Disadvantages Of In Store Shopping Marketing Essay

Disadvantages Of In Store Shopping Marketing Essay ABSTRACT: SHOPPING: In this paper I would like to investigate about the topic depends upon shopping. In shopping there are two ways to purchase the product. One is online shopping and other one is In-store shopping. Every human being is aware of shopping even for a small product. ONLINE SHOPPING: Online shopping is the most easiest and perfect way for the people to purchase their products. Most of the people addicted to online shopping. Thousands of websites are available for online shopping. Online shopping is thus very helpful for the people who purchase the product in daily basis. To purchase the product through online, customer should own a pc or laptop. It is not in particular that he should own pc or laptop. But main thing is the computer, if people need to purchase through online. Now a day the world is growing enormously in many technologies. Many modern new technology mobile phones do have internet facilities. So it is the other way for the people to purchase the product through mobile phones if they got internet connection. There are some requirements needed to purchase the product through online. A customer should have a valid email address, so that they get the confirmation of the product what they have ordered. The next thing is customer should have a pay-pal acc ount or credit/debit card to pay the amount for their product. If the payment is credited in sellers account the product will be delivered through postage to the concerned address of the customer within the due date mentioned. And there are advantages and disadvantages in online shopping. They are going to be listed below. ADVANTAGES OF ONLINE SHOPPING: With the advent of ubiquitous technology, the trend of online shopping has gained increasing popularity. Additionally, in an age where businesses have become highly competitive, online shopping is viewed as a means to reach consumers worldwide.  Ã‚  There are several online shopping websites that offer a range of products and services to customers. The primary advantage of online shopping is regarded as convenience. This factor encompasses both time and effort spent on shopping. Many consumers believe that is easier to find a product online, as opposed to finding it in a store. Further, online shopping provides one with the luxury to shop from any preferred location and no time is wasted on travel from ones home to a store. Moreover, the availability of Internet without any time restrictions enables shoppers to spend as much time as they need in choosing a product. Another beneficial characteristic of online shopping is the availability of reviews on a chosen product. There are multiple forums for consumers to exchange information online and make a wiser, more informed decision. In addition to the benefits it offers to individuals, online shopping saves human labour as customers help themselves by browsing online and do not require assistance. Moreover, consumers are more inclined to make a decision solely based on their preferences as they are freed from the pressure to buy from vendors. Online shopping also offers consumers with an infinite variety to choose from, as the Internet is not restricted by geographical boundaries. Shoppers have the option of browsing through a wide range that has the potential to satisfy them. Product comparison, by way of price, features, etc. is more easily facilitated with online shopping, whilst involving minimal effort. DISADVANTAGES: Although there are advantages to online shopping, there are a number of demerits as well. On account of privacy issues, many people do not shop online. This is regarded as the primary reason for non-online shoppers. Credit card fraud and use of personal information for other purposes are other major concerns.  Ã‚   Another concern is around inability to experience fully functional products, such as apparel, perfume, electronics, etc. online. Illustratively, many consumers feel apprehensive about purchasing clothes as they cannot feel the texture or check the colour closely online, when compared to shopping in a retail store.  Ã‚  This goes on to show that product category risk is a significant disadvantage to online shopping. Put differently, many online shoppers feel that products may not be as functional as they appear when viewed online. Another disadvantage that comes to the forefront is that despite having a plethora of choices online, consumers may have limited cognitive resources and in all likelihood, may not be able to process potentially vast amounts of information.  Ã‚  Additionally, in this day and age, shopping is more than choosing and buying a product. It is often regarded as a good means to making social connections. People enjoy shopping with friends and family and this joy may be lost when shopping independently online. Finally, as is evident, the use of a computer and an Internet connection is a pre-requisite for online shopping. This ensures that only consumers above a certain income and those that are technologically well versed avail of the facility. INSTORE SHOPPING: In-store shopping, in the recent years has faced a strong competition with online shopping. It is not an easy task to rate the better mode of shopping and both means have their highs and lows. While a mass of people might still prefer shopping in store due to aesthetics and convenience, some others who are more well- versed with the internet and its usages would opt for shopping online as that is more feasible for them. Online and in store shopping may be compared in terms of convenience, quality checks, aesthetics, special offers and method of payment. Given below are some advantages and disadvantages of in store shopping: ADVANTAGES OF IN STORE SHOPPING: The main advantage of in-store shopping is the ability to visibly see the products while buying them. Transactions are immediate and there is no need to wait for products to be shipped and delivered to you. There are no issues facing customers such as tracking parcels, shipment to wrong addresses, etc making in- store shopping all the more easy to handle. When it comes to food articles, for instance it is essential to be aware of the manufactured and expiry dates, quality standards of the products as well as thorough comparison between various brands and product ranges. Another convenience is the ability to choose your method of payment- be it via a credit card or by cash. You also have the enjoyment of shopping in store with appropriate ambiences and customer services provided by staff. You receive adequate information on products if need be and can depend on shop floor assistants to help you out with any queries. Since there is no usage of the internet and computer during in- store shopping it eliminates the fear of privacy issues relating to bank details and debit/ credit numbers. With rising chances of frauds in todays world of business, people prefer to be more precautious and shop in- store. (Associated content, 2007). Although a majority of the world is now becoming tech savvy, there is still a major portion of the world that dislikes the use of computers and the internet and would prefer buying their products in- store. DIS- ADVANTAGES OF IN- STORE SHOPPING: The main disadvantage would be in