servqual model
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service quality gap modelTRANSCRIPT
Review of literature
Service quality models: a review
Nitin Seth and S.G. DeshmukhIndian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India, andPrem VratIndian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India
During the past few decades service quality has become a major area of attention to Practitioners, managers and researchers owing to its strong impact on business performance, lower costs, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and profitability (Leonard and Sasser, 1982; Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Gammie, 1992; Hallowell, 1996; Chang and Chen, 1998; Gummesson, 1998; Lasser et al., 2000; Silvestro and Cross, 2000; Newman, 2001; Sureshchander et al., 2002; Guru, 2003 etc.). There has been a continued research on the definition, modeling, measurement, data collection procedure, data analysis etc., issues of service quality, leading to development of sound base for the researchers.
This documented knowledge base through several studies on the subject can be of great use to researchers and practitioners in providing a direction on how to explore/modify the existing service quality concepts with the changing world scenario (shift from conventional personalized services to web enabled services). For an organization to gain competitive advantage it must use technology to gather information on market demands and exchange it between organizations for thepurpose of enhancing the service quality. Researchers and managers thrive for learning details about components of service quality in their organization of obvious reasons of customer satisfaction, increased profitability etc. In this context model gains specific importance as it not only help in learning the factors associated with it but also will provide a direction for improvements.
A conceptual model attempts to show the relationships that exist between salient variables. (Ghobadian et al., 1994). It is a simplified description of the actual situations. It is envisaged that conceptual models in service quality enable management to identify quality problems and thus help in planning for the launch of a quality improvement program thereby improving the efficiency, profitability and overall performance.
This paper makes an attempt to study various service quality models covering the aspects of conventional services to web interacted services. The primary aim of these models is to enable the management to understand and enhance the quality of the organization and its offering. Nineteen conceptual service quality models reported during the period (1984-2003) are reviewed in this paper. Each of them is representative of a different point of view about services. The organization of this paper is as follows: initially after highlighting the need for the present study, a generalized framework of the study is presented. This is followed by a brief discussion of the models and a critical appraisal of the same. Finally the agenda for future research is spelt out.
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BASIC DIMENSIONS OF THE (SERVQUAL MODEL) AND ITS IMPACT ON THE LEVEL OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF THE HOUSING BANK IN KARAK, JORDAN Dr. Aymn Sulieman, PhD
Faculty of Business Administration Mutah University, Jordan
Banking industry environment experiences rapid changes reflected in the intensification of competition between banks and increased awareness of current and potential customers. Therefore, the quality of service and customer satisfaction is a major challenge for banks as it is reflected on the growth and development of these institutions. Therefore, it is imperative that the banks should strive to provide high quality services to meet the needs and desires of customers to enhance the positive relationship between the banks and their customers. The quality and continuous improvement of banking services provided to customers, is one of the most important requirements for the maintenance of the European Scientific Journal January 2013 edition vol.9, No.1 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e - ISSN 1857- 7431 22
Singapore stock broking service quality: fifteen percent gap Lee Yik-Chee DBA, Meredith G.G. AM PhD, Marchant T PhD Southern Cross University
Over the last two to three decades, service quality, customer satisfaction, customer perceived value and loyalty have been ongoing research areas in world-wide marketing literature (Boulding et al., 1993; Caruana and Msida, 2002; Durvasula et al., 2003/2004; Ladhari, 2008; Tam, 2004; Rust and Oliver, 1994). Compared to the focus of much of the literature, financial services, including stock broking, are more complex than other services and deserve more in-depth attention. This study addresses a substantive topic of high significance to customers (financial services) which has been almost “completely neglected in marketing research” (Martenson, 2008, p. 142).
We investigated five variables in relation to service quality for stock investors (customers) in Singapore. The five are demographics, expertise, perceived value, satisfaction and loyalty (behavioural intentions). Previous research indicates that service quality is a critical component of customer perceptions of service. Although service quality is critical in service industries, empirical research examining the service aspects of stock broking is limited or almost non-existent (Durvasula et al., 2006). Recently a small number of studies have investigated financial advising and services in terms of advisor information and relationships (Martenson, 2008), credit card usage (Gan et al., 2008) and real estate investments (Chiang et al., 2008) but stock broking service is relatively under-researched. With mushrooming numbers of “Mum and Dad” investors, the recent sustained growth in stock markets, followed by the global financial crisis, this is clearly a significant issue.
