Experience in Shopping Online at Two Premier British Online Establishments as Sainsbury and ADSA - Essay Example

E -Business: Critical Evaluation www.academia-research.com Sumanta Sanyal d: Report: Critical Evaluation of an E-Business Abstract A survey was made of 15 respondents of aspects of whether, how and why they shopped online at the online outlets of two primary British retailers Sainsbury's and ASDA Online. The survey questionnaire was emailed to the respondents in the UK and they were returned answered in due form. All but 4 of the respondents acceded to shopping online at the retailers'. The 4 were eliminated from the rest of the survey. Analysis of data derived from the responses of the 11 respondents revealed interesting facts. It shows that increasing age increases Internet usage and tendency to shop online. This may be due to sedentary habits setting in with increasing age. The survey also revealed that the marketing efforts of retailers to spruce up their websites yielded positive results with a majority of respondents feeling that they were attracted by the pleasant atmosphere created by the retailers' websites. A majority of respondents also felt that shopping online is fast becoming a set trend and the pattern will increase in the future. Some of this also felt that they were ready to shop online wholly. In effect this survey report reveals that shopping online is fast becoming a rising trend among people in the UK and this trend is set to stay. Introduction This is a report on a survey conducted on 15 respondents of their experience in shopping online at two premier British Online establishments - Sainsbury and ADSA. In essence it is a study of consumer behaviour that assists firms, organisations and even individuals to improve their interaction with consumers by better understanding of certain issues that shall be enumerated later in the report, all of which were the initial objectives of the survey. Before setting out the issues the report states a little of what use the survey may be. Consumer behaviour can be described as behaviours of individuals, groups, and organisations as they use processes to select, secure, use and dispose of products, services, experiences and ideas to satisfy needs (Perner, Lars). The study of consumer behaviour can be utilised in four major ways as follows. Marketing Strategy: Study of consumer behaviour can enable enterprises, groups and individuals to formulate effective marketing strategies. For example, in this particular instance, the study of consumer behaviour in relation to the two online stores can enable the managerial staff of these stores to determine how they can enhance the shopping experiences of shoppers at their individual stores of that shoppers return again and again, thus creating a faithful bank of customers. Either enhancing their individual stores' websites or any other suitable means may do this. How the attractiveness of the websites can be enhanced can easily be determined by what the consumers want that can be featured within the responses of the survey. Public Policy: Public policy can be determined through the means of consumer surveys that can effectively reveal characteristics of consumption that the policy makers can then utilise to formulate effective policy. Social Marketing: Consumer behaviour studies can effectively enable social marketing that can enhance societal values through suitable manipulation of mass consumer behaviour. Ideas and experiences that reinforce societal values can be effectively spread through consumer products after study of consumption patterns. Personal Experience: Study of consumer behaviour can enhance personal experiences by enabling the individual consumer to become aware of inherent difficulties facilities in shopping at certain consumption points. (Perner, Lars) There is also some need to fill in some important details on the online British retailers being surveyed. J Sainsbury, plc, have been a retail entity in the United Kingdom since their inception in 1869. In the last 150 years the mainly food retailer has grown to cover almost 77 % of UK territory and has diversified in businesses like financial services. This provides evidence that the public in the UK are aware of their presence in a large sense and their online presence in the form of Sainsbury's Online should not go unnoticed. In this context the survey does not intend to assess how the British visitor to the online retailer regards the main company but exactly how he or she takes their venture into virtual territory. Sainsbury's Online has four major divisions - Food, drink and flowers under which is also included sundry gift items both personal and business, Entertainment which also includes books, CDs, DVDs and sundry other related items, Banking & Insurance which also includes saving opportunities and financial items like car loans and Household division which includes items like kitchen appliances and telecom equipments. All these are being marketed on a virtual basis and it is the purpose of this survey to register how the general public, including faithful Sainsbury shoppers, are