Proposal

Has online shopping contributed towards the recent

decline in UK retail sales.

Master Of Business Administration

Key word: Internet marketing, buying behaviour,

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Content

1. Introduction…………………………………………………………..3

2. Background………………………………………………………….4

3. Research Aim……………………………………………………….5

4. Research Question…………………………………………………5

5. Objective of Research………………………………………………6

6. Literature Review…………………………………………………….7

7. Advantage of E –Shopping:………………………………………..9

8. Difference between traditional and online shopping……………10

9. Methodology………………………………………………………….11

(I) Secondary data……………………………………………….11

(II) Primary data……………………………………………………11

(III) Research approach…………………………………………...12

(IV) Inductive approach……………………………………………12

(V) Deductive approach………………………………………….13

(VI) Research Design……………………………………………..14

(VII) Data collection…………………………………………………14

(VIII) Questionaries…………………………………………………14

10. Time Scale…………………………………………………….15

11. Conclusion……………………………………………………..16

12.Reference…………………………………………………………….17

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Has online shopping contributed towards the recent decline in UK retail sales

Introduction :

Online retailing is a multi-million pound a year business that is continuing to grow in

strength and importance to the average consumer. The concept of online business

and shopping at your fingertips new to some consumer and a way of life for others.

The concept of shopping at your fingertips is new to some consumers and a way of

life for others. As online shopping increases among all consumers, it becomes

increasingly important for websites to understand their shoppers. This is one reason

why we chose to study the consumers of online retailing. We want to further

understand what makes online shopping appealing to the consumer. Now a day

people are moving towards the new trend of shopping which include shopping via

internet. Online shopping is the process of buying goods and services from

businesses who sell on the internet. With the introduction of world wide web, online

shopping is growing very fast and individuals are finding it convenient to shop over

the internet. In online shopping individuals can visit the web stores to have a look at

the product, without leaving the comfort of their home. For example – If a individual

wants to shop at Bose store, he/ she has to drive to the Bose store , find a parking

place and walk to the store to get the product he/she needs. Then may often need to

stand in a long line to pay for the product.

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Back ground :

Online shopping is proven as a very big invention for both the businesses as well as

the consumers itself. It serves the purpose of businesses and consumers to facilitate

the trading between them. Online shopping is done from the online stores which are

called e-shop or s-store. Online shopping is convenient as the individual need not to

go anywhere to look for the product, all he/she needs to do, to look for the product

on various shopping search engines. These search engines not only provide the

picture of the product but also provide the price and characteristics of the product.

Buyers can also get the price of the same product from different vendors which also

help the buyer in saving money. Online shopping also facilitates the availability of all

the latest products, services and promotional offers at a same place. Also the buyer

have the advantage to shop in odd hours like early in the morning or late in the night

as online shopping remains opens 24 hours a day. To shop online the buyer only

require a debit or credit card.

Despite being finding the online shopping convenient, some people prefers the idea

of going to a store and experience the shopping process. Those who wants to buy

clothes like to touch and try the merchandise to get a better feel of the product.

Online shopping doesn’t allow the buyer to touch the product, also the buyer can’t

get the product with them on the same day they purchase it.

Shopping online not only give benefit to the buyer but it also helps the business in

saving various expenses like transportation cost (moving the goods from warehouse

to stores), electricity cost, sales person cost etc.

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Research Aim :

Every writer has argued that the aims of the research is very important and should

be set before conducting the research, Hussey and Hussey argues that by setting

the aims the researcher get the idea of the field and how they are going to conduct

the research for the benefits of the users so they can get the value on it. With

regards to that the main aims of the research will be to see why consumer towards

the online shopping instead of retail shopping and why them buying behaviour are

change in the UK.

Research of Problem :

According to Bryman and Bell (2003) the research questions are crucial. Research

questions guide the researchers what they are required to do because research is

the process of finding answers and one cannot find any answers to the questions

which have been not set. That is why it is very important that the researchers carry

out a analysis of the industry in which the research is carried out and build some

questions which could help the researchers understand what is required to be done

regarding the business research which is being carried out.

