ABSTRACT: India’s retail landscape now combines kirana stores, malls, organised chains, e-commerce and quickcommerce, and Mumbai, with its dense markets and digitally fluent consumers, is where these formats meet most visibly. This study examines how consumers in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region choose between online and offline retail, which factors shape that choice, and how satisfied and trusting they are in each channel. Primary data were collected through a structured Google Forms questionnaire of 21 questions, answered by 50 respondents selected by non-probability convenience sampling and reached through WhatsApp. The questionnaire combined profile questions with statements on purchase frequency, product categories, convenience, variety, staff interaction, demographics, income, satisfaction, perceived risk and trust. Secondary material consisted of published research on online and offline shopping behaviour. Responses were analysed through frequency and percentage analysis, tables and charts. Respondents are young (78% aged 18–25) and mostly salaried (50%) or students (32%). Channel choice depends on the product: 64% prefer to buy high-value electronics online, whereas 60% prefer to buy fashion apparel and footwear and 54% daily groceries from offline stores. Online shopping satisfies 56% of respondents and offline shopping 52%, 56% say that perceived risk reduces their willingness to buy online, and 54% trust physical stores more because products can be inspected. Neutral responses are high (28% to 52%), which suggests that many consumers hold no firm channel preference. The study concludes that online and offline retail are complementary rather than competing, and that its findings, which rest on a small convenience sample, cannot be generalised beyond the respondents surveyed.
A STUDY ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS ONLINE AND OFFLINE RETAIL IN MUMBAI
ANSARI REHAN AFROZ, DR. SONALI NANDU