Risk in Online Shopping in India and their Solutions - Research Proposal Assessment Answers

Topic:Risk in online shopping in India and their Solutions

ResearchBrief:

1. page of objectives, justificationofresearch,and intendedapproach
2. ResearchProposal:

10 pages of itemisedproposalincludingResearchBriefand specificresearch question(s), literature review(not much), theoreticalframework,critical appraisal techniques, methodology, references.

Introduction

Online shopping is becoming prevalent in India since few years. The term online shopping refers to the shopping activity that is being done by the consumer using an online mode. There are a number of online shopping portals available in India. These portals are offering articles such as laptops, mobile phones, dresses, accessories, groceries, cosmetics, medicines, etc. In short everything is available online. With this growing trend of online shopping the risks have also increased to a very great extent (Sharma, Mehta & Sharma 2014).These risks involve bad quality product, wrong product, not receiving product, etc. In this way the major aim of this proposal is to explore the risks associated with online shopping in India and what can be done to resolve these problems. For this purpose a structured framework is prepared that includes justification of the research, intended approach to the research, research questions, literature survey on the topic, methodology for the proposed research, etc. The outcomes of this project will be the factors that led to risk perception among customers while shopping online. The outcomes will help in solving these issues so as to help customers as well as the online portals in enhancing online shopping experience.

Justification of research

The research is intended to explore the risks that are associated with online shopping in India. A number of researches have taken place in past few years on the same topic but there is lack of researches that have provided solutions for the risks. Thus, the rationale of this research is to provide solutions to the problems being faced by the consumers at the time of online shopping that will help in reducing the risks. In this way this research will proved to be beneficial in establishing the solutions to deal with the risks. This will be possible by an intervention with online portals and knowing the perspectives of the consumers. In this way this research will help the consumers in dealing with the risks and providing background for further research on the topic.

Intended Approach

The approach that is intended to be used by the researcher for the purpose of research is exploratory approach. There are a number of research approaches available in the literature but exploratory research suits the purpose of the research and it will help in achieving the objectives of the research (Bellman, Lohse & Johnson 2013).With the help of exploratory approach the researcher will be able to explore various dimensions of risks in online shopping and then exploring the probable solutions that may help the researcher in building essential guide for the consumers to reduce the risk associated with online shopping. The exploratory method provides long-run solutions to a research problem.

Research Brief

The present research aims at exploring all the dimensions of the risk associated with online shopping and then developing optimum solutions thereby. To achieve this purpose, the researcher will be undertaking exploratory study. The researcher will then go for primary as well as secondary data collection. For primary data collection the consumers who have purchased online will be targeted. A questionnaire will be prepared to collect the opinion of consumers. The questionnaire will consist of open ended as well as closed ended questionnaire. Thus, the tools for primary data collection will the questionnaire. The tools that will be used for secondary data collection will be journals, previous researches on online shopping and its risks, newspapers, etc.

The sample size of the research will be 50 Indian consumers who have purchased things from online shopping. This will help in knowing the perspectives of consumers. The data that will be collected will be analysed using several tools and techniques. The researcher will use factor analysis to obtain the factors that causing risk to the consumers. On the basis of obtained factors the solutions will be provided to the consumers to deal with the risks. For factor analysis the researcher will use SPSS software. In this way the entire research will be structured to formulate the solutions for the consumers so that they can deal with the risks that are coming in their way at the time of online shopping.

Research Questions

Research questions are an important part of a research. These questions guide the research and ensure that the research is going in the right direction. The questions for the research are formed with an objective to get their answers and justify the purpose of the research. The questions for this research are framed as below:

What are the factors that are enhancing the risks of online shopping among consumers?

What is the perception of consumers regarding online shopping?

Are there any regulatory frameworks available in India so as to deal with any consequences of online shopping in India?

What can be the probable factors that can reduce the risk associated with online shopping in India?