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Ch.1 Introduction
1.1Best and top online shopping sites in India list: December 2014
Amazon
flipkart
snapdeal
Paytm
Ebay
Jabango
Myntra
Shopclues
Paperfry
Homeshop18
Infibeam
Amazon.com, Inc. is an American electronic commerce company with headquarters in
Seattle, Washington. It is the largest Internet-based retailer in the United States. Amazon.com
started as an online bookstore, but soon diversified,
Selling DVDs, VHSs, CDs, video and MP3 downloads/streaming, software, videogames, electr
onics, apparel, furniture, food, toys, and jewelry. The company also produces consumer
electronics—notably, Amazon Kindle e-book readers, Fire tablets, Fire TV and Fire Phone —
and is a major provider of cloud computing services.
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 Poland and Sweden
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Flipkart is an Indian E-Commerce company established in 2007 by Sachin
Bansal and BinnyBansal. It operates exclusively in India, with headquarters
at Bangalore, 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.com is an online marketplace, New Delhi, India. The company was started by
KunalBahl, a Whartongraduate as part of the dual degree M&T Engineering and Business
program at Penn, and RohitBansal, an alumnus ofIIT Delhi in February 2010.
Snapdeal.com was started in February 2010 as a daily deals platform inspired
by Groupon.com but expanded in September 2011 to become an online marketplace.[4] Snapdeal
has grown to become the largest online marketplace in India offering 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 about
600 crore (US$94 million). 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.
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Snapdeal.com expected the total sale of products traded on its platform to cross
2000 crore (US$310 million) 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 American multinational corporation and e-commerce company,
providing consumer-to-consumer &business-to-consumer sales services via Internet. It is
headquartered in San Jose, California, United States. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in
1995, and became a notable success story of the dot-com bubble; it is a multi-billion dollar
business with operations localized in over thirty countries.
The company manages eBay.com, an online auction and 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
by UPC, ISBN, or other kind of SKU (via Half.com); online classified advertisements
(via Kijiji or eBay Classifieds); online event ticket trading (via StubHub); online money
transfers (via PayPal) and other services.
It is not a free website, but charges users an invoice seller fee on the basis of if they have sold
or listed any items
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Jabong sells shoes, apparel, accessories, home décor 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 of VirenderSehwag cricket 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 brands Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge and River
Island along with the Spanish brand Mango. In November 2013, Jabong entered into a
partnership with the brand Jack & Jones, to sell merchandise for the band Above & Beyond
In January 2014, Jabong partnered with Stylista, a collaborative fashion platform. The
collection includes Indian designers like Wendell Rodricks, PriyadarshiniRao and NishkaLulla
In 2014; Jabong launched an exclusive collection designed by RohitBal. 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.com is an Indian e-commerce company of fashion and casual lifestyle products,
headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka The 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 with Flipkart to compete against Amazon which entered the
Indian market in June 2013.
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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 décor,
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.
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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.
HomeShop18 is an online and on-air retail and distribution venture of Network 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.
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.
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Infibeam is an Indian e-commerce company headquartered in Ahmedabad, India. It is an online
retailer for books, electronics, and automobiles in India. Started in 2007, the company has
offices in Ahmedabad, Delhi, Mumbai andBangalore, 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
by Forbes as "that seems to defy most standard models"The turnover of the company was
reported to be 1000 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 among Economic Times's Top 5 Digital
Brands in the e-commerce category. Infibeam's acquisition of customer base at very low cost
has been recorded as a B-school case study by Ivey Publishing.Infibeam is the only authorised
online seller of iPhones in India
Naaptol is 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, Maharashtra. In the initial
stage, Naaptol started 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
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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.
