...taken off as a platform where the transaction and purchase are proceeded by an increasing number of consumers. The purpose of the report is to discuss ethical issues of online shopping, which will mainly focus on exploring potential risks of online shopping. Introduction In the background of traditional shopping modes, consumers are normally passive recipients of information, and they are not available and accessible to dynamic information in the market. However, with the development of technology and science, it is necessary to combine the new technology with emerging market opportunities. The report will focus on adverse effects generated with the advent of internet shopping, such as privacy and security risks. At last there will be analysis about current issues, including security and information disclosure and online cheating problems, and then there will be methods came up to solve the issues. Lack of credit between sellers and consumers Since the development of e-commerce is not mature enough, there are not complete regulations concerning credit system, and there is lack of necessary supervision during the process of transaction. After introducing the...
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...non-price consideration. Report consists of two main parts- market characteristics and consumer behaviour; it shows that non-price factors play a crucial role in consumer behaviour. Changes in economic, legal and political structures have caused an emergence of e-commerce and the decline in High Street sales. Furthermore, the current analyses show that soon e-commerce will take over ‘bricks and mortar’ sellers. 2. INTRODUCTION As today’s society is more materialistic comparing to all the previous ones, it is becoming essential for the consumers to find the easiest and the cheapest way to purchase goods. The aim of this report is to compare two markets in clothing section and what their customers are more likely to use: the High Street retailers and the online sellers competing with each other in both price and...
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...HomeGoods, a TJX Company: Evaluation and E-commerce Recommendations Table of Contents Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………… 3 Home Goods, a TJX Company, E-Commerce and Recommendations………………....... 4 Home Goods Current Use of the Web……………………………………………………. 4 Web Design Analysis ……………………………………………………………………. 5 What Works………………………………………………………………………. 6 Recommendations for Improvement……………………………………………… 6 Web Use for Future Growth …………………………………………………………….. 7 Strengths…………………………………………………………………………... 7 Weaknesses………………………………………………………………………... 8 Opportunities…………………………………………………………………….... 8 Threats…………………………………………………………………………….. 9 Ethical Considerations…………………………………………………………………….. 9 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………… 10 References…………………………………………………………………………………. 11 Abstract Founded in 1992 and with more than 400 stores now nationwide, HomeGoods prides itself in finding one-of-a-kind, discounted home décor merchandise. HomeGoods offers a variety of products from “around the world, such as giftware, home basics, table-top, accent furniture, lamps, rugs, bath and bedding, decorative accessories, children's furniture, seasonal merchandise, and wall décor.” With weekly shipments, HomeGoods huge stores are constantly changing with merchandise. Their consumers come for the hunt. HomeGoods website is carefully designed with inspirational photos and decorating ideas, but it does not offer online shopping. Although it is very interactive, it can drive its...
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...11/11/12 Gregory Crary The purpose of this paper will be to examine Amazon’s strategy to start offering unused IT software to businesses and individuals; focusing foremost on Amazon’s change from online retailer to IT Company, as well as the components of Amazon’s database that makes this change possible. Data management issues will be discussed, and finally the conclusion will determine whether or not this is a wise strategy for Amazon to be employing. Amazon has become one of the world’s largest online retailers with sales topping over 10 billion dollars annually (Rainer &Turban, 2009). Despite being a leader in this field Amazon has seen profits fall recently and has devised a new plan that they hope will compensate for this loss. To understand this plan we must first take a look at Amazon’s IT infrastructure. Amazon has spent over a decade and 2 billion dollars to develop their online store’s infrastructure, but at any given time Amazon only uses 10 percent of its processing power (Rainer & Turban, 2009). In an effort to grow profits and compete with companies like Google and Microsoft, Amazon has made their unused infrastructure available to businesses and individuals looking for data storage, more processing power, and data and information analysis. One part of Amazon’s infrastructure consists of a massive database where vast amounts of data can be stored. Amazon offers the Simple Storage Service (S3) to individuals and business in need of cheap space...
