CAPSTONE PROJECT REPORT

Internet Shopping and Buying Behavior of College

Students

Prepared By
G MITHUN KUMAR
20630021045

PGDM 2021-23

Under the Guidance of

Prof. Shilpa Thakur

ITM Business School

Plot 25 & 26, Institutional Area, Sector 4,
Kharghar (E), Navi Mumbai - 410 210
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the Project Work titled "Students' Online Buying Behaviour" is a bonafide
work carried out by G Mithun Kumar, a student of PGDM program 2021 - 2023 of the Institute for
Technology & Management, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai under my guidance and direction.

Signature of Guide

Name & Designation: Shilpa Thakur, Asst Professor

Date: 09 March 2022

Place: Kharghar, Navi Mumbai

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I express my profound gratitude to Prof. Shilpa Thakur for her meticulous knowledgeable
guidance and support to complete this project. Without her guidance and motivation my project
would not have been such learning experience.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to all the faculty members of the marketing department
of ITM Business School for their guidance and support from time to time. Although they were
not my allotted guide as per the college, yet they guided me in the right direction to complete this
project with effective understanding.

I would also like to thank all my classmates and my friends without whose cooperation this
project report would not have been a reality.

G Mithun Kumar

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Executive Summary

The project talks about one of the most promising forms of retailing in today's
technologically driven world; the online retailing. Online shopping in India has grown over the
years from being a lower profile concept to one which is now quite famous. The credit for this
goes to, both the marketing companies that have created fantastic campaigns for spreading the
word about this concept and the customers who have started shopping extensively for things online.

Online shopping has become into a practice, which is now recognized by lots of human
beings all over the world. In India, shopping has always been an activity, which has been
undertaken with a gusto, which is quite unrivalled by any other activity.

The Indian subcontinent has lots of human beings who have realized the advantages of
forsaking shops and venturing into the online world with their credit card numbers and their
wishes. College students form a major part of this group who is getting more and more interested
in online shopping.

Much research has been made across the globe in order to understand the buying behavior
and purchase patterns of this upcoming class which spends 3-4 hours of their daily schedule on
internet. They have 1nore technology enthusiasts and gadget freaks. Recent studies have revealed
that these college students prefer to shop online rather than go out in the market and spend time
there. Markets have become more of a fun zone for them instead of shopping place.

This project is an effort to understand how college students behave while shopping online and
what is their behavior and attitude towards online shopping. The project concentrates on two
objectives that need to be filled. The first objective is to find out the factors that drive and
motivate students to opt for online shopping rather than real shopping. What benefits, according to
them, they get from the virtual markets and shopping which have left the traditional shopping ways far
behind. The second objective is to study what all products do the college students buy

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online. Which are the more popular categories among them that they are ready to shop for online for
which products/ categories they still prefer to shop in the real world.

The project would help the businesses and organizations to understand these students’
behavior for whole they are waiting in the real world. Even the companies that have gone to adopt
this channel, the project would help them to develop their offerings in a better way who are
majorly targeting on college students as their target customers.

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Contents

Introduction to E-Business……………………………………………………….
Sectoral Growth…………………………………………………………………………...
Government Initiatives…………………………………………………………………….
Contribution to GDP.....................................................................................
Overview of the company…………………………………………………………………
Organizational structure, product services………………………………………………...
SWOT Analysis, BCG Matrix…………………………………………………………….

Literature Review..................................................................................…….
Definition of E-Tailing.............................................................................……….
Research Gap...................................................................................................
Research Objectives..................................................................................…..

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6
Introduction to E-Business
E-business or Online business means business transactions that take place online with the help of the
internet. The term e-business came into existence in the year 1996. E-business is an abbreviation for
electronic business. So, the buyer and the seller don’t meet personally.
In today’s world, we are exposed to various forms of e-Business. Since its emergence, it has grown
by leaps and bounds. Some predict that it may very soon overtake brick and mortar stores
completely. While that remains to be seen, we cannot ignore the immense role it plays in the current
global economy.

Sectoral Growth last few years

The E-commerce industry has seen unprecedented growth over the last 2 years. It has now become
an integral of the retail ecosystem with brands across sectors strengthening their online presence.
The pandemic has surely encouraged people to adopt e-commerce, but now after two years, it has
become a part of daily lives. Companies across sectors have realized the importance and growth
potential of the e-commerce industry.As per India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) report indicates
that the Indian eCommerce industry is geared to surpass that of the US online market sector by
2034.