Naaptol follows 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.com is an Indian Online shopping E-commerce portal 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
and N. R. Narayana Murthy’s Catamaran Ventures invested Rs 40 crore in Agarwal’s 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 brands to its customers dealing in Shoes, Apparels,
Bags, Mobiles, Cameras, Sunglasses, Watches, Books, Laptops , Home furnishing, Home
décor, 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
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Yepme is an online shopping company headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. It was
established in April 2011. The company specializes in the online retailing of men’s 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 to Hindu 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 through India
Post
According 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 of Business 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 Today reported 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 3–4 years
Inkfruit is an online shopping store, not available now for submitting designs where t-shirt
designs are submitted and voted for by a community. It was launched in December 2007 (then
called Gnome) by Fingerprints Fashion Inc., based in Mumbai, India. KashyapDalal, an
undergraduate of IIT Bombay,and graduated from IIM Lucknow is the CEO of Inkfruit.This
concept is taken from Threadless to India by Inkfruit.
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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.
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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 kid’s
clothes, women apparel, men’s 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, L’Oreal, Ray Ban, Celio, Revlon, etc.
It is also a one-stop solution for fashion accessories such as men’s watches, ladies watches,
cosmetics, fragrances, handbags, jewelry, footwear along with home furnishing and décor
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.
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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 SKU’s 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.
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Ch.2 History
Online 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-
mortar retailer 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.
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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 human–computer 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.
2.1 International e-commerce statistics
Statistics 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.
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2.1.1 Customers
Online 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.
2.1.2 Logistics
Consumers 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).
2.1.3Payment
Online 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 landlines
Cash on delivery (C.O.D.)
Cheque/ Check
Debit card
Direct debit in some countries
Electronic money of various types
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Gift cards
Postal money order
Wire transfer/delivery on payment
Invoice, especially popular in some markets/countries, such as Switzerland
Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies
Some 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.
2.1.4 Product delivery
Once 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).
2.1.5 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-
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commerce sites, which allow customers to buy tickets online, the popularity of this service has
increased.
2.1.6 Shopping cart systems
Simple 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.
2.1.7 Online gift shops
Online 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.
2.1.8 Design
Customers 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.
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2.1.9 Information load
Designers 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.
2.1.10 Market share
E-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.
2.2 Advantages
2.2.1 Convenience
Online 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.
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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).
2.2.2 Information and reviews
Online 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.
2.2.3 Price and selection
One 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.
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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.
2.3 Disadvantages
2.3.1 Fraud and security concerns
Given 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
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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.
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2.3.2 Lack of full cost disclosure
The 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.
2.3.3 Privacy
Privacy 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 behaviour
One 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
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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.
2.4 South Korean Supermarket Launches World’s 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 nation’s 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.
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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 don’t 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 don’t have to stop by
the subway station. You simply scan the bottle’s 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 hasn’t made an app iPhone, it’s just Steve Jobs and Co. hasn’t
approved it yet.
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2.4 (About Flipkart & Amazon)
Flipkart
Flipkart (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
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Call us:
We're available 24 hours a day.
(0124) 6150000 or 1800 208 9898
Need assistance in buying?
Call our product experts 1800 1080 1800
Mail 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 Limited
Vaishnavi Summit, Ground Floor, 7th Main,
80 Feet Road, 3rd Block,
Koramangala Industrial Layout,
Bangalore - 560034
Karnataka, India
Ph: (0124) 6150000
Acquisitions
2010: 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 deal
Finance
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Initially, 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 2008–2009,
200 million in FY 2009–2010 and 750 million for FY 2010–2011.] In FY 2011–2012,
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 Milner’s 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 crore
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On 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 round
Awards and recognition
Co-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
Amazon
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Sales/
Revenue
34.2B 48.08B 61.09B 74.45B
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.
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[Data Source: Techcircle] Note: All figures are in INR Crore
Please 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 crore
See the graph below to understand how much loss each player incurs for every rupee in net
revenues.
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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/
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Ch.3 Theoretical Framework
3.1 Concept
The SERVQUAL service quality model was developed by a group of American authors, 'Parsu'
Parasuraman, Valarie Zeithaml and Len Berry, in 1985. It highlights the main components of
high quality service. The SERVQUAL authors originally identified ten elements of service
quality, but in later work, these were collapsed into five factors - reliability, assurance,
tangibles, empathy and responsiveness - that create the acronym RATER.
