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Top1. Introduction
The number of internet users in India is increasing at a phenomenal rate both in urban as well as rural cities. India had more than 470 million internet users across the country and it is predicted to increase to more than 660 million by 2023 (Statista Report, 2020). India is positioned second in the world concerning dynamic and active internet users. The e-commerce industry in India is predicted to be worth around 200 billion U.S. dollars in 2027. In 2022, around 72.9 percent of internet users were estimated to be digital buyers (Statista Report, 2020). As a result, various physical retailers are going digital utilizing an e-commerce store (Chatterjee, 2010). The growth of the e-commerce industry business has resulted in significant changes in customer purchasing and the shift of business from the physical store to the online store (Kwak, Fox, & Zinkhan, 2002). This has also led to the interest of various researchers trying to know what drives shoppers to shop on the internet. This change is at the same time challenging the conventional business processes and reshaping customers' shopping propensities (Chiang & Dholakia, 2003).
The textile and footwear industry are a very powerful sector for the Indian economy. The footwear industry has got an eminence place in both local and global markets. India is the second biggest worldwide manufacturer of footwear after China, representing 14% of worldwide footwear manufacture of 16 billion sets (Report, 2020). India manufactures 2067 million types and categories of footwear pairs. India exports around 115 million sets. About 95% of footwear products are consumed in the local market (Goel, 2014). The key footwear production places in India are Chennai, Panipat, Ambur, Mumbai, Kanpur, Jalandhar, Agra, Delhi, Ludhiana, Kolkata, Sonipat, etc. The workers engaged in the footwear producing industry are approximately 1 million. The footwear includes school uniform shoes, casuals, moccasins, sports shoes, sandals, ballerinas, boots, sandals, and chappals made of elastic, plastic, P.V.C. (Infoline, 2011). The Footwear market is presently de-licensed and de-reserved, preparing for the development of capacities on current modern lines with best in class and advanced machines. The primary export markets for Indian footwear were the USA from 2016 through 2017. The U.S.A and few European countries are the major buyers and comprise 80.53% share of Indian footwear export (Infoline, 2011). E-market will open an additional avenue for the industry. With the development of the e-commerce facility, the small local sellers will have the opportunity to sell their products globally. The footwear segment is expected to increase its profit due to its omnichannel existence.
Consumers get many benefits from online shopping as they can buy products anywhere and at any time (Chiang & Dholakia, 2003) The communicating features of the website increases consumer engagement. Online shopping has its limitations when compared with physical stores, as shoppers can't see, feel, taste, or smell the products they are purchasing (Joann & Childers, 2003). Similar to brick and mortar store the customer needs to be informed about product attributes (design, style, size, color, quality, durability, brand name, and warranty) through a well-designed web/app interface. E-retailers need to create a setting similar to brick-and-mortar footwear shopping for a satisfying shopping experience. Footwear presentation and aesthetics on the website should promote quality.
Previous empirical studies have reflected on various variables to explain online purchase intention: like time-saving (Beauchamp & Ponder, 2010), electronic innovativeness (Yang et al. 2012), perceived security (Kim et al. 2004b; McCole et al. 2010), Website attributes (Li, 2015), Convenience (Yang, Zhao, & Wan, 2010), information quality (Kim et al. 2004b; Kuan et al. 2008; McCole et al. 2010), trust (McCole et al. 2010), cost-saving (Sun et al. 2014; Wu et al. 2014) and perceived value (Wu et al. 2014).