IntroductionBest and top online shopping sites in India list: December 2014Amazon

flipkart

snapdeal

Paytm

Ebay

Jabango

Myntra

Shopclues

Paperfry

Homeshop18

Infibeam

Amazon.com, Inc.is an Americanelectronic commercecompany with headquarters in Seattle,Washington. It is the largest Internet-based retailer in the United States.[12]Amazon.com started as an online bookstore, but soon diversified, SellingDVDs,VHSs,CDs,videoandMP3downloads/streaming,software,video games,electronics, apparel, furniture, food, toys, and jewelry. The company also producesconsumer electronicsnotably,Amazon Kindlee-book readers,Firetablets,Fire TVandFire Phone and is a major provider ofcloud computingservices.Amazon has separate retail websites for United States, United Kingdom & Ireland, France, Canada, Germany, The Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Australia, Brazil, Japan, China, India and Mexico. Amazon India will soon start offering music, movie and video streaming services in India.Amazon also offers international shipping to certain other countries for some of its products.In 2011, it had professed an intention to launch its websites in Polandand Sweden

Flipkartis an IndianE-Commercecompany established in 2007 bySachin BansalandBinnyBansal. It operates exclusively in India, with headquarters atBangalore,Karnataka. Flipkart has launched its own product range under the name "DigiFlip" with products including tablets, USBs, and laptop bags. Flipkart has also launched its own range of personal healthcare and home appliances under the brand "Citron".In May 2014, Flipkart received $210 million from DST Global and in July it raised $1 billion led by existing investors Tiger Global and South Africa's media group Naspers

Snapdeal.comis anonline marketplace,New Delhi,India. The company was started by KunalBahl, aWhartongraduate as part of the dual degreeM&TEngineering and Business program at Penn, and RohitBansal, an alumnus ofIIT Delhiin February 2010.Snapdeal.com was started in February 2010 as a daily deals platform inspired byGroupon.combut expanded in September 2011 to become an online marketplace.[4]Snapdeal has grown to become the largest online marketplace in Indiaoffering an assortment of 4 million+ products across diverse categories from over 50,000 sellers, shipping to 4,000towns and cities in India.In the year 2012-13 Snapdeal had said that it expected revenues of about600crore(US$94million). Betting big on the growth of mobile commerce, KunalBahl, the CEO, said at the time that 15-20 per cent of the sales on Snapdeal came through m-commerce. Snapdeal.com expected the total sale of products traded on its platform to cross2000crore(US$310million) in the fiscal year 2013-14 helped by its robust growth in the past two years and the growing popularity of e-commerce in India.In June 2014, Snapdealannounced that it had achieved the milestone of 1000 sellers on its plarform getting sales of over Rs 1 crore.

Started with Mobile Recharge and Bill Payment website now Paytm selling everything from Home Decor, Clothing, Laptops to Mobile at killer price. In very short time period Paytm has grown very fastly and able to place under our Top 10 Indian Shopping Website list.

eBay Inc.is an Americanmultinational corporationande-commercecompany, providingconsumer-to-consumer&business-to-consumersales services viaInternet. It is headquartered inSan Jose,California, United States. eBay was founded byPierre Omidyarin 1995, and became a notable success story of thedot-com bubble; it is a multi-billion dollar business with operations localized in over thirty countries.The company manages eBay.com, anonline auctionand shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide. In addition to its auction-style sales, the website has since expanded to include "Buy It Now" shopping; shopping byUPC,ISBN, or other kind ofSKU(viaHalf.com); online classified advertisements (viaKijijior eBay Classifieds); online event ticket trading (viaStubHub); online money transfers (viaPayPal)and other services.It is not a free website, but charges users aninvoiceseller fee on the basis of if they have sold or listed any items

Jabong sells shoes, apparel,accessories, home dcor and furniture through its website. The e-store at present carries over 1000 brands and over 90,000 products.Other products include jewellery and gold coins.In November 2012, Jabong.com and cricket equipment maker SG Cricket presented a range ofVirenderSehwagcricket bats VS319 which was sold exclusively through Jabong.As noted by Business Standard, Jabong added top International brands to its catalogue. The brands include UK's high street fashion brandsDorothy Perkins,Miss SelfridgeandRiver Islandalong with the Spanish brand Mango.In November 2013, Jabong entered into a partnership with the brand Jack & Jones, to sell merchandise for the bandAbove & BeyondIn January 2014, Jabong partnered with Stylista, a collaborative fashion platform. The collection includes Indian designers likeWendell Rodricks, PriyadarshiniRao and NishkaLullaIn 2014, Jabong launched an exclusive collection designed byRohitBal. Noted by Economic Times, the company is also launching in-house brands covering apparel, shoes and accessories.In May 2014 NBA and Jabong partnered to launch the first official NBA online store in India According to Business-Standard.com, Jabong set to enter 1 billion dollar club in the year 2015

Myntra.comis an Indian e-commerce company of fashion and casual lifestyle products, headquartered inBangalore, KarnatakaThe Company was founded in 2007 by IITiansMukeshBansal, AshutoshLawania and VineetSaxena with a focus on personalization of gift items. By 2010, Myntra shifted its focus to the online retailing of branded apparel.In May 2014, Myntra.com merged withFlipkartto compete againstAmazonwhich entered the Indian market in June 2013.

