AWARENESS OF E-MARKETS AMONG THE PEOPLE OF KURNOOL CITY OF A. P

E-Business can be defined as any form of business transaction in which the parties interact electronically rather than by physical exchange of documents or direct meetings. In other words, EBusiness is doing business online. It can mean selling data directly from Internet, paying bills through the bank account or purchasing or trading online. It can also mean the use of Internet as an alternative sales channel and the entire transaction can take place with no human intervention on the merchant side. The number of Indians shopping online grew 42% over the last year, almost double the rate of growth of the Internet medium (i.e. 22%), sure proof of internet shopping gaining attractions with value seeking desi consumers, concerns online security and vendor trust not withstanding. Review of literature reveals that majority of the studies are based on conventional market. There are very meager studies on E-markets. India‟s online population currently stands at 25 million and is predicted to grow to 100 million by 2012. Changing lifestyles and shopping habits have fueled E-Business. Indian users have started to use this medium like never before. Rs.570 crores worth of E-Business conducted online in 2004-05, Rs.2, 300 crores by 2007-08, and is expected that it will reach Rs. 10,000 crores by 2012. Kurnool city, with about 7 lakh population and being a fast growing city and industrial hub with mixed culture. This necessitated conducting a study on awareness of e-markets among the people of Kurnool city.