1. Why Consumer Perception towards online Shopping in UK?

2. What is online shopping behaviour of consumer ?

3. Why Online shopping towards the recent decline in UK retail sales?

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Objective of Research :

Objectives setting help the researcher set goals for each stage of the research and

help them understand what is need to be done and how it will be done and it is also

important to assess the work of the research by comparing it the actual research with

the set objectives to know whether they have been met or now and if not it hep the

researcher identify the areas where errors have been made.

This research has emerged related to online shopping. The aim of this research is

mainly lack of in depth studies on e consumer segmentation. The main purpose is

identify consumer segmentation according to them attitude and buying behaviour

and relate them to their spending online spending and their willingness to buy online.

In this time people are becoming to technological and they are avoiding to go outside

and they want to buy or shopping from them home so online shopping is the best

option for them. According to that retail shopping is declining now days. we also

identify the changing buying behaviour of consumer. The main aim of this study is

consumer’s expectation and perception regarding online shopping and advantage

and problem of online purchase.

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Literature Review :

Internet shopping has grown almost five-fold since 2000. It still only accounts for just

over three per cent of total retail sales but this share is higher in certain sectors.

Nearly two-thirds of consumers are internet users and over half of these had used

the internet to make purchases. Convenience of use is an important factor in

purchasing decisions but concerns about security of payment and delivery

arrangements are seen as negative aspects of the internet. Internet has as a huge

potential channel, since it allows interaction with consumer offering them a totally

different shopping experience to traditional shopping. Consumer have different

preference for the products and services offered on a market or respond differently

to marketing action, companies can increase huge profit by using a commercial

strategy(Smith 1956). A pioneer study of particular interest on the typology of online

shoppers was carried out by Donthu and Garica(1999). They found significant

difference between Internet shoppers in terms of age and income behavioural and

attitude variable and attitude towards direct marketing. Internet shoppers have a

positive attitude towards Internet ( Park and jun 2003), enjoy surfing the net are more

innovative than non internet shoppers. The customer ability to make a purchase

without prior inspection of the products and usually use other technologies to verify

products( Dholakia and Uusitalo 2002). Internet offers continuous, direct consumer

relations which allow companies to adapt their products and service design to

consumer needs.(Degeratu 2000, Rosembloom 1999). Customer can internet

shopping 24x7 a day, less time available for shopping, the convenience of being able

to shop without leaving home and complete freedom and time to choose (Brown

2003, Sim and Koi 2002). consumers buy or not buy online, online stores would be

able to incorporate suitable marketing strategies, moderate consumers’ concerns

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and convince even more people being transferred from offline to online shopping

(Teo, 2006). Consumer and firms are conducting a substantial and rapidly increasing

amount of business on the internet . According to Forrester research Inc. it was

projected that the web will generate consumer and business to business sales in

excess of £1000 billion by 2010, this is clearly shows the relevance of online

shopping future. From the customer point of view, the internet offered the potential

advantage of reducing shopping time and money spent. The consumer factor is

suggested as an important factor for online shopping and items included under these

are privacy, security, time saving, ease of use, convenience, enjoyment, previous

experience company reputation and tactility. (Komiak and Benbasat 2004). In

conjunction with the increases in Internet capabilities, it is estimated that about 53%

of Internet users in the United States have made an online purchase. UK internet

retail sales in 2005 represented 3.1 per cent of total retail sales of businesses. This

share had risen from 0.1 per cent in 1997. Industry projections suggest that retail

sales on the internet could rise to £21.5 billion by 2010 and represent over 6.8 per

cent of all retail sales. With a large percentage of the population all over the world

accessing the Internet and transacting online.(Keen 2002). E-market as ―an inter

organisational information system that allows the participating buyers and sellers to

exchange information about prices and product offerings.(Meuter 2000).