A reputed online shopping retail website having headquarter in Gurgaon, Shopclues.com maintains more than 12,000 merchants who are registered with the company. It is one of the top ecommerce websites in India, which deals in more than 2 million products. They guarantee authenticity of products, warranty and even ensure lowest price. They even have a record of catering to more than 42 million online visitors. The company has even more than 350 registered employees across the country. They offer wide range of branded products to consumers from every corner of the country.Shopclues.com initiate free delivery services at the doorsteps of customers through reputed courier services to nearly 10,000 cities across the country. They even initiate a 30-day return guarantee if unable to meet customer satisfaction. One of the leading online shopping companies in India, Shopclues.com accepts online payment through major credit and debit cards, including net banking services. The online shopping website service employs more than 400 personnel for effective handling of the business and is even funded by national institutional investors.

Pepperfry.com is one of the top online shopping websites in India. They have abundant stocks of various products associated to lifestyle enhancement, home care, appliances, home dcor, furnishing, kitchen, dining and many more. All products are authentic and guaranteed. The online merchandize offers exclusive payment services like pre-payment, easy monthly installments and even cash on delivery.The company offers fastest shipping and delivery of all products ordered. They even offer huge discount on various festive seasons throughout the year. New customers are also entitled to various shopping discount vouchers amounting to Rs.2000.Pepperfry.com started operations since 2012 to deliver online shopping experience that customers are bereft of till now. They have even partnered with thousands of merchant partners who showcase their craftsmanship, service orientation and design skills across India.Pepperfry.com is also one of the renowned online shopping companies that showcases a number of branded products and also offers them on special price that is otherwise not available at open market. The online marketing platform also offers favorable and dedicated customer care support service.

HomeShop18is an online and on-air retail and distribution venture ofNetwork 18 Group, India. HomeShop18 was launched on 9 April 2008 as India's first 24-hour Home Shopping TV channel, where anchors performed live demonstration of products on sale similar to HSN or QVC in USA. The television channel established HomeShop18's foothold in Indian retail because of high television penetration. Later, as the internet reach grew all over the country, HomeShop18 launched www.homeshop18.com which was ranked as the No. 5 most trafficked Ecommerce portal in India by Comscore in July 2013.G S Home Shopping of Korea, the third largest home shopping company in the world, has a 15% stake in the company. Network 18 has the controlling stake of 51%HomeShop18 has partnered with major brand owners such asReebok,Nokia,LG,Motorola,Philips,Kaya andGodrej.HomeShop18 acquired CoinJoos.com, online books, movies and music retailer in August 2011 for an undisclosed amount.The acquisition is the main contributor to HomeShop18.com's Books catalogue.

Infibeamis an Indiane-commercecompany headquartered inAhmedabad,India. It is an online retailer for books, electronics, and automobiles in India. Started in 2007, the company has offices inAhmedabad,Delhi,MumbaiandBangalore, and has a total of 1300 employees.Infibeam also launched an e-book reader, Infibeam Pi, its successor Pi2, and a media device, Infibeam Phi.Infibeam's businesses include online retailing through its flagship website 'infibeam.com', e-commerce platform software service through 'buildabazaar.com', e-commerce marketplace 'dhamaal.com' and its own branded e-book reader. The strategy of Infibeam was described byForbesas "that seems to defy most standard models"The turnover of the company was reported to be1000 Crores as of November 2013.Infibeam.com, the online retail website of the company, sells books, electronics and lifestyle products.The website has a selection of 1.2 Crore products across books, electronics, lifestyle, gifts and media.In 2011, the company established Infibeam Logistics, its own logistics arm in major Indian cities.In September 2010, infibeam was amongEconomic Times'sTop 5 Digital Brandsin the e-commerce category.Infibeam's acquisition of customer base at very low cost has been recorded as a B-school case study byIvey Publishing.Infibeam is the only authorised online seller ofiPhonesin India

Naaptolis a home shopping company in India that sells various products in categories ranging from apparel, electronics, home furnishings, kitchen appliances, furniture, etc. It is an alternate retail platform that is present across various forms of media to cater to a wide audience across the country. The company has its headquarters in Mumbai, MaharashtraIn the initial stage,Naaptolstarted with a seed capital of Rs.50 lakhs. Later in 2009 it expanded as an online marketplace and started offering products to purchase online. With this slight tweak in the business model, Naaptol's turnover became Rs. 10 Crore (2009-2010) from Rs. 1 Crore in 2008-2009. In 2010, Naaptol started investing in print media.Naaptolfollows the marketplace business model wherein it facilitates online and offline sales of third party products to its customer base, in addition to handling the customer service. In other words, it provides a platform for merchants and sellers to sell their products through Naaptol so that small-time merchants/sellers can reach out to a wider customer base and customers enjoy great value-for-money product

