How online is pushing offline towards losses? Reasons due to which customers preferring online retail over offline retail.

1. A Study on:
Tug of War
Between On and
Offline in retail
Authored by
Prof. Prakash Singh

2. Area and Title Selection
Criteria
• Subject Area of the Case: E-Commerce
• Title Selection Criteria: There is a war
between offline and online retail giants and
since everything is fair in war and business
and hence it has been titled as
“TUG OF WAR”

4. Protagonist Selection Criteria
• Online Retail is the Protagonist of the
case.
• The reason for this is that as a Hero they
are showering the market with attractive
product and price offers to the
customers.

5. Data Source and Story
Development for Case
Construction
• Information available at
www.rediff.com/business/report/online-retailers-are-
here-to-stay-despite-odds/20141106.htm
• Online available at www.bigbazaar.com
• www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/consumer-
business/articles/2015-retail-outlook.html
• Information accessed from www.pwc.in
• http://inc42.com/resources/what-does-the-future-hold-
online-vs-offline/
• http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/

6. Short Term and Long Term
Issues
SHORT TERM ISSUES LONG TERM
ISSUES
Price War Footfalls & Login
Taxation Availability
Quality Logistics
Operating cost Convenience

7. Study Analysis
The line “Everything is fair in love and war” is
very suitable for the tug of war between
online and offline in retail sector as both
players of on and off are adopting various
marketing strategies to attract and retain the
customers and there are clashes of
marketing offerings which is making the king
of the market-customer delighted.

8. There are some identified gaps between both
of and on line retailers which lead to tug of
war among them. These are mentioned as
below:-
1. Online vs. Offline-Online has no any
geographical limitation while offline has
limited geographical boundary.
2. Impersonal vs. Personal-Customers are
unknown to online and they even don’t visit
the company while in offline, customers are
known as many of them are regular visitors
and they know about the company.
3. Limited choices vs. Much more choice-
Customers have limited choice on online and
have much more choice available at offline.

9. 4. Reverse Logistics vs. No
return.
5. Login vs. Footfall
6. Quality vs. Cost-Quality may
be good in online retail while
price of product are higher
in offline than online.
7. No Renting vs. Renting
8. No VAT vs. VAT
9. No Stocking vs. Stocking
10.24/7 vs. Fixed Duration

10. • For sustaining and surviving in this global
competitive business world, all are in the hurry
to differentiate themselves from others by hook
or crook and only that would be the market
leader who will be the fittest among all.
• From Big Billion Day Sale on Flipkart to Big
Bazaar’s Saal ka Sabse Sasta Din, the war is
on to acquire more and more customers in a
short span of time are the current marketing
strategies adopted by companies of
marketplaces and market spaces.

11. 48%
39%
Lower prices/better deals than offline
Shop 24/7 online
46%
46%
No need to travel to a physical store*
38%
Easier to compare and research products/offers than offline
36%
33%
Wider variety of products than offline
Customer reviews of products available online Better
product information than offline
27%
23%
2
4
%
21%
21%
19%
Wider variety of return options*
13%
2014
2013
Receiving a promotion via email or text/SMS message (e.g.
coupons/vouchers) Looking for a particular brand/product
Some products only available online
13%
11%
12%
15%
12%
11%
Social media interactions via Facebook, Twitter, etc. (e.g. sharing a
6%
link, liking a brand, or posting a comment) 6%
Other 2%
1%

12. 23%
77%
Due to the above factors, 77%
customers have visited offline
store only to browse products but
decided to purchase online while
23 % have visited to buy from
there.

15. •Whether the sale happens over the
counter or through a click will depend on
the customer.
•Indian retail sector is in the phase of
transformation from offline to online and
this is a good sign for the market as it is
beneficial for the customers.
•The tug of war between the retail
industries have created a new history as
there is price war and showering of offers
in the market and make the customer
delighted.
•Once the retailers understand their
customers in a better way, once they
know what makes them tick, they will be
able to put the right package before them,
whether that’s online or offline.

16. Contact Number- 8888884030
E-mail Id- phdpsingh@gmail.com
Website- www.prakashsingh.co.in