Businesses using SERVQUAL to measure and manage service quality deploy a questionnaire
that measures both the customer expectations of service quality in terms of these five
dimensions, and their perceptions of the service they receive. When customer expectations are
greater than their perceptions of received delivery, service quality is deemed low.
In additional to being a measurement model, SERVQUAL is also a management model. The
SERVQUAL authors identified five Gaps that may cause customers to experience poor service
quality.
Gap 1: between consumer expectation and management perception
This gap arises when the management does not correctly perceive what the customers want. For
instance, hospital administrators may think patients want better food, but patients may be more
concerned with the responsiveness of the nurse. Key factors leading to this gap are:
Insufficient marketing research
Poorly interpreted information about the audience's expectations
Research not focused on demand quality
Too many layers between the front line personnel and the top level management
Gap 2: between management perception and service quality specification
Although the management might correctly perceive what the customer wants, they may not set
an appropriate performance standard. An example would be when hospital administrators
instruct nurses to respond to a request ‘fast’, but may not specify ‘how fast’. Gap 2 may occur
due to the following reasons:
Insufficient planning procedures
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Lack of management commitment
Unclear or ambiguous service design
Unsystematic new service development process
Gap 3: between service quality specification and service delivery
This gap may arise through service personnel being poor training, incapable or unwilling to
meet the set service standard. The possible major reasons for this gap are:
Deficiencies in human resource policies such as ineffective recruitment, role ambiguity, role
conflict, improper evaluation and compensation system
Ineffective internal marketing
Failure to match demand and supply
Lack of proper customer education and training
Gap 4: between service delivery and external communication
Consumer expectations are highly influenced by statements made by company representatives
and advertisements. The gap arises when these assumed expectations are not fulfilled at the
time of delivery of the service. For example, the hospital printed on the brochure may have
clean and furnished rooms, but in reality it may be poorly maintained, in which case the
patients' expectations are not met. The discrepancy between actual service and the promised one
may occur due to the following reasons:
Over-promising in external communication campaign
Failure to manage customer expectations
Failure to perform according to specifications
Gap 5: between expected service and experienced service
This gap arises when the consumer misinterprets the service quality. For example, a physician
may keep visiting the patient to show and ensure care, but the patient may interpret this as an
indication that something is really wrong.
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http://www.marketing.org.au/images/cimages/fig%201.jpg
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Ch4. RESEARCHMETHODOLOGY
4.1 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.
4.2 Problem Statement
“A study on measuring the Service Quality of Virtual/online shopping.”
4.3 Research Objectives
4.3.1 Primary objectives:
To measure the Service Quality of Virtual shopping by applying SERVQUAL model
4.3.2 Secondary objectives:
1) To understand the theoretical aspects of SERVQUAL model
2) To measure the expected value of the customers with respect to services offered by the
organization
3) To measure the actual value of the customers with respect to services offered by the
organization
4) To identify the gap between the expected and actual value of the customers with respect to
services offered by the organization
5) To provide analysis of customer satisfaction and loyalty
4.4 Research Design
The research design adopted in this study was DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH DESIGN.
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4.5 Data collection Method
4.5.1. Primary data: The method of collection of primary data was direct personal interview
through a structured questionnaire.
4.5.2. Secondary Data: The information about company profile and theory of the study was
collected through secondary data.
4.6 Sampling
4.6.1. Population: the entire customer of Virtual shopping Surat city.
4.6.2. Sampling Method: Non probability convenience sampling method
4.6.3. Sampling size: 200 customers were surveyed through questionnaire.
4.7 Data collection Instrument
Questionnaire was used for this purpose of the data collection as the research instrument.
4.8 Data Analysis software
In this project we used the SPSS software as the data analysis technique.
4.9 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.
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1) Analyses base on education
INTERPRETATION:
IT is cleared that majority of the respondent is graduated. And than least of the respondents are
post graduate.
2) Analyses base on occupation
Occupation
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid Student 84 38.7 42.0 42.0
Business 79 36.4 39.5 81.5
Retired 37 17.1 18.5 100.0
Total 200 92.2 100.0
Missing System 17 7.8
Total 217 100.0
INTERPRETATION:
IT is cleared that majority of the respondent are student and than least of the respondents are
retired person.
