Online impulse buying: a qualitative inquiry for consumer centric insights

Abstract

Internet has become a popular medium of shopping for consumers. So, e-impulse buying has become a prevalent feature of consumer shopping behaviour. Therefore, a qualitative approach through conducting focus interview has been adopted to explore it deeply. The population for the study is heterogeneous because it comprised of all types of consumers who often go for online shopping in the past six months. Purposive sample technique was used to collect data. Consumers were interviewed and their experiences were recorded with the pre-approval of the respondents. This paper focuses on online shopping and impulse purchases among consumers. Results reveal that consumers mostly buy electronic products online like smartphones, microphones, iPads, etc. and are motivated by mainly three factors (conveniences, price and quality) which trigger them to go for online impulse buying. As per the findings of the study, the most popular websites among consumers are Amazon and Flipkart. The study provides insights, add to the knowledge of the researchers, academicians and online strategist to optimise their strategies in a better way.