Research On E-Commerce Business Process In India

Question

Task: The proposal will be used as the basis of your dissertation/final project and as such must include:

• a brief description of and justification for the area of study
• the research questions/issues to be explored
• a relevant literature review
• a critical exploration of appropriate research methodologies for your study, including data collection instruments
• an indication of the data analysis approach you will use
• consideration of ethical issues associated with your study
• approximate time line
• any problems or issues you foresee

Answer

1.0 Introduction
The following research is conduced to explore the concept of e-commerce business process in Indian market. E-commerce is a leading trade platform that allows buyers to purchase their preferred product without visiting the store. E-commerce is known as electronic commerce, where people can buy or sell both the product and service by using internet facilities. It allows the business person to avail the product and services via the website or portal. E-commerce is beneficial for the customers, as it makes the payment system easier. It allows the customers to make payment by using debit and credit cards, mobile wallet or COD (cash on delivery) system. Overall, e-commerce business process is an effective way to reach out and interact with the customers. The e-commerce business process includes enormous suppliers, manage several trade orders and trade partners. The Indian market carries a massive opportunity for the e-commerce business process. E-commerce is an extensive range of business activities that allow users to conduct any form of business transaction electronically. There is no physical or direct contact between the parties while buying or selling the product.

The vast field of e-commerce provides the freedom to the customers to choose their desired outcome from an enormous option. E-commerce business process is a large business format that includes both retail selling, direct selling and independent selling. E-commerce business process has a secure and string payment system that allows the customers to pay through payment gateways. Many segments have existed in the e-commerce sector like B2B, C2C, C2B and B2C. The e-commerce leaders like Amazon, Myntra, Snapdeal, Flipkart, Olx, Paytm are ruling the Indian market. Apart from these companies, many other business providers are involved in the platform. Moreover, the segment of the companies differs from each other, like Olx and Paytm target C2C segment, whereas, Flipkart and Amazon are from the B2C section. The e-commerce business process has grown significantly in the Indian market.

1.1 Research Aim
Research aim exposes the aspiration of the research study, and it is a summarized purpose of the research. The research aim should be specific to provide the necessary research idea to the reader. The primary objective of the study is to obtain a detailed description of the electronic commerce market. The study will demonstrate the structure of e-commerce business process and how it works in the Indian market.

1.2 Objectives of the Research
The research objectives are based on the research aim that will be achieved by meeting the requirements of the objectives. The research objectives are the following-

• To critically analyze the current condition of electronic commerce market of India.
• To evaluate the emerging trends of the business in Indian market.
• To find out the opportunities of e-commerce business process in the present market
• To find out the challenges faced by the e-commerce entities while operating in the Indian market.

1.3 Research Questions
The questions of the research project on the concept of e-commerce business process will assist in completing the study correctly. In other words, the questions work as the key indicators of the study, which will lead to getting every required detail of the project. The research questions are discussed below-

• What is the present condition of electronic commerce market in India?
• What are the emerging trends of electronic commerce in Indian market?
• What are the opportunities of e-commerce in the current market?
• What are the challenges faced by the companies in e-commerce market?

1.4 Research Justification
The present research topic is essential because it will provide details of the impact of the electronic commerce market in the country. The proposed study of e-commerce business process carries the intention of finding out the growth and influence of e-commerce in an Indian perspective. In the present situation, this sector has to play a crucial role to improve the economic condition of India. It has a significant impact on improving customer base, generating the revenue level, minimizing the unemployment rate and developing the financial situation of the nation. Various business models of e-commerce maintain the synchronization between all the parties (business, consumer and government). The primary advantage of this sector is its availability at every corner of the nation. E-commerce enables people or company to buy and sell the products/services from the edge of their homes or offices. It is a great platform to increase the employment rate along with developing the infrastructure of the current business. Therefore, the development of this sector will bring a positive social and economic growth for the country. Hence, it is crucial to search out the things affecting the business in India. The challenges that it will face in future should be determined to create a reliable infrastructure for the company. Therefore, it is worth to research this topic of e-commerce business process to depict the Indian scenario of the e-commerce market.