Yebhi.comis anIndianOnline shoppingE-commerceportal for Home, Lifestyle & Fashion e-retailer, launched in the year 2009.Yebhi, which began as BigShoeBazaar.com, has a registered user base of about 1.5 million people, of whom about half a million have transacted on the site. Nexus Venture Partners andN. R. Narayana Murthys Catamaran Ventures invested Rs 40 crore in Agarwals company in mid-2011.On July' 10th 2012, Big Shoe Bazaar India Pvt Ltd. owner of Brand Yebhi.com announced that it has raised INR 100 Cr in Series C round of funding led by Fidelity Growth Partners India and Qualcomm.]Subsequently, in April 2013, its site was revamped, along with a new logo.On 4th September 2014, they changed their business model to coupon store and served Flipkart, Jabong, Myntra, Zovi, Koovs&Zivame as their clients.Initially Yebhi.com has categories lifestyle & Home products and offers products from a range of some 250 brandsto its customers dealing inShoes, Apparels, Bags,Mobiles,Cameras,Sunglasses,Watches, Books, Laptops , Home furnishing, Home dcor, Home ware,Lingerieand Fragrances.After the new Business Model, they are now into coupons and provide exciting offers to everyone so that people can see products from all the stores on one site

Yepmeis an online shopping company headquartered inGurgaon,Haryana, India. It was established in April 2011.The company specializes in the online retailing of mens and women's garments and accessories. In August 2011, the company positioned itself as a fully-fledged private label fashion brand.The main target customer for Yepme.com is tier 2 and tier 3 towns, where the big apparel brands do not have many retail stores.According toHindu Business Line, of the 13,000 orders that Yepme.com received in July and August 2011, about 69 per cent were from about 500 tier 2 and tier 3 towns, with the rest coming from six major cities.About 35 per cent of the site orders are from places not serviced by courier companies and can only be reached throughIndia PostAccording to Yepme's COO Sandeep Sharma; since around 70 per cent of Yepme's shipments are going to the smaller towns and the company is providing a Hindi language option on its website.Currently besides Hindi, customers at Yepme.com can also shop in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam& Kannada.In the October 2011 edition ofBusiness Today, it was reported that Yepme.com attracts over 21,000 male shoppers daily, and of that, about 1,000 visitors place at least one order on the site.In August 2012,Business Todayreported that around 49 per cent of Yepme's 200,000 customers so far have gone back to it a second time.The brand is targeting a turnover of $25 million in its first year of operations and plans to scale the revenues to over $500 million in the following 34 years

Inkfruitis an online shopping store, not available now for submitting designs where t-shirt designs are submitted and voted for by acommunity. It was launched in December 2007 (then called Gnome) by Fingerprints Fashion Inc., based inMumbai,India. KashyapDalal, an undergraduate of IIT Bombay,and graduated from IIM Lucknow is theCEOof Inkfruit.This concept is taken fromThreadlessto India by Inkfruit.

CromaRetail.com is one of the recognized top eCommerce websites in India dealing in electronics and home appliances. This exclusive electronics mega online store include vast collection of products categorized under varied sections such as phones, computers, entertainment, home appliances, kitchen appliances, gaming, cameras and accessories. They include products from leading manufacturers of different domains in the electronics and appliance sectors.CromaRetail.com, one of the notable online shopping companies in India even provide a number of alluring offers with attractive discounts and deals on numerous occasions. All products ordered online are delivered to desired destination within least possible time through dedicated courier services.Croma allows users to choose from more than six thousand products across diverse categories. All products purchased from the online store enjoy a return policy within 15 days of delivery. Moreover, well trained and knowledgeable advisors help users to make informed purchasing decisions.

Fashionandyou.com is an emerging leader of e-retailing industry in India. They are one of the fastest growing eCommerce retailers with high membership base. The online retailer offers wide range of products of innumerable brands. They are highly popular due to enormous price cuts; almost up to 80% than existing retail price. The eCommerce platform, among top online shopping sites in India, gets into partnership with a number of luxury and fashion brands to bring in variety of items at exclusively lowest prices for a limited period. The company even notifies registered members about upcoming offers through emails, social networking pages and SMS. No membership charge is involved to register.Fashionandyou is a business venture under Smile Group and falls under the list of online shopping websites in India. They are also a part of reputed international organization, Brand Alliance. The sales offer on the online shopping website starts from 10 AM and continues for 3 days, subjected to availability of items. They even offer services of experienced customer support executives, in case of any problem regarding delay in shipment or refund issues.

ShoppersStop brings limitless possibilities as an online store in India. Amid the presence of numerous online shopping portals, ShoppersStop.com has made a good mark with products from some of the best lifestyle brands. Various national and international brands in kids clothes, women apparel, mens clothing, fashion accessories and gifts are available at the online store. Some of the leading brands associated with the store include Calvin Klein, Barbie, Being Human, Levis, LOreal, Ray Ban, Celio, Revlon, etc.It is also a one-stop solution for fashion accessories such as mens watches, ladies watches, cosmetics, fragrances, handbags, jewelry, footwear along with home furnishing and dcor items. Offline stores of Shopper Stop is an established name in India and now its online option is also turning out as one of the top online shopping sites in India. ShoppersStop.com maintains 100% return policy where the dissatisfied customers can return the purchased items with 14 days of delivery.

Futurebazaar.com is one of the fastest growing Indian online shopping companies, attracting various customers from almost every corner of the country. They are growing rapidly as an exclusive online shopping platform with a wide variety of products touching almost all categories. The list of products varies widely lifestyle, toys, fashion apparel, kitchenware, cookware, food, beverages, electronics, furnishings etc. The online merchandise has collaboration with a number of companies. Their faster delivery process has also helped in acquiring much accolade than other online merchandises.The online shopping company accepts payment through online transaction by credit and debit cards. The website has radically changed overall online shopping experience through credible customer service and faster delivery service. Expert customer care personnel also initiate process to resolve any matter related to delay in shipping orders. Futurebazaar.com is among the top online shopping sites in India that offer exclusive discount offers on all products throughout the year.

