report on ecommerce websites · great potential to create problems for consumers in ecommerce. in...

CONCERT TRUST REPORTS OF CAI OCTOBER 2017 1

INTRODUCTION

Electronic commerce (E-commerce) has evolved in unprecedented ways since the last two decades. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has created a new liaison between consumer and business. According to internetlivestats.com, there has been a constant rise in the number of net surfers by at least 50 million annually from 2014 to 2019 taking the projected values to be at least 560 million users by the end of 2019. Internet penetration in 2016 was approximately 46 crores i.e. 34.8% of total population. The ‘Digital India’ Initiatives of our Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi aim to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. Among the many vision areas, the programmes aim at providing high speed internet access and mobile telephony to all upto GramaPanchayat levels. The programme also aims at digital empowerment of citizens and emphasises need for universal digital literacy.

The ease with which electronic transactions take place attracts consumers to actively participate both in the domestic and global markets.

With its ubiquitous reach, sale of goods and services, which were once a concern of only business-to-business transactions is now very much a part of business-to-consumer transactions through ecommerce. According to market research conducted last year by Huffington Post, global ecommerce sales are expected to eclipse $3.5 trillion by 2019. In 2015, researchers were expecting the Internet to account for 7.3 percent of total global retail sales, while that number could balloon to 12.4 percent by 2019. According to a survey conducted by Emarketer, retail ecommerce sales in India are expected to see double-digit growth this year, increasing 75.8% to reach $23.39 billion. By 2020, retail ecommerce sales are expected to total $79.41 billion. Further, the ‘Make in India’ initiative of the Government of India, which encourages domestic and multi-national companies to manufacture their products in India, also benefits greatly through the use of e-commerce technology.While businesses gain access to the global market without much intervention of traditional market intermediaries, consumers benefit by reaching out to a variety of goods and services at competitive

Report on Ecommerce websites

2 CONCERT TRUST REPORTS OF CAI OCTOBER 2017

prices. This makes business time-efficient and simpler. At the same time, the consumer can compare product features and prices to make a better informed decision. However, the non face-to-face character of the online transaction has also a great potential to create problems for consumers in ecommerce. In other words, the architecture of e-commerce being virtual, adequate and reliable information constitutes a key ingredient to consumer trust and confidence. The information society consumer needs to be better informed and more emancipated than the off-line consumer. Adequate and clear information about the website, its transactions, established and responsive customer care service and easy grievance redressal mechanisms are some of the vital characteristics of a good e-commerce portal that can bring the online marketplace to a level playing field with the conventional offline markets.

A distinct feature of this form of

electronic commerce is that unlike in case of physical transactions, there is no purchase of goods or services on the spot. That is, one of the parties must have already acted on the transaction in advance, while the other party performs the contract eventually. For instance, the online purchaser selects a product from the online store and purchases the product through credit card payment. On fulfilment of all his obligations, he may not receive the product ordered at all or may receive a product which does not match the description. Hence, the risk of prior performance in electronic commerce transactions requires particular attention in regulating information in the online marketplace.

A predominant feature of consumer law is to promote good business practices, such that the consumer is well-informed about the transaction. The anonymous character of the online market demands a greater need for clear information on matters at every technical step for conclusion of the contract and also effective means to identify and correct input errors prior to the completion of the contract. Asymmetries in information between consumers, sellers and online intermediaries impacts consumers’ decision making. Such asymmetry has the potential to retard an integral right of the consumer - right to information. Consumers in


the electronic space need access to complete information not only about the goods and services offered in the market, but also assess the third party seller and the manufacturer/producer hiding behind the seat of the third party seller.

The advent of Information Technology law in India has recognized electronic forms of commerce as legally valid and binding on the parties. It also recognizes various players in the e-commerce market and lays down the extent of their liabilities.

There is no dedicated law on electronic commerce in India. The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 is now being amended to bring online consumers within its purview. In other words, the amended Act will bring electronic commerce within the gamut of Consumer Protection Law in India. An important amendment in the light of grievance Redressal in electronic commerce is that the proposed amendment allows a consumer to initiate legal action against a seller in the place where consumer resides. This provides for a ‘territory –free’ legal action against supplier of goods and services through electronic means. To add to this, the proposed amendment has also introduced mediation as an alternate mode to consumer dispute resolution. Non-information and negligent withdrawal of information

by electronic business is seen as a serious ‘deficiency in service’ under the new law. The definition of ‘unfair trade practice’ is amended to include cooling-off period, which is relevant in online sale of goods. Some new concepts such as unfair contractual terms and product liability have been introduced to strengthen protection of consumers in electronic transactions.

The new UN Guidelines on Consumer Protection 2016 provides for a separate section on e-commerce, which requires the Member States to work towards enhancing consumer confidence in electronic commerce by the continued development of transparent and effective consumer protection policies, ensuring a level of protection that is not less than that afforded in other forms of commerce.

Comparative testing is a formal process by which different products/services are tested for quality, conformity to minimum standards laid down under the law for the time being in force. This comparative testing relates to ecommerce, which has become an integral channel for all our daily needs from clothing to electronics, food and groceries to online payment and travel to booking a movie ticket. The theme of ecommerce for Comparative Testing is intended to compliment the theme of the World Consumer Rights Day for the year 2017 chosen by Consumers


International on ‘Building a Digital World Consumers can Trust’.

As part of the testing of ecommerce brands, we provide consumer education on various features of the contemporary market place and the information that a consumer has to check prior to purchasing goods/services online. The comparative testing primarily relates to disclosures that ecommerce companies comply with and best practices adopted by the online portals in providing easy access to information to the consumer, which is an integral part of the online purchase. CONCERT has undertaken this project of Comparative Testing for Southern Region under a grant from Department of Consumer Affairs Government of India.

The comparative study is divided into three major components – general information about ecommerce, customer care and dispute resolution. Each criterion and Parameter is rated individually on a 5-Point scale. The rating given is 1- Poor, 2 - Fair, 3 - Good, 4 -Very Good, and 5 - Excellent. The results presented here are against these major criteria in each category that in our opinion is fair and without any subjective element. The user is encouraged to study these results and make his/her buying decisions based on individual requirement and judgement.

