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Digitisation has transformed the integral lifestyle of people from conventional shopping to digital buying. The ease of buying from digital platforms has become an obligation for individuals, mainly people living in the cities. Digital marketing offers supreme opportunities for the retail segment as it affords a significant revolution from traditional shops to virtual stores that function at a minimum cost (NDA, 2015). The progressions in information and communication technology (ICT) have increased the usage of smartphones and the Internet has been accelerating digital trading in the Indian market (Rao & Patro, 2017). This has been driving online vendors to provide attractive options such as one-day delivery, doorstep trails, payment using mobile UPI apps, simple check-outs, ordering through WhatsApp, etc., for a much better consumer shopping experience (Chaturvedi & Gupta, 2014). Moreover, practising international marketing strategies is also attracting the Indian retail market segment (Patro, 2018).
The growing number of digital shoppers is boosting sales through the Internet. As per the survey by ASSOCHAM (2016), consumers are shifting towards digital shopping because of the competitive prices/concessions, time-saving, shopping at ease at anytime and anywhere, accessibility to a variety of products, comparison among different models/brands, and comprehensive product/service information provided by the online traders. The other features accountable for the progress of digital trading are hostile marketing and flash sales discounts, daily deals, providing loyalty plans, and so on have been driving consumers to buy through digital stores (PWC, 2015).
In the digital era, shoppers have gained incredible experience and hence, recognising the elements influencing consumers has become imperative (Jaiswal & Singh, 2020). According to Palmer (2010), competitive advantage can be attained through efficient management of buyers’ experiences. Thus, the buyer's experience arises as a significant aspect that motivates the consumer in using digital platforms for shopping purposes (Izogo & Jayawardhena, 2018). A survey conducted by Indian Brand Equity Foundation (2018), identified that increased usage of smartphones, enhanced infrastructure, availability of low-cost mobiles, digital India program, introduction to 4G network, and growing consumer choices are the factors leading the country to become the fast-growing digital marketplaces globally.
In contrast to conventional shopping, digital shopping has gained volatile progress as it signifies a more economic and appropriate means of buying. The digital marketplace offers buyers the required information for product comparisons, the opportunity to get competitive prices, a wide range of product selections and easy access to required products (Katta & Patro, 2017a). It also offers a greater shopping experience and consummation to contemporary buyers looking for expediency and speediness in procuring the products (Yu & Wu, 2007; Saha & Mathew, 2021). Therefore, online retailers need to retain digital shoppers for getting competitive benefits in the market. When the shoppers are pleased with an online trader, they may repurchase from the same retailer (Tsai & Huang, 2007). The consumer’s experiences throughout the various phases of purchase behaviour will result in their satisfaction with particular products and online traders. The digital buyer's experience is primarily based on the information provided by online traders as the consumers do not have physical contact with the product (Patro, 2019). Thus, it is evident that the information provided by the e-retailers can influence the buyer's satisfaction during the information search phase as well as the purchase decision phase (Bleier et al., 2019).