Edabba.com is a growing online merchandise. They are one of the evolving online merchandises that indulge in retail therapy and offers exclusive online shopping mantra of present times. The online merchandise is a highly convenient platform for shopping, 24 hours a day. Delivery takes place in the fastest possible time. There is a wide range of payment options that make the online platform one of the favorable online shopping companies in India.Presently, the online merchandize offers various products like electronics, consumer durable products, music, books, organic food and travel booking services. They also have ranking position in the list of online shopping websites in India. They have their exclusive service across Goa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Orissa. They strive best to create a perfect environment mixing traditional retail marketing and online shopping experiences.Edabba.com has over 40000 SKUs under their list. They deal in reputed brands and all their products are 100% authentic in nature. The merchandise also has various Trust Points that act as a bridge between the online marketing corporation and consumers.

HistoryOnline shopping or e-shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser. Alternative names are: e-web-store, e-shop, e-store, Internet shop, web-shop, web-store, online store, online storefront and virtual store. Mobile commerce (or m-commerce) describes purchasing from an online retailer's mobile optimized online site or app.An online shop evokes the physical analogy of buying products or services at a bricks-and-mortarretailer or shopping center; the process is called business-to-consumer (B2C) online shopping. In the case where a business buys from another business, the process is called business-to-business (B2B) online shopping. The largest of these online retailing corporations are Alibaba, Amazon.com, and eBay. Retail success is no longer all about physical stores. This is evident because of the increase in retailers now offering online store interfaces for consumers. With the growth of online shopping, comes a wealth of new market footprint coverage opportunities for stores that can appropriately cater to offshore market demands and service requirements

Michael Aldrich, pioneer of online shopping in the 1980s.English entrepreneur Michael Aldrich invented online shopping in 1979. His system connected a modified domestic TV to a real-time transaction processing computer via a domestic telephone line. He believed that videotext, the modified domestic TV technology with a simple menu-driven humancomputer interface, was a 'new, universally applicable, participative communication medium the first since the invention of the telephone.' This enabled 'closed' corporate information systems to be opened to 'outside' correspondents not just for transaction processing but also for e-messaging and information retrieval and dissemination, later known as e-business. His definition of the new mass communications medium as 'participative' [interactive, many-to-many] was fundamentally different from the traditional definitions of mass communication and mass media and a precursor to the social networking on the Internet 25 years later.In March 1980 he went on to launch Redifon's Office Revolution, which allowed consumers, customers, agents, distributors, suppliers and service companies to be connected on-line to the corporate systems and allow business transactions to be completed electronically in real-time. During the 1980 she designed, manufactured, sold, installed, maintained and supported many online shopping systems, using videotex technology. These systems which also provided voice response and handprint processing pre-date the Internet and the World Wide Web, the IBM PC, and Microsoft MS-DOS, and were installed mainly in the UK by large corporations.The first World Wide Web server and browser, created by Tim Berners-Lee in 1990, opened for commercial use in 1991. Thereafter, subsequent technological innovations emerged in 1994: online banking, the opening of an online pizza shop by Pizza Hut,[6]Netscape's SSL v2 encryption standard for secure data transfer, and Intershop's first online shopping system. The first secure retail transaction over the Web was either by NetMarket or Internet Shopping Network in 1994. Immediately after, Amazon.com launched its online shopping site in 1995 and eBay was also introduced in 1995. Alibaba's sites Taobao and Tmall were launched in 2003 and 2008, respectively.International e-commerce statisticsStatistics show that in 2012, Asia-Pacific increased their international sales over 30% giving them over $433 billion in revenue. That is a $69 billion difference between the U.S. revenue of $364.66 billion. It is estimated that Asia-Pacific will increase by another 30% in the year 2013 putting them ahead by more than one-third of all global ecommerce sales.The largest online shopping day in the world is Singles Day, with sales just in Alibaba's sites at US$9.3 billion in 2014.

CustomersOnline customers must have access to the Internet and a valid method of payment in order to complete a transaction.Generally, higher levels of education and personal income correspond to more favourable perceptions of shopping online. Increased exposure to technology also increases the probability of developing favourable attitudes towards new shopping channels. In a December 2011 study, Equation Research surveyed 1,500 online shoppers and found that 87% of tablet owners made online transactions with their tablet devices during the early Christmas shopping season.LogisticsConsumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the retailer directly or by searching among alternative vendors using a shopping search engine.Once a particular product has been found on the website of the seller, most online retailers use shopping cart software to allow the consumer to accumulate multiple items and to adjust quantities, like filling a physical shopping cart or basket in a conventional store. A "checkout" process follows (continuing the physical-store analogy) in which payment and delivery information is collected, if necessary. Some stores allow consumers to sign up for a permanent online account so that some or all of this information only needs to be entered once. The consumer often receives an e-mail confirmation once the transaction is complete.Less sophisticated stores may rely on consumers to phone or e-mail their orders (although full credit card numbers, expiry date, and Card Security Code, or bank account and routing number should not be accepted by e-mail, for reasons of security).PaymentOnline shoppers commonly use a credit card or a PayPal account in order to make payments. However, some systems enable users to create accounts and pay by alternative means, such as:

