Discuss about the Current uses of online shopping.
Background of the study
In the era of e-commerce, online shopping is a new mode. Consumers who shops online or not is totally relevant with business credibility, e-commerce technology, logistics and so on. The online shopping is gradually accepted by all the people as and when the promotion of e-commerce increases and enhances (Ashraf, Thongpapanl and Auh, 2014). Talking about Australia, the country continues to embrace the internet which enables the ongoing development of digital economy. For Australians, going online is basically a form of social and economic interactions. As per the study, in 2011 the number of people who went online increases and specifically activities like online transacting through internet such as banking, bill payments and purchasing are at the core of changing customer service delivery. Furthermore, online retailing has also brought many significant changes in the Australian Retail Trade division and has also grown dramatically over the years (Ibisworld.com.au. 2017).
Research Problem
During the past two years, the people of Australia has spent $21.65 on online shopping across both physical and digital services. As compare to 2015, the overall growth in online trading and spending gone up by 10.2% from 3.3% in 2016. The study is concerned with the current uses of online shopping across the world and specifically in Australia. Moreover, this study also seeks the growth in the same area in Australia and benefits of the same to Australians.
Objective of the study
Online shopping plays a predominant role in growth of Australian retail industry. It is majorly accepted by the consumers and is the most preferred and convenient way of purchasing goods and services. The basic objective of the study is to write down the current uses of online shopping and presenting the recent related data of Australia and the overall world.
Research design
The research is designed in an exploratory manner where the uses of online shopping are explained in detail and the current data related to the subject is explored. The growth in online trading in Australia and worldwide in been explained in this research.
Method of data collection
The study is based on the current uses of online shopping and recent data of Australia and world. For this, secondary data is been used which is collected from published journals, articles and various other online sources. The information acquired is necessary to accomplish the objective of study.
Research Hypothesis
It is assumed that the percentage of online shopping is increased in Australia and the same has also happened worldwide. The hypothesis of the research is based on the fact that the uses of online shopping has increased over the years and also Australian online market has faced a significant growth.
Limitations of the study
The research has some limitations also as it is entirely based on the secondary data which may not prove to be reliable every time. Also it is done specifically for Australia and less focus is given on the statistics of online shopping across the whole world.
Data Collection and Analysis
In order to prove the hypothesis, the relevant data is collected and is analysed or examined respectively. For resolving the purpose, the data is been collected from various online sources.
Current uses of online shopping
Online shopping is basically a form of electronic commerce which enables the customers to purchase or buy goods and services directly from the seller through internet by using a web browser. It gives customers wide range of products and services which are available on the official website of the retailer or vendor company (MOHANRAJ and SAKTHIVEL, 2016). In addition to this, online shopping provides various options among which the consumer can choose as it displays same type of products at different prices and with different features. Customers can shop online with the help of their computers, tablets and smartphones (Hsu, Chuang and Hsu, 2014). The current uses or benefits of online shopping are:
So overall it can be said that, online shopping can be very much useful for today’s generation as the people today looks for convenience and time saving.
According to the ecommerce industry paper which published in 2017, online retailers are a blessing for many people in Australia, especially for those who are living in backward or remote areas where there is a limited access to the departmental stores. It is been observed that many Australian consumers are looking forward for online shopping in order to get their essentials at better and reasonable prices (Startrack.com.au. 2017).
As per the research conducted in 2016, it was observed that issues which were once considered as hindrances or barriers to online shopping are now becoming less significant. Earlier, returning the delivered goods was considered as the main barrier because the products cannot be seen physically while buying online. Now, the online sellers are offering various options related to this and return policies to their consumers in order to enhance their confidence for online shopping.
Apart from this, delivery was also considered as a barrier once since it was difficult to locate the address and arrange the home delivery time which is convenient to both the buyer and seller. However, nowadays carriers and retailers are providing many alternative options related to delivery of products and services which also includes in store and other collection points. Apart from this, an option of tracking the order is also provided which allows the customers to remain updated about their order. All this has led to the increase in the consumer trends in Australia related to online shopping.
Australians spent $21.65 billion on shopping via online in year 2016 which was more than the number noticed in 2015. Overall increase in online spending was 10.4% in 2016 as compare to 2015. Also the amount spend on the purchase of physical goods increase by 10.2% to $17.7 billion comprising of the 82% share of total online spend (Startrack.com.au. 2017).
Furthermore, despite of access to international market, domestic purchases were still the majority of online spending in Australia. By the end of 2016, the domestic purchases shown 79% of the online market which represented a growth at the rate of 11% as compared to 7.3% for international purchases.
