of Amazon and so that they succeed in

retaining the customers.

• Advertising is an important way to have the brand and products familiarto

consumers.

• Convenience and time saving are two important factors that customer looking for

while purchasing through online.

65
 CONCLUSION:

The thorough study is based on the consumer behaviour analysis which serves a great idea

regarding consumer perception when they go for online shopping. In order to satisfy

themselves consumer perceive many things before buying products and they will be

satisfied if the company meet their expectation.

The Overall Brand Value of Amazon is good, but it is facing some tough competitionfrom

its global competitors like Ebay and Amazon. Talking about domesticmarket i.e India, it is

the most superior E-business portal which is aggressivelyexpanding & planting its roots

deep into the Indian market & at the same time shiftingthe mind-set of the people from

going & shopping from physical store to onlinestores, which is magnificent!.

Be very focused on consumers and build amazing experiences for the customers.

66
 RECOMMENDATIONS:

• Amazon has successfully placed itself into the prospects mind making it the India’s

largest online store with huge range of products. But it still needs to work on their

core competence that is books and stationery items.

• Delivery services can be improved mainly in rural areas by selecting appropriate

courier service which has services in customer area for dispatching an item.

• Can make free delivery to all priced products.

• Can include more coupon codes and gift vouchers for increasing the traffic of the

customers.

• Out of stock items can made available as soon as possible and intimate the needed

customers.

• Should look for International/ Overseas markets or Neighbouring Countries.

• Critical mass of Internet users – Internet users in India is increasing at increasing

rate, so Amazon can target more & more cities i.e not only tier 1 & 2 but also tier

3 & 4 cities, which will help generate stronger customer base & more revenues.

• Should clearing focus on the Growing Online Apparel business & it can diversify

into apparel category either organically or inorganically by acquiring other

portals.

• User Experience: Portal should continuously aim to work to improve the user

experience by adding more & more innovative features in the website like virtually

shopping basket, virtual trial rooms. In this competitive world to differentiate via

user experience, the ultimate winner will be the Indian online consumer.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

67
BOOKS:
➢ Assael, Henry. (1984.) “Behavior and Market Action”. Boston, Massachusetts:
Kent Publishing Company,
➢ Belch, G.E., & Belch, M.A. (2001). Advertising and Promotion: An integrated
Marketing Communications Perspective (5th ed.). Boston: Irwin/McGraw- Hill.
➢ Cooper, Donald R. and Schindler , Pamela S. (1999), Business Research Methods,
6 Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited, New Delhi, India.
➢ Creswell, J. W. (2003). “Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed
Methods Approaches”. Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage.
JOURNELS AND MAGAZINES:
➢ Arnould, E.J. and Wallendorf, M. “Market-oriented Ethnography: Interpretation
Building and Marketing Strategy Formulation,” Journal of Marketing Research,
Vol. 31 (November 1994), pp. 484–504.

➢ ANALYSIS OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ONLINE

Author: DejanPetrovic

➢ HOT BARGAINS: TIPS TO FIGURE OUT TRAPS FROM THE REAL VALUE
DEALS
SUSHMITA CHOUDHURY AGARWAL, ET Bureau Apr 22, 2013 (The Economic
Times)

WEBSITES:
➢ www.Amazon.com
➢ www.commodityindia.com
➢ www.marketoperation.com
➢ www.nextbigwhat.com
➢ www.britannica.com
➢ en.kioskea.net

68
 APPENDIX

Questionnaire

1. Gender of Respondents:

Male Female
58 42
58 42

2. Age Group:

15 -25 25 -35 35 - 45 45 & above

63 24 12 1
63 24 12 1

3. Occupation:
Business person House wife Salaried Student
8 7 46 39
8 7 46 39

4. Educational Qualification:
Graduate post graduate SSC or Equivalent
63 36 0
63 36 0

69
5. Annual Income:
0- 3 L 3-6L 6-9L
60 23 13
60 23 13

6) Frequency of purchase from online:

Always Often Sometimes Seldom Never
5 21 29 3 0
4 14 23 1 0
9 35 52 4 0

7) Mode of awareness about Amazon.com:

Word of Advertisements, Blog Links Promotional fromSearch

Mouth newspapers, TV recomme- emails engines(like
ndations other Google)
websites

39 22 2 15 5 17

39 22 2 15 5 17

8) Frequency of usingAmazon.com while online purchasing:

Every Occasionally Most of the Hardly
time time ever
17 45 32 6
17 45 32 6

9) Category that mostly prefer to buy from Amazon.com:

70
 Electronics Apparels & Books, Stationaries Healthcare Home &
Accessories Movies & Kitchen

& Music personalcare items

39 20 30 3 4 39 20 30 3 4 4
4

10) Reason for customer’s preference on Amazon.com than others:

Fast Availability After Sales Easy Portal

Delivery Services Payment Features
options
41 29 8 17 5
41 29 8 17 5

71