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Education
Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid Undergraduate 66 30.4 33.0 33.0
Graduate 73 33.6 36.5 69.5
Post Graduate 61 28.1 30.5 100.0
Total 200 92.2 100.0
Missing System 17 7.8
Total 217 100.0
3) Analyses base on Age
INTERPRETATION:
IT is cleared that majority of the respondent are under age of 20-30. And than least of the
respondents are above 60. Another second majority are under age of 31-40.
4) Analyses base on online shopping time period
How often do you shop online?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid Once in week 55 25.3 27.5 27.5
Once in month 77 35.5 38.5 66.0
Once in every 3 month 33 15.2 16.5 82.5
Once in every 6 months 15 6.9 7.5 90.0
Once in year 19 8.8 9.5 99.5
6 1 .5 .5 100.0
Total 200 92.2 100.0
Total 200 100.0
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Age
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid 20-30 123 56.7 61.5 61.5
31-40 62 28.6 31.0 92.5
41-50 6 2.8 3.0 95.5
51-60 4 1.8 2.0 97.5
>60 5 2.3 2.5 100.0
Total 200 92.2 100.0
Missing System 17 7.8
Total 217 100.0
INTERPRETATION:
IT is cleared that majority of the respondents are purchase once in month. And rest of the
respondents are purchase once in a week or every 3 months or 6 every 6 months or once in a
month.
5) How much you spent for online shopping per month?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid Upto 500 36 16.6 18.0 18.0
500-1000 65 30.0 32.5 50.5
1000-1500 39 18.0 19.5 70.0
1500-2000 27 12.4 13.5 83.5
>2000 32 14.7 16.0 99.5
6 1 .5 .5 100.0
Total 200 92.2 100.0
Total 200 100.0
INTERPRETATION:
IT is cleared that majority of the respondents are spent 500-1000 Rs. Per month. And minority
of the respondents are spent 1500-2000 Rs. Per month.
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6) Analyses as per sites prefer by Respondent
Which sites you prefer more?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid Flipkart 36 16.6 18.0 18.0
Ebay 60 27.6 30.0 48.0
Amazon 34 15.7 17.0 65.0
Snapdeal 21 9.7 10.5 75.5
Naaptol 36 16.6 18.0 93.5
Othes 13 6.0 6.5 100.0
Total 200 92.2 100.0
Total 200 100.0
INTERPRETATION:
IT is cleared that majority of the respondents are prefer ebay to shop online. And rest of the
respondents are prefer flipkart , amazon and others sites.
7) Analyses base on delivered product on time
Does they delivered product on time/promised time?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid Highly Satisfied 21 9.7 10.5 10.5
Satisfied 43 19.8 21.5 32.0
Satisfied but need
improvement42 19.4 21.0 53.0
Unsatisfied 30 13.8 15.0 68.0
Chances to lose customer 64 29.5 32.0 100.0
Total 200 92.2 100.0
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INTERPRETATION:
Table shows the majority of the respondent have complain that they do not delivered product on
time. That means company have chances to lose their customer.
8) Analyses base on consumer on when they will provide the service
Are they informed the consumer on when they will provide the service?
INTERPRETATION:
Table shows the majority of the respondents are highly satisfied means company provide
excellent service on informing when they provide the service/good.
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Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid Highly Satisfied 57 26.3 28.5 28.5
Satisfied 48 22.1 24.0 52.5
Satisfied but need
improvement37 17.1 18.5 71.0
Unsatisfied 32 14.7 16.0 87.0
Chances to lose customer 26 12.0 13.0 100.0
Total 200 92.2 100.0
Total 200 100.0
9) Analyses base on provide safety / privacy in their transactions
INTERPRETATION:
Table shows the majority of the respondents are satisfied means company provide good service
on providing safety/privacy in their transactions.