Billing to mobile phones and landlinesCash on delivery (C.O.D.)Cheque/ CheckDebit cardDirect debit in some countriesElectronic money of various typesGift cardsPostal money orderWire transfer/delivery on paymentInvoice, especially popular in some markets/countries, such as SwitzerlandBitcoin or other cryptocurrenciesSome online shops will not accept international credit cards. Some require both the purchaser's billing and shipping address to be in the same country as the online shop's base of operation. Other online shops allow customers from any country to send gifts anywhere.The financial part of a transaction may be processed in real time (e.g. letting the consumer know their credit card was declined before they log off), or may be done later as part of the fulfillment process.Product deliveryOnce a payment has been accepted, the goods or services can be delivered in the following ways:Downloading/Digital distribution:[15] The method often used for digital media products such as software, music, movies, or images.Drop shipping: The order is passed to the manufacturer or third-party distributor, who then ships the item directly to the consumer, bypassing the retailer's physical location to save time, money, and space.In-store pick-up: The customer selects a local store using a locator software and picks up the delivered product at the selected location. This is the method often used in the bricks and clicks business model.Printing out, provision of a code for, or e-mailing of such items as admission tickets and scrip (e.g., gift certificates and coupons). The tickets, codes, or coupons may be redeemed at the appropriate physical or online premises and their content reviewed to verify their eligibility (e.g., assurances that the right of admission or use is redeemed at the correct time and place, for the correct dollar amount, and for the correct number of uses).Shipping: The product is shipped to a customer-designated address.The patron picks up pre-purchased tickets for an event, such as a play, sporting event, or concert, either just before the event or in advance. With the onset of the Internet and e-commerce sites, which allow customers to buy tickets online, the popularity of this service has increased.Shopping cart systemsSimple systems allow the off-line administration of products and categories. The shop is then generated as HTML files and graphics that can be uploaded to a web space. The systems do not use an online database. A high-end solution can be bought or rented as a stand-alone program or as an addition to an enterprise resource planning program. It is usually installed on the company's webserver and may integrate into the existing supply chain so that ordering, payment, delivery, accounting and warehousing can be automated to a large extent.Other solutions allow the user to register and create an online shop on a portal that hosts multiple shops simultaneously from one back office.Open source shopping cart packages include advanced platforms such as Interchange, and off-the-shelf solutions such as Magento, nopCommerce, osCommerce, Shopgate, PrestaShop, Shopify, Zen Cart, OpenCart.Commercial systems can also be tailored so the shop does not have to be created from scratch. By using an existing framework, software modules for various functionalities required by a web shop can be adapted and combined. Online gift shopsOnline gift shops are websites which have the primary objective of selling products online that will be given to others. These online retailers may or may not be associated to a physical shop.DesignCustomers are attracted to online shopping not only because of high levels of convenience, but also because of broader selections, competitive pricing, and greater access to information. Business organizations seek to offer online shopping not only because it is of much lower cost compared to bricks and mortar stores, but also because it offers access to a worldwide market, increases customer value, and builds sustainable capabilities. Information loadDesigners of online shops are concerned with the effects of information load. Information load is a product of the spatial and temporal arrangements of stimuli in the webstore. Compared with conventional retail shopping, the information environment of virtual shopping is enhanced by providing additional product information such as comparative products and services, as well as various alternatives and attributes of each alternative, etc. Two major dimensions of information load are complexity and novelty. Complexity refers to the number of different elements or features of a site, often the result of increased information diversity. Novelty involves the unexpected, suppressed, new, or unfamiliar aspects of the site. The novelty dimension may keep consumers exploring a shopping site, whereas the complexity dimension may induce impulse purchases.Market shareE-commerce B2C product sales totaled $142.5 billion, representing about 8% of retail product sales in the United States. The $26 billion worth of clothes sold online represented about 13% of the domestic market,] and with 72% of women looking online for apparel, it has become one of the most popular cross-shopping categories. Forrester Research estimates that the United States online retail industry will be worth $279 billion in 2015. The popularity of online shopping continues to erode sales of conventional retailers. For example Best Buy, the largest retailer of electronics in the U.S. in August 2014 reported its tenth consecutive quarterly dip in sales, citing an increasing shift by consumers to online shopping. There were 242 million people shopping online in China in 2012.For developing countries and low-income households in developed countries, adoption of e-commerce in place of or in addition to conventional methods is limited by a lack of affordable Internet access.AdvantagesConvenienceOnline stores are usually available 24 hours a day, and many consumers have Internet access both at work and at home. Other establishments such as internet cafes and schools provide internet access as well. In contrast, visiting a conventional retail store requires travel and must take place during business hours.In the event of a problem with the item (e.g., the product was not what the consumer ordered, the product was not satisfactory), consumers are concerned with the ease of returning an item in exchange for either the correct product or a refund. Consumers may need to contact the retailer, visit the post office and pay return shipping, and then wait for a replacement or refund. Some online companies have more generous return policies to compensate for the traditional advantage of physical stores. For example, the online shoe retailer Zappos.com includes labels for free return shipping, and does not charge a restocking fee, even for returns which are not the result of merchant error. (Note: In the United Kingdom, online shops are prohibited from charging a restocking fee if the consumer cancels their order in accordance with the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Act 2000). Information and reviewsOnline stores must describe products for sale with text, photos, and multimedia files, whereas in a physical retail store, the actual product and the manufacturer's packaging will be available for direct inspection (which might involve a test drive, fitting, or other experimentation).Some online stores provide or link to supplemental product information, such as instructions, safety procedures, demonstrations, or manufacturer specifications. Some provide background information, advice, or how-to guides designed to help consumers decide which product to buy.Some stores even allow customers to comment or rate their items. There are also dedicated review sites that host user reviews for different products. Reviews and even some blogs give customers the option of shopping for cheaper purchases from all over the world without having to depend on local retailers.In a conventional retail store, clerks are generally available to answer questions. Some online stores have real-time chat features, but most rely on e-mails or phone calls to handle customer questions.Price and selectionOne advantage of shopping online is being able to quickly seek out deals for items or services provided by many different vendors (though some local search engines do exist to help consumers locate products for sale in nearby stores). Search engines, online price comparison services and discovery shopping engines can be used to look up sellers of a particular product or service.Shipping costs (if applicable) reduce the price advantage of online merchandise, though depending on the jurisdiction, a lack of sales tax may compensate for this.Shipping a small number of items, especially from another country, is much more expensive than making the larger shipments bricks-and-mortar retailers order. Some retailers (especially those selling small, high-value items like electronics) offer free shipping on sufficiently large orders.Another major advantage for retailers is the ability to rapidly switch suppliers and vendors without disrupting users' shopping experience.DisadvantagesFraud and security concernsGiven the lack of ability to inspect merchandise before purchase, consumers are at higher risk of fraud than face-to-face transactions. Merchants also risk fraudulent purchases using stolen credit cards or fraudulent repudiation of the online purchase. However, merchants face less risk from physical theft by using a warehouse instead of a retail storefront.Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption has generally solved the problem of credit card numbers being intercepted in transit between the consumer and the merchant. However, one must still trust the merchant (and employees) not to use the credit card information subsequently for their own purchases, and not to pass the information to others. Also, hackers might break into a merchant's web site and steal names, addresses and credit card numbers, although the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard is intended to minimize the impact of such breaches. Identity theft is still a concern for consumers. A number of high-profile break-ins in the 2000s has prompted some U.S. states to require disclosure to consumers when this happens. Computer security has thus become a major concern for merchants and e-commerce service providers, who deploy countermeasures such as firewalls and anti-virus software to protect their networks.Phishing is another danger, where consumers are fooled into thinking they are dealing with a reputable retailer, when they have actually been manipulated into feeding private information to a system operated by a malicious party. Denial of service attacks are a minor risk for merchants, as are server and network outages.Quality seals can be placed on the Shop web page if it has undergone an independent assessment and meets all requirements of the company issuing the seal. The purpose of these seals is to increase the confidence of online shoppers. However, the existence of many different seals, or seals unfamiliar to consumers, may foil this effort to a certain extent. A number of resources offer advice on how consumers can protect themselves when using online retailer services. These include:Sticking with known stores, or attempting to find independent consumer reviews of their experiences; also ensuring that there is comprehensive contact information on the website before using the service, and noting if the retailer has enrolled in industry oversight programs such as a trust mark or a trust seal.Before buying from a new company, evaluate the website by considering issues such as: the professionalism and user-friendliness of the site; whether or not the company lists a telephone number and/or street address along with e-contact information; whether a fair and reasonable refund and return policy is clearly stated; and whether there are hidden price inflators, such as excessive shipping and handling charges.Ensuring that the retailer has an acceptable privacy policy posted. For example note if the retailer does not explicitly state that it will not share private information with others without consent.Ensuring that the vendor address is protected with SSL (see above) when entering credit card information. If it does the address on the credit card information entry screen will start with "HTTPS".Using strong passwords, without personal information. Another option is a "pass phrase," which might be something along the lines: "I shop 4 good a buy!!" These are difficult to hack, and provides a variety of upper, lower, and special characters and could be site specific and easy to remember.Although the benefits of online shopping are considerable, when the process goes poorly it can create a thorny situation. A few problems that shoppers potentially face include identity theft, faulty products, and the accumulation of spyware. If users are required to put in their credit card information and billing/shipping address and the website is not secure, customer information can be accessible to anyone who knows how to obtain it. Most large online corporations are inventing new ways to make fraud more difficult. However, criminals are constantly responding to these developments with new ways to manipulate the system. Even though online retailers are making efforts to protect consumer information, it is a constant fight to maintain the lead. It is advisable to be aware of the most current technology and scams protect consumer identity and finances.Product delivery is also a main concern of online shopping. Most companies offer shipping insurance in case the product is lost or damaged. Some shipping companies will offer refunds or compensation for the damage, but this is up to their discretion.