Government Initiatives
Since 2014, the Government of India has announced various initiatives, namely Digital India, Make
in India, Start-up India, Skill India, and Innovation Fund. The timely and effective implementation
of such programs will likely support growth of E-commerce in the country. Some of the major
initiatives taken by the Government to promote E-commerce in India are as follows:

As of November 2, 2021, the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal served 7.96 million orders
worth Rs. 152,315 crore (US$ 20.40 billion) to 55,433 buyers from 3.06 million registered sellers
and service providers.
As of October 11, 2021, the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal served 7.78 million orders
worth Rs. 145,583 crore (US$ 19.29 billion) to 54,962 buyers from 2.92 million registered sellers

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and service providers.
In a bid to systematize the onboarding process of retailers on e-commerce platforms, the Department
for Promotion of Industry, and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is reportedly planning to utilize the Open
Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to set protocols for cataloguing, vendor discovery and price
discovery. The department aims to provide equal opportunities to all marketplace players to make
optimum use of the e-commerce ecosystem in the larger interest of the country and its citizen.

National Retail Policy: The government had identified five areas in its proposed national retail policy
—ease of doing business, rationalization of the license process, digitization of retail, focus on
reforms and an open network for digital commerce—stating that offline retail and e-commerce need
to be administered in an integral manner.

The Consumer Protection (e-commerce) Rules 2020 notified by the Consumer Affairs Ministry in
July directed e-commerce companies to display the country of origin alongside the product listings.
In addition, the companies will also have to reveal parameters that go behind determining product
listings on their platforms.

Under the Digital India movement, Government launched various initiatives like Umang, Start-up
India Portal, Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) etc. to boost digitization.
In October 2020, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Piyush Goyal invited start-ups to register
at public procurement portal, GeM, and offer goods and services to government organisations and
PSUs.

In October 2020, amending the equalization levy rules of 2016, the government mandated foreign
companies operating e-commerce platforms in India to have permanent account numbers (PAN). It
imposed a 2% tax in the FY21 budget on the sale of goods or delivery of services through a non-
resident ecommerce operator.

To increase the participation of foreign players in E-commerce, Indian Government hiked the limit
of FDI in E-commerce marketplace model to up to 100% (in B2B models).Heavy investment made
by the Government in rolling out fiber network for 5G will help boost E commerce in India.

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Contribution to GDP
E-commerce has transformed the way business is done in India. The Indian E-commerce market is
expected to grow to US$ 111.40 billion by 2025 from US$ 46.2 billion as of 2020. By 2030, it is
expected to reach US$ 350 billion.
By 2021, total e-commerce sales are expected to reach US$ 67-84 billion from the US$ 52.57 billion
recorded in 2020.
India’s e-commerce market is expected to reach US$ 111 billion by 2024 and US$ 200 billion by
2026.
Much of the growth for the industry has been triggered by an increase in internet and smartphone
penetration. As of July 2021, the number of internet connections in India significantly increased to
784.59 million, driven by the ‘Digital India’ programmed. Out of the total internet connections,
~61% connections were in urban areas, of which 97% connections were wireless.

Overview of the company

Flipkart, one of the most popular & leading e-commerce companies in India with a market share
of 31.9%. In 2016, Flipkart’s valuation stood at $20 billion, when American retail giant Walmart
bought 77% stake in the company for $16 billion. Flipkart currently has more than 200 million
registered customers and the company is offering more than 150 million products in more than 80
categories. Flipkart currently has about 36,000 employees and is competing in the e-commerce
sector in India with competitors such as Amazon and Snapdeal.

Organizational structure, product services of Flipkart

1.Organizational structure

There are top Five shareholders of the Flipkart, the list is as follows: -

 Walmart – Holds 81.3% Stake

 Tiger Global – Holds 4.77% Stake
 Binny Bansal – Holds 4.2% Stake
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  Microsoft – 1.53%
 Accel 1.38 per cent,
 Iconiq Capital 0.98 per cent,
 Temasek 0.29 per cent and
 UBS 0.19 per cent
*Others would include the investments by DST Global, Morgan Stanley, NEA Ventures, Iconiq, and
many other big anchor investors.