10) Analyses based on company understand the need of the customer
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Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Highly Satisfied 54 24.9 27.0 27.0
Satisfied 64 29.5 32.0 59.0
Satisfied but need
improvement37 17.1 18.5 77.5
Unsatisfied 20 9.2 10.0 87.5
Chances to lose customer 25 11.5 12.5 100.0
Total 200 92.2 100.0
Total 200 100.0
Does company understand the need of the customer?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid Highly Satisfied 27 12.4 13.5 13.5
Satisfied 43 19.8 21.5 35.0
Satisfied but need
improvement33 15.2 16.5 51.5
Unsatisfied 52 24.0 26.0 77.5
Chances to lose customer 45 20.7 22.5 100.0
Total 200 92.2 100.0
Total 200 100.0
INTERPRETATION:
Table shows the majority of the respondents are unsatisfied means company do not understand
the actual need of the consumer.
11) Analyses on company provide any mobile application for ios/anroid/windows
INTERPRETATION:
Table shows the majority of the respondents are highly satisfied that means company provide
mobile application for ios, android and windows.
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Does company provide any mobile application for ios/anroid/windows??
Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid Highly Satisfied 107 49.3 53.5 53.5
Satisfied 22 10.1 11.0 64.5
Satisfied but need
improvement37 17.1 18.5 83.0
Unsatisfied 27 12.4 13.5 96.5
Chances to lose customer 7 3.2 3.5 100.0
Total 200 92.2 100.0
Total 200 100.0
12) Cross tabulation ( Age & delivered product on time )
INTERPRETATION:
Table shows the majority of the respondents are highly unsatisfied age between 20-30 that
means company do not delivered product on time/promised time.
13) Cross tabulation ( Age & provide product as shown on website)
Age * Does they provide product as shown on website?
Does they provide product as shown on website?
Total Satisfied
Satisfied but
need
improvement Unsatisfied
Highly
unsatisfied
Age 20-30 14 77 11 21 123
31-40 7 41 5 9 62
41-50 1 3 0 2 6
51-60 1 1 0 2 4
>60 0 2 3 0 5
Total 23 124 19 34 200
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Age * Does they delivered product on time/promised time?
Does they delivered product on time/promised time?
Total
Highly
Satisfied Satisfied
Satisfied but
need
improvement Unsatisfied
Highly
unsatisfied
Age 20-30 17 28 23 20 35 123
31-40 3 13 14 10 22 62
41-50 0 1 2 0 3 6
51-60 1 0 1 0 2 4
>60 0 1 2 0 2 5
Total 21 43 42 30 64 200
INTERPRETATION:
Table shows the majority of the respondents are satisfied in age between 20-30 but they want
some improvement in their service.
14) Cross tabulation ( Age & past record about the services)
Age * company’s past record about the services are satisfying?
Companies past record about the services are satisfying?
Total
Highly
Satisfied Satisfied
Satisfied but
need
improvemen
t
Unsatisfie
d
Highly
unsatisfied
Age 20-30 16 43 33 14 17 123
31-40 8 23 6 11 14 62
41-50 0 0 2 2 2 6
51-60 1 1 2 0 0 4
>60 0 2 0 2 1 5
Total 25 69 43 29 34 200
INTERPRETATION:
Table shows the majority of the respondents are satisfied age between 20-30 that Means
Company’s past record about the service are good.
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15) Cross tabulation ( Age & customer-care officer solving the problem)
Age * Does customer-care officer satisfying / solving the problem?
Does customer-care officer satisfying / solving the problem?
Total
Highly
Satisfied Satisfied
Satisfied
but need
improveme
nt
Unsatisfie
d
Highly
unsatisfied
Age 20-30 22 18 35 28 20 123
31-40 12 12 16 12 10 62
41-50 1 1 1 1 2 6
51-60 0 1 3 0 0 4
>60 3 0 0 2 0 5
Total 38 32 55 43 32 200
INTERPRETATION:
Table shows the majority of the respondents are satisfied in age between 20-30 but they want
some improvement regarding this service.
16) Cross tabulation ( Occupation & provide safety / privacy in their transactions)
Occupation * Are they provide safety / privacy in their transactions?
Are they provide safety / privacy in their transactions?
Total
Highly
Satisfied Satisfied
Satisfied
but need
improveme
nt
Unsatisfi
ed
Highly
unsatisfied
Occupati
on
Student 25 25 16 10 8 84
Busines
s17 26 13 9 14 79
Retired 12 13 8 1 3 37
Total 54 64 37 20 25 200
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INTERPRETATION:
Table shows the majority of the respondents are satisfied in business group, which has been
closely followed by students.