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...online from Malaysian perspective. Online trust, Information quality, online purchase experience, price and convenience were evaluated to determine whether these factors are related to online purchase intention. A stratified sampling method was used and the sample comprised of 180 students who are undergraduate and post-graduate study in University of Malaya. Data were collected via self-administrated questionnaire that using five point Likert scale. 2.0 Introduction With the advancement of internet, the electronic commerce (e-commerce) has grown rapidly as internet diminished the boundaries to the world. The internet permits the 24/7 and 365 days availability of goods and services with little or no cost. Surplus seeking consumers and retailers are always searching for markets that are more economically efficient hence, online purchasing (Jiradilok et al., 2014). The low cost of...
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...------------------------------------------------- online shopping Research Report [Date] [Company name] [Company address] If online shopping simplifies people’s lives, then it would become increasingly popular. Table of Contents Foreword: 3 1. Introduction: 4 2. Methodology (Quantitative & Qualitative) 5 2.1 Questionnaire design 5 2.2 Participants 5 2.3 Procedure and Limitations 5 3. Interpretation of Results 6 4. Discussion 7 5. Conclusion 8 6. Recommendations 9 7. Reference List 10 8. Appendix A: Questionnaire 11 9. Appendix B: Detailed Results perform in Charts 14 9.1 Personal information and choices from online shops 14 9.1.1 Gender as a percentage. 14 9.1.2 Gender according to ages as a percentage. 14 9.1.3 Age Ranges 15 9.1.4 Personal choices from the online shops as a percentage. 15 9.2 Opinions about the convenience of online shopping 15 9.2.1 Online shop are available 24 hours a day so I can shop any time 16 9.2.2 Online shops provide various options of commodities 17 9.2.3 It is easy to make comparison with products from other websites. 18 9.2.4 Searching for a product is easy. 19 9.2.5 Accurate information about products is often provided on the website. 20 9.2.6 Delivery is on time. 21 9.2.7 Returning is not available or may take a long time to process. 22 9.3 Opinion about saving time and money from online shopping 23 9.3.1 Online shopping saves travel time. 23 9.3...
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...Buying behavior of Consumer’s in India Research Proposal Sahil Maini PGDM 2012-2014 Under the Guidance of Prof. Sachin modgil & Prof. Ajitabh Dutta 13 PROPOSED TITLE: “A research study on online buying behavior of consumer’s in India” Abstract Consumers are playing an important role in online shopping. The increasing use of Internet by the younger generation in India provides an emerging prospect for online retailers. If online retailers know the factors affecting Indian young consumer’s buying behaviour, and the associations between these factors and type of online buyers, then they can further develop their marketing strategies to convert potential customers into active ones. The four key dimensions of online shopping as perceived by young consumers in India are identified. Besides that It is discovered that website design, website reliability, customer service and trust are the four key factors which influence young consumers’ perceptions of online shopping. The present paper focuses of the factors, challenges and measures to be taken by retailers to understand online buying behaviour of consumers in India. INTRODUCTION With an increase in use of internet as means of communication with consumers, the field of Ecommerce, online buying has experienced a rapid growth in the recent years. Its well known that online business i.e. business to consumers is increasingly growing at a very high speed. There is a huge purchasing power of a youth population aged 18-40 in...
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...1. Introduction Online shopping is a kind of business where consumers can directly shop over the Internet. It has now evolved to become a valuable part of daily lives. According to the Times Magazine, many people now preferring shopping online has increased year by year (In Shopperscrib 2011). Online shopping has become popular because people have many other things to do in their busy life, and shopping online saves time in numerous ways. Statistics produced by Forrester Research Inc. (n.d.) suggest that 60% of consumers shop online at least quarterly. EBay and Amazon are the two most popular and trusted websites for shopping online. Online shopping brings benefits to consumers so it really is a good way to shop. 2. Lower Prices Research by the firm Synovate(n.d.) found that 67% of consumers feel lower prices as the main motivator for them to shop online, with the availability of free shipping the second most important factor. In most cases, when consumers buy from traditional stores, they have to accept the price that the vendor is charging them. This is not the case when it comes to online shopping. With online purchasing, consumers can find radically lower prices and cheapest deals. For example, a DVD player may cost $20 less than the usual retail price at certain online stores. This is because online stores have fewer operating and overhead costs such as no need pay rental costs and renovation costs, which leads to creating lower prices for the consumer. Consumers...
