Thesis entitled

“AN ANALYTICAL STUDY OF MARKETING

PRACTICES OF INDIAN ONLINE MARKETERS”

SUBMITTED TO
SAVITRIBAI PHULE PUNE UNIVERSITY

FOR THE AWARD OF DEGREE OF

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
IN
MARKETING
FACULTY OF COMMERCE

SUBMITTED BY:
MS. SADIA SHAIKH
(M.COM, M.PHIL, SET)

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

DR. SHAILA BOOTWALA
M.COM., M.PHIL., PH.D
PRINCIPAL
ABEDA INAMDAR SENIOR COLLEGE, PUNE

RESEARCH CENTRE IN COMMERCE

ABEDA INAMDAR SENIOR COLLEGE, PUNE-1
JULY 2019
CHAPTER – VII

SUGGESTIONS AND

CONCLUSION
This chapter deals with the suggestions and summarises the entire thesis by
providing scope for further research, contribution to the body of knowledge and
overall conclusions.

7.1 Major Suggestions To The Online Marketers

1. The findings suggest that all types of companies should focus their efforts
on engaging their customers via experiential marketing through increased
participation and getting them connected with their products. The
marketers should provide their customers with as many opportunities as
possible, enhancing their personal interaction with the brand, related
product stories as well as other customers too.

2. The marketers need to monitor many different models and trends to

understand the changing perceptions of the customers. There is a need to
develop ongoing measures to monitor the changing trends of customer
behaviour and product offerings.

3. The marketers aiming at soliciting consumer engagement can address

consumers cognitive thought process i.e. the pre and post purchase
confusion and dissonance by posting content which will reassure the
consumers about their purchase decisions. Regularly posting will lead to an
increased consumer contacts which will further aid in strengthening brand
recall and help to foster brand relationship, thereby inducing participation
and leading to consumer involvement, and an increased perception of value
in the organization/product. Engagement leads to purchase intent, and brand
loyalty thereby enabling the organization to achieve the twin goals of
Customer acquisition and Customer retention.

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 4. Marketers should personalise customer engagement through content
nurturing. There are many social media marketing techniques which will
land the customers to the marketers web page, but the challenge is to convert
this traffic to actual sales, which is possible through an effective and
appropriate engagement techniques like Constant updates, NewsFeed,
Content marketing, Blog Marketing and through nurturing the leads.

5. Online Market Segmentation plays a pivotal role to attract the right

audience to the marketers home page, hence understanding the online
buying behaviour of the target audience is essential. Customising the online
marketing techniques aids in attracting, converting and retaining the
customers. Though many marketers in this research study have not given
importance to market segmentation, but Segmentation of consumers is a
significant approach to be followed for Customer Acquisition.

6. Furthermore, to fully utilize the opportunity, the marketers need to leverage

the growing number of mobile devices in the country. They should focus on
developing mobile-compatible websites and applications. This would allow
customers to log on to easy-to-access platforms and browse e-Commerce
websites on their mobile devices. As the shift of e-commerce market to m-
commerce market is quite evident from the study.
7. Wearables are one of the hottest consumer consumable commodities (e.g.
Apple Watch, activity trackers, augmented reality) It is gaining a lot of
momentum these days, the marketers need to take cue of this technology.

7.2 Implication for the academicians

The present research study provides a valuable piece of work for academicians in
the field of marketing. The study can be helpful to educators in designing and
developing a theoretical and conceptual framework for the academic Curriculum in
the subject of online marketing, as this is the latest and new dimension of recent
development in the field of marketing. The study can act as a platform for various
research scholars and academicians with relevant factual data which can act as a
guide for conducting further research study.

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7.3 Contribution to the Body of Knowledge

The prime objective of the present research study is to analyze the marketing
practices adopted by the online marketers and to study the effective strategies to
attract, grow, engage and retain the online customers. There are many effective
strategies which are evolving fast which are identified and analysed during the
research pursuit which has immensely contributed to the body of knowledge.

• Till now there has been very few studies undertaken in this field. Thus the
present study will act as a base for further research to be undertaken in the
field of online marketing in India.
• The significant feature of the present study is that it is first of its kind
research done in exploring the various strategies to attract the online
consumers, identifying the most effective strategy for attracting and
engaging the online customers.
• The study provides framework model to the online marketers so that they
can frame suitable strategies to target their online customers thus adding a
new dimension to the existing literature.