taking this unique modern-day venture. ASDA also is an old British retail entity with a presence that dates back to the 1920s though it reached a form of eminence in the 1960s from whence its growth began to bring it to its current pre-eminent position as a major British retailer. In the summer of 1999 the group was taken over by Wal-mart and since then it has evolved into the largest overseas asset of that American retailer. Thus again, it is not the purpose of this survey to assess how the British public takes ASDA as a whole but to investigate how they are taking to its online venture. ASDA Online sells its products virtually through 8 online stores - Groceries, Financial Services, CDs, DVDs and Games, Contact Lenses, Flowers, Local Nostalgic Gifts, Photo Processing and Travel. It can be noticed that the main business sections these goods and services fall under are almost identical to the four major divisions of Sainsbury's Online - Food and Gifts, Financial Services, and Leisure items. The only major difference in retailed goods and services between the two surveyed entities are the household appliances that Sainsbury's Online retails but ASDA does not. This again should not pose as much of an issue for the survey as a broader picture of the online shopping habits of the public is targeted and these two retailers are chosen in lieu of their pre-eminence in their field in the British market. It is reiterated again for emphasis that the purpose of this survey is not to assess how the British public regards Sainsbury's Online and ASDA Online but how they accept retailing of traditional merchandise including services through the medium of the Internet. For this salient purpose these two particular retailers are selected as they the most widely known in this particular field of commerce. Methodology The methodology adopted to fulfil the purposes of this survey is simple. A questionnaire of 25 items has been devised. The question items are appended in the first part of the Appendix. The 25 items have been specifically devised to enable understanding of the following issues in consumer behaviour while shopping at one or both of the targeted online outlets. The psychology of how consumers think, feel, reason and select between different alternatives (e.g.: brands, products, outlets, etc.). E.g., Item No. 8: "Do you think the retailers' local store locators in their individual websites induce you much more to shop online" This is a very germane question item because it follows that if the shopper can locate a retail outlet in or near his or her neighbourhood there is more likelihood that delivery will be more prompt. Canny Internet users are aware of this and it is necessary to test the awareness of the respondent and analyse and register online shopper habits. The psychology of how the consumer is influenced by his or her environment (e.g.: culture, family, signs, media, etc.). E.g., Item Nos. 12 & 15: "Do you feel there is any significant difference in shopping online and shopping physically in the real world at the same outlets under surveillance here" And - "Do you find the retailers' websites attractive and does this add to your online shopping experience" Both these items allow the respondent to register his or her preference to shopping online or in the real world as well as assessing why such preference is incident. The behaviour of consumers while shopping or making other marketing decisions. Item Nos. 21 & 22 illustrate this point. Item No 21: "Do you shop online wholly for the all the products and services available at these two retailers" and Item No. 22: "If you shop online partially do you propose to do so wholly in the future" Limitations in consumer knowledge or information processing abilities that influences shopping and consumption patterns. Item No. 21: "Have you had any problems with the delivery schedules at either retailer" This item illustrates how canny the Internet user is in relation to online delivery schedules set by different retailers. How consumer motivation and decision-making strategies differ between products that vary in their levels of importance or interest to the consumer. This point is amply illustrated by responses to Item No:4 - "What do you usually buy online at your favourite retailers'". E ach respondent obviously has a level of importance for each type of product or service retailed and responses to this item amply reveals different levels attached to different products or services by each respondent thus enabling the surveyor to assess the general level of importance attached to goods and services being retailed. How marketers improve their marketing strategies and campaigns to more effectively reach out to the consumer. Item Nos. 14 & 15 illustrate this point. Item No. 14: "Do you find the two retailers' websites easily negotiable making them conducive to shopping online" and Item No. 15: "Do you find the retailers' websites attractive and does this add to your online shopping experience" In both cases the retailers would be using the attractiveness or negotiability of their individual websites to lure customers.