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Advantage of E –Shopping:

Online shopping is convenience to every one, no pressure from retailers and we are

independent for shopping. The main advantage of online shopping is saving time,

consistency between advertised price and site price, no need to driving and no need

to retailers shop door even some time no cost for delivery. On internet the product

information, product comparison easily available, some time price comparison also

available online. The third party shopping sites keeping merchants competitive

hence offering the best product and price 24/7 and 365 days shopping, ease

merchandise cancellation or return, sometimes tracking of shipping available, large

online shopping site some time offering store comparison and some time no taxes.

Shopping online is less stressful than physically shopping. There is no traffic to buy,

you also do not have to stand in lines at cash register or have to deal with a shoppin

cart that has one wheel does not work. Its more beneficial for people who have

disabilities that limit their mobility can experience a significant amount of stress, they

people cant go every shopping mall because there is to narrow lanes and check out,

display and for payment.

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Difference between traditional and online shopping:

In traditional shopping you must carry what you buy while in online shopping you will

not carry any load or weight from the items you purchased, and you will just wait for

it to be delivered. In traditional shopping you can check the product by physically,

you touch it, taste it, you can identify the product is defective or not. When ever in

online shopping you cannot touch, taste or smell what you buying. There is a risk

that it might be defective so there has to be a good returns system. In retail shopping

you must drive to the store where you want to buy it. In online shopping you can

have great discount using coupon codes, you can compare and select from a wide

range world –wide without hassle. Simple, click your mouse in browsing the different

products. For the retail shopping you have to go shopping mall or shop in particular

time there is a time limit but in online shopping is open 24x7 and 365 days, you can

shop at your convenience.

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Methodology :

The process of the research will be on theoretical point of view in which data

collection and data analysis can not be true or false but differences of data collection

more or less useful in order to conduct research (Hussey and Hussey, 2007).

Reliability and validity of the research is very essential in order to conduct a

research, Malhotra (2009) stated that validity and reliability has ability to gain proper

result of the research. In addition, he also described that validity and reliability is

concerned with the research design and it helps to addressed to research objectives,

questions and the findings of the research. However, reliability is consistency of the

research, where another author could get same finding and use same research

design of the study.

Secondary Research

Secondary research is defined by the author, Malhotra (2009) required data has

already been collected for the previous research which were conducted by the

different authors. In other words, historical data is the secondary data. According

Emroy, (1976) and Zikumund (1997) have asserted that the secondary data is

available to attain. It is therefore, researcher should check all kind of secondary data

for its validity and reliability with well link and reference (Creswell, 2003. If there is

lack of link and validity then data will be vague and it is impossible to conduct a

proper research.

Primary Research

“Research that is collected for the specific purpose of a project”(Baines and

Chansarker, 2002) Primary research can be defined as the collection of data which

are not written or not published in any form (Saunders, et al, 2007). Preece (1996)

points out that the main essence of primary research is to involve the researcher in

direct observation with the real world. ` During the survey, employees of different

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shipping companies were briefed on the main aspects of the survey and encouraged

to voluntarily take part in it. Further, participants were encouraged always to clearly

express views and observations in operations. There are number of different method

in the primary research which has number of advantages and disadvantages. It is

therefore, appropriate selection of primary research methods is able to collect data

from the different hotels and restaurants. The following questionnaires and semi-

structured will described in details.

Research approach

Researcher could either use deductive approach or inductive approach. According to

Saunders (2007), it would be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that one research

approach is better than another. Business and management research is frequently a

combination of positivist and interpretive, possibly revealing the occurrence of

realism. Following is an explanation of both approaches and also which one is

relevant to the research questions.

Inductive Approach

According to Steinberg (2006), in an inductive approach, the researchers

understanding of the research topic and possible theory comes out from the data. In

other words, the researcher does not go into the study with any defined ideas or

theory. The researcher starts the research process by gathering data, and after that

the researcher looks for the development of an understanding of samples examined.

This finally directs the researcher to build up a theory to help explain the examined

samples (Steinberg, 2006). This is explained by Saunders (2007) that it is an

approach in which the researcher would gather data and build up a theory as a result

of the data analysis. He further argued that induction owes more to interpretive,

although such labeling is possibly confusing and of no real practice.

