Current Uses of Online Shopping - Research Paper

This research paper explores the current uses of online shopping across the world and specifically in Australia. It also seeks to understand the growth in the same area in Australia and benefits of the same to Australians.

RUNNING HEAD: RESEARCH PAPER
Current uses of online shopping

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Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
Background of the study....................................................................................................................2
Research Problem..............................................................................................................................2
Objective of the study........................................................................................................................2
Research Methodology..........................................................................................................................3
Research design.................................................................................................................................3
Method of data collection..................................................................................................................3
Research Hypothesis..........................................................................................................................3
Limitations of the study.....................................................................................................................3
Data Collection and Analysis................................................................................................................4
Current uses of online shopping........................................................................................................4
Online shopping in Australia.............................................................................................................5
Online shopping – Worldwide.........................................................................................................10
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................11
References...........................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
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

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uses of online shopping and presenting the recent related data of Australia and the overall
world.
Research Methodology
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.

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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:
 The biggest perk of purchasing online is convenience. It is very much useful for the
consumers as they want to make a comfortable shopping which can be easily done at
any time and from anywhere. It is easy to do and moreover consumers do not have to
wait for the shop assistance for their purchases. Online shopping provides 24/7
opportunity to shop and is also prove to be a better place for buying informational
products like e-books which can be instantly available as and when the payment is
done (Chang, 2018).
 Another use is that it offers reasonable prices and cheaper one than the one available
offline. Online shopping provides cheap deals because of the fact that products come
from the manufacturer directly without involving any middleman. Moreover, trading
online requires only the sales tax to be collected if there is any physical store is been
there (Horrigan, 2008).

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 One of the use of buying through internet is availability of wide range of products and
services. The choices available online are amazing. One can get variety of brands and
products from different sellers at one place. It is helpful for the consumers as it saves
their time and money on travelling (Lifewire.com. 2018). People can easily access to
the international brands and can make an overseas shopping. Apart from the variety,
consumers also have a greater availability of colours and sizes online than the ones
displayed at local shops and malls. So overall, online shopping is prove to be very
much useful for the people who wanted to have a wider range of choices and varieties
(Smith, 2018).
 Shop online offers easy transfer of gifts and presents to the friends and relatives. It is
useful for the consumers who have their families and friends residing in another
countries and who want to send gifts for them. Online shopping makes it easy for
them by sending gifts on special occasions (Wu, et al., 2014).
 Price comparison become easier and it includes fewer expenses as the money spent on
transportation and many outside activities is eliminated. In addition to this people who
wants to shop alone and want to avoid the crowd at malls, online shopping is the best
idea to go for. On the top of that, online sellers also provide consumers with an option
to purchase unused or old items at lower prices (Lian and Yen, 2014).
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.
Online shopping in Australia
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

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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).
Source: Startrack.com.au.
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

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customers to remain updated about their order. All this has led to the increase in the
consumer trends in Australia related to online shopping.
Source: Startrack.com.au.
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.

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Some of the key facts related to online shopping in Australia are:
 As per the latest report, the online spending grew by 18.7% in 2017 and also the
paymnet services attracted over 1.5 million customers last year.
 The online shopping is reshaped by a new range of customers. The age group of 18-36
has increased as per last census and represents 26% of the total population. This
gropus looks for more flexibility, transparency and is up of any sort of technology
advancemnets (Auspost.com.au. 2018).
 At the end of 2017, the online shopping reached 8% of the total traditional retail sales
showing a one percent increase from the last year.
 People of Australia has spent $21.3 billion in 2017 on online purchasing of goods
which was represented by an increase of 18.7%. the overall online spending growth
accelerated by 16.2% points (Auspost.com.au. 2018).
 Online purchases were up by 19.2% in 2017 after enjoying the increase of 11.5% in
2016 (Auspost.com.au. 2018).
 Overall, the perception of Australians related to online shopping is positive and it is
estimated that 35% of people are looking forward to make more online purchase in
coing future (Auspost.com.au. 2018).

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Source: Auspost.com.au.
Source: Auspost.com.au.

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The above two figures reflected year on year growth in the products purchased by Australians
and regional and state growth over the year. The national online shopping average is 19.2%
and it is observed that Queensland has the highest share of online shopping with 21.8%.
Furthermore, variety store purchases are ranked highest covering 35.4% of the shares in
online purchases.
Online shopping – Worldwide
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:
 A rise is been noticed in mobile shopping during the past recent years. It was
observed that in March 2016, 46% of users in Asia Pacific and 28% in North America
had purchased products online with help of their mobiles and tablets (Statista.com.
2018).
 It was also been noticed that average number of annual online transactions was an
average of 22.1 made by Asian shoppers and online shoppers in Latin America
accounted 9.2 e-retail purchases.
 Amazon is considered as the biggest online retailer and is ranked in top ten leading
retailers worldwide (Statista.com. 2018).

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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

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high level of convenience and also saves their time. So, it can be said that this study affirms
the hypothesis made above.

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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: http://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
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Horrigan, J. (2008). Online Shopping: Frictions, Frustrations, and Fixes. [Online]. Available
at: http://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:
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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.

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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.
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https://rakutensl.com/three-key-advantages-of-online-shopping/ [Accessed 12 June 2018].
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https://acquire.startrack.com.au/pdf/Inside%20Australian%20Online%20Shopping
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[Online]. Available at: https://www.statista.com/topics/871/online-shopping/ [Accessed 12
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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.