Behavior Study on Consumer Driven e-Commerce

The growth of internet availability and rise of affordable express parcel delivery services for the general public in China has greatly impacted people’s consumer behavior. More and more consumers have joined in on the growing market of online shopping and e-commerce. One group of these consumers prefer searching through various websites, combing through different products and prices, then deciding on what to purchase after comparing and contrasting offers from competing merchants. Another group would rather plan out their purchasing requirements, such as maximum price limit or ideal brand, and let others fulfill their order. Yet others, in order to save both time and effort, decide to join in on group purchasing for group discounts and better package deals. E-commerce users are found in all age groups and among those living in both first class and second tier cities. To serve these various groups of consumers, e-commerce businesses take several forms, ranging from B2C, C2b, and F2C (from factory to consumer). In order to better understand the evolving consumer behavior in China and examine the shopping preference among the different age groups, we designed and conducted an ethnographic study in Shanghai, China to explore the following questions: the various situations in which consumers use different styles of shopping, their specific shopping preferences and concerns, and the various roles that each factor plays in their decision-making process. This paper is a case study that illustrates the different user behaviors across these different age groups of e-commerce consumers.