(Perner, Lars). The last two items nos. 24 & 25 induce the respondent to think into the future of the online retail business and provide a perspective that retailers may use as a blueprint to future interaction with online customers. These items amply assess what perspectives respondents have of the online retail business and often enough general perceptions spell out to be true later on. 15 respondents who were all confirmed Internet users with connections at their homes and aged between 25-50 yrs. were emailed the questionnaire and their subsequent responses tabulated in Table 1 of the appendix in an anonymous fashion. Items 5-25 are all questions requiring Yes/No type answers. They are termed the dichotomous type (Battey, Kevin, 2005). They have been used in this survey because they require straightforward answers that respondents find easy to respond to. This is though preparing them is extremely hard and intelligent work but nevertheless they have been used ubiquitously also because they provide scores that can then be easily analysed using simple statistical methods like averages and correlation coefficients. The scaling for these dichotomous questions is a straightforward +1 for positive answers and -1 for negative ones. In this case strictly all answers in favour of online retailing for both retailers being surveyed is taken as positive while those in disfavour are taken as negative. To illustrate this singularity in the survey Item No. 5 is being chosen. In this singular case an affirmative answer would mean that the respondent shops both online and offline at Sainsbury. This would signify a negative for online retailing while the negative answer is positive in the sense that the respondent only shops online at Sainsbury's Online - a plus point for online retailing. Thus, a "Yes" response is scaled -1 while a "No" one is scaled +1. This factor in the scaling should be firmly noted. Another singular case is that of item 10. The responses stem from the positive response to item 9 and since both alternatives reinforce the positive aspect of online shopping both have been scaled at +1. Items 17-20 all ask the respondent to affirm if special features incorporated within the websites of the retailers reinforce their business and affirmative responses are scaled +1 while negatives are scaled -1 even though these may seem detrimental to competitors' businesses. This is so because the affirmatives demonstrate positively towards retailers' efforts to making their customers' online experiences more pleasurable. The maximum possible positive score is +22 * 6 (6 Shoppers at both outlets) + 18 * 5 (5 shoppers at either of two outlets) = 222 while the minimum score with same conditionals is -20 * 6 + 17 * 5 = 205. The anomaly is because of item 10, which has responses that are wholly positive. The other cause is that for shoppers who utilise only one outlet the maximum positive score is 18 and minimum 17. (Please consult note at end of Table 2 of Appendix) The scaling of individual items has been tabulated in Table 1 of the Appendix. Items 1-4 are all straightforward multiple-choice questions (Survey Question and Answer Types, 2005) and there is no scaling involved. The items have been made instrumental only in the analyses by establishing correlations among various respondents. Results All 15 respondents sent in their responses by email. In response to item 1, six of them replied that they had been shopping online for more than 5 yrs. Three replied that they had been doing so for 4 yrs. Two replied that they had been doing so for 2 yrs and one replied that they had been doing so for 1 yrs and less. Three respondents replied that they did not shop online at all. In response to item 2 only 11 of the respondents acceded to shopping online at either or both online retailers'. For the 4 that did not the rest of the questionnaire was deemed irrelevant and they were eliminated from the rest of the survey. Of the 11 who acceded to shopping at either or both outlets 3 did so only at Sanisbury's. For them items 6, 7, 18 & 20 are not relevant. 2 respondents acceded to shopping only at ASDA Online. For them items 5, 7, 17 & 19 are not relevant. In response to item 3, which was deemed relevant for only the 11 respondents who acceded to shopping online at one or both of the outlets, as many as 7 acceded to hearing of their online outlets from the respective retailers' superstores in the city. Two of them acceded to getting to know of them from word-of-mouth while the rest - 2 - acceded to reading of them in the print media. In response to item 4 seven out of eleven respondents checked all products to be had from the online retailers. Two did not check the leisure products and services and gifts items while one did not check the leisure products services, gift items and financial services and one did not check the financial services. All of them checked the foodstuff, groceries and wine items. The total individual scores for items 5-25 of the 11 respondents who acceded to shopping online at one or both of the outlets are tabulated in Table 2 of the appendix. Table 3 gives age sets against