BUS 7055 Research on Indian Online Retailers Selling Ladies Fashion

This research report, prepared for BUS 7055, investigates the online retail of Indian ladies' fashion garments in Birmingham. The study begins with an introduction to Birmingham's diverse cultural landscape and the growing Indian population, setting the context for the rise of Indian garment retailers. The report outlines the research objectives, which include identifying key commercial entities, understanding sales strategies, determining the number of retailers, and analyzing the drivers behind the demand for Indian ladies' garments. Research questions are formulated to guide the investigation, followed by a literature review that highlights the impact of the Indian community's growth and the availability of cotton in the West Midlands on the garment retail sector. The methodology section describes the quantitative research approach, including a questionnaire survey. A detailed research timeline is provided, outlining the stages from initiation to closing, along with ethical considerations to ensure research integrity. The report references key studies and articles related to the topic, providing links to the sources.

Running Head: BUS 7055
Research on How Indian Online Retailers Sell Ladies Fashion Garments
in Birmingham
Name of the Student
Name of the University

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Introduction and Background
Birmingham is a city in England, United Kingdom, which is culturally diverse due to the
presence of multiethnic races in addition to the native British citizens. Other than the natives,
there is a significant population of Indians in the city that has grown due to the immigration and
relocation every year from India to Birmingham for various purposes like education, work and
others. Since the Indian culture is considerably different from the British culture, there are many
business centres in Birmingham who have changed to satisfy the needs of the Indian population
in the city. One such business is the clothing industry – several companies have grown up in
Birmingham that sell Indian garments for the Indian population of the city. With the advent and
increasing popularity of ecommerce, most of the sellers of Birmingham have also migrated to
online business – as such, there are already a large number of online Indian clothes retailers
currently operating in Birmingham.
The purpose of this research is to review and study the current state of the online garment
retailers in Birmingham and how do these sellers sell Indian ladies’ fashion garments in the city.
Research Objectives
The main objectives of the research are as follows.
 To identify the main commercial entities operating in Birmingham
 To determine how the online retailers in Birmingham sell fashion garments for
Indian ladies
 To determine the number of such retailers currently operating in Birmingham

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 To determine the main reasons behind the increase in demands of Indian ladies’
garments in Birmingham
Research Questions
From the initial analysis of the research objectives, the following research questions can
be derived.
What are the main driving forces behind the growth of retailers of Indian garments in
Birmingham?
What are the figures regarding annual sales of Indian ladies fashion garments in
Birmingham?
How have the retailers utilised internet for increasing the sales of the garments?
Literature Review
With the increasing Indian population in Birmingham, various retail stores (offline and
online) have also grown up that mainly focus on selling Indian goods like food, garments and
others. However, the primary focus of this literature review is for the garment retailers only who
sell ladies garments for the Indian residents in Birmingham.
According to Puthusserry, Child and Khan (2019), the rapid growth of the Indian
community in Birmingham has been a driving force behind the business of the Indian garments
in the city. With increased population, the demands for the garments have also increased as the
Indian women are mostly not comfortable with the British ladies garments already available
there.

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Singh and Srivastava (2018) pointed out that one of the main reasons behind the growth
of retailers selling Indian ladies garments is the abundance of cotton in West Midlands.
Traditional Indian garments are extensively designed and created using cotton and hence, the
Indians in Birmingham prefer to purchase garments made of cotton. The abundance of cotton in
Birmingham has allowed the retailers to develop cotton garments and sell as per the demands.
Research Methodology and Data Analysis
For different types of research, different types of methodologies are being followed. The
choice of methodology that is most suitable depends mainly upon the type and nature of the
research. The main types of methodologies of research include primary, secondary and mixed
(nature of data) or qualitative, quantitative and mixed (type of data). For this particular project,
the most appropriate research methodology will be quantitative research involving primary data.
For the purpose of collecting primary quantitative data, questionnaire survey will be conducted
on the sample population that will be determined during the planning of the research.
Research Timeline
Following is the proposed research timeline.
WBS Task Name Duration Start Finish
0 Gantt Chart Schedule for Research 144 days Mon 02-12-
19
Thu 18-06-20
1 Research Initiation and Requirement Analysis 23 days Mon 02-12-
19
Wed 01-01-20
1.1 Requirements Gathering for Research and Selection of
Research Topic
5 days Mon 02-12-
19
Fri 06-12-19
1.2 Approval for the Chosen Research Topic 5 days Mon 09-12-
19
Fri 13-12-19
1.3 Feasibility Analysis of the Research and Development of 3 days Mon 16-12- Wed 18-12-19