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Deductive Approach

In deductive approach, the researcher has to develop a theory or hypothesis, once

the hypothesis is developed; he/she designs a research strategy to test this

hypothesis. Steinberg (2006) has defined this approach in which the researcher

begins the research by examining the literature, gathering a conceptual framework,

developing a theory, and then testing the theory by collecting data. In our case,

where the research questions are related to employee motivation and work

satisfaction, and factors that lead to high amount of hiring and firing of part time

employees, the researcher has developed some research objectives, which s/he will

be testing by collecting the quantitative data and using the designed research

strategies. This study has chosen inductive approach .The researcher starts the

research process by gathering data, and after that the researcher looks for the

development of an understanding of samples examined. In our case, where the

organization is question is Marriott, and its branches in London area, that meet the

researcher’s criterion, so a sufficient amount of samples will be collected.

Research Design:

This study has influenced and structured by the research process’ Onion’. The

process of ‘Onion’ had developed and introduced by Saunders et al, (2007) and they

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have stated that the ‘Onion’ is the process where research design can be done

through in different way. However, the ‘Research Methodology’ of this study has

divided into five sub-topics and each topic has individual aim to provide explanations

in this research process.

Data Collection Method

Questionnaire

The questionnaire is a common and most popular technique for a conduct research

in order to obtained reliable finding from the research. The questionnaires had in set

of questions which were asking Marriott Grosvenor Square and West India Quay,

London. According to Saunders et al, (2003), stated that the set of questions needs

to be asked to the responded in a determined manner. However, this study has done

a intensive secondary research then conduct a primary research in order to better

understanding the relationship between customer service and customer’s

satisfaction. This study has got helped by this primary research to comparison

quantitative through close questions to the respondents.

Semi-structured Interviews

“An interview is a purposeful discussion between two or more people”. (Kahn and

Cannel, 1957) The interview is a convenient way to obtained data for the research.

According to North et al, (2003), if interview conducted in the management level then

face to face to interview is the best way to collect data because mangers likes to

provides interview rather than filling questionnaires. Hence, the author has taken

semi- structured interview with the managers of Marriott, all of them located in

London area. The face to face interview has big advantage which is reliability and

validity of the research (Malhotra, 2009). It is therefore, face-to-face interview was

the best method to obtain data despite there were number of method (Figure: 3.4)

was available. Saunders et al, (2003) suggested that this method allowing to collect

validity and reliability data.

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Time Scale :

Milestone Time-scale Resources required

Research proposal 2 weeks Journal Articles and academic

books from college library and

online libraries.

Aims and Objective 1 weeks & 2

days

Recording of observations from

past studies and records.

Literature Review 2 weeks Identify research design; note it

down and online papers and

journals.

Pilot Study and Primary Data Collection 2 weeks & 3

days

Interview with participants

Data Analysis and Recording 1 week & 1

day

Make a comparative study and

represent data in writing and with

graphical representations

Make Final Draft 1 week Submit to Supervisor for opinion

and correction

Incorporate corrections, take prints and

bind dissertation

1 week Submit to College

Total 10 weeks &

6 days

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Conclusion :

To purpose of this study is conduct a through analysis of the literature in the area of

online consumer behaviour. A research framework is suggested to better understand

existing studies and to highlight buying behaviour of consumer. This study

investigating is why consumer are prefer to buy online instead of retail shopping. Its

also investigate intention and adoption of online shopping while Continuance

repurchase behaviour. much greatly significant difference was identified between

adopters and non-adopters regarding their particular perceptions on advantages and

problems of online shopping. The emergence of E – Commerce has opened up

opportunities for business and is changing the way consumer shop and buy goods

and services. Its increasing importance, companies needs to understand E-Shopping

behaviour fully order to obtain competitive advantage.

References :

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12.Dong Shen,(2006),’’Online shopping behaviour: Key dimension and research

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