Lack of full cost disclosureThe lack of full cost disclosure may also be problematic. While it may be easy to compare the base price of an item online, it may not be easy to see the total cost up front. Additional fees such as shipping are often not be visible until the final step in the checkout process. The problem is especially evident with cross-border purchases, where the cost indicated at the final checkout screen may not include additional fees that must be paid upon delivery such as duties and brokerage. Some services such as the Canadian based Wishabi attempts to include estimates of this additional cost, but nevertheless, the lack of general full cost disclosure remains a concern.PrivacyPrivacy of personal information is a significant issue for some consumers. Many consumers wish to avoid spam and telemarketing which could result from supplying contact information to an online merchant. In response, many merchants promise to not use consumer information for these purposes,Many websites keep track of consumer shopping habits in order to suggest items and other websites to view. Brick-and-mortar stores also collect consumer information. Some ask for a shopper's address and phone number at checkout, though consumers may refuse to provide it. Many larger stores use the address information encoded on consumers' credit cards (often without their knowledge) to add them to a catalogue mailing list. This information is obviously not accessible to the merchant when paying in cash or through a bank (money transfer, in which case there is also proof of payment).Impact of reviews on consumer behaviourOne of the great benefits of online shopping is the ability to read product reviews, written either by experts or fellow online shoppers.The Nielsen Company conducted a survey in March 2010 and polled more than 27,000 Internet users in 55 markets from the Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East, North America, and South America to look at questions such as "How do consumers shop online?", "What do they intend to buy?", "How do they use various online shopping web pages?", and the impact of social media and other factors that come into play when consumers are trying to decide how to spend their money on which product or service. According to the research,[34] reviews on electronics (57%) such as DVD players, cellphones, or PlayStations, and so on, reviews on cars (45%), and reviews on software (37%) play an important role in influencing consumers who tend to make purchases online. Furthermore, 40% of online shoppers indicate that they would not even buy electronics without consulting online reviews first.In addition to online reviews, peer recommendations on online shopping pages or social media websites play a key role for online shoppers when they are researching future purchases. 90% of all purchases made are influenced by social media. Each day, over two million buyers are shopping online for jewelry.

