USING CORRESPONDENCE ANALYSIS TO MAP ONLINE PURCHASE CRITERIA OF DIFFERENT PRODUCT CATEGORIES

The objective of present study is to evaluate online product categories (electronics, apparels, personal care, kitchen appliances and stationary & school/offices supplies) association with key purchase criteria to illustrate the relative positioning of five product categories across specific purchase criteria. The study include sample of 600 respondents from three tier 2 cities of north India-Kota, Agra, and Jalandhar survey, correspondence analysis was used to depict a purchase criteria based comparative analysis of the top selling online product categories. The findings of the paper helps to reflect on three aspects - (i) similarity in positioning of product categories, (ii) purchase criteria association with product categories and (iii) discriminatory purchase criteria. This study provides meaningful insights for multi-category players and market space aggregator to create an efficient/effective marketing programs for obtaining sustainable competitive advantage. The study also presents an opportunity for online marketers to take benefit of its current positioning, or if necessary, optimally reposition itself. This study presents a meaningful ground to future researchers who wish to investigate the growing potential of e-tailing in small town India.