MUHAMMED SHA SULAIMAN

A Study on the Impact of the Online Shopping Sites on Local Retailers with Special reference to Kollam District

Views abound on the impact of the Internet and e-commerce on traditional forms of retailing. Scenarios range from, on the one hand, the almost total devastation of existing physical retailing to, on the other, limited if any impact upon ‘‘real’’ retailing. Despite excessive hype, spectacular failures, and the myriad of conflicting views and crystal-ball gazing, e-commerce processes and procedures provide the potential for a fundamental reassessment of how retailing operates and how retailers behave.

Without a doubt, the existing ways of operating and the associated cost structures within retailing will be reassessed under the onslaught of new technology and new retail structure (1) The e-commerce market is on the rise, but that doesn’t mean the retail market has gone down significantly. You don’t see shopping malls closing down every other month or the retail stores of your favourite brand shutting down because the same products are available online. Yes, there has been a paradigm shift from retail to online shopping, and it has put the private sector employers in a harsh and peculiar position.