average standardised scores data that has been plotted in two graphs Line Graph 1 and Bar Graph 1. Positive responses to each item have been tabulated in Table 4 of the Appendix. It should be noted that the total of positive responses for this table equals the total of total scores of individual respondents in column 4 of Table 2 of Appendix. This is significant as it pre-empts any possibility if significant error in computation of data in the analysis. Discussion Responses to items 1 & 2 would have been even poorer had the questionnaire been mailed to respondents who were not accredited Internet users with connections at home. Only 3 respondents acceded to not shopping online. This is only 20% of the number surveyed. This percentage could have been higher if the respondents had been chosen from a group of mixed regular Internet users and non-users. The same is true for responses to item 2. Only 4 respondents acceded to not using either outlets for shopping. This is between 25-30% of the number surveyed. The percentage could have been higher if the respondents had been chosen from a group of mixed Internet users and non-users. Responses to item 3 shows that all online shoppers at the outlets had either heard of the outlets from the physical stores themselves, from word-of-mouth or read it in the print media. Surprisingly, though they are deemed regular Internet users none of them that derived their shopping sources from the Internet. This situation may change with surveying of a larger number of Internet users who often derive their Internet facilities from Internet-based sources. Another possible cause of this anomaly may be that both retailers are well known in the UK and well patronised. Thus, knowledge of their outlets, even online ones, is widespread. Of the 11 respondents who acceded to shopping at one or both outlets all acceded to buying foodstuff, groceries and wine. This may suggest that shopping patterns on the Internet are the same as in the real world with essentials running high in the shopping lists. Table 2 shows that the standardised scores (scores of respondents shopping at only one outlet factor loaded by 22/18) increase with increase in age of respondents. This is corroborated by Line Graph 1 and Bar Graph 1 of Appendix both of which show this increase in trend in positivity of Internet usage in relation to increase in age. This may be because of setting in of sedentary habits for those at a greater age than those who are younger and is an interesting revelation of this survey. The tabulated data in Table 4 provides a host of interesting conclusions. The numbers of positive responses to items 5, 6 & 7 reveal that there are as many as six respondents who shop wholly online for the retailed products. This is corroborated by the positive responses to item 22. This is over 30% of the surveyed individuals and the figure may drop if surveyed individuals were chosen from a mixed group of internet users and non-users. Responses to item 9 reveal that nine of the respondents shop online to save time. This is also a significant discovery of the survey. Responses to item 11 reveal and only 2 respondents take kindly to extra charges. This reveals that online marketers should try and find ways to deliver at no extra costs to the customers. Responses to items 12 & 13 reveal that six respondents believe that there is a positive difference between shopping online and in the real world. This is borne out by the overall positivity of the response in favour of Internet usage to shop for goods and services. Responses to item 24 are wholly positive revealing that all 11 respondents believe that online shopping will spread in future. Responses to item 25 reveal that 8 think they shall shop wholly online some time in the future when that becomes feasible. Responses to questions, which ask the respondent to judge experiences induced by the retailers' websites, are mainly highly positive justifying the marketing abilities of these two primary British retailers and adding significantly to the overall positivity of the survey results. Conclusion The survey reveals a thoroughly positive attitude towards shopping online at the retailers'. This may change if a broader range of retailers is brought into focus since the two under survey are primary British ones with widespread reputations. The survey also reveals that increasing age seems to increase Internet usage and shopping online for necessities. This may be because older people are more sedentary. To end the survey report it is necessary to point out that a more general sample of people should be surveyed to get a more exact picture of how people in the UK specially take to online shopping at retailers'. References Battey, Kevin, 2005, Survey Question and Answer Types. Extracted on 27th January, 2006, from: http://www.questionpro.com/akira/showArticle.doarticleID=survey-questions Perner, Lars, Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Strategy. Extracted on 22nd January, 2006, from: http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/Strategy Appendix Questionnaire (Rough form with primarily question items listed): E-Business Survey Questionnaire The aim of this survey is to critically evaluate what experiences, perceptions, preferences, problems and difficulties online shoppers have while buying or browsing at two premier British retail websites - Sainsbury's, the online presence of J. Sainsbury, a leading food retailer with interests in financial services, and ASDA, part of the Wal-mart group. All questions are multiple-choice ones including YES/NO types. The respondents are required to check the correct answer of their choice to the set of 25 questions. This survey is being conducted within the Code of Conduct of the Market Research Society. Questions: 1. How long have you been shopping online More than 5 yrs 4 yrs 3 yrs 2 yrs 1 yr or less Do not shop online. 