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Research Proposal 19
1.4 Submission of Research Proposal for Approval 5 days Thu 19-12-
19
Wed 25-12-19
1.5 Confirmation from Supervisor to Proceed 5 days Thu 26-12-
19
Wed 01-01-20
2 Planning of the Research 26 days Thu 02-01-
20
Thu 06-02-20
2.1 Research Framework Development 2 days Thu 02-01-
20
Fri 03-01-20
2.2 Setting the Primary and Secondary Scope of the Research 2 days Mon 06-01-
20
Tue 07-01-20
2.3 Setting the Main Research Questions to be Addressed 3 days Wed 08-01-
20
Fri 10-01-20
2.4 Identification of the Main Objectives of the Research 3 days Mon 13-01-
20
Wed 15-01-20
2.5 Identifying the Assumptions, Limitations and Constraints
of the Research
10 days Thu 16-01-
20
Wed 29-01-20
2.6 Receive Funding from University for Research 4 days Thu 30-01-
20
Tue 04-02-20
2.7 Initiation of the Research 2 days Wed 05-02-
20
Thu 06-02-20
3 Execution of Research Work 28 days Fri 07-02-
20
Tue 17-03-20
3.1 Identify Research Gap and the Main Problem Statement 6 days Fri 07-02-20 Fri 14-02-20
3.2 Purchase Subscription for the Online Library 2 days Mon 17-02-
20
Tue 18-02-20
3.3 Review Literature available in the Library 2 days Mon 17-02-
20
Tue 18-02-20
3.4 Selection of Specific Articles and Journals for the Study 5 days Wed 19-02-
20
Tue 25-02-20
3.5 Conduct Detailed Analytic Study with the Literature
Selected
10 days Wed 26-02-
20
Tue 10-03-20
3.6 Set Up Hypotheses for the Research 5 days Wed 11-03-
20
Tue 17-03-20
4 Data Collection and Analysis 7 days Wed 18-03-
20
Thu 26-03-20
4.1 Prepare Questionnaire for Survey Purpose 5 days Wed 18-03-
20
Tue 24-03-20
4.2 Conduct Survey Over Selected Sample Population 2 days Wed 25-03-
20
Thu 26-03-20

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5 Analysis and Evaluation 37 days Fri 27-03-
20
Mon 18-05-20
5.1 Collect All Data Collected from Survey 15 days Fri 27-03-20 Thu 16-04-20
5.2 Conduct Data Analysis using SPSS Software 15 days Fri 17-04-20 Thu 07-05-20
5.3 Develop Conclusion of the Research 5 days Fri 08-05-20 Thu 14-05-20
5.4 Develop Scope for Future Research 2 days Fri 15-05-20 Mon 18-05-20
6 Closing and Sign Off 23 days Tue 19-05-
20
Thu 18-06-20
6.1 Develop the Research Report 18 days Tue 19-05-
20
Thu 11-06-20
6.2 Submit the Report to the Supervisor 2 days Fri 12-06-20 Mon 15-06-20
6.3 Grading of the Entire Research 2 days Tue 16-06-
20
Wed 17-06-20
6.4 Sign Off and Closing 1 day Thu 18-06-
20
Thu 18-06-20
Ethical Considerations
While conducting the research as per the requirements, several ethical considerations are
to be made. These ethical considerations are discussed as follows.
While conducting the research, the research guidelines and standards set by the
university must be followed at any time. Any deviation from the guidelines will
result in penalty or any other actions against the researcher.
The identities of the sample population used for the survey will not be revealed
and will be kept anonymous.
The survey will not be conducted against the will of the selected participants.
All research activities need to be done with full honesty and transparency.

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References
Patel, S.H. and Gujral, K., 2016. Asian food and drink: Change, renewal and stability in
Handsworth. In The new cultures of food (pp. 285-304). Routledge.
Puthusserry, P., Child, J. and Khan, Z., 2019. Social capital development through the stages of
internationalization: Relations between British and Indian SMEs. Global Strategy Journal.
Shaw, H.J., 2017. Food deserts in British cities: comparing food access, obesity, and ethnicity in
Leicester and Stoke on Trent. In Handbook of Research Methods in Corporate Social
Responsibility. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Singh, S. and Srivastava, S., 2018. Moderating effect of product type on online shopping
behaviour and purchase intention: An Indian perspective. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 5(1),
p.1495043.

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Links to the References
1. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781315555218/chapters/
10.4324/9781315555218-28
2. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/gsj.1361
3. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ramirez_Duvan_Emilio/publication/
337331882_Handbook_of_Research_Methods_in_CSR/links/
5dd2bf0ba6fdcc7e138d18fa/Handbook-of-Research-Methods-in-CSR.pdf#page=175
4. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311983.2018.1495043