2.0 Literature Review
2.1 E-Commerce: Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) organization defines E-commerce as every type of transitions link to business activities counting organizational as well as individuals, which are rested on the broadcasting and processing or digitized records together with sound, visual images and text. E-commerce refers to Electronic commerce, which deals with produces and services using the electronic media. It connects to a dealer’s website on the Internet, who sells goods or services straight to the buyer by online shopping basket system or online shopping cart, which enable payment using Electronic fund transfer (EFT) payments or credit or debit cards (Ahuja & Khazanchi, 2016).). E-business or E-commerce includes the conduct of the company with the assist of Internet and through IT suchlike EDI. Generally, Electronic commerce is a process of big business through the WWW (World Wide Web). According to Arora (2013), E-commerce has no particular definitions that imply only industrial action that is linked, performed or assist by Electronic Communication. 

Influence of E-commerce in business platform
E-commerce’s influence is visible in all section of business from consumer services to the latest product design. It provides e-commerce business process based on a new type of information for attainment and cooperation with the customer such as marketing, online advertising, online customer services and online ordering. Batra and Juneja (2013), states that E-commerce uses WWW in every point of transaction. E-commerce can also cut down organization order and communication with a vast range of suppliers and commercial partners, the area that mostly adds significant expenses to the cost of goods and services. E-commerce business process in India is still in its beginning phase, though the gloomiest projection shows a boom. In recent year, there have been a many of companies taking up E-commerce (Arora, 2013). A significant part of the Indian portal sites has moved into the direction of E-commerce rather than relying on marketing income (Deshmukh, Deshmukh&Thampi, 2013). Nowadays, most of the sites are selling different types of commodities and services like greeting cards, flowers, groceries, movie tickets, computers, electronic gadgets, and so on. As stock trade, coming online in India, the moment for right E-commerce has ultimately arrived.

Raven et al. compared the adoption of E-business approaches between India and China. The study examined different elements affecting the development of e-commerce business process in two countries, based on the secondary data and literature survey. The influences of factors comprise of government policy, infrastructure, technology, narrow environment, understanding and experience of the company work and function with others. The research concludes that in infrastructure, China seems to be in front of India, but in e-commerce, India is leading. It expresses that both India and China are capable of mounting E-commerce. However, the problems of inequality and poverty in rural and urban connectivity should be resolved to grab the advantage of E-commerce (Batra and Juneja, 2013).

E-commerce in Indian Insurance Industry by Dasgupta and Sengupta talk about the features of E-commerce in compare to the usual offline insurance services. According to the authors, E-commerce provides advantages such as a decrease in exploration cost and unseen cost, cost assessment for consumers and benefits like a chance to have a business place (Chatterjee&Ghosal, 2014). Further, it discusses regarding the E-commerce’s position in India is still in the primary stage, but stand to grow mainly from the rural area as the accessibility of insurance agent is very fewer compared to urban markets.

2.2 Evolution of E-commerce
Earlier to the development of money, there prevails a barter system where commodities were exchanged. The event of cash brought a notion of the marketplace, where commerce is the function of 4Ps (Price, Product, Promotion and Place). All four elements perform a vital role in the e-commerce business process. A different mixture of 4Ps decides the other kind of commerce. After the existence of the marketplace, some pioneers understood that people are happy to pay an additional amount if the commodities can be delivered at customers’ homes. Small alteration on charge and place direct to the comfort of receiving goods at consumer’s doorsteps (Joshi &Achuthan, 2016). The whole idea satisfied the customers, and therefore, the idea of street sellers came into existence. After the Postal System began, the vendors decided to invest in the new possibilities and stared using mailer describes its products and services. It drives toward the notion of (MOC) Mail Order Cataloguing, and after that, the development of the Teleshopping network was seen through the expansion of broadcasting sites. In the context of Gangeshwer (2013), the updated generation of commerce performing on the online interface. The Internet offers a practical stage where vendors and customers can contract with the purchase or the sale of products and services. The customer and seller may be thousands mile away, might speak diverse languages, may belong to a different part of the globe, e-commerce business process came into existence as a boundary-less business intermediate in the age of globalization.

