Factors Affecting the Adoption of Online Shopping in Youngsters - An Empirical Study

Gone are the days when people had to move out of the houses to shop, but, now the scenario has been totally changed. The era of computers and internet did it all. We can call it a paradigm shift in marketing. A large numbers of vendors are entering into the market everyday targeting on young generation as frequency of use of internet in young generation is very high. The increasing use of Internet by the young generation provides an emerging prospect for online retailers. If online retailers know the factors affecting young consumers’ buying behavior, and the associations between these factors and type of products, then they can further develop their marketing strategies to convert potential customers into active ones. However, despite of the fact that online shopping provides many advantages, but still a huge group of customers resist this change. In this study four key dimensions of online shopping as perceived by young consumers are identified. It was discovered that perceived risk, perceived benefits, perceived trust and perceived ease of use are the four key factors which influence young consumers’ perceptions of online shopping. In conclusion, online consumers still lack confidence and trust in utilizing the Internet as a shopping channel. They are mainly concerned about issues related to privacy and trust when dealing with online retailers. These issues, if left unchecked, will have a detrimental effect on the future growth of online shopping in India.