Literature Review

This section is considered to be the most essential section for any research. It helps in developing an insight on the topic by going through the existing research literature available. Upon analysing the secondary sources it has been obtained that there are a number of studies being undertaken on online shopping. These researches have discussed different dimensions of online research. It was in the year 2007-08 when online shopping started becoming popular in India and since then researches have also been started (Bhatnagar, Misra & Rao 2013). Risk is the most significant factor of online shopping and it has tendency to prevent an individual from indulging into online shopping. It is very important to find out the reasons behind this fact and then providing solutions.

Theoretical framework

Online shopping is the term that is in vogue in India these days. Despite many risks people are indulging in online shopping. As the scope of online shopping has increased the risks have also increased. The wider scope of online shopping has led to many risks such as problems in return of products, receiving old merchandise, bad quality products, technical problems, no refund, delayed refund, etc. are only a few risks that a consumer faces (Wang, Liu & Cheng 2008). These days a new trend has been introduced in online shopping in India and this trend deals with cash backs. The online companies are giving cash back offers but consumers are sceptic about availing this offer because of the reason that it is not certain that they will receive cash back or not. This is the risk that is emerging these days. There have been many cases when consumers were cheated by online service providers. A survey showed that there are around 57 % Indian consumers who have received something else and they have ordered something else (Rowley 2008). Some of the customers have even received stones in the packages instead of the actual products. Many of those consumers have not even able to recover their cash after that. The consumers have also faced the issues related to bad quality products.

Recently it has been reported that some online websites have started selling stolen products on their website. Due to that the consumers have faced many consequences. The websites also have fake reviews and those reviews misguide the consumers and they end up buying a wrong product. Fake reviews are another risk that a consumer faces. Sometimes the online retailers do not disclose the actual price of the product and later on they reveal it and this also misguides a consumer. There are many consumers who have never received products even after paying in advance. Due to that many consumers are not willing to pay in advance for products. Consumers are sceptic in advance payments for product (Schiffman, Sherman & Long 2009). Similarly, there is another risk that is receiving duplicate goods. Many websites in India are doing so with electronic products, clothes, watches, cosmetics, etc. By doing this retailers are able to save huge money but consumers are deceived.

In recent years another significant problem emerging with greater pace is related to payment insecurity. There were cases when consumers were looted or their security details of bank account were not kept confidential while paying online (Shergill & Chen 2008). If an online shopping portal is not able to keep the bank details or login details confidential then the consumer will not be willing to shop from them. The security policy and privacy policy of the company is also a threat to the consumers. In India the consumers are not aware of the legislator framework for online shopping and remedies available and this is why they are more prone to be cheated (Sultan & Henrichs 2009). There are many solutions to it but it will be dependent upon the policies of the online retailer and the perception of the consumers. Many researchers have established that online risk in shopping is merely the perception of the consumers and it is actually not a big phenomenon in India. But most of the researchers have discarded this thought by establishing that risks actually persist at the time of online shopping.

A case study developed by (Loya 2016), talks about increasing in the number of risks faced by consumers at the time of online shopping. It has compared Snapdeal and Flipkart, the two most sought after online shopping portals. He also established in his case that online portals are making huge efforts to give a risk free shopping experience to the customers but they are facing many difficulties in changing stereotype. This is how in India many consumers are still sceptic in online shopping due to various risks associated with it. Now the online companies are trying to make a positive image using various tactics so as to reduce the perception of risk from the minds of consumers.

Critical Appraisal Techniques

Critical appraisal deals with using explicit methods to assess the data that has been published in the research by applying the rules to factors like internal validity, generalizability, adherence to reporting standards, etc. This is the method that forms a major part of a systematic research. This method is used ensure that the research is valid and useful. This appraisal technique will help in finding out the weaknesses and strengths of the research and thereby making the research strong and enhance the validity of the findings of the research. It also helps in increasing the usefulness of the research. The research will be utilizing systematic reviews and meta-analysis techniques to identify the validity of the research proposal.