Figure 1: Evaluation of E-Commerce
Source: (Gangeshwer, 2013)

In India, Electronic commerce is still in its developing phase, yet it provides remarkable possibilities for the emerging country like India. In the country, E-commerce began in the late 1990s with (B2B) business-to-business customer. In the year 1996, B2C E-commerce stared in a kind of matrimonial sites. At that time, the Internet's speed and the cost was the restrictive aspect. In India, Website was rediff.com was the first E-commerce, which is the main trafficked site for the Indian as well as for the Non- resident Indians (Joshi, 2013). Many companies in India enable Internet and e-commerce technologies in the last five years. Many Indian portals have moved in the direction of e-commerce business process in place of relying on financial returns. In the present day, it has grown to be an essential part of Indian civilization and people's daily life. Some websites offer various kinds of products and services. These kinds of websites are called Multi-product e-commerce business process websites. Then some give particular products together with its related services, and they are called Single product E-commerce (Kaur&Kaur, 2015). In India, among the total internet users, 60% visits E-commerce sites. The development showed by crucial players like Snapdeal, Flipkart, India Times etc. and large investors’ concern in these companies showed the enormous potential for the market.

2.3 Who are the Key players of E-commerce business process in India?
The five top companies who have successfully implemented e-commerce business process in India are:

Flipkart: It is the major E-commerce company of India, which was founded in 2007. At the beginning used to sell only books and now it includes mobile phones, fashion and lifestyle product and electronics. One of the most prominent American companies, Walmart and other top E-commerce platforms of the US purchased Flipkart 77% for the worth of 16 billion US $. The monthly traffic of website Flipkart.com is approximately visits of 221.5 million. 

Snapdeal: Snapdeal is also one of the companies who have successfully implemented e-commerce business process in India. It is a heterogeneous Internet-based shopping site, which provides commodities from fashion to home and electronics applications. The Snapdeal was founded in the year 2010, have got lots of funding from different investors like Foxconn, SoftBank and Alibaba Group to aid its expansion and struggle for the highest spot in E-commerce of India (Kumar & Dash, 2016). The monthly traffic of website snapdeal.com is approximately 83.5 million visits.

BookMyShow: In India, BookMyShow is the chief show-ticketing portal. It was launched in the year 2007 and has extended its sales of millions of tickets for sporting events, plays, movies, and many others. After its success, BookMyShow has even widened to others, establishing a branch in the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, West Indies and Sri Lanka. The monthly traffic of bookmyshow.com website is approximately visiting of 43.4 million.

IndiaMart: For the Indian companies, it is an Internet-based B2B marketplace, founded in 1999. In the year 2014, IndiaMArt has started its e-commerce retail platform called Tolexo. It allows suppliers, manufacturers and traders to project their goods directly by this program to be contracted by its customers. The monthly traffic of website indiamart.com is approximately 42.8 million visits.

Myntra: It deals with online fashion, lifestyle, and home appliances in India. Myntra was launched in 2007 and has developed an excellent online existence, mostly through its mobile applications. Indian e-commerce company Flipkart acquired it in 2014. The monthly traffic of website myntra.com is approximately 27.85 million visits.

Figure 2: Top five E-commerce companies in India
Source: (Kaur&Kaur, 2015)

2.4 Current Status of E-commerce
Presently e-commerce business process in Indian society is an essential part of our everyday life. At present, some web pages provide a services and goods. Then are many websites that makes available a particular product that is related to the services.