South Korean Supermarket Launches Worlds First Virtual Store

A major South Korean retailer has opened what it appears to be the world's first virtual store geared to smartphone users, with shoppers scanning barcodes of products displayed in a Seoul subway station. Homeplus, the nations second largest discount chain, is offering 500 items including food, electronics, office supplies and toiletries at its "store" at Seolleung station in the south of the city of 10 million.Seven pillars and six platform screen doors have been plastered with images of life-size store shelves filled with goods -- such as milk, apples, a bag of rice or school backpacks -- which each carry a small barcode. Shoppers download a related application on their smartphone and make purchases by taking photos of the barcodes.

You place an order when you go to work in the morning and can see the items delivered at home when you come home at night," said a spokeswoman for Homeplus.In fact, consumers dont have to be anywhere near the virtual store. For example, if you want to order replacements of a bottle of water that you have in your hand, you dont have to stop by the subway station. You simply scan the bottles barcode with the Homeplus app. The products are delivered later to home or office.Currently, only Android smartphone users will be able to use the service that launched last week. Not that Homeplus hasnt made an app iPhone, its just Steve Jobs and Co. hasnt approved it yet.

FlipkartHistoryFlipkart (Company) was founded in 2007 by Sachin Bansal and BinnyBansal, both alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. They had been working for Amazon.com previously. The business was formally incorporated as a company in October 2008 as Online Services Pvt. Ltd. During its initial years, Flipkart focused only on books, and soon as it expanded, it started offering other products like electronic goods, air conditioners, air coolers, stationery supplies and life style products and e-books. The first product sold by them was the book Leaving Microsoft to Change the World, bought by VVK Chandra from Andhra Pradesh. Flipkart now employs more than 15000 people. Flipkart allows payment methods such as cash on delivery, credit or debit card transactions, net banking, e-gift voucher and card swipe on delivery