7.4 Scope for Further Research.

While conducting this research, different emerging areas was noticed by the
researcher wherein further research can be conducted.

• One of the emerging areas where online marketing is mushrooming fast is

in agricultural sector, a study of online marketing practices in agro
industries would be very useful. The functioning of e-choupals, trends and
challenges would bring in new dimension of conducting online business in
this sector.
• Research can also be conducted in the area of M-Commerce, as with the
increase in the growth of mobile devices, fast internet connectivity and
digitization it is the next emerging area of business which is catching up at
a great pace.

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 • The scope of the study can be extended to other parts of the country and
different regions.
• The study can be further conducted on different formats like marketing
practices adopted by B2B and B2C marketers in India.

7.5 Overall Conclusion

Undoubtedly, it’s an expansion time for E-Commerce Industry. E-Commerce

players are banking on the Indian internet growth story. The fact that an average
online user is spending more time online gives these players the opportunity to draw
more users to their websites through innovative marketing strategies such as those
revolving around social media.

Furthermore, to fully utilize the opportunity, the marketers need to leverage the
growing number of mobile devices in the country. They should focus on developing
mobile-compatible websites and applications. This would allow customers to log
on to easy-to-access platforms and browse e-Commerce websites on their mobile
devices.

They also need to focus on innovation to tackle challenges arising from low credit
and debit card penetration. They could consider working with financial
intermediaries to develop payment systems, such as escrow services, for resolving
issues around security and product delivery. The Reserve Bank of India could step
in and reduce the number of online transaction failures by defining service metric
quality and monitoring it at regular intervals. This would enable it to keep a close
eye on the performance of financial intermediaries and plug gaps as soon as they
occur.

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The following points are derived to summarise the application of online marketing
for marketers in India:

1. The customer has become the main focus of attention and driving force:
The virtual world has changed the nature of market by transferring the
commercial power in the hands of the buyer. The immense growth of
internet provides a wider range of opportunities to instantly compare and
make choices. Thus with the advent of internet the customer has become
the main focus of attention and driving force for the business.
2. New trends and marketing opportunities are emerging: The internet has
created new platforms and opportunities in Commerce as well as new
sources of competitive advantages. Different models and trends are
emerging in different forms. Convergence of industries, specifically the
sectors in Banking, e-Commerce, communication, software and
entertainment is kneading its way into newer and wider marketing
opportunities leading in a rush of mergers, acquisitions, alliances and
partnerships for capitalizing on new synergies.
3. Need for new online marketing strategies: With the dynamic changes in
the market and with the growing number of online consumers, there is a
constant need to re-innovate the strategies, create new micro-segments to
cater to each consumer group with the similar need and characteristic and
so an omni-mix marketing strategy is the need of the hour. As the
competition intensifies it is important to create a dialogue with the
consumer through different social media channels like Facebook, twitter, in
order to retain and nurture them.
4. To develop an interactive, attractive and value-enhancing website: The
growing power of internet with offers a wide range of opportunities to
Marketers as well as consumers to interact online without any hinderance,
thus building a long term and enduring relationship. The marketers need to
create a very attractive and user-friendly website, alongwith content based
videos and stories revolving around their products enhancing their shopping
experience. It is also important to constantly update and develop newer

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 strategies to engage the consumers by holding online contests, games and
offers to tap and retain the online consumer base.
5. Digital assistants will lead to a new kind of optimization. Search engine
optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising are two highly
popular strategies for getting your site seen by thousands of previously
unknown visitors. But the rise of digital assistants is going to lead to a new
kind of optimization. Digital assistants like Siri and Cortana do utilize
traditional search engines, but only when necessary to find information. The
key to optimizing in this new format is to make sure your business
information is easily accessible to these assistants.
6. Virtual Dressing rooms: This is a new trend which is catching on fast, the
marketers must try to provide a virtual experience which is enjoyable to use
and feel the products offered virtually so that the online customers can
experience the feel of the actual product, especially the marketers dealing
with tourism, clothes, accessories products. Rosetta carpet company is
adopting this form of marketing approach.

By implementing the findings of this research study, the marketers can observe an
increase in their awareness and reach programs, which will ultimately lead to
enrichment of their marketing programs and strategies.

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