Figure 4: India’s E-commerce Industry
Source:(Kumar & Dash, 2016)

E-Commerce Multi-Product
In a single site, e-commerce multi-product with some portals offers nearly all classification of services and goods; thus, they are aiming buyers of all probable service and product (Nayak, Nath&Goel, 2014). The trendiest patterns are filpkart, Amazon, snapdeal, jabong, myntra etc. India’s e-commerce websites offers services and goods in the selection of types like; accessories and clothing for women and men, beauty and commodities for health, magazines, travel tickets, books, peripherals ,computer, collectables, jewelry, vehicles, software, household appliances, audio and video goods for entertainment, real estate assistance, gifts, matrimony, business and advantages, consumer electronics etc.

E-Commerce on Single Product
Many websites in India or portals deals in a specific field like

(1) Automobiles: gateways are automartindia.com and indiacar.com, on regards to these websites anyone be able to sell or buy motorbikes and quadric cycle, used vehicles along with new, through the websites. They provide several services like; car review and research, specifications on technique, dealer locator, online evaluation, vehicle insurance and vehicle finance etc.

(2) Real Estate: The gateways such as indiaproperties.com assist on dealing websites. They recommend either rental of property by their portal or outright purchase. The information’s are provided regarding the latest and resale properties (Pandey&Chawla, 2014). Every individual would directly discuss with the architects and interior designers, developers or builders, the consultant, property management consulting servicing, insurance companies etc.

(3) Stocks and Share Markets: Several sites like equitymaster.com/, htt://ww.5paisa.com. They offer their members through registration by; online dealing and buying of stocks and shares, company information, tracking market trends, market research and analysis, comparison of organizations, research on mutual funds etc.

(4) Gifts Items: Following the long-gone days, everyone had a plan for gifting a loved one, tramp beyond your preferred store, and browsing for a while before buying a gift. At present, there are particular websites in India for making the gifting process easy and quick to go with individual lifestyle.

The offering is classified as collectables such sculptures or paintings, games, flowers, toys, sweets, jewelry boxes, perfumes, luxury items like leather goods, woodcraft and metal craft etc.

(5) Matrimony, as an old proverb said, marriages are the creation of heaven, yet in the universal of e-commerce business process, it provided on marriages websites such as jeevansathi.com and shaadhi.com. Everyone research for a perfect mate on this portal by their region, religion or caste or can search aboard as well (Pandey, Chawla&Venkatesh, 2015). After doing registration, they provided a chat rooms, mailing facility, so that the couple can connect, and helps themselves to know each other before making a decision to be together for life long. Related services thatare registered for health and beauty, astrological services, customs information and rituals, legal issues etc.

(6) Hobbies are the trendiest that are forever to all generations like music, reading and movies. In Indian websites firstandsecond.com, everyone can purchase tittles in books likewise 300000, VCDs and DVDs. A wide range of book's cover with the related topics like medicine, health, business, children's stories, engineering, art, cookery etc. are available in this site. For videos and music, they provide in English and Indian vocabulary to supply the different tastes, the business ranges from old standing favorites jazz or retro to the latest devotional songs a pop song and so on.

(7) TourandTravelindustry: India is a prosperous in tradition, and history and e-commerce are involved, primarily, in trading India as a brand, cheering every foreigner together with Indians to see its versatile beauty and art. The portal of Indian Government that is tourisminindia.com contains a massive diversity of instruction for available visitors (Yadav&Rahman, 2017). The destination sites of tourist are classified conforming to premises such as flora and fauna, eco-themes relate to jungles, mountain climbing, beaches in India, hill resorts, adventure trekking, forts and places, architectural attractions etc. Related services that are suggested are travel and information for accommodation, weather awareness, tour operator, fair dates, passport and visa and more. Many sites are there to spot the visitors destinations of a particular place including North East in India (incredibleindia.org).

(8) Employment Field, in this field, two famous websites such as naukri.com and monsterindia.com are helping in offering job with proper hiring within their suitable sectors. They have directories classified into headings job seekers and employers. The jobseeker assistance is complimentary while for operation they charge a suggested cost. Online works are provided in areas, ranging from real state to education or secretarial to software development.