Call us:We're available 24 hours a day.(0124) 6150000 or 1800 208 9898Need assistance in buying?Call our product experts 1800 1080 1800Mail us:Flipkart Internet Private Limited,Ozone Manay Tech Park,#56/18 & 55/09, 7th Floor,Garvebhavipalya, Hosur Road,Bangalore - 560068,Karnataka, India. Corporate Address:Flipkart Internet Private LimitedVaishnavi Summit, Ground Floor, 7th Main,80 Feet Road, 3rd Block,Koramangala Industrial Layout,Bangalore - 560034Karnataka, IndiaPh: (0124) 6150000Acquisitions2010: WeRead, a social book discovery tool. 2011: Mime360, a digital content platform company. 2011: Chakpak.com, a Bollywood news site that offers updates news, photos and videos. Flipkart acquired the rights to Chakpak's digital catalogue which includes 40,000 filmographies, 10,000 movies and close to 50,000 ratings. Flipkart has categorically said that it will not be involved with the original site and will not use the brand name.2012: Letsbuy.com, an Indian e-retailer in electronics. Flipkart has bought the company for an estimated US$25 million. Letsbuy.com was closed down and all traffic to Lets buy has been diverted to Flipkart. 2014: Acquired Myntra.com in an estimated INR 2,000 crore dealFinanceInitially, the founders had spent 400,000 only for making website to set up the business. Flipkart has later raised funding from venture capital funds Accel India (US$1 million in 2009) and Tiger Global (US$10 million in 2010 and US$20 million in June 2011). On 24 August 2012, Flipkart announced the completion of its 4th round of $150 million funding from MIH (part of Naspers Group) and ICONIQ Capital. The company announced, on 10 July 2013, that it has raised an additional $200 million from existing investors including Tiger Global, Naspers, Accel Partners and Iconiq Capital. Flipkart's reported sales were 40 million in FY 20082009, 200 million in FY 20092010 and 750 million for FY 20102011.] In FY 20112012, Flipkart is set to cross the 5 billion (US$100 million) mark as Internet usage in the country increases and people get accustomed to making purchases online. Flipkart projects its sales to reach 10 billion by year 2014. On average, Flipkart sells nearly 10 products per minute and is aiming at generating a revenue of 50 billion (US$0.81 billion) by 2015. On November 2012, Flipkart became one of the companies being probed for alleged violations of FDI regulations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 Flipkart reported a loss of 281 crore for the FY 2012-13. In July 2013, Flipkart raised USD 160 million from private equity investors.[38]In October 2013, it was reported that Flipkart had raised an additional $160 million from new investors Dragoneer Investment Group, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, Sofina SA and Vulcan Inc. with participation from existing investor Tiger Global. On 26 May 2014, Flipkart announced that it has raised $210 million from Yuri Milners DST Global and its existing investors Tiger Global, Naspers and Iconiq Capital. In early July 2014, it was also highly speculated that Flipkart was in negotiations to raise at least $500 million, for a likely listing in the US for 2016. On 29 July 2014, Flipkart announced that it raised $1 billion from Tiger Global Management LLC, Accel Partners, and Morgan Stanley Investment Managemnt and a new investor Singapore sovereign-wealth fund GIC. On 6 October 2014, Flipkart sold products worth INR 650Crore in 10 hours in a special one-day event - "The Big Billion Day", claiming they had created e-commerce history, but their hard-won reputation for good customer service suffered because of technical problems, and angry reactions on social media from buyers disappointed with the pricing and availability of products. It claimed to sell a whopping 5 lakh mobile handsets, five-lakh clothes and shoes and 25,000 television sets within hours of opening its discounted sale at 8 AM. In December 2014, After it received $700 million from another funding, Flipkart had a market cap of $11 billion or Rs.66000 croreOn 20th December, 2014, Flipkart announced filing application with Singapore based companies' regulator ACRA to become a public company after raising USD 700 million for long term strategic investments in India following which its number of investors exceeded 50. The USD 700 million fund raised by Flipkart added new investors - Baillie Gifford, Greenoaks Capital, Steadview Capital, T. Rowe Price Associates and Qatar Investment Authority - on company's board.Its existing investors DST Global, GIC, ICONIQ Capital and Tiger Global also participated in this latest financing roundAwards and recognitionCo-Founder of Flipkart Sachin Bansal, got Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2012-2013 from Economic Times, leading Indian Economic Daily[78]Flipkart.com was awarded Young Turk of the Year at CNBC TV 18's 'India Business Leader Awards 2012' (IBLA).[79]Flipkart.com- got nominated for India MART Leaders of Tomorrow Awards 2011

Amazon20102011201220132014

Sales/Revenue 34.2B48.08B61.09B74.45B

Amazon and Snapdeal, all of them have raised investments or have commitments of $1 Billion or more. This money is being burned to acquire new customers, offer discounts and pump up products on offer.While we are all aware that these sites are losing money, you will be amazed to know the quantum of loss these ecommerce players have incurred.

[Data Source: Techcircle] Note: All figures are in INR CrorePlease note that the revenue figures above are not the price of products sold (GMV), as these are all marketplaces, and their revenues come from commissions they get from sellers or listing fees that they charge to list the products on their site.GMV or Gross Merchandize Value represents the price of products sold and net revenues are just a fraction of that!Flipkart leads the race with net revenue of 179 crore followed by Amazon at 168.9 crore and Snapdeal at 154.11 crore.However, when it comes to losses, Flipkart leads by a much bigger margin and their loss for 2013-14 stands at Rs. 400 Crore. Comparatively, Amazon losses are pegged at Rs. 321.3 crore and Snapdeal had least losses of 3 with 264.6 croreSee the graph below to understand how much loss each player incurs for every rupee in net revenues.

Flipkart leads the race here to losing 2.23 rupees for every 1 rupee of revenue. Amazon loses 1.90 and Snapdeal has least amount of losses at Rs. 1.72.

http://indiafreestuff.in/top-10-online-shopping-sites-in-india-html/

RESEARCHMETHODOLOGY

Need for Research

To survive in competitive market, it is mandatory for any organization to provide best services to their customer. So, by doing research, the company will have an idea whether their customers are satisfied or not in context of services provided by them.

Problem Statement

A study on measuring the Service Quality of Virtual/online shopping.

Research Objectives

Primary objectives:

To measure the Service Quality of Virtual shopping by applying SERVQUAL model

Secondary objectives:

1. To understand the theoretical aspects of SERVQUAL model2. To measure the expected value of the customers with respect to services offered by the organization3. To measure the actual value of the customers with respect to services offered by the organization4. To identify the gap between the expected and actual value of the customers with respect to services offered by the organization5. To provide analysis of customer satisfaction and loyalty

Research DesignThe research design adopted in this study was DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH DESIGN.

Data collection Method

1. Primary data: The method of collection of primary data was direct personal interview through a structured questionnaire. 2. Secondary Data: The information about company profile and theory of the study was collected through secondary data.

Sampling

1. Population: All the customer of Virtual shopping surat city

2. Sampling Method: Non probability convenience sampling method

3.Sampling size: 200 customers were surveyed through questionnaire.

Data collection Instrument

Questionnaire was used for this purpose of the data collection as the research instrument.

Data Analysis software

In this project we used the SPSS software as the data analysis technique.

Limitation

1. Different level of perception in the mind of respondents and researcher.2. The research only considers five variables of Gap model. The result may change if other variables are taken into consideration and may show better analysis.