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Bricks or Clicks: Consumer Preference - A Comparative Analysis


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1 Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, College of Vocational Studies, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India
     

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With the transformation in the information technology, easy accessibility of the Internet, improved and reliable banking services, use of smartphones and tablets, e-commerce has given business an unprecedented marketing opportunity over the past few years. It has also provided an opportunity to consumers to buy the products just by clicking the mouse. Online retailing has emerged as a threat to the traditional retailing. Consumers have plenty of options to buy their products, not only from domestic market but also from international market. In this study an attempt has been made to assess the consumer's preferences while purchasing their products online and offline. Further, it has also been tried to study the comparative advantages and disadvantages of traditional stores and web stores. To attain the objectives, responses from 875 respondents were collected randomly between January 2012 and April 2012 from the consumers residing in Delhi and NCR. To evaluate their preferences 7 point scale rating method has been applied where 1 indicates absolutely low and 7 indicates absolutely high. The study found that web stores have some competitive advantages over traditional stores as they charge lower price, provide easy and effortless information about the products, provide convenient mechanism to place orders and payment, better assortment, keep ample stock, and also provide wider options for consumers to select their purchases. The study further reveals that traditional retailers also have some competitive edge over web stores. Traditional retailers provide facility of physical examination of products, immediate possession, surety of delivering the same product as specified, immediate satisfying consumer's queries with the help of salesmen, better after sales services and better return policy. Besides all these, it also helps consumers to have social and family experience while shop.

Keywords

Bricks and Clicks, E-commerce, Online, Offline, Assortment, Web Stores, Virtual Mall
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  • Bricks or Clicks: Consumer Preference - A Comparative Analysis

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Authors

Sunil
Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, College of Vocational Studies, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India

Abstract


With the transformation in the information technology, easy accessibility of the Internet, improved and reliable banking services, use of smartphones and tablets, e-commerce has given business an unprecedented marketing opportunity over the past few years. It has also provided an opportunity to consumers to buy the products just by clicking the mouse. Online retailing has emerged as a threat to the traditional retailing. Consumers have plenty of options to buy their products, not only from domestic market but also from international market. In this study an attempt has been made to assess the consumer's preferences while purchasing their products online and offline. Further, it has also been tried to study the comparative advantages and disadvantages of traditional stores and web stores. To attain the objectives, responses from 875 respondents were collected randomly between January 2012 and April 2012 from the consumers residing in Delhi and NCR. To evaluate their preferences 7 point scale rating method has been applied where 1 indicates absolutely low and 7 indicates absolutely high. The study found that web stores have some competitive advantages over traditional stores as they charge lower price, provide easy and effortless information about the products, provide convenient mechanism to place orders and payment, better assortment, keep ample stock, and also provide wider options for consumers to select their purchases. The study further reveals that traditional retailers also have some competitive edge over web stores. Traditional retailers provide facility of physical examination of products, immediate possession, surety of delivering the same product as specified, immediate satisfying consumer's queries with the help of salesmen, better after sales services and better return policy. Besides all these, it also helps consumers to have social and family experience while shop.

Keywords


Bricks and Clicks, E-commerce, Online, Offline, Assortment, Web Stores, Virtual Mall

References