Flipkart is the company which is incorporated in the year 2011 in Singapore and registered itself
with the Singaporean government. Flipkart Pvt Ltd is the main holding and the parent company
under which there are many subsidiaries involved.

There are Five subsidiaries under Flipkart Pvt Ltd. They are:

 Myntra
 PhonePe
 Ekart
 Jeeves
 Cleartrip
 Shopsy
Under the above three companies, there are five other companies which have been incorporated in
India. They are:

 Flipkart Payment Gateway Services Pvt Ltd (Which provides the payment gateway services
with the product called pay zippy).
 Flipkart India Pvt Ltd (Wholesale cash and carry entity).
 Flipkart Internet Pvt Ltd (Flipkart.com is owned by this company and all the technology
related issues is seen by this company).
 Digital Media Pvt Ltd (It is a dormant company which doesn’t files its return).
 Digital Management Services Pvt Ltd (It is an enterprise which runs letsbuy.com).

The biggest investor of Flipkart.com – Tiger Global has invested around 700 Million Dollars in
the company which is a huge amount which shows a great sign of trust in the company by the angel
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 investors and which is much higher as compared to the investment done by Tiger Global in
Facebook and Google.

2.Product services

Flipkart is India's leading eCommerce marketplace with over 80 million products across 80+
categories. Some of the products offered by Flipkart are electronics like laptops, tablets,
smartphones, and mobile accessories to in-vogue fashion staples like shoes, clothing, and lifestyle
accessories; from modern furniture like sofa sets, dining tables, and wardrobes to appliances that
make your life easy like washing machines, TVs, ACs, mixer grinder juicers, and other time-
saving kitchen and small appliances.
From home furnishings like cushion covers, mattresses, and bedsheets to toys and musical
instruments, Flipkart got them all covered. You name it, and you can stay assured about finding
them all here.

SWOT Analysis, BCG Matrix

S Stands for Strengths (Internal Factor)

 Promoters: Flipkart’s founders, Sachin & Binny Bansal, are ex-Amazon employees. Their
experience in the e-commerce industry has helped the founders work strategically and differentiate
their company in a highly competitive market.
 Acquisitions: with a series of acquisitions like Letsbuy.co, chakpak.com, weread.com, Mine360
and the recent acquisition of Myntra, the company has been able to expand into e-commerce space
and leverage the capabilities and existing resources of the acquired companies.
 High brand recall: Flipkart has established itself as a renowned e-commerce company in India
through TV advertisements, online branding, and its social media presence. Brand activities like
‘Big Billion Day’ have significantly increased the brand recall of the company.
 Own payment gateway and logistics arm: The company’s logistics arm E-kart and payment
service provider Payzippy have helped the company control its expenses. As a result, the benefits
are passed on to the end customers.

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 W Stands for Weaknesses (Internal Factor)
 Limited Distribution: Flipkart has limited channel reach, though the logistics department has kept
costs low. This is a weakness of the company as it has limited reach. Global giants like Amazon
and eBay can deliver their products to any part of the country thanks to outsourcing. Flipkart, on
the other hand, is still struggling in this area.
 Cost of Acquisition: Since Flipkart acquires a large number of customers through online
advertising, the cost of acquisition is high due to stiff competition in the market and low customer
retention. According to Flipkart, the company spends an average of Rs. 400 to acquire a new
customer.
 Buyers have the power: Since there are a large number of players in this industry, buyers have a
large number of options to choose from. Shoppers save money on switching costs as they can
easily switch from one online retailer to another. The same products are offered on multiple online
retail websites. There is virtually no product differentiation, so the battle is solely on price.

O Stands for Opportunities (External Factor)

 Business Expansion: by focusing on other emerging markets, a company can increase revenue
while benefiting from economies of scale.
 Increase In Category: This increases the customer base while decreasing the cost of customer
acquisition and switching.
 Change in Interest: As more and more customers are getting comfortable with online shopping
and the number of internet users in India is increasing, there are huge opportunities in this industry.
 Supply Chain System: by optimizing their supply chain, they can compete with the other players
and manage the loss of sales due to the product not being available due to supply shortages.
 Global Markets: Similar to Amazon, Flipkart can gradually start expanding its business outside
India and do business in other countries as well, which will help in growing its revenue.
 Consumer Behaviour: The new trends in consumer behaviour will open up new opportunities for
Flipkart. This is a great opportunity for the company to expand its revenue streams and diversify
into new product categories.