Methodology

This is the most significant part of the research process. This sections deals with various aspects such as sample design, sample size, sample universe, sample design unit, data collection, mode of data collection, instrument of data collection, data collection strategy, data analysis , data analysis tools and techniques, etc. (Devers & Frankel 2000). In this way this section wraps up the entire research and provides a direction to it. Several aspects of research methodology are discussed as below:

Research philosophy

Research philosophy is a belief or guide of action to a research. In literature, a number of research philosophies are described that include realism, positivism, interpretivism and pragmatism (Strauss 2012).The research philosophy for obtaining risk factors affecting online shopping in India is positivism. The major reason behind selecting this philosophy is that the research is qualitative in nature. This philosophy will help in knowing the perspective of consumers for online shopping and it would be the most suitable method to find out the solutions for the research.

Research approach

The researcher will use qualitative research approach for this research. A research approach is identified on the basis of research objectives and research questions. As per the philosophy of the research, the most suitable approach for this research would be qualitative research. The qualitative approach is useful when a research is based on attributes, approaches, perceptions, etc. (Jha 2008).The present research is based on knowing the risk perceptions of the consumers and this is why qualitative research is being used. Due to all these reasons quantitative research has been discarded and qualitative research is used.

Research design

The research design will be exploratory in nature. In exploratory research the sample design, sample size, sample universe, sample design unit, data collection, mode of data collection, instrument of data collection, data collection strategy, data analysis, data analysis tools and techniques, etc. are determined by taking the feedback from academicians and research scholars. There are many types of research designs that are descriptive research design, hypothesis testing research design, etc. but the most suitable research design for this research is exploratory research design (Kelly & Richard 2000). The research design is ascertained on the basis of research questions.

There are a number of dimensions of research design. These dimensions are presented below:

Sample universe

This term is also referred as the research population. It denotes the total population that is chosen for the purpose of conducting the research. The sample universe of research can be the globe, a country, a city, a state, a province, a company or a family. It represents the biggest unit of a sample. This acts as a set from where sample will be derived. The sample universe for the research is the entire Indian Territory.

Sample design unit

The sample design unit for the purpose of the research is all the Indian consumers who have done online shopping. It is the subset of sample universe (Mantos 2012). A sample design unit generally consist of immediate users or of the individuals who are connected to the research.

Sample size

The sample size for the research is 50 consumers who have done online shopping. It denotes the number of respondents from whom data will be collected. It is the subset of sample design unit and is the smallest unit of the research. The sample size of the research is generally denoted with N and it is derived by using formulas from the literature.

Sampling technique

A number of techniques are there in literature for the purpose of sampling these techniques include clustered sampling, simple random technique, non-probability sampling, probability sampling, stratified sampling and judgemental sampling (Kumar 2009).Here the researcher will use judgemental sampling to select the respondents. Under judgemental sampling the researcher uses his/her judgement to decide the sample of the research.

Data sources

The sources of data will be primary as well as secondary. For primary data collection the consumers who have purchased online will be targeted. A questionnaire will be prepared to collect the opinion of consumers. The questionnaire will consist of open ended as well as closed ended questionnaire. Thus, the tools for primary data collection will the questionnaire. The tools that will be used for secondary data collection will be journals, previous researches on online shopping and its risks, newspapers, etc. In this way primary and secondary sources will be managed for the research.

Data collection strategies

The data will be collected using self-designed questionnaire. To check the consistency of the questionnaire the researcher will take feedback from academicians (Kothari 2015).This questionnaire will be used as a tool to get response from respondents. The questionnaire will also be checked for validity and consistency.

Data analysis approaches

To analyse the collected data the researcher will use factor analysis. There are a number of tools for data analysis such as Z-test, T-test, factor analysis, regression, correlation, etc. (McDonagh 2014). SPSS will be used to analysed the data and undertake factor analysis. The data analysis will also include checking the reliability of available data. This will be done using KMO and Bartlett Test. It will help in ascertaining the validity and reliability of data. KMO and Bartlett Test show the readiness of the data.