CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IN E-COMMERCE

Abstract

The process of buying in e-commerce is similar to general concept where five main phases can be distinguished ie. need recognition, information search, information evaluation, purchase decision, post-purchase behaviour. The use of Internet in e-commerce, raises very specific implications for almost every phase. One of the main differences between consumers that are buying offline and online, concern the ways of information acquisition, where Internet customers have access to many online tools that can stimulate the buying process ei. price comparison websites or blogs. Moreover, it is possible to name the factors that determine the whole purchase process and to present their possible impact on customer decision to buy given product. In Internet environment some of the factors did naturally grow in importance (eg.price or risk factor), the other did decrease in their impact (eg. weather or having money in cash factor). Given the fact how fast the e-commerce is changing through the first twenty years of its existance, the main conclusion of the article is the constant need for further research in the area.