Objectives of the Study:

1. To analyse the extent of consumers’ awareness about the e-commerce companies with which they purchase goods or avail services

2. To bring out a comparative analysis of e-commerce companies in terms of the information provided to consumers, customer care and dispute resolution

3. Understanding level of satisfaction or dis-satisfaction among Online shoppers on their shopping experience

4. To raise the webstore’s recognition and trustworthiness among buyers

5. To identify improvement areas for Online shopping portals, if any

6. To create convenient, safe and reliable electronic market.

Scope of Study:

The e-commerce space is vast in terms of categories and number of web portals currently present. Hence it is pertinent to specify scope of this study to cover most popular categories in this study, we covered the following categories of e-commerce portals.

- Food/ Grocery: Natures Basket, Reliance Fresh, Big Basket, Zomato, etc.

- Fashion: Myntra, Jabong, Koovs, etc.


- Travel: yatra, makemytrip, cleartrip, goibibo, etc.

- Multi: Amazon, Flipkart, Ebay, Snapdeal, etc.

Sample chosen for this study included users of all these websites

Research Methodology:

The study was done in the following phases:

PHASE I- Quantitative Analysis:

• Quantitative study is conductedthrough face to face interviews among consumers (in South Indian cities) using PAPI (Pen and Paper Interviews).

• Interviewswere conducted usinga structured questionnaire by random sampling methodology

• Questionnaire was preparedkeeping in mind various satisfaction/dissatisfaction factors among the consumers for online shopping.

Target Groups:

• Males and females (approximatesplit of 70:30)

• Age–18-30and30-40years(50:50 split)

• SECA1,A2,B1andB2

• Should have done any kind ofonline shopping in the past 1 month in at least 1 of the top 10

pre-identified shopping portals

Information Areas:

This study would broadly cover the following parameters:

- Shopping frequency (for key categories)

- Categories preferred for shopping online and offline

- Awareness of Online Shopping Portal Brands

Key triggers to shopping online

- Variety of Products- Flexible Return/Exchange

Policies- Payment options- Customer Reviews available - Product information/details on

site- Customer Care Service - Deals/ Discounts- Return Policies etc.

Key barriers to shopping online

- Delivery problems/ delay- Damaged product being

delivered- Used / Poor quality product- Grievances not solved timely- Privacy and Security Issues- Fake Products

Understanding of the online shopping behaviour

- Channels used for shopping online (Desktop/ Laptop/ Mobile app/ Mobile browser, etc.)


- Ease of browsing products- Ease of price comparison- Mode of payment – has the

facility of Cash On Delivery (COD) increased frequency of online shopping?

- Any apprehension for online shopping

Portals shopped at (across categories)

- Overall satisfaction with online shopping for respective category (Food/ Travel/ Fashion/ Multi)

- Satisfaction on key parameters- Any dispute or problem faced

ever with online shopping Nature of dispute Steps taken to resolve it Solution given by the company Satisfaction with the solution

PHASE II – Secondary search of web sites and content analysis of website for the products and services offered by them.

The architecture of e-commerce being virtual, adequate and reliable information constitutes a key ingredient to consumer trust and confidence. The extent of information provided by the e-commerce portals was analysed through a secondary research module. Remote analysis of the website was conducted based on certain indicators common across all five sectors.

Contract of sale of goods and services in ecommerce is primarily based on Terms of Use which are provided on the websites. The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules, 2011 provide that the intermediaries (which include online markets) shall explicitly provide for User Agreements/Terms of Use, Privacy Policy etc. on their websites as a part of due diligence. Most ecommerce companies provide an ‘I Agree’ button at the stage of registration, which require the consumer to have accepted their terms and conditions prior to entering into any transaction on the website.

Web content analysis is categorised under three broad heads – General Information about Ecommerce, Customer Care Details and Dispute Resolution.

Websites for the content analysis were based on the brand awareness of the consumers about the portals obtained through the quantitative analysis. Areas to be evaluated broadly include the following:

I General Information about Ecommerce

(a) Website Details:

(b) Transaction Details:

II Customer Care Details

III Dispute Resolution


PHASE III

Preparation of the final research report.

Sampling Methodology:

The sample size consisted of five major cities in South India. From each city, a sample size of 75 consumers was targeted (total sample size of 375 consumers). The achieved sample size was 390. For the purpose of study, the sample size was further classified under five popular categories with the highest sample size where consumers shopped in the past one month being Multibrand category (178) and the lowest was Fashion (82). Face-to-face Interview was conducted with each of the consumers to analyse their purchasing behaviour, level of awareness regarding the portals and

their satisfaction and dissatisfaction levels with respect to the websites.

Two websites were further selected under each category (total number of websites being 10) for the comparative testing. Selection of websites was based on the awareness and popularity of the portal among consumers and purchases made in the last one month.

Sample Spread:

Centres Targeted Sample Size

Achieved Sample Size

Bangalore 75 79

Chennai 75 77

Cochin 75 79

Hyderabad 75 75

Madurai 75 80

Total 375 390

Sample Size Achieved in Categories

Categories Sample Size Achieved (Based On Portals Where Shopped in the Past One Month)

Multi brand 178

Fashion 82

Food/Grocery 83

Travel 85

Online Wallets 91

Based on the popularity of the brands, the same websites were further taken for content analysis in the next phase. Factors for the content analysis were further divided under two broad

categories – website analysis and transaction analysis. The factors chosen for the comparative testing are common to all categories of websites and are not sector specific.


Limitations of Study:

The number of ecommerce players has been increasing by the day. According to Internetlivestats, there are over a billion websites over the World Wide Web today. Multi-brand: Amazon, Flipkart

1. Fashion: Myntra, Jabong, 2. Food/ Grocery: Natures Basket, Big

Basket3. Travel: yatra, makemytrip

4. Online Wallets: paytm, freecharge

Secondly, the universe of online consumers both in terms of number and demography being very large, five important cities of south India were chosen for the study – Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Cochin and Madurai.

The study was further limited to online consumers who shopped in the last one month.