2.5 Indian E-commerce Facilitators

(a) Directories of instruction: websites related to trade.indiamart.com and trade-india.com continues providing business information of any issue, it is by clothing to games, either from heavy machinery like gems, food to employment. The services and commodities are recorded with suitable sub-components to generate easier for one severe seeker of details to locate whatever he needs (Sarode, 2015). Several sites are indiatimes.com, indiagrid.com, indiagrid.com. They contribute related assistance like forums, chat rooms, message boards etc.

(b) Banks: (i) online banking: It is an internet-based facility that allows the account holders to get the access of their accounts via phone or PC. Some exceptional internet banking assistance are Demat accounts for buying and sale of shares and stocks, instant or direct bills payment on behalf of account holder, Financial Planning, Foreign Exchanges services etc.

(ii) Debit/ Credit Cards: Indian banks assist e-commerce business process by providing essential trade involvement, such as the Debit or Credit Card, which would be impossible without e-commerce. There are leading players of these sectors that are statebankofindia.com, hdfcbank.com and icicibank.com.

Figure 5: India’s Emerging E-commerce Trends
Source: (Sarode, 2015)

2.6 E-Commerce Present Trends
Internet users in India are about 40% of the total population that is 475 million as of July 2019.By the end of 2019; it was expected to be 627 million. However, being the world second largest user base of internet, only at the back of China 48% of the population that is 650million, the piercing of e-commerce is down contrast to retail such as the France i.e. 54M, 81% or the United States, i.e. 266 million, 84% (Thamizhvanan& Xavier, 2013). Moreover, it is growing, totaling about 6 million latest competitors every month.

International consumer products are in demand, including long-tail items that are overgrowing than in country providing from recognized e-commerce contribution and distributors.

The biggest Indian e-commerce organizations in 2017 were Flipkart, Amazon, Myntra, Paytm and Snapdeal. Hence, Amazon beat Flipkart in 2018 and was recorded as the largest e-commerce in regards to earnings in India.

2.7 E-commerce Market scope and growth
2009- In the year 2009, India’s Total valuation of E-commerce market was about $3.9 billion.

2011- After the announcement of ‘India Goes Digital’, it was reported by AvendusCaptial, the e-commerce business process in India is approximated 28,500 Crore for 2011.

2013- In 2013, the market increases to $12.6 billion and the section of e-retail was a value of US$2.3 billion (Shareef et al., 2014). Around 75% of the business was associated to travel in 2013.

2014- As per Google India, in 2014, in India there were 35 million website buyers and was predicted to exceed to 100 million of marks by 2016.

2016- According to Google India in 2016, India has predicted to produce $100 billion in revenue through internet business from which $35 billion come under e-commerce of fashion (Verma et al., 2015).

2017- The e-commerce business process was recognized as the fastest developing industry in India as it was reported by USD 24 billion in 2017.

2018- In 2018, the market of e-commerce business process grew to USD 38.5 billion.

Figure 6: Status of e-commerce business process in India
Source : (Verma et al., 2015)

3.0 Research Methodology
RM is a systematic process, which helps to obtain the aim and objective of the research. Therefore, it is important to choose the right set of methodology to achieve the results. The procedure of RM is applied to get the answer to the research questions outlined in the study of e-commerce business process. RM or research methodology is the set of techniques that are used to select, identify, analyze and process the information that is collected to fulfill the purpose of research (Dougherty, Slevc& Grand, 2019). The part is the valid section of the study that shows the reliability of the paper. Therefore, the selection of appropriate RM for the case scenario of e-commerce business process is essential to maintain the alignment with the research purpose. The section includes research design, philosophy, method, data analysis method and data-collection method.