17) Cross tabulation ( Occupation & employee of the company maintain their courtesy
when handling the customer )
INTERPRETATION:
Table shows the majority of the respondents are satisfied but they want some improvement
regarding handling the customer.
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Occupation * Does employee of the company maintain their courtesy when handling the
customer?
Does employee of the company maintain their courtesy when
handling the customer?
Total
highly
satiesfied satiesfied
satiesfied but
need
improvement
unsatiesfie
d
chances of
lossing the
customer
Occupatio
n
Student 7 17 31 16 13 84
Business 5 18 26 16 14 79
Retired 2 7 16 8 4 37
Total 14 42 73 40 31 200
18) Cross tabulation (Education & informed the consumer on when they will provide
the service )
Education * Are they informed the consumer on when they will provide the service?
Are they informed the consumer on when they will provide the
service?
Total
Highly
Satisfied Satisfied
Satisfied but
need
improvement Unsatisfied
Highly
unsatisfied
Educatio
n
Undergraduat
e15 14 14 11 12 66
Graduate 25 17 11 11 9 73
Post
Graduate17 17 12 10 5 61
Total 57 48 37 32 26 200
INTERPRETATION:
Table shows the majority of the respondents who are in graduate group are highly satisfied.
That means company provide time to time information.
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19) Cross tabulation (Education & informed the consumer on when they will provide
the service )
Education * Are they willing to help customer? /ready to respond to consumer request?
Are they willing to help customer? /ready to respond to
consumer request?
Total
Highly
Satisfied
Satisfie
d
Satisfied
but need
improveme
nt Unsatisfied
Highly
unsatisfied
Education Undergrad
uate7 12 18 18 11 66
Graduate 12 17 23 8 13 73
Post
Graduate9 15 10 17 10 61
Total 28 44 51 43 34 200
INTERPRETATION:
Table shows the majority of the respondents who are in graduate group are satisfied. But they
need some improvement in helping the consumer.
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20) Cross tabulation (Education & Services provide by company are accurate / not )
INTERPRETATION:
Table shows the majority of the respondents who are in undergraduate group are satisfied. But
they need some improvement for accurate services.
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Education * Services provide by company are accurate / not?
Services provide by company are accurate / not?
Total
Highly
Satisfied Satisfied
Satisfied but
need
improvemen
t
Unsatisfie
d
Highly
unsatisfied
Educatio
n
Undergradua
te8 12 25 9 12 66
Graduate 2 15 23 19 14 73
Post
Graduate6 9 21 15 10 61
Total 16 36 69 43 36 200
21) Cross tabulation (Education & provide proper attention to new customer willing
to help)
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INTERPRETATION:
Table shows the majority of the respondents who are in graduate group are unsatisfied that
shows the company do not provide proper attention to new consumer.
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Education * Are they provide proper attention to new customer willing to help?
Are they provide proper attention to new customer willing to
help?
Total
Highly
Satisfied Satisfied
Satisfied
but need
improveme
nt
Unsatisfie
d
Highly
unsatisfied
Educatio
n
Undergradu
ate4 11 14 22 15 66
Graduate 5 13 15 25 15 73
Post
Graduate4 12 10 21 14 61
Total 13 36 39 68 44 200
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Ch.6 Finding
In this research it has been found that maximum numbers of users are graduate with 36.5% share and post graduate are the least using people with 30.5% share while under graduate contribute 33%.
It has been found that students make maximum use of e-commerce for shopping while retired/ old age person uses it least.
38.5% people use e-commerce once in a month and 9.5% once in year. While 27.5% uses it once in a week.
Majority of the online shopping users are in the age group between 20-30 year with 61.5%.
32% people spend between 500-100Rs. While 13% spends between 1500-2000Rs.
The leading online shops are as follow:
EBAY with 30% FLIPKART with 18% AMAZONE with 17% SNAPDEAL with 10.5%
32% people told that the delivery of the product has not been done on time. So there are chances of losing those customer.
Out of 200 people 57 people are highly satisfied as far as the information to the consumer during the delivery of the product.