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...Positioning and Target segments: IKEA positions itself as a leading international furniture retailer that provides economical, well-designed and functional furniture. As IKEA’s biggest competitive advantage is the low price, IKEA tries all its best to lower the fixed cost and the variable cost, like building supplier relationships in developing countries to reduce labor and production cost; flat-packaging to reduce the freight fee; use materials in a cost-efficient way and in-house design also reduce the resign cost for IKEA. IKEA also differentiate itself with appealing shopping experience, self-service, as well as developing facilities like childcare, restaurants, and lounge rooms. The Scandinavian design and style is also a niche for IKEA. The target segments of IKEA is price-conscious people, who have tight budgets, like college students, younger adults and new families, who want to make the first furniture purchase, then the IKEA may be a very good choice for them due to its price advantage. Another target segment for IKEA is early adopters. For the modern design and unique shopping environment, people who like innovative things will likely to give it a try to IKEA’s furniture. Benefits & drawbacks to IKEA: The benefit that IKEA gains from its strategy: 1. Its price advantage is very obvious compared with other furniture retailers, which can attract large amount of price-conscious customers. 2. The hip Swedish design and appealing shopping experience is a niche...
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...by a set of open standards for communicating data and information between computers. In addition to this massive information highway there are many different tools that can be utilized on this global network. Using the Internet, people find jobs, send electronic cards, shop, make airline and hotel reservations, execute stock trades, and even pay bills online! With the increasing popularity of people shopping and purchasing goods online, the Internet has created new ways of doing business. Realizing the potential of the Internet, many companies have started to advertise their products and services on-line. However, consumers are becoming hesitant as it relates to purchases over the Internet because of the fear of being deceived by online retailers. The research study will examine a prosperous component of the Internet, Internet Shopping. Internet shopping makes sense; you can shop 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, at your own pace, and in the privacy of your home. There is no hassle of long lines, crowds, or annoying salespeople. This study examines the advantages and disadvantages of Internet Shopping, and how to eradicate problems with privacy, security, and theft. One of the major advantages of Internet shopping is convenience. Shopping from the convenience and comfort of your own home may have its apparent advantages; no more standing in line, no more hassles of worrisome sales associates following you all around the department store. Every person chooses...
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...II March 2nd 2013 Ace Hardware Fiscal Year 2011 Ace Hardware was founded in 1924 by a small group of Chicago hardware store owners, Ace changed the retail landscape by allowing individual stores to purchase merchandise in bulk to save money and buy at the lowest possible price enabling the smaller retail stores to compete with the larger competition in their market. Ace Hardware was a privately held company until 1976 when it became a retailer-owned cooperative in which each store is owned and operated by local entrepreneurs. Ace hardware is currently the largest retailer-owned cooperative and a leader in the convenience segment of the hardware industry. Ace’s store generates annual retail sales of approximately $12 billion with 4,600 stores operating in more than 60 countries. The guidelines and management of Ace Hardware is established by Ace’s Board of Directors. With positions of anywhere from 9-12 on the board there is a minimum of eight that must be retailer directors and a maximum of 25% of the directors may be non-retailer directors. A system of internal accounting controls are maintained by the company and are supported by an internal audit program which safeguards the company’s assets and assures properly recorded transactions. The current financial position of the Ace Hardware Company is positive. The financial statements show this company is growing and will continue to grow. The Company’s total cash flow equaled $15.8 million which consisted of $96.4...
