A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SELECT E-TAILER BRANDS FROM CUSTOMERS’ PERSPECTIVE

Those days are over when customers had to stand and wait in queues in front of retail outlets or ticket counters to buy books, groceries or movie tickets, railway tickets etc. The advancements in Internet technologies have moved people from physical markets to virtual markets, where they can buy from home or while on the go with much convenience. This has further been supported by advancements in mobile technologies and telecom sector as well. Today a number of e-commerce brands are available which help the consumers make orders online and receive the products at their doorsteps. The present study in this view aims to put light on some of the major e-commerce brands operating in India, viz., Amazon, Flipkart, and Snapdeal. The research design used is descriptive in nature, wherein, comparative study was done to know consumer preferences towards e-tailer brands on the basis of various characteristics or services offered by them. The analysis has been done with the help of simple statistical techniques like frequency counts, averages and percentages. As per the findings, Amazon takes the first place followed by Flipkart and Snapdeal. However, neck-to-neck competition exists among these e-tailers. Suggestions from various respondents might help the brand managers or marketers to find out where their respective companies excel and where they need to work hard and improve.