Consumer behaviour is considered to be the study of groups, individual customers and also organisations as to how they make a choice, purchase, use and also dispose ideas, service and also goods in order to satisfy their desires and needs (Mandel et al 2017). It has been seen that there are various underlying motives that help in influencing customers to make a purchase. In recent times, with the advent of internet and majority of the people having access to the internet, it can be seen that majority of the people have been making purchases online however, there are many contemporary challenges that hinder the experience of online shopping. Thus, this paper will focus on the contemporary challenges of online shopping by comparing with the recent shopping trips made by me and will provide three strategies that will help in overcoming the challenges while considering various topics of consumer behaviour.
Online shopping is considered to be a new trend which has been gaining prominence because of the convenience and the experience it provides to the customers. The traditional shopping trips are very positive and helpful and are seen to have many positive aspects which can only be experienced while shopping traditionally while visiting stores. However, if these shopping trips were to take place online then these shopping trips would have led to the rise of few challenges which could hinder the positive customer experience and result in customers having a negative perception about purchasing products online.
Both the trips to the traditional stores was a positive experience however, there are some possible challenges that could crop up if the traditional trips that were made would occur online and the first and foremost issue would be the lack of feel and touch of the products. According to scholars, one of the major disadvantages of purchasing products online are that it often might look like the image posted on the website and may not be as per the perception and desire of the customer (Sarkar and Das 2017). Online purchasing does not provide people with the opportunity to try a product or have a close look at the product and then make a purchase. The product might not be as expected which can lead to customer dissatisfaction.
Hultén (2017) states that sensory marketing considers five elements that help in creating sensory stimuli and help in influencing customers like sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. Traditional shops and stores does use sensory stimuli like opportunity to touch the product, see the product, some shops often have music playing in the background which helps in providing relaxation and many more. On other hand, online shopping fails to create sensory stimuli which results in people being in a dilemma to purchase products online even if they like the products from the picture and description.
There would be another challenge that would affect the experience of the customer while making a purchase online would be the lack of assistance or interactivity. Duarte, e Silva and Ferreira (2018) states one of the issues with online shopping which highly affects the behaviour of the consumers are the lack of personal touch and assistance. During the shopping trip, when products could not be found independently, assistance was of great help that helps in enhancing the shopping experience of customers.
The best thing about shopping traditionally is the fact that one can get the products instantly however shopping online can pave way for issues like delay in the delivery of the products which can become a huge obstacle. This can be an issue especially if the products placed online are needed on an emergency basis. Thus, it can be seen from reflecting on the past experience of traditional shopping, the issues or challenges of shopping online can be identified while comparing with the experiences and applying it on the concept of online shopping.
It has been identified that there are some contemporary challenges that online shopping has which can highly affect the consumer behaviour in a negative manner thus it is important to come up with efficient strategies that will help in overcoming issues and the challenges that hinder the shopping experience.
The first strategy is for an e-commerce company to ensure they come up with effective advertising and that will lead to the rise of emotional appeals like bandwagon and engagement. According to scholars, emotional reactions are considered to serve a powerful medium of creating certain attitudes that are enduring and favourable (Hegner, Fenko and Teravest 2017). Bandwagon will help in attracting customers and engaging customers will help in influencing customers to get connected to the company or the organisation and will encourage them to consider making a purchase online.
The other strategy that may help in the development of online shopping is to create a proper interface for the customers for their easy usage which will help in overcoming the challenge of lack of assistance. The difficulty in using innovative technology often becomes an obstacle and thus creating a proper interface will highly influence the behaviour of consumer and will make them adopt online shopping methods. Abbas et al (2018) states innovation characteristics like perceived value helps in encouraging people to adopt resist and diffuse. This will also help in making the usage of the online shopping medium easier for people which will help in enhancing the compatibility while reducing the complexities which will help in influencing the consumer behaviour and make them be more comfortable with online purchases.
The products that are provided on online shopping websites need to be authentic and of high quality in order to meet the expectation of the customer. Qazi et al (2017) states it is highly important for the online products to be as per the likings or the way customers have perceived the product before ordering the product online. There are many customers who have had negative experiences because of the products delivered have not been as the customers have expected thus making them feel traditional shopping methods are better as one can have a look or even try the product before making a purchase. Thus, the products are highly important as meeting expectations and high quality products help during the post purchase evaluations that help in influencing consumer behaviour.
The online shopping websites need to provide an array or wide range of discounts that will help in encouraging customers to shop online and gain a positive and a fruitful experience in terms of online shopping. The social factors are highly seen to contribute positively towards online shopping or purchase like reference groups, the role of status and even the influence of family members and friends which had also influenced the purchasing behaviour during the traditional shopping and discounts and sales are seen to attract customers during both traditional as well as online shopping.
Online shopping websites should ensure the customer service along with the quality of products like delivery service as there are many intangible aspects that help in influencing the attitude of a customer towards a product (Ding and Keh 2017). These highly help in satisfying the basic needs of the customers that further lead to various benefits like customer loyalty and also marketing through word of mouth.
Conclusion
Online shopping has become a rage in today’s age however, it can be seen that it does create a lot of issues that hinder the positive experience of online shopping in comparison to traditional methods of shopping. Thus, it is highly important for online shopping websites to ensure they successfully influence the behaviour of the consumers by providing discounts, easy interface for usage of technology that helps in adoption of new technology, enhance delivery products as well as service and many more. These strategies can help online shopping websites to overcome all the issues and obstacles identified and pave way for a positive future in the long run.
References
Abbas, M., Shabbir, S., Nawaz, M.S., Ahmad, J. and Ahraf, M., 2018. Innovation Characteristics Creating Hurdles in Acceptance of Technology. www. mjltm. com [email protected] mjltm. org, p.136.
Ding, Y. and Keh, H.T., 2017. Consumer reliance on intangible versus tangible attributes in service evaluation: the role of construal level. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 45(6), pp.848-865.
Duarte, P., e Silva, S.C. and Ferreira, M.B., 2018. How convenient is it? Delivering online shopping convenience to enhance customer satisfaction and encourage e-WOM. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 44, pp.161-169.
Hegner, S.M., Fenko, A. and Teravest, A., 2017. Using the theory of planned behaviour to understand brand love. Journal of Product & Brand Management.
Hultén, B., 2017. Branding by the five senses: A sensory branding framework. Journal of Brand Strategy, 6(3), pp.281-292.
Mandel, N., Rucker, D.D., Levav, J. and Galinsky, A.D., 2017. The compensatory consumer behavior model: How self-discrepancies drive consumer behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 27(1), pp.133-146.
Qazi, A., Tamjidyamcholo, A., Raj, R.G., Hardaker, G. and Standing, C., 2017. Assessing consumers’ satisfaction and expectations through online opinions: Expectation and disconfirmation approach. Computers in Human Behavior, 75, pp.450-460.
Sarkar, R. and Das, S., 2017. Online shopping vs Offline shopping: A comparative study. International Journal Scientific Research in Science and Technology IJSRST, 3 (1), pp.424-431.
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