3.1 Research Philosophy
The way leads the researcher to follow the proper way of collecting, analyzing and using the data. Research studies are conducted to understand the certain field or generate knowledge of an area of that field. The research studies are based on some assumptions or beliefs, which are known as research philosophy (Kennedy, 2017). It is the set of beliefs and thoughts of the researcher that is related with the research topic. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the philosophy before selecting the research method. The various types of philosophies are interpretivism, positivism and pragmatism. The researcher chooses one of the philosophies while conducting the research. The present research on e-commerce business process is based on positivism because it includes the scientific analysis of the research area (Mejia & Kajikawa, 2018). However, this philosophy is less flexible and rigid. It can provide appropriate findings for the study on e-commerce business process, and it matches with the research area. Positivism is appropriate for the present study, as the findings obtained by using the philosophy are objective. Positivist research provides independence to the researcher to choose proper research method. Moreover, personal thoughts and beliefs will not affect the research findings.

3.2 Research Method used to prepare the study on e-commerce business process
The research method is the fundamental and systematic plan to obtain proper results. Quantitative and qualitative are the research methods that are applied while conducting any research (Paradis et al., 2016). While conducting any management or business-related research, one of the research methods is used in finding the results. However, the combination of qualitative and quantitative is called mixed method, which has also considered in modern research. Qualitative method is interpretative, as it is highly descriptive. Besides, the findings of the qualitative research method carry subjective nature, and they are not accurate (Maxwell, 2016). The mixed-method has the strength of both research methods and can provide more details about the research area. However, it is difficult to manage the data of both research methods at a time, as it carries high complexity. Therefore, the appropriate research method for the proposed study is quantitative. It matches with the chosen research philosophy that is positivism and includes the use of numerical data or non-textual data. Additionally, the results that are achieved by using quantitative data have an objective and generalized nature. Quantitative approach is appropriate for the present study on e-commerce business process because it provides convergent and detailed reasoning of the collected data. In this approach, the data is gathered by using proper research instruments in a structured way. On the other hand, qualitative approach has not considered for the study because the data cannot be statistically represented. The analysis of the collected data relies on the perspective and experience of the researcher, which cannot match the research objectives. Along with that, a qualitative approach can misled the conclusion of the study. Hence, quantitative approach is best for the study to obtain the research objectives.

3.3 Data Collection Method
It is the method of collecting relevant data from secondary and primary sources. The data collected from the sources are in use for providing analysis or interpretation of the study. The interpretation has further used to provide research outcomes. Therefore, data collection is the primary element to analyze the impact of e-commerce business process in India. Two types of sources can help to collect information- primary and secondary sources (Kobelt et al., 2017). The present study on e-commerce business process focuses on the primary sources. The data that are collected via primary sources is known as primary data and it is collected with the help of questionnaire. The questionnaire includes direct questions that are asked to a limited no of people. The primary data will be collected from my neighbors, friends. All the known respondents are chosen for the sample size because they will not feel hesitated to provide data. The study has not considered unknown respondents because of non-reliability of the data. Sometimes the respondents feel hesitate to provide information to an unknown person and resist to take part in a study. To eliminate the chances of resistance, present study considered only known respondents such as family members, relatives, friends etc. Apart from manual collection of the primary data, a platform of online survey will be conducted to get more data. The online survey method is fruitful and time saving method to collect the data (Rahi, 2017). The primary data can provide updated and relevant information about the development and usage of electronic commerce in India.

3.4 Data Collection Instrument
A collection instrument used while conducting a research on e-commerce business process helps to capture the data from the sources in a proper manner. The use of right instrument is necessary to collect relevant data. Various data collection instruments are available to collect the data such as Interview, quasi experiment, questionnaires, observations etc. The best instrument for the proposed study is questionnaire because the data will be gathered from primary sources and it is the best data collection tool to collect required data (Moyo, 2017). In this study, the data will be collected via two mediums-manually and digitally. Therefore, a questionnaire will be developed to conduct the offline and online survey. The question pattern for both the survey will remain same. The questionnaire will be framed after reviewing the secondary data and based on the research objectives of the proposed study of e-commerce business process. The research instrument is adequate for primary data collection because it is cost-effective (Cyr, 2016). Apart from that, it maintains consistency of the data that are collected from the respondents. Pilot testing will be conducted after forming the questionnaire to check the relevancy of the questions. The main advantage of questionnaire is it provides practical data without any expenses. Along with that, it allows to compare the collected data with each other. The comparison of data helps in doing critical analysis of the topic. The appropriate data instrument for this topic is questionnaire because, the set of questions covers most aspects of the research topic. The aspects covered by the questionnaire helps to get many information related to the topic.