T Stands for Threats (External Factor) 

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 Intense competition: There is fierce competition between global players like Amazon and eBay
and local players like Snapdeal, Tolexo and Shop clues who are constantly trying to take market
share from each other.
 Government regulations: Government regulations on issues such as foreign direct investment
(FDI) in multi-brand retail have significantly hampered the growth of the e-commerce industry in
India.

BCG Matrix
Stars
 The financial services strategic business unit is a star in the BCG matrix of Flipkart com. It
operates in a market that shows potential in the future. Flipkart com earns a significant amount of
its income from this SBU. Flipkart com should vertically integrate by acquiring other firms in the
supply chain. This will help it in earning more profits as this Strategic business unit has potential.

Cash Cows

 The supplier management service strategic business unit is a cash cow in the BCG matrix of
Flipkart com. This has been in operation for over decades and has earned Flipkart com a
significant amount in revenue. The market share for Flipkart com is high, but the overall market is
declining as companies manage their supplier themselves rather than outsourcing it. The
recommended strategy for Flipkart com is to stop further investment in this business and keep
operating this strategic business unit as long as its profitable.

Question Marks

 The local foods strategic business unit is a question mark in the BCG matrix for Flipkart com. The
recent trends within the market show that consumers are focusing more towards local foods.
Therefore, this market is showing a high market growth rate. However, Flipkart com has a low
market share in this segment. The recommended strategy for Flipkart com is to invest in research
and development to come up with innovative features. This product development strategy will
ensure that this strategic business unit turns into a cash cow and brings profits for the company in
the future.
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 Dogs

 The plastic bags strategic business unit is a dog in the BCG matrix of Flipkart com. This strategic
business unit has been in the loss for the last 5 years. It also operates in a market that is declining
due to greater environmental concerns. The recommended strategy for Flipkart com is to divest
this strategic business unit and minimize its losses.

Scope of the study

Purchasing and selling products and services over the internet without the need of going physically to
the market is what online shopping all about. Online shopping is just like a retail store shopping that
we do by going to the market, but it is done through the internet. Online shopping has made shopping
painless and added more fun. Online stores offer product description, pictures, comparisons, price
and much more. Few examples of these are Amazon.com, ebay.com, framt.com and the benefits of
online shopping is that by having direct access to consumer ,the online stores can offer products that
cater to the needs of consumer ,cookies can be used for tracking the customer selection over the
internet or what is of their interest when they visit the site again . Online shopping makes use of
digital technology for managing the flow of information, products, and payment between consumer,
site owners and suppliers. Online shopping can be either B2B (business to business) or B2C
(business to consumer).

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 Literature Review

“Study of the Factors influencing Online Buying Behaviour of Customers” infer that the
advancement of electronic trade, specifically electronic retailing, sets various difficulties for the
two retailers and clients. The straightforwardness and accessibility of the electronic retailing
condition can bring about indiscreet internet buying. Imprudent purchasing conduct alludes to the
inclination of customers to make a buy precipitously, immediately and without earlier thought. By
and large, in the Croatian setting, the issue of imprudent purchasing isn't adequately spoken to in
logical papers, and this is especially valid with regards to electronic retailing. Even though this
section centers around the somewhat restricted piece of web-based purchasing conduct, it tried to
give a superior comprehension of buying conduct of Croatian buyers in an electronic trade
condition. The examination adds to the current writing by expanding the comprehension of
customer buying conduct and by giving new experiences into buying aims of Indian young person's
buyers in a web-based shopping condition.

The study focuses on the factors that online buyers consider while shopping online. Some of the
factors identified in this research are scarcity of time with the buyer, availability of payment
options like COD, variety of product availability, product pricing, discounts, and offers, etc. The
data is collected using a questionnaire on a sample of 100 people of the age of 15 to 60 years and

percentage analysis is done for analyzing the collected data.