terms of convenience. People may not have the time to leisurely commit to shopping in- store and therefore prefer buying products online. Customers who prefer a wide range of products under one roof may not find shopping in- store ideal due to its limited reliability. Availability of stocks can also be an issue if inefficient stock controls exist. Another key drawback is the disability to access stores 24 hours. People who work late hours prefer ordering products online as it is inconvenient to them to find to visit stores. Another disadvantage of in- store shopping can be the lack of discounted prices and offers around the year. It is witnessed that stores have sales and best buys only on occasions such as Christmas, New Year, etc. As opposed to this online shopping, for example is viable to have discounts throughout the year attracting many more customers who prefer this mode of shopping. Due to the need of efficient staff and assistants in the sto ck rooms and shop floors, inefficiencies of the same can cause a huge damage to reputation of the company in relation to customer service and availability of products. This also goes with customers being treated with dis-respect by members of staff and not providing the right information. Although in- store shopping has its disadvantages, it should be stated that it is still a much sought after method of shopping. DATA COLLECTION: For researching this type of problem there are numerous ways in data collection. This data collection is used to collect the data from the people to know what they think from their side by looking our data. FOCUS GROUP: Focus group interview is called as qualitative data collection. The focus group interview is a challenge for most researchers. It is a group of people interview. The focus group interview is the method used by the members of people to collect the data. The focus group interview is conducting with 10 to 15 people. In focus group we will get different answers from different people and will be an argument with them while doing the interview. The interviewer will gather much information about their topic what they focussed on the focus group with the people. In focus group the information gathered by the interviewer makes a good statistics for their topic to investigate. They will get valid points for their topic from the focus group interview people and will do their research with their conclusions. QUESTIONNAIRE: Questionnaire is the other methods to collect data. Questionnaire method is called as quantitative data collection. It is the best way to gather large amount of data from the people in a possible way. The questionnaire satisfies the user needs. It allows a person who answers a request for information carefully without when someone tries to interfere in a situation like interview. By doing this questionnaire we can gather large amount of information from people at the same time. The way of questionnaire is standard, because it has many more objective comparing with interviews. The questionnaire is the shortest way to gather information from the people because we will give the choice to pick one among them. So people who are participating in the questionnaire dont need to waste their time to think for their answers. Options will be provided in the questionnaire. So the people who are conducting questionnaire will get the response easily from the participants for their answers. INTERVIEW: In interview there are many ways. But the interview stands as a main and major part in human beings life. Everyone do attend interview to get in a high position and for the money. Without interview the world in empty. Interview makes the man perfect. Thus interview proves the person bout their ability, strength and weakness. Face to face interview plays a major role in interview. There are many interview methods are there. They are In-depth interview Direct interview Formal interview Informal interview Structured interview Unstructured interview This is also one of the way to collect data collection. STATISTICAL DATA: Age 18-25 26-35 36-50 Above 50 Gender Male Female Ethnic Background White British Asian (Please Specify) ___________________________________________________ Asian British Black or Black British-African What kind of shopping do you prefer? On-line shopping In-store shopping Do you have internet facility at your home? Yes No Do you think On-line shopping saves your time? Yes No Do you have basic computer knowledge? Yes No How often do you purchase? Most Often Often Rarely Average Never What do you mostly buy through online? Clothes Gadgets Tickets Food Beverages All the above Others (Please specify)_____________________________ What makes you to purchase the product? Brand-name Quality Cost Depends upon the shop Do you think paying money for the product in online is secure? Yes No Not sure What service would you prefer for settling the amount? Pay-pal Credit/ debit Cheque Cash Is Variety of globally product the Factors Influencing Online Shopping Decision? Strongly agree Agree Average Disagree Strongly disagree Null Hypothesis H0: There is no difference between the shopping trends of UCLAN students, considering the students who shop online and the students who shop in-store, all the students belonging to UCLAN. Alternative Hypotheses H1: There is a difference between the shopping trends of UCLAN students, considering the students who shop online and the students who shop in-store, all the students belonging to UCLAN. NULL HYPOTHESIS H0: Considering question 4 8 from questionnaire o find Null Hypothesis. What kind of shopping do you prefer? On-line shopping In-store shopping How often do you purchase? Most Often Often Rarely Average Never CONTINGENCY TABLE R: To find the contingency R the question 8 is splitted with question 4 to find the test result R. Most Often Often Rarely Average Online Shopping 26 12 4 8 In-store Shopping 13 8 4 5 Most Often and Often are merged in Most Often/Often. Most Often/Often Rarely Average Online Shopping 38 4 8 In-store shopping 21 4 5 The total no of Online Shopping and In-store Shopping Most Often/Often Rarely Average Total Online Shopping 38 4 8 50 In-store shopping 21 4 5 30 To find the value of E: (Row total * column total) E = Overall total The E should be calculated by Most Often/Often Rarely Average O E O E O E Online shopping 38 36.875 4 5 8 8.125 In-store Shopping 21 22.125 4 3 5 4.875 CHI SQUARE: TEST STATISTICS: X 2 = à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ [(O-E)2/E] Observed Frequency (O) Expected Frequency(E) [(O-E)2/E] 38 36.875 0.034 21 22.125 0.057 4 5 0.2 4 3 0.333 8 8.125 0.001 5 4.875 0.03 Total 0.655 X 2 = 0.655 CRITICAL VALUES: Degree of freedom is calculated by Critical Values. Degree Of Freedom= ( rows 1) * ( columns 1) = (2 1) * ( 3- 1) = 2 Degrees of freedom 5% significance level 1% significance level 0.1% significance level 2 5.99 9.21 13.82 The values calculated by chi square x2 > 5%, 1% and 0.1%. The value of x2= 0.655 is not a in a significance level for 5% level. Hence there is a strong statement for null hypothesis stating that there is no difference between the shopping trends of UCLAN students, considering the students who shop online and the students who shop in-store, all the students belonging to UCLAN. So there will be no use of testing alternative test.