2. CONSUMER AWARENESS IN ECOMMERCE

Categories Preferred –Online and Offline Shopping

Categories Preferred Shopping Online and Offline Online - ALL Offline - ALL

BASE : All Respondents 390 390

Clothing/Shoes 91 51

Bags/Watches/Fashion Accessories 73 60

Electronics 67 53

Movie Tickets 55 41

Cab Booking 50 35

Cosmetics/Personal Care/Perfume 35 73

Gift Items 31 63

Hotel Booking 31 43

Food/Groceries 26 75

Flight Booking 24 40

Holiday Package Booking 24 43

Health/Nutrition 15 78

Household items/Furniture 15 81

Books/Magazines 14 77

Mobile Recharge 2 2

All Figures in %


On an analysis of the consumer preferences in shopping online as against shopping through the conventional offline mode, Table 2.1 indicates that the most preferred categories for shopping online are Clothing/shoes with 91% respondents followed by Bags/watches/fashion accessories with 73% respondents and for Offline shopping, most preferred categories for are Health/Nutrition with 78% respondents and Household items/furniture with 81% respondents. This shows that Indian consumers rely on the online stores for the wide variety of clothing and accessories to choose from, but when it comes to health and nutrition or household items/furniture, consumers still prefer the conservative channel

of visiting a physical store for a better understanding of the product.

Awareness of Online Portals

Followed by the preferences of categories of products that consumers choose online as against offline channels, awareness of the various ecommerce brands was analysed based on five categories – multi-brand, fashion, food/grocery, travel and online wallets. Awareness of consumers regarding the ecommerce portal was based on the portals that the consumers has shopped in the last one month, portals through which consumers most often purchased, spontaneous responses and those portals that were on Top of Mind (TOM) of the consumers.

Awareness about Ecommerce Portals

Base : All Respondents (n =390) All Figures in %

The above graph indicates that Amazon, Flipkart and Paytm emerge as the top three brands on brand awareness, followed by Myntra and Snapdeal. Among the five categories of

ecommerce, the following companies emerged as top two brands, which consumers were totally aware of:

• Multibrand–Amazon,Flipkart


• Fashion–Myntra,Jabong• Food/Groceries – Big Basket,

Nature’s Basket• Travel-Makemytrip,Yatra• OnlineWallet–Paytm,Freecharge

Factors that Encourage Consumers to Shop Online:

On a further analysis of consumers’

online purchase behaviours, agreement to the following statements were analysed which encourage consumers to shop with specific ecommerce portals and factors which refrain them from shopping through the portals, which are as follows:

Agreement towards statements which encourages people towards shopping portals

ALL AmazonBig

BasketFlipkart

Free charge

JabongMakeMy

TripMyntra

Nature’s Basket

Paytm Yatra

BASE : All Respondents Who Shop Online

390 263 376 257 236 273 291 120 366 261

Variety of Products 47 29 38 26 33 25 31 38 27 23

Layout of the website 37 35 34 30 33 29 27 41 26 33

Flexible Return/ Exchange policies

38 37 35 35 33 29 33 43 25 35

Did not find the product in the local store

32 37 31 38 35 31 31 43 29 35

Delivery time is less 34 40 34 33 36 29 34 39 31 39

Delivery/ shipping charges is less

39 35 37 37 40 30 36 41 29 33

Payment options( COD, Card etc)

35 35 31 39 34 32 32 48 29 36

Past association /Experience was good

33 41 38 35 39 35 34 41 31 39

Customer reviews provided were helpful

38 41 32 40 40 34 36 43 32 36

Attractive Deals/ Discounts offered

43 40 32 32 40 33 43 43 32 36

Brand image of the portal

39 41 35 37 40 32 40 38 30 37

Celebrity Endorsement 39 43 36 38 35 33 35 40 34 33


Promotion on social Media sites

40 37 38 37 33 33 40 45 35 34

Quanitityofproductsavailable at time of sale

40 46 35 39 38 38 39 43 30 38

Various options provided for refund

37 41 36 34 39 33 37 43 26 41

Customer Service offered

41 41 33 35 39 33 40 47 31 37

Ease of access for contacting customer care executive

43 40 36 41 39 38 39 45 33 36

Cancellation process 39 37 34 37 35 33 33 47 33 38

Time period of refund is explicit

41 38 33 34 38 29 34 46 32 39

Packaging of the goods delivered

42 40 34 39 40 35 37 42 32 42

Security/Privacy is maintained

39 41 35 33 38 29 36 36 33 38

Visual effect of the web portal

38 38 31 33 38 33 34 38 33 41

Product and Merchant Information/ Details Provided on site

35 41 31 35 35 31 37 40 30 36

All Figures in %

Factors that encouraged people to shop Amazon:-

• Varietyofproducts,

• Attractivedeals/discountsoffered

• Ease of access for contacting thecustomer care service and for flipkart

• Varietyofproducts,

• Pastassociation

• Experiencewasgoodwerethefactorswhich encouraged people to shop.

• Forbigbasket,factorslike

• Celebrityendorsement,

• Quantity of products available attimeofsaleandfornature’sbasket,factors like

• Customerserviceoffered,

• Cancellationprocess,

• Time period for refund is explicit are the factors which encouraged people to shop from which encouraged people to shop.


• For Free charge, factors like

• customer reviews provided werehelpful and ease of access for contacting customer care service and for Paytm,

• celebrityendorsement

• promotions on social media sites are the factors which encourages people to shop online.

• For MakeMyTrip, reason was

• Past association /Experience wasgood and for Yatra, the factors are

• variousoptionsprovided forrefundand visual effects of the web portal.

• ForJabong,reasons are

• Delivery/shippingchargesisless,

• Customer reviews provided were

helpful,

• AttractiveDeals/Discountsoffered,

• Brandimageoftheportal,

• Packaging of the goods deliveredand for Myntra they are

• attractivedeals/discounts.

2.2.4 Factors which made Consumers refrain from Shopping Online:

While the above-mentioned factors such as variety of goods and services to choose, good customercare services, attractive deals/discounts are an incentive for the consumer to opt for online shopping, there are also certain factors that restrain them from purchasing goods/services through these channels. Some of such factors are identified and classified based on the specific categories of ecommerce.

