Regd: Blog for the class on 7th November 2013

This class was dedicated to a live case of Dr. D. P. Sahoo. The case was about how the customer felt cheated when he bought a tablet that he assumed would be having a call feature since it was dual sim.

The class pretty much agreed that logically and rationally speaking, the fault rests with the customer himself.

But then it is well known that the consumer behavior is not rational. The e-commerce industry in India faces a massive challenge of overcoming the adoption barriers that exist not only in terms of physical infrastructure, but the mental barrier on the minds of the consumers. India consumer, makes his purchases mostly offline and the e-commerce industry is only $1 billion excluding travel.

It is very difficult for the Indian e tailing players to get these people to buy online, because it is very different from their usual shopping experience.

What are the barriers to adoption of the online shopping experience?

·         Don't feel the need to buy online

·         The buying process is too complicated

·         Consumers don't trust shopping the internet

·         Products will not be delivered in proper condition or not delivered at all

·         Prefer to touch and feel before they buy

·         Heard of bad experiences online

 

There are many more barriers, but the above are the major ones. The huge task before the e-tailers is to bring these consumers online. Some of the initiatives that can be taken up by them are,

·         Trade fairs, that are pretty common in the retail market, need to be extended to the online market as well

·         There are plenty of benefits, which are offered by the e tailers to their consumers, but more often than not they are not aware of them. It is the task of the e tailers to make sure that they know them

·         Use of Social Media to spread around the positive experiences of the consumers

·         Build trust amongst the target markets, with the help of their marketing campaigns

 

 

The customer acquisition cost is very high, and if they have to take any more initiatives to modify the buying behaviors it is going to hurt their finances very hard. Again who is going to invest in something whose benefits are going to be experienced by their competitors as well? It is a catch 22 situation for the e-tailers. Should they invest? Should they come together and form an association to take up the cause? Or should they just wait for the environment change?

These are a tough set of questions that these e-tailers need to answer.  Until then all we can do is wait and watch.

 

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Thanks and Regards,

Rishi Gupta

Roll no. 12DM-121

E-Business, Section B