In this study it is found that most of the people using online shopping are feels safe during payment transaction.
It is found that most people prefer cash on delivery option for payment of product which they purchased for safety purpose.
Most of the online retail shops providing mobile application for IOS / ANROID/ WINDOWS.
In this study it is found that the customer care officers have enough knowledge which increases the efficiency to solve the problem of the customer.
In the study it has been found that the product has been safely delivered by Logistics Company to the customer.
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In research it is found that the needs of the customer are not satisfied by the online retail shops.
The online shops do maintain their past records which is very much satisfying.
Most of the people say that they are satisfied but still there is need of improvement while handling the new customer.
The various facilities like EMI / COD / ONLINE PAYMENT is very much useful and convenient for the customer.
In the research it is found that the online shops inform the customer about if any problem occurs regarding any service or purchases the product.
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Ch.7.CONCLUSION
The most important thing is responsiveness and empathy. From this research, we have found
that there is a positive gap in these variables. This means that responsiveness and empathy
is better than the expected level.
Reliability is also a factor that is important as far as investment is considered. Whenever a
expert gives advice for particular investment, his investment should prove to be profitable.
Thus its necessary that the advise is reliable. In this research it is found that there is negative
gap In this variable. This shows their weakness
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Ch. 8. Bibliography
http://indiafreestuff.in/top-10-online-shopping-sites-in-india-html/ (2nd feb 2015)http://www.voanews.com/content/south-korean-supermarket-launches-worlds-first-virtual-store-130839928/168053.html (2nd feb 2015)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_shopping (2nd feb 2015)http://www.amazon.co.uk/Virtual-History-Alternatives-Counte-Counterfactuals/dp/0465023231 (3rd march2015)http://www.anblik.com/list-of-top-30-online-ecommerce-shopping-sites-in-india/ (3rd march 2015)http://www.flipkart.com/?sitevariant=mobile (3rd march 2015)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_store_research (3rd march 2015)https://www.google.co.in/search?q=history+of+virtual+shopping&biw=1024&bih=631&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=t2HOVLTnCIa58gWq_4CwCg&ved=0CEkQsAQ (3rd march 2015)reference book:14th edition marketing management by Philip kotler
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ANNEXUREDear Sir/Madam,I am Achal Patel, student of Department of Business & Industrial Management, VNSGU,
Surat. I am conducting a research on “A study on measuring the Service Quality of
Virtual/ Online shopping.” ensure that your responses or other information are not used
for any other purpose than academic only.
Thanking you.
1. Name: _____________________________________
2. Education: undergraduate graduate post graduate
3. Occupation: student business retired working professional
4. Age: 20-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 >60
5. How often do you shop online?
Once in week once in a month once in every3year once in every 6months once in year
6. How much you spent for online shopping per month? Up to 500 500-1000 1000-1500 1500-2000 >2000
7. Which sites you prefer more?Flipkart ebay amazon snapdeal naaptol others
8. Rate the following variables based on importance of it (1= Strongly disagree, 5= Strongly agree)
No Statements
Expected Value Actual Value1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
1 Does they delivered product on time/promised time?
2Does they provide product as shown on website?
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3How convenient their payment service COD / EMI / ONLINE?
4
Product shown on page and what consumer get actual when they delivered the product?
5Does company understand the need of the customer?
6company’s past record about the services are satisfying?
7 Does they provide proper attention to consumer while handling problem?
8
Does customer care officer’s behaviour/attitude towards you are good?
9Are they keep their records accurately/safely?
10Does customer-care officer have enough knowledge?
11Are they informed the consumer on when they will provide the service?
12Does the logistics company provide product safely?
13Does customer-care officer satisfying / solving the problem?
14
Are they willing to help customer? /ready to respond to consumer request?
15Are they provide safety / privacy in their transactions?
16
Does employee of the company maintain their courtesy when handling the customer?
17Services provide by company are accurate / not?
18 How accurate/real product visualise?
19 Does company provide any mobile application for ios/anroid/windows??
20Are they provide proper attention to new customer willing to help?
21Are they informed if any problem occurred?
22
Does customer care identify/satisfy customer’s problem after sales service?
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