Factors that made consumers refrain from shopping online with regard to multi-brand,fashion&food/grocery

All AmazonBig

BasketFlipkart Jabong Myntra

Nature’s Basket

BASE : All Respondents who shop online 390 263 376 236 291 120

Qualityoftheproductorderedisveryuncertain 14 5 13 4 11 3

Risk of deviation in product features from what is shown on website

10 3 14 7 8 5

Merchant details not available on the website 7 7 10 6 7 2

Seller rating not available on the website 6 5 9 6 5 3

Breakup of pricing details not provided on website 11 6 10 5 8 4

Product not available for particular Pincode 15 6 16 8 9 6

Product replacement is a problem 18 7 19 11 13 5

Difficulty in product return 13 5 15 7 8 3


Have to wait for the product to be delivered 15 5 16 7 6 4

Delivery people coming to your doorstep can be unsafe

6 8 7 3 5 3

Product delivered may not work 8 2 6 3 4 -

Risk of wrong fit/ size 14 5 16 6 6 6

Touch and feel factor is missing 20 17 21 20 21 16

Risk of product mal-function 6 3 8 5 3 1

Risk of getting fake branded products 6 4 5 4 5 3

Low Price is due to compromise on quality 11 7 10 5 7 2

Risk of Security / Information theft 7 3 8 3 6 1

Lack of trustworthiness of vendors 8 4 8 5 8 3

Privacy issues 9 2 9 6 8 4

Not very skillful with technology 6 3 11 6 6 1

Insufficient product information given 7 3 10 7 6 1

Ineffective layout design of the web portal 10 3 10 3 3 1

None 52 63 50 62 57 75

All Figures in %

From Table 2.3, it is seen that a common factor that restrains consumers from purchasing online in all three categories is lack of touch and feel of the product, which acts as a barrier to purchase products online. This is followed by problem faced by consumers in replacement of products.

Factors that made Consumers refrain Shopping Online with regard to Travel

Factors for shopping portals that refrain people from shopping online - All

GoibiboMakeMy

TripClear Trip Yatra

Trip advisor

BASE : All Respondents who shop online 106 273 93 261 55

Deals/ discounts were not available 8 12 10 10 27

Prices were higher compared to other sites 8 14 13 8 29

Misinformation regarding booking details 12 6 12 5 9

Site is down while booking 10 10 6 12 13

Breakup of pricing details not provided on website 5 12 9 9 9

Risk of Security / Information theft 8 8 8 3 5

Privacy issues 14 9 12 10 15


Insufficient information given for booking 10 9 12 5 20

Ineffective layout design of the web portal 9 10 11 6 16

Payment failure while booking 8 4 5 8 20

None 55 66 57 66 47

All Figures in %

• Misinformationregardingbookingdetails and privacy issues were the 2 main barriers for Goibibo

• Deals/Discounts not availableand prices were higher compared to other sites were the factors for refrain for MakeMyTrip and TripAdvisor

• Priceswerehigher,misinformationregarding booking details, privacy issues and insufficient information were the barriers for Cleartrip

• Deals/Discount not available, Siteis down while booking and privacy issues were the key barriers for Yatra

Factors that made Consumers refrain Shopping Online with regard to Online Wallets

Factors for shopping portals that refrain people from shopping online - All

Freecharge Jio money Mobiwik PaytmStatebank

Buddy

BASE : All Respondents who shop online 257 133 84 366 92

Recharge Deals were not available 5 11 8 11 3

Ineffective layout design of the web portal 5 4 6 7 4

Insufficient information given for recharges 9 7 10 9 4

Site is down while making transaction 7 5 4 12 8

Recharge schemes not explained properly 6 5 7 9 4

Risk of Security / Information theft 3 8 14 9 2

Privacy issues 7 11 12 11 4

Payment failure while adding money 4 5 8 6 5

None 72 70 71 67 79

All Figures in %• Insufficient information for

recharges, site is down while making transaction and privacy issues were the barriers for Freecharge that refrained people from shopping online

• Rechargedealswerenotavailable,risk of security/information threat and privacy were the barriers for Jio money which refrained people from shopping online


• Riskofsecurity/informationthreatand privacy issues were the barriers for Mobiwik which refrains people from shopping online

• Recharge deals not available, siteis down while making transaction and privacy issues were the barriers

that were faced by Paytm users• Site is down while making

transaction and payment failure while adding money were the barriers that were faced by statebank buddy users.

Channels Used for Online Shopping

All Figures in %

Mobile App is the most popularly used channel for online shopping with 88% consumers shopping through app-based ecommerce and 69% consumers using mobile apps

most often for shopping online. The smartphone penetration in the Indian markets has been a significant contributor to increase in mobile commerce in India.

Mode of Payment

All Figures in %


Cash on delivery (CoD) is the preferred mode of payment with 89% respondents and 74% most often prefer CoD as mode of payment.

Reasons for Selecting Cash on Delivery

Reason for selecting cash on delivery as a mode of payment ALL

BASE : All Respondents who prefers cash on delivery as payment option 290

Lack of awareness to use online transactions 26

Fear of product not being delivered after online payment 52

Fear of Product being delivered late after online payment 54

Security Issues 42

Loyalty Points 8

Discount coupouns for next purchase 3

All Figures in %

Iindicates thatFear of product not being delivered after online payment and Fear of Product being delivered late after online payment were the major factors for consumers preferring Cash on Delivery mode of payment. This shows that Trust factor is still missing among online consumers as they feel that product may not be delivered, or delivered late and there might be security issues of payment is made online.

Overall Satisfaction with Online Shopping

Mean 4.5

All Figures in %


From the above graph, it is clear that at an overall level, 94% of the total respondents were overall satisfied with the online shopping experience.

Satisfaction Level with Specific Online Portals

Satisfaction level for online shopping

Amazon Flipkart Myntra JabongNatures Basket

Big Basket

YatraMake

my tripPaytm

Freecharge

BASE : All Respondents Who Shopped at the Portal

90 88 43 39 41 42 42 43 45 46

Completely Satisfied

71 66 58 64 63 74 52 56 69 63

Somewhat Satisfied

24 20 35 28 32 19 38 40 27 33

Neither Satisfied Nor Dissatisfied

1 3 2 3 2 5 5 - 2 2

Somewhat Dissatisfied

1 6 2 5 2 2 2 2 2 -

Completely Dissatisfied

2 5 2 - - - 2 2 - 2

Top 2 Box 96 86 93 92 95 93 90 95 96 96

Bottom 2 Box 3 10 5 5 2 2 5 5 2 2

Mean 4.61 4.38 4.44 4.51 4.56 4.64 4.36 4.44 4.62 4.54

All Figures in %

Among the portals studied it is evident that Big Basket (74%) and Amazon (71%) have higher levels of satisfaction as compared to other portals.

Consumer Issues in Ecommerce and Awareness about Dispute Resolution

Consumers who expressed an overall satisfaction about online shopping also had some concerns/issues about the platform during some stage of the transaction. This section of quantative analysis brings out the

nature of issues/problems faced by consumers while shopping online, steps taken to resolve the issues, solutions provided by the e-portals and the satisfaction/dissatisfaction levels of the consumers with respect to the solutions and most importantly, the awareness of consumers with regard to the grievance redressal mechanisms available internally within the ecommerce companies and external mechanisms such as Alternate Dispute Resolutions and Consumer Redressal Forums.


Frequency of Problems Faced By Consumers While Shopping Online:Shopping Portals with Which Problems Were Faced

Name of shopping portal on which the problem was faced in LAST 1M or PAST ALL

BASE : Respondents who faced problem in LAST 1M or PAST 131

Flipkart 42

Amazon 30

Makemytrip 11

Bigbasket 7

Myntra 5

Yatra 5

Freecharge 4

Rest of the portals are not shown because of low baseAll Figures in %

indicates that Flipkart and Amazon are among the top companies with which consumers faced some issues in the last one month or in the past. These numbers are also attributed

to the popularity and high volume of transactions that take place on these portals. Rest of the portals i.e., Nature’s basket, Paytm and Jabong are not shown because of low base.

Nature of Problem FacedSome of the Problems Faced with Online Shopping Portals in All Categories

Nature of Problem Faced ALL

BASE : Respondents who faced problem in the Last 1M or Past 131

Product quality is not as per my expectation 43

Delay in delivery 33

Product specifications are not matching with product image on the website 27

Duplicate product 15

Unilateral cancellation 13

Product was not delivered 9

Return/replacement 9

False promotion offer 8

Additional charges 7

Sites are down while booking flight tickets/recharges 7

After sales service/warranty issues 6

All Figures in %


WEB CONTENT ANALYSIS

Right to be informed is one of the basic rights of a consumer. The UN Guidelines on Consumer Protection recognises access of consumers to adequate information, as a legitimate requirement to consumer protection policy. This right to be informed becomes all the more pertinent in commercial transactions where the parties to the contract of sale do not encounter each other at any stage of the transaction such as that in ecommerce. In other words, consumers in the electronic space need access to adequate and reliable information about the ecommerce business from which they procure goods and services, description of goods and services offered in the market, accessibility and assessibility about the third party seller and the manufacturer/producer hiding behind the seat of the third party seller. The information society consumer needs to be better informed and more emancipated than the off-line consumer. The revised draft Resolution of the UN Guidelines on Consumer Protection vide Resolution 70/186 of 22 December 2015 that was laid before the General Assembly recommends that businesses engaged in electronic commerce should provide accurate, clear and easily accessible information about themselves, the goods or services

offered and the terms and conditions on which they are offered to enable consumers to make an informed decision about whether to enter into the transaction.

A remote analysis of the information provided by the websites based on certain indicators. Indicators are broadly classified under general information, website details, transaction details, social media presence, Return/ Refund Policies, Important Terms of Use Relevant to Consumer transactions was done. Top two ecommerce companies based on consumers’ awareness about the shopping portals under the categories of multibrand, fashion, food/grocery, travel and online wallets have been considered for the purpose of web content analysis.

Web Content Analysis in the Category of Multibrand:

For the purpose of analysis, two companies Amazon and Flipkart have been taken since respondents are most familiar with the two brands.

MULTI BRAND CATEGORY (AMAZON,FLIPKART)

I General Information About Ecommerce

(a) Website Details

1. Details of Address of Registered Office on homepage is not available


on Amazon while Flipkart provides for both Address of Registered office and Mailing Address in its ‘Contact Us’ details on Homepage

2. Email id to contact is available on website for Amazon, but it is not available for Flipkart

3. Both Amazon and Flipkart provide for Web-based as well as Apps-based model of ecommerce

4. Virtual chat is not available for both the websites

5. Call back feature is available on Amazon but not on Flipkart

6. In terms of creating a new account, the ease of opening an account is moderate in both websites

7. User Agreement/Terms of Use and Privacy Policy are provided on both the websites

8. Provision of 'I Agree' Button at the stage of Registration is not available on both the website

9. Both the websites are present on social media like Youtube,Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Linkedln

10. Both Amazon and Flipkart explicitly provide for limitation of liability due to third party information

11. Both Amazon and Flipkart do not provide a monetary cap on limitation of their liability

12. Both Amazon and Flipkart provide for general restrictions/prohibitions for use of website

13. Both Amazon and Flipkart explicitly provide for prohibition against

disparaging of goods/service by the user in their terms of use

14. Both Amazon and Flipkart explicitly provide for restriction of use by children on their terms of use

15. Flipkart explicitly provides for prohibition of false representation or sale of counterfeit/fake goods or services by the users through the website in its terms of use whereas Amazon does not

16. Both Amazon and Flipkart explicitly provide for their the right to make changes in the website at any time without any prior written notice to customers

(b) Transaction Details

1. Description of goods/services is provided on both the websites

2. Picture quality of products displayed are good on both websites

3. Security of payment and transaction is available on Amazon as well as Flipkart

4. Suggestion for similar products is available on both the websites

5. Comparison between the products is available on Flipkart but not on Amazon

6. Positive, Negative Reviews are available on both the websites

7. Cancellation, return and refund policies are clearly mentioned for both the websites

8. Product catalogue is available for both the websites


9. Same day delivery option is available on both the websites

10. Pin code to which goods/service are deliverable is mentioned on both the websites

11. Seller/Vendor name is available on both the websites but its address is not available on Flipkart as well as amazon

12. Various payment options are available for both the websites

13. Reverse pick and refund options are available for both the websites

14.FAQs about the transaction isgiven on both the websites

15. Amazon provides a separate clause w.r.t pricing policy whereas Flipkart does not

16. Both websites provide for pricing inclusive of taxes, wherever relevant

Customer Care

1. Customer care details (Phone No./ Email ID) on homepage is not available for Amazon while Phone number is available on Homepage in Flipkart

2. Exclusive Link to cancellation policy on homepage is not available for Amazon but available for Flipkart

3. Exclusive Link to Refund and Return policy on homepage is available for both the websites

4. Period of cancellation is explicitly mentioned in both websites

5. For both the websites, refund period is mentioned explicitly on the platforms

6. Details for mode of return is given on both the websites

7. Reason for return is also available for both the websites

8. Details about refund period is available for both the websites

9. Details about the refund mode is mentioned on both the websites

Dispute Resolution

1. Address, Email Id and Fax No. of Grievance Officer is mentioned in the Terms of Use of Amazon while Name, Address, Email ID of the Grievance Officer is mentioned in the Terms of Use of Flipkart

2. Dispute Resolution Policy is explicitly provided under Terms of Use of Flipkart but not on Amazon

3. Both Amazon and Flipkart provide for governing law and jurisdiction

4. Both Amazon and Flipkart do not provide for terms referring consumer disputes to any mode of alternative dispute resolution

Web Content Analysis in the Category of Fashion

FASHION CATEGORY (MYNTRA,JABONG)


(a) Website Details

1. Details of Address of Registered Office on homepage is not available on Jabong while Myntra


provides for Address of Registered office on Homepage

2. Email id to contact is available on website for Myntra as well as Jabong

3. Both Jabong and Myntra provide for Web-based as well as Apps-based model of ecommerce


5. Call back feature is not available on Myntra as well as Jabong

6. In terms of creating a new account, the ease of opening an account is Easy in both websites


8. Provision of 'I Agree' Button at the stage of Registration is available on Jabong but not on Myntra

9. Both Myntra and Jabong are present on Youtube, Facebook,Twitter, Instagram and Linkedln

10. Both Jabong and Myntra explicitly provide for limitation of liability due to third party information

11. Myntra does not provide a monetary cap on limitation of their liability whereas Jabong provides for an entire and aggregate monetaryliability to its users.

12.Both Jabong and Myntra provide for general restrictions/prohibitions for use of website

13. Both Jabong and Myntra do not explicitly provide for prohibition of false representation or sale of counterfeit/fake goods or services

by the users through the website in their terms of use

14. Both Jabong and Myntra explicitly provide for prohibition against disparaging of goods/service by the user in their terms of use

15. Both Jabong and Myntra explicitly provide for restriction of use by children on their terms of use

16. Both Jabong and Myntra explicitly provide for their the right to make changes in the website at any time without any prior written notice to customers




3. Security of payment and transaction is available on Jabong as well as Myntra


5. Comparison between the products is not available for both the websites

6. Positive, Negative Reviews are not available for both the websites



9. Same day delivery option is available on Myntra but not available on Jabong



11. Seller/Vendor name is available on both the websites but its address is not available on Myntra but available on Jabong




15. Both Jabong and Myntra do not provide a separate clause w.r.t pricing policy


Customer Care

1. Customer care details (Phone No./ Email ID) on homepage is not available on Jabong while the same is available on Myntra’s homepage

2. Exclusive Link to cancellation policy on homepage is not available for Jabong but available for Myntra

3. Exclusive Link to return policy on homepage is available on Myntra but not available on Jabong and Link for refund policy is not available for both the websites

4. Period of cancellation is explicitly mentioned in Myntra but not in Jabong

5. For both the websites, refund period is mentioned explicitly on the platforms

6. Details for mode of return is given on both the websites




Dispute Resolution

1. Name, Address, Email ID, Telephone No. of Grievance Officer is not mentioned in Myntra whereas email Id of Grievance Officer is mentioned in Terms of Use of Jabong (No specific email Id, has a common id of customer support)

2. Dispute Resolution Policy is not explicitly provided under Terms of Use of both websites

3. Both Jabong and Myntra provide for governing law and jurisdiction

4. Jabong provides for referring consumer disputes to alternative dispute resolution, whereas Myntra does not

Web Content Analysis in the Category ofFood/Grocery:FOOD GROCERY CATEGORY (NATURE’S BASKET,BIGBASKET)


(a) Website Details

1. Details of Address of Registered Office on homepage is available on both websites


2. Email id to contact is available on website for Nature’s Basket as well as Big Basket

3. Both Nature’s Basket and Big Basket provide for web-based as well as apps based model of ecommerce


5. Call back feature is not available on Nature’s Basket as well as Big Basket

6. In terms of creating a new account, the ease of opening an account is Easy in both websites


8. Provision of 'I Agree' Button at the stage of Registration is available on BigBasket but not on Nature’s Basket

9. Both Nature’s Basket and Big Basket are present on Youtube,Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Linkedln

10. Both Big Basket and Nature’s Basket explicitly provide for limitation of liability due to third party information

11. Both Big Basket and Nature’s Basket do not provide a monetary cap on limitation of their liability

12. Both Big Basket and Nature’s Basket provide for general restrictions/prohibitions for use of website

13. Nature’s Basket explicitly provides for prohibition of false representation or sale of

counterfeit/fake goods or services by the users through the website in their terms of use whereas Big Basket does not

14. Nature’s Basket explicitly provides for prohibition against disparaging of goods/service by the user in their terms of use but Big Basket does not

15. Both Big Basket and Nature’s Basket explicitly provide for restriction of use by children on their terms of use

16. Both Big Basket and Nature’s Basket explicitly provide for their the right to make changes in the website at any time without any prior written notice to customers




3. Security of payment and transaction is available on Nature’s Basket as well as Big Basket



5. Positive, Negative Reviews are not available for both the websites




8. Same day delivery option is available on Nature’s Basket as well as Big Basket


10. Seller/Vendor name and address is not available for both the websites



13. FAQs about the transaction isgiven on both the websites

14. Both Big Basket and Nature’s Basket provide a separate clause w.r.t pricing policy


Customer Care

1. Customer care details (Phone No./ Email ID) on homepage is available for both the websites

2. Exclusive Link to cancellation policy on homepage is not available for Nature’s Basket as well as Big Basket

3. Exclusive Link to return and refund policy is not available for both the websites

4. Period of cancellation is explicitly mentioned in Big Basket but not in Nature’s Basket

5. For both the websites, refund period is mentioned explicitly on

the platforms6. Details for mode of return is given

on both the websites7. Reason for return is also available

for both the websites8. Details about refund period is

available for both the websites9 Details about the refund mode is

mentioned on both the websites

Dispute Resolution

1. Name, Address, Email ID, Telephone No. of Grievance Officer is not mentioned for both the websites

2. Dispute Resolution Process is not mentioned on Nature’s Basket as well as Big Basket

3. Big Basket provides for referring consumer disputes to alternative dispute resolution, whereas Nature’s Basket does not

Web Content Analysis in the Category of Travel:TRAVEL CATEGORY (YATRA,MAKEMYTRIP)


(a) Website Details

1. Details of Address of Registered Office on homepage is available onMakemytripbutnotonYatra

2. Email id to contact is available on website for MakeMyTrip but not availableforYatra

3. Both Yatra and Makemytrip


provide for both web-based as well as apps-based model of ecommerce

4. Virtual chat is available for Yatrabut not available for MakeMyTrip

5. Call back feature is not available onYatraaswellasMakeMyTrip

6. With respect to creating a new account, the ease of opening an account is Moderate with respect toYatraandEasyonMakemytrip


8. Provision of 'I Agree' Button at the stage of Registration is available onMakeMyTripbutnotonYatra

9. Both Yatra and MakeMyTrip arepresent on Youtube, Facebook,Twitter, Instagram and Linkedln

10.BothMakemytripandYatraexplicitlyprovide for limitation of liability due to third party information

11.Both Makemytrip and Yatra donot provide a monetary cap on limitation of their liability

12.Yatra provide for generalrestrictions/prohibitions for use of website in its Terms of Use but Makemytrip does not

13.Yatra explicitly provides forprohibition of false representation or sale of counterfeit/fake services by the users through the website in their terms of use whereas Makemytrip does not

14.Yatra explicitly provides forprohibition against disparaging of

goods/service by the user in their terms of use but Makemytrip does not

15.BothYatraandMakemytripdonotexplicitly provide for restriction of use by children on their terms of use

16.Both Yatra and Makemytripexplicitly provide for their the right to make changes in the website at any time without any prior written notice to customers


1. Description of services is provided on both the websites


3. Security of payment and transactionisavailableonYatraaswell as MakeMyTrip

4. Suggestion for similar products is available on MakeMyTrip but not availableforYatra


6. Positive, Negative Reviews are available for both the websites



9. Refund options are available for both the websites


11.Both Yatra and Makemytrip do


not provide a separate clause w.r.t pricing policy


Customer Care

1. Customer care details (Phone No./ Email ID) – Phone no./Toll Free line is available on Makemytrip but not onYatra.EmailIdisnotavailableon homepage of both websites.

2. Exclusive Link to cancellation policy on homepage is not available for both the websites


4. Period of cancellation is not explicitlymentioned inYatra andMakemytrip



Dispute Resolution

1. Name, Address, Email ID, Telephone No. of Grievance Officer is not mentioned for both the websites

2. Dispute Resolution Policy is not explicitly provided under Terms of Use of both websites

3. BothYatraandMakemytripprovidefor governing law and jurisdiction

4. Both Yatra and Makemytrip donot provide for referring consumer disputes to any mode of alternative dispute resolution

Web Content Analysis of Websites in the Category of Online WalletsONLINE WALLETS CATEGORY (PAYTM,FREECHARGE)


(a) Website Details

1. Details of Address of Registered Office on homepage is not available on both websites

2. Email id to contact is available on website for Paytm as well as Freecharge

3. Both Paytm and Freecharge provide for web-based as well as apps-based model of ecommerce


5. Call back feature is available on Paytm but not on Freecharge

6. With respect to creating a new account, the ease of opening an account is Moderate on Paytm and Easy on Freecharge


8. Provision of 'I Agree' Button at the stage of Registration is available on both the website

9. Both Paytm and Freecharge are present on Youtube, Facebook,Twitter, Instagram and Linkedln

10. Both Paytm and Freecharge explicitly provide for limitation of liability due to third party information


11. Both Paytm and Freecharge explicitly provide a monetary cap on limitation of their liability

12. Both Paytm and Freecharge provide for general restrictions/prohibitions for use of website in its Terms of Use

13. Freecharge explicitly provides for prohibition of false representation or sale of counterfeit/fake services by the users through the website in their terms of use whereas Paytm does not

14. Freecharge explicitly provides for prohibition against disparaging of goods/service by the user in their terms of use but Paytm does not

15. Paytm explicitly provides for restriction of use by children on their terms of use but Freecharge does not

16.Both Paytm and Freecharge explicitly provide for their the right to make changes in the website at any time without any prior written notice to customers


1. Security of payment and transaction is available on Paytm as well as Freecharge



4. Refund options are available for both the websites

5. FAQs about the transaction isgiven on both the websites

6. Both Paytm and Freecharge do not provide a separate clause w.r.t pricing policy


Customer Care

1. Customer care details (Email ID) on homepage is not available for both the websites.

2. Customer care details (Telephone No.) on homepage is present on Paytm but not present on Freecharge

3. Exclusive Link to cancellation policy on homepage is not available for Paytm as well as Freecharge

4. Period of cancellation is not explicitly mentioned in Paytm and Freecharge





Dispute Resolution

1. Address and Email ID of Grievance Officer is mentioned on Paytm whereas no details of Grievance officer is mentioned on Freecharge

2. Dispute Resolution Process is


mentioned on Paytm but not on Freecharge

3. Both Paytm and Freecharge provide for governing law and jurisdiction

4. Paytm provides for referring consumer disputes to alternative dispute resolution but Freecharge does not

4. FINDINGS, REPORT ANDRECOMMENDATIONS

1. Most preferred categories for shopping online are Clothing/shoes with 91% respondents followed by Bags/watches/fashion accessories with 73% respondents and for Offline shopping, most preferred categories for are Health/Nutrition with 78% respondents and Household items/furniture with 81% respondents.

2. Amazon, Flipkart and Paytm emerge as the top three brands on brand awareness, followed by Myntra and Snapdeal.

3. Among the five categories of ecommerce, the following companies emerged as top two brands, which consumers were totally aware of:

a. Multibrand – Amazon , Flipkartb. Fashion – Myntra, Jabongc. Food/Groceries – Big Basket,

Nature’s Basketd. Travel-Makemytrip,Yatrae. Online Wallet – Paytm, Freecharge

4. Variety of products, Customer services offered, ease of cancellation process are the top reasons that encourage consumers to shop online.

5. Product replacement, touch and feel factor are the top barriers which make people refrain from shopping online for groceries, fashion and multi-brand categories

6. For travel categories, misinformation regarding product details, non-availability of deals and discounts, higher prices compared to other sites were the key barriers

7. For Online Wallets category, privacy issues and sites down while making the transaction were some of the factors that made people refrain from using them

8. Mobile App is the most popularly used channel for online shopping with 88% consumers shopping through app-based ecommerce

9. Cash on delivery (CoD) is the preferred mode of payment with 89% respondents and 74% most often prefer CoD as mode of payment.

10. 94% of the total respondents were overall satisfied with the online shopping experience.

11. However, one-third (34%) claimed to have faced some issue with online shopping ever, while less than one-fifth (18%) claimed to have faced problems in the past one month


and one-fourth (24%) claimed to have faced problems in the past.

12. ‘Delay in delivery’ (33%), ‘product quality is not as per my expectation’ (43%) and ‘product specifications are not matching with product image on the website’ (27%) are the top 3 nature of problems faced by consumers.

13. Consumers who purchased goods/services through the online portals in all five categories generally called the customer care (64%) if they faced any problem while shopping online in last one month as well as in the past, followed by sending mails (33%)

14. Apart from contacting the customer care of the portal through calls and email, 15% of respondents have also complained to the grievance officer of the website.

15. ‘Replacing the product’ is the most common solution provided by the company (41%), followed by ‘Returning the product’ (27%) and ‘Providing gift coupons for next purchase’ (14%).

16. However, it is also alarming to see that about 15% of the consumers indicated that ‘Despite repeated contacts nothing happened so I gave up’.

17. Three-fourth (81%) of those who faced problems tried to return the product back to the shopping portal.

18. Among the 106 respondents who tried to return the product

in the last one month or in the past, replacement (80%) was the most popular option which was preferred by more than three-fourths of the respondents who tried to return products back followed by only 20% who preferred refund.

19. More than three-fourths (78%) of consumers who faced any problem while shopping online were satisfied with the solution given by online e-commerce portals. Overall, about 40% consumers were Somewhat Satisfied and 38% consumers were completely satisfied.

20. Only 34% of consumers who shop online are aware of Grievance Officers and their details on the online shopping portals.

Combined summary* of Quantitative and Online Portal Website Analysis

(*Wherever percentage figures are mentioned, it has been taken from the Consumer Survey and wherever percentages are not mentioned, it was taken from Content Analysis)

Based on the satisfaction/dissatisfaction levels of consumers through this study and a thorough analysis of the web content of the ecommerce companies, the following is a combined summary of the strengths and weaknesses of each of the online shopping portal.


Comparative Testing Report

Sl. No

Categories of Disclosures/Information

Amazon Flipkart Jabong MyntraBig

BasketYatra

Makemy trip

Yatra PaytmFree

charge

1.

General Information About Ecommerce

Excellent Excellent V.Good Excellent Excellent Excellent V.Good V.Good V.GoodVery Good

2. Customer Care Information

Excellent Excellent V.Good Excellent Excellent V.Good Good Good V.Good Good

3. Dispute Resolution Information

V.Good V.Good Good Poor Average Poor Poor Poor V.Good Poor

Recommendations

For Consumer

1. Acquaint with terms of use and privacy policy before registering

2. Check for adequate customer care details like email, telephone/helplines, address of the ecommerce company

3. Acquaint with Cancellation, Return and Refund Policies

4. Compare pricing5. Check for Sellers and seller rating6. Check for desired quantity7. Check if product is deliverable to

your postal pincode8. Adopt CoD for first purchase, if

unfamiliar with website9. Check for encryption key before

proceeding with payment10. Save/Print and Preserve invoice/

other transaction details received by email or any other correspondence

11. DO NOT TAMPER OR USE

PRODUCT if found to be unfit for use or if not satisfied.

12. Approach customer care service as first point of contact in case of grievance

13. If issue is not resolved, approach grievance officer

14. Further course of actions may be arbitration, mediation, consumer grievance redressal machineries.

15. Report sale of fake or counterfeit goods/services to the ecommerce company immediately.

For Business

1. Name, address of registered office, telephone number, email address and customer care details to be provided on landing/Home Page of the website.

2. Cancellation, Return/replacement and Refund being the top consumer issues, policies relating to the same should be explicitly


and clearly provided as separate links on the home page of the website in order to provide ease of access to information

3. Ecommerce companies to provide names, address and contact details of grievance officers on the website

4. Seller/Vendor details and seller rating on website can be useful information to the consumer to choose the right product and right seller

5. Provide FAQs about the differentstages of transaction on the website to navigate consumer, specifically about how consumer can approach the ecommerce company with a grievance and what are the steps for escalation of the grievance if the same is not resolved by the customer care.

6. Images of products should be properly visible and 3-D images or proper videos of the product should be available while purchasing online

7. Provide user-friendly layout of the website, which will be easier for the consumer to navigate

8. Provide explicit provisions regarding prohibition of unfair trade practices such as sale of fake/counterfeit goods and service and users disparaging their goods and services against others.

9. Provide for restriction or prohibition of use of website by children explicitly under Terms of Use

10. Virtual Chat option and call back facilities should be provided so that it is easier for consumers to communicate with portals apart from mere provision of customer care details like telephone number and email id.

11. Provide explicit provisions on dispute resolution process adopted by the online portal

12. Explore and adopt alternate dispute resolution process for quick and easy consumer grievance redressal.

COMPARATIVETESTTEAMFORECOMMERCEWEBSITES

The CONCERT Lead: Dr.PratimaNarayan,Advocate and Mediator

The EAC members:Mrs.NirmalaDesikan,Chairman & Managing Trustee, CONCERTMr.G.Santhanarajan,Project Director, CONCERTMr.SreeKrishnaBharadwaj.H,Legal Consultant

Edited by: Mrs.NirmalaDesikan,Chairman & Managing Trustee, CONCERT

Special supplement designed by: Mr.BaskarRoa,Webmoksha

******

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