Significance of the study Online shopping

Significance of the study Online shopping is a virtual shopping that enables consumers to shop
across multiple marketplaces on a 24x7 basis through the internet. It facilitates the consumers to
shop at online stores by simply clicking at the tip of a mouse. Consumers can purchase any item
online. Online shopping gained momentum due to a variety of reasons, viz. convenience, availability
of products at consumers‟ doorsteps, gift vouchers, discount, and low price, variety of products, etc.
However, the online shopping system has its demerits. The consumers who buy a product cannot
suffer the material or to try it especially in the case of clothing and see how it is made. Lack of
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privacy and security is another problem faced by an online shopper, even though there are
precautions to ensure the safety of the transaction. A study on online shopping behavior among
youth enables us to understand the extent to which online shopping. It is in this environment that the
present study titled “Online shopping behavior among youth” is attempted.

Research Gap
Although much literature is available on e-shopping and its future, yet no relevant data was
found regarding why Students like and dislike shopping on internet, what factors drive the1n to
move away from the b1ick-and-mo11arformat and tend towards the virtual format. Also, it was
important to find out what categories they actually shop on the internet. This was found to be an
interesting and knowledgeable area to work on.

Research Objectives
1. To find out the factors which influence the students to go for e-shopping.
2. To find out the categories in which students are influenced by the above factors, to purchase
online.
3. To study the benefits and challenges of online shopping.
4. To list out the Best Online Shopping Sites in India.
5. To analysis the online shopping behavior in college students in the Hyderabad region.

HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY

In line with the objectives, the following hypothesis was framed; H01 There is no significant
difference in the evaluation of Online Shopping by the Respondents. Research Methodology
assortment of sample the respondents of the study consist of male and female youth of Hyderabad
town. A sample of 200 young males and females has been selected for the study by adopting a
convenience sampling method. The data required for the study were collected from both primary
and secondary sources. The primary data were collected from the respondents based on a
structured questionnaire. Secondary data were collected from reports, books, periodicals and web
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sites. Tools of Analysis the data composed were suitably classified and analyzed based on the
objectives of the study. For analysis, statistical tools like percentages, rank tests and chi-square
test.

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References

Research papers

l. Narges Delafrooz, Lail y Hj Paim, and Ali Khatibi; University of Putra Malaysia, "Students'
Online Shopping Behavior: An Emperical S tudy''
2. Benjamin Chan Yin-Fah and Bei Hooi-Choo; Universiti Putra Malaysia, "Undergraduates
and Online Purchasing Behavior"
3. Debo rah H. Lester, Andrew M. Forman and Dolly Loyd; "Internet Shopping and Buying
Behavior of College Students"
4. TerTy Nev,ihohn, Peter Mcgoldrick, Kathy Keeling, Linda Macaulay & Joanne Dohert y
Inten1ational Centre for Retail Studies in the Manchester Business School, UK , Departme nt
of Inforn1atics, University of Manchester, UK, " Multi Story Trust and online Retail
Strategies "
5. . S inh a. Piyush Kumar, "UsingTransaction Utility Approach for Retail Fonnat Decisio n"
6. M. Adarn Mahmood, Kallol Bagchi, and Timothy C. Ford, " On-line Shopping Behavior: Cross-
Country Etnpirical Research"

Books

I. Ogden James R and Ogden Denise T, Integrated Retail Management-Indian Adaptation,

Houghton Mifflin Co., 2005
2. Haag-Baltzan-Phillips, Business Driven Technology, Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Co.
Li:tn i ted, 2006
3. Hanes Tony and Bruce Margaret, Fashion Marketit1g, Butterworth Heinemann publications,
2002
4. Gilbert David, Retail Marketing Management, Pearson Education Inc, 2003
5. Kalakota Ravi and Robinson Marcia, E Business 2.0, Pearson Education Inc, 2004

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Articles

1. International Trade Forum, Issue 3, 2003

2. Survival Tactics, Advertising & Market ing, Nov
2000
3. Home is where Homepage is, Advertising &
Marketing, Nov 2000
4. Accessing the Future, Advettising & Marketing,
Nov 2000
5. Targeting the Constuners Life, Advertising &
Marketing, Nov 2000
6. Business of Self Evident Truths, Advertising &
M,u·keting, Dec 2000
7. Shopping or Stopping By, Advertising &
Marketing, Jan 2001
8. Yet to happen in India, Advettising & Marketing,
March 2001
9. Digitally Certified, Advertising & M,u-k et ing, June
2001