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...Model answers to questions on IKEA case study – Pages 3-4 in the book How is the IKEA operations design different from that of most furniture retail operations? Although some furniture retailers do have large ‘out of town’ operations, many use premises within town or shopping malls. IKEA’s operations are very large and purpose-built. They feature very large car parks and are located close to major motorway intersections. In fact, everything about the design of IKEA’s operations encourages high volume of throughput. This high volume means that many of the fixed costs of running the IKEA operation such as local taxes, administrative costs and some energy costs are spread over a high volume of individual sales transactions. This reduces the overall cost of making a sale, a part of IKEA's strategy of offering good value for money. The variety of products sold in IKEA stores is relatively large compared with many furniture retail operations. For example, it includes small items such as glassware and kitchenware as well as very large items such as sofas, tables and shelving systems. Modular design of some products such as shelving systems allows variety to be extended even further from a few basic component parts. These components can be assembled together (by the customers) in different ways to offer an almost infinite variety of combinations. However, as far as the variety of service is concerned, it is relatively narrow. Most products are sold in cartons, customers are left...
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...Abstract Despite placing items in virtual shopping carts, online shoppers frequently abandon them —an issue that perplexes online retailers and has yet to be explained by scholars. Here, we identify key drivers to online cart abandonment and suggest cognitive and behavioral reasons for this non-buyer behavior. We show that the factors influencing consumer online search, consideration, and evaluation play a larger role in cart abandonment than factors at the purchase decision stage. In particular, many customers use online carts for entertainment or as a shopping research and organizational tool, which may induce them to buy at a later session or via another channel. Our framework extends theories of online buyer and non-buyer behavior while revealing new inhibitors to buying in the Internet era. The findings offer scholars a broad explanation of consumer motivations for cart aban- donment. For retailers, the authors provide suggestions to improve purchase conversion rates and multi-channel management. Keywords Online shopping cart abandonment . Online buyer behavior theory. E-tail .E-commerce To more fully understand buyer behavior, it is crucial to also examine consumer “non-buying” behavior. Non- buying behavior is especially apparent in an online retailing context, where many shoppers place items in their virtual shopping carts yet do not complete the purchase—thereby abandoning their cart. Known as virtual or online shopping cart abandonment, we define this behavior as...
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...1. Introduction Online shopping is a kind of business where consumers can directly shop over the Internet. It has now evolved to become a valuable part of daily lives. According to the Times Magazine, many people now preferring shopping online has increased year by year (In Shopperscrib 2011). Online shopping has become popular because people have many other things to do in their busy life, and shopping online saves time in numerous ways. Statistics produced by Forrester Research Inc. (n.d.) suggest that 60% of consumers shop online at least quarterly. EBay and Amazon are the two most popular and trusted websites for shopping online. Online shopping brings benefits to consumers so it really is a good way to shop. 2. Lower Prices Research by the firm Synovate(n.d.) found that 67% of consumers feel lower prices as the main motivator for them to shop online, with the availability of free shipping the second most important factor. In most cases, when consumers buy from traditional stores, they have to accept the price that the vendor is charging them. This is not the case when it comes to online shopping. With online purchasing, consumers can find radically lower prices and cheapest deals. For example, a DVD player may cost $20 less than the usual retail price at certain online stores. This is because online stores have fewer operating and overhead costs such as no need pay rental costs and renovation costs, which leads to creating lower prices for the consumer. Consumers also...
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...Best Buy- Circuit City Case-17% 1. Be an informed consumer evaluate where the replacement of highly paid workers with lower paid worker did or did not cause Circuit city to perform so poorly. How confident are you in your evaluation? Why? In evaluating whether or not the replacement of highly paid workers with lower –paid worker at Circuit City caused them to perform poorly I found several factors that lead me to believe this to be true. Circuit City started off being the number one retailer of electronics. It was faced with competition from Best Buy and other large retailers such as Wal-Mart. Circuit City was forced with making changes within the company to keep their position within the market that they didn’t take. In 2003 Circuit city announced the layoff of 3900 workers, following this announcement opening stock price from 2001 to 2003 declined significantly. Also, in 2007 Circuit City fired 3,400 of the highest paid store employees at that same time their customer satisfaction index declined. Circuit City’s compensation strategy was in direct correlation to the business tactic, it rewarded its knowledgeable top performers. Circuit City never considered that by eliminating top earning sales people for less experienced sales people that it would have an indirect effect on the company as a whole. No longer to do they employ skilled and knowledgeable professionals whom customers relied on. Ultimately, managing total compensation strategically means fitting the compensation...
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