Ranking of perceived risks in online shopping

Abstract

e-Commerce has transformed the way of doing business in India. Online shopping provides comfort and convenience. However, shoppers are always weary of perceived risks associated with online shopping. Perceived risks serve as barriers in the growth of e-Commerce. This research identifies three important types of perceived risks: performance risk, financial risk and time-loss risk. With the help of confirmatory factor analysis, this study validates the predefined scale of perceived risk in order to test its adaptability in Indian context. This research prioritizes the above-mentioned three perceived risks and solves the multi-criteria decision-making problem by employing analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Here, the goal or the problem was to rank the top B2C e-Commerce brands of India as per the perceived risks of respondents. Results confirm that performance risk and financial risk are top-ranked risks that need attention by management of e-Commerce companies in order to boost company’s topline and bottom line. AHP technique also suggests the quantum of perceived risk with respect to selected B2C e-Commerce brands.