2. Do you shop at either Sainsbury Online or ASDA Online or both Sainsbury ASDA Both No 3. How did you hear of your chosen online retail outlet/outlets Advertisement in print media Advertisement on the Internet At Superstores Outlets Search Engine Word of mouth Any other, Please specify in box 4. What do you usually buy online at your favourite retailers' Check all that you buy. Foodstuff and Groceries Wine Leisure products and services Gifts including flowers Financial services 5. If you shop at Sainsbury Online do you also shop at Sainsbury superstores in the UK Yes No 6. If you shop at ASDA Online do you also do so at the superstores in the UK Yes No 7. If you shop at both online retailers do you do so also at their stores within the UK Yes No 8. Do you think the retailers' local store locators in their individual websites induce you much more to shop online Yes No 9. Do you shop online to save time Yes No 10. If you shop online to save time, do you do so to have more time for: Leisure Work 11. Often you have to pay extra delivery charges for products and services you have bought online. Do you feel the extra charges: Worthwhile Constrainable 12. Do you feel there is any significant difference in shopping online and shopping physically in the real world Yes No 13. If you feel there is a difference do you feel that such significant difference is: Positive Negative 14. Do you find the two retailers' websites easily negotiable making them conducive to shopping online Yes No 15. Do you find the retailers' websites attractive and does this add to your online shopping experience Yes No 16. Do you feel that shopping online is a more pleasant experience than shopping physically in the real world Yes No 17. Do you think Sainsbury's "Try something new today' gives the retailer's website an edge over its rivals Yes No 18. Do you think ASDA's fund-raising campaigns like "Tickled Pink" induces you in some way to shop online more at the retailer's Yes No 19. Do you think Sainsbury's drop down menus give their website a more negotiable feature Yes No 20. Do you think ASDA's "George" - the clothes division of the online store, gives the retailer's online clothes and accessories division more attractiveness Yes No 21. Have you had any problems with the delivery schedules at either retailer Yes No 22. Do you shop online wholly for the all the products and services available at these two retailers Online Only Online Partially 23. If you shop online partially do you propose to do so wholly in the future Yes No 24. Do you feel that shopping online is a sustainable proposition and more and people will go for it in the future Yes No 25. Do you feel at all that some time in the future this sort of retail business will become an entirely online entity Yes No Tables: Table 1: Scaling Item No. Yes No 5 -1 +1 6 -1 +1 7 -1 +1 8 +1 -1 9 +1 -1 10 +1 +1 11 +1 -1 12 +1 -1 13 +1 -1 14 +1 -1 15 +1 -1 16 +1 -1 17 +1 -1 18 +1 -1 19 +1 -1 20 +1 -1 21 -1 +1 22 +1 -1 23 +1 -1 24 +1 -1 25 +1 -1 Table 2: Respondent No. Respondent Age (yrs.) Sainsbury's/ASDA/Both Total Score Standardised Score 1 27 Sainsbury's +12 +14.67 2 29 Both +15 +15 3 32 Both +15 +15 4 32 ASDA +13 +15.89 5 34 Both +16 +16 6 37 Both +13 +13 7 39 Sainsbury's +13 +15.89 8 40 Both +18 +18 9 43 ASDA +14 +12.22 10 44 Both +19 +19 Total Score +160 Note: 1. For only Sainsbury's shoppers the maximum possible positive score is 18 taking into account the irrelevance of items 6, 7, 18 & 20 and the double positive scaling of item 10. 2. For only ASDA shoppers the same holds true with irrelevance of items 5, 7, 17 & 19 and the double positive scaling of item 10. 3. For shoppers at both outlets the maximum positive score is 22 taking into account the double positive scaling of item 10. 4. The standardised scores have been computed by loading the individual scores of shoppers at either one outlet by a factor of 22/18. This has been done to facilitate the drawing of a graph with average standardised scores plotted against age set. Table 3: Table for Graph Age Set (yrs.) Average Standardised Score 26-30 +14.835 31-35 +15.63 36-40 +15.63 41-45 +17.11 46-50 +19.56 Table 4: Item No. No. of Positive Responses 5 +5 6 +5 7 +4 8 +8 9 +9 10 +9 11 +2 12 +6 13 +6 14 +11 15 +11 16 +10 17 +9 18 +8 19 +9 20 +8 21 +10 22 +6 23 +5 24 +11 25 +8 Total Responses +160 Graphs: Line Graph 1: Bar Graph 1: Read More