Some of the key facts related to online shopping in Australia are:
For worldwide consumers, the most popular and well known form of e commerce falls into B to C category that is business to Customer. This usually involves online shopping or online retail. It includes purchasing online from stores like Walmart as well from the web-only retail stores such as Amazon.com which is considered as a biggest online retailer. As per the statistics, it is observed that 1.66 billion people have done online shopping worldwide in 2017 and during the same year, it was estimated that global e-retail sales will show an increase of 4.48 trillion U.S dollars by 2021. In 2017, they were amounted to 2.3 trillion U.S. dollars (Statista.com. 2018). Other facts related to worldwide online shopping are:
Source: Statista.com.
The above graph shows the detail of sales of e-commerce retail across the entire world ranging from 2014 to 2021. In 2017, the sales were amounted to 2.3 trillion U.S. dollar and post that year, the same is projected to grow up to 4.88 trillion U.S. dollars in 2021. Also in 2016, 19% of the retail sales in China have taken place through internet whereas Japan covers only 6.7% in online shopping (Statista.com. 2018).
Conclusion
From the above study, it can be concluded that in today’s modern world online shopping is a kind of necessity for the people. They always look up to such options which save their time and provide them with few expenses and more benefits. The research concluded that there are several uses of online shopping and specifically the area is been increased in Australia along with the growth across the world (Dai, Forsythe and Kwon, 2014). Australians are highly interested and dependent on purchasing their essentials and necessities online as it gives them high level of convenience and also saves their time. So, it can be said that this study affirms the hypothesis made above
References
Ashraf, A.R., Thongpapanl, N. and Auh, S. (2014). The application of the technology acceptance model under different cultural contexts: The case of online shopping adoption. Journal of International Marketing, 22(3), pp.68-93.
Auspost.com.au. (2018). Inside Australian Online Shopping. [Online]. Available at: https://auspost.com.au/content/dam/auspost_corp/media/documents/2018-ecommerce-industry-paper-inside-australian-online-shopping.pdf [Accessed 12 June 2018].
Chang, J. (2018). Online Shopping: Advantages over the Offline Alternative. [Online]. Available at: https://www.icommercecentral.com/open-access/online-shopping-advantages-over-the-offline-alternative.pdf [Accessed 12 June 2018].
Dai, B., Forsythe, S. and Kwon, W.S. (2014). The impact of online shopping experience on risk perceptions and online purchase intentions: Does product category matter? Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, 15(1), p.13.
Horrigan, J. (2008). Online Shopping: Frictions, Frustrations, and Fixes. [Online]. Available at: https://www.itif.org/files/HorriganPresentation.pdf [Accessed 12 June 2018].
Hsu, M.H., Chuang, L.W. and Hsu, C.S. (2014). Understanding online shopping intention: the roles of four types of trust and their antecedents. Internet Research, 24(3), pp.332-352. Ibisworld.com.au. (2017). Online Shopping – Australia Industry Research Reports. [Online]. Available at: https://www.ibisworld.com.au/industry-trends/market-research-reports/thematic-reports/online-shopping.html [Accessed 12 June 2018].
Lian, J.W. and Yen, D.C. (2014). Online shopping drivers and barriers for older adults: Age and gender differences. Computers in Human Behavior, 37, pp.133-143.
Lifewire.com. (2018). The Pros and Cons of Shopping Online. [Online]. Available at: https://www.lifewire.com/shopping-online-pros-and-cons-3482632 [Accessed 12 June 2018].
MOHANRAJ, M. and SAKTHIVEL, M. (2016). Customer Perception about Online Shopping, Tamilnadu. New Delhi: EduPedia Publications Pvt. Ltd.
Smith, S. (2018). Three Key Advantages of Online Shopping. [Online]. Available at: https://rakutensl.com/three-key-advantages-of-online-shopping/ [Accessed 12 June 2018].
Startrack.com.au. (2017). Inside Australian Online Shopping. [Online]. Available at: https://acquire.startrack.com.au/pdf/Inside%20Australian%20Online%20Shopping%202017.pdf [Accessed 12 June 2018].
Statista.com. (2018). Online-Shopping and E-Commerce worldwide: Statistics & Facts. [Online]. Available at: https://www.statista.com/topics/871/online-shopping/ [Accessed 12 June 2018].
Statista.com. (2018). Retail e-commerce sales worldwide from 2014 to 2021 (in billion U.S. dollars). [Online]. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/379046/worldwide-retail-e-commerce-sales/ [Accessed 12 June 2018].
Wu, L.Y., Chen, K.Y., Chen, P.Y. and Cheng, S.L. (2014). Perceived value, transaction cost, and repurchase-intention in online shopping: A relational exchange perspective. Journal of Business Research, 67(1), pp.2768-2776.
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