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Master of Science / Department of Computing and Information Sciences / Daniel A. Andresen / The Web is a shopper's paradise boasting every kind of product imaginable — plus many more that are almost unimaginable. People find it easy and secure to shop online these days thereby saving time and also have more options to choose from at their fingertips. Based on this comes MyBookStore, a neat web application designed to exclusively cater the needs of students for purchasing books online. Primary focus of this application is to ease the use of searching for a particular book by the user and also navigability within the website. A sophisticated search engine has been designed in this application which filters the products based on various user criterions. Searching and viewing the details about a book is available. This also has an administrator side through which the administrator can update the website with new products, remove any of the available products, and add new categories, subcategories and products along with updating the shipping status of orders placed. This section is majorly responsible for user accounts maintenance, product maintenance as well as orders maintenance. Major emphasis of this application is to build user interactive search techniques for simplifying user needs and to provide specific products as required by the user.

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

With changing environments and the development of technology, the online marketplace is a relevant field in need of continuous study. As consumer act and behave differently due to cultural aspects as well as individual characteristics and external influences, there is a need for research in order to understand their behavior in this changing marketplace. This paper investigates the elements of Swedish online consumers’ pre-purchase journeys, and sought out to contribute in terms of illustrating the online shopping journey in today’s online environment from a consumer perspective. It does so based on a quantitative study in the form of an online survey based on 265 Swedish respondents. The findings and contribution add information to the field of online shopping as well as mention some differences among online shoppers, mainly in terms of gender. In addition to contributing in terms of the different elements and steps involved in the online shopping journey, a model is presented illustrating the steps in a more fluid depiction that recognizes several touchpoints across the journey. The limitations are indicated in terms of time and scope, as well as in terms of relying on quantitative findings to a great extent. Future recommendations suggest continuous research in terms of the online shopping journey, as well as the combination with qualitative research in order to strengthen the method. The study contributions can be both managerial as well as for practitioners in terms contributing to existing research and providing a simple yet comprehensive illustration of the online consumer journey.

by Lau Kin-Man, Clement, Leung Sau-Fong, Marie. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 50-51). / ABSTRACT --- p.ii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iii / LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS --- p.iv / LIST OF TABLES --- p.v / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.vi / CHAPTER / Chapter I --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Background of Shopping Centre Research --- p.2 / Aim of Research Study --- p.4 / Plan of Research Report --- p.4 / Chapter II --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.6 / Land and Real Property --- p.6 / Characteristics of Real Property Market --- p.8 / Theory of Economic Rent --- p.11 / Literature on Determinants of Shopping Centre Rents --- p.15 / Rating and Valuation Department of Hong Kong --- p.20 / Chapter III --- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY --- p.23 / Empirical Model --- p.23 / Definition of Variables --- p.27 / Sample Data --- p.31 / Chapter IV --- RESULTS AND ANALYSIS --- p.34 / Multiple Linear Regression Model --- p.34 / Determinants of Shopping Centre Rents --- p.36 / Anomalous Results --- p.45 / Chapter V --- CONCLUSION --- p.47 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.50

Master of Science / Department of Food, Nutrition, Dietetics and Health / Delores Chambers / With increasing global e-commerce scenario, online shopping has become a part of our day-to-day life for products ranging from food to clothing and electronics. With globalization on one hand and tremendous change in the lifestyle of people, on the other hand, eating food outside of the home has also become an inevitable part of life nowadays. This study was designed to understand how photographs and information of the products influence the purchase behavior of consumers, to increase the purchase intent and liking of clothing sold online and food in a restaurant. The objectives of this study were to determine which type of photograph/description would have higher liking and purchase intent by consumers when they are shopping for clothes online and when ordering food in a restaurant. It also aimed to use different types of product descriptions to find any differences in overall liking, product perception, and purchase intent. An online survey was conducted with Indian women (n=600) through Qualtrics software. Data about demographics, overall liking, purchase intent and level of information gained based on the photographs were inquired for different type of photographic presentation of saris and Indian curries in two different sections. ANOVA, Correspondence Analysis (CA), frequency count analysis and descriptive statistics were employed for data analysis using XLSTAT software. In case of online shopping for clothing, especially saris, the results revealed that adding photographs of a model with/without a description to be a better presentation method as it acts as a virtual representation of the seller and is believed to establish trust between the consumers and the sellers. This thereby would lead to significantly higher overall liking, level of being informed and purchase intent. Similarly, in the case of restaurant shopping for food where the effect of photographs on a restaurant menu was studied, adding photographs of the food along with the sides with/without description was found to be a better presentation method. This was in turn related to significantly higher overall liking, level of being informed and purchase intent. Though there are no differences in the type of description added to the picture, adding information about the product was still found to be a critical factor for higher liking and purchase intent in both cases.

The contemporary North American believes that you can purchase happiness. We search in boxes labeled new and improved, looking for products that are forever bigger, stronger, and faster. We want these things because they will make our lives easier, make us look prettier, and bring us social acceptance. It is our social insecurities that blindