Electronic commerce becomes one of the essential characteristics in the internet area. This change in the environment, demands more and more optimization of the time. Consumer buying behavior has changed from convenience to comfort and from buying in stores to buying online even buying from big screen to buying small screen i.e. shift form windows PC to Android/Device. Consumer buying behavior has changed from convenience to comfort and from buying in stores to buying online. The current era is the era of retailing. There is a paradigm shift of consumers moving from market place to market space. Consumers now prefer to shop products online over conventional methods of shopping in stores. But customers are skeptical about the online purchasing. According to UCLA Center for communication policy (2001), online shopping has become the third most popular internet activity, immediately following e-mail Using/instant messaging and web browsing. It is even more popular than seeking out entertainment information and news, two commonly thought of activities when considering what internet users do when online. Of internet users, 48.9 percent made online purchase in 2001, with three-quarters of purchases indicating that they make 1–110 purchase per year. Hence this study made to know the customer preference towards online shopping in Erode District with sample respondents of 60. The objective of this study is to identify whether professions, that is entrepreneurs or working class has any impact on preference for online shopping. This research also aims to find out the key factors that influence online buying behavior of consumers and to identify the determinants of online purchase intention among customers.
Online Shopping, Customer preferences, Time saving, Security and Privacy