3.5 Sampling
The sample size is 200 for the present study and respondents are selected on a random basis. The questionnaire will be sent through social media sites like Facebook, WhatsApp. The limited sample size is selected for the study because huge sample size or uneven size can create problem to data management. In this study, the sample size is chosen as 200, as it is limited and appropriate for the study on e-commerce business process and manageable for analysis. The techniques of convenience sampling will be used to the responses from the selected respondents (Russo& Van Roy, 2016). After allocating the target respondents, the questionnaire will be sent to the respondents for further process. Once the responses of the attendees are collected, the data will be carried for analysis.

4.0 Data Analysis
After collecting the primary data in order to prepare this study of e-commerce business process, it will be analyzed with the help of descriptive statistics like mean, mode and median. Data analysis is the essential part of a research study, mainly in the case of empirical studies (Jackson, 2016). The data analysis part requires more concentration because an inappropriate method can hamper the reliability of the study. The data consistency and reliability can be affected by the inadequate use of data analysis tool (Veit et al., 2017). Therefore, it is important to apply right analysis tool to provide proper interpretation of collected data. In the present study, the collected data will be analyzed via statistical tools and the interpretation will be provided using the spreadsheet. The proposed study will take the help of tables, charts and graphs to depict adequate data interpretation.

5.0 Ethical Considerations
A research study on the concept of e-commerce business process needs to maintain ethical considerations during the research timeframe. The ethical notions are essential elements for every contemporary research. It is necessary for the researchers to preserve the principles of research while conducting any research (Rahman, 2017). The present study examined in the report on e-commerce business process maintains the ethical consideration in all the stages and will carries the research ethics in rest of the part of study. The research ethics should be maintained in every research, especially when there is human involvement in the study. The proposed study on e-commerce business process involves known persons while collecting the data. All the collected data will be destroyed after completing the research study to maintain data security. The collected data for the proposed study will not be used for further study and the confidentiality of the data will be maintained throughout the study. All the respondents are participated in the study with their consent and the purpose of the study was mentioned to them prior collecting the data. The convenience of the respondents will be maintained while collecting the data and the data will not be collected forcefully. The common research ethics are non-maleficence, confidentiality and privacy of the data (Fleming&Zegwaard, 2018). These factors will be maintained strictly in the overall process. The proposed study prepared within this e-commerce business process assignment tries to consider all the research ethics to minimize the unethical factor form the study.

6.0 Research Timeline

7.0 Research Issues or Limitations
The limitation of the research study will show the shortcomings of the research on e-commerce business process, which the researcher fails to meet. The flaws of research can occur due to inappropriate methodology, small sample size, shortage of resources and ignorance of respondents. The proposed research is based on the Indian scenario. It does not include the performance of e-commerce business process outside India. Therefore, the study will provide limited knowledge to the readers. The data collection part that is essential for the study carries misrepresentation of the data. The data that are collected from the respondents are based on partial fulfillment of the research, and it cannot provide cent percent reliability. During the time of data collection, some respondents will hesitate to provide personal information.

8.0 Reflective Analysis
I have started making my research proposal based on proper research design and structure. While choosing the research topic, I was in confusion to select the appropriate topic. The present research topic seems important, as the use of e-commerce has increased in the present time compared to the traditional commerce. All the part of the study such as research philosophy, research method, data collection method, data instrument and data analysis are based on each other. However, the research aim and objectives are formed such a way that they can help me to fulfill the research criteria. E-commerce business process has gain tremendous growth in the Indian market. The major players such as amazon, flipkart, myntra, shopclues and many more online sites plays a significant role in e-retailing. The online platforms of business not only allow the buyers to choose the right product according to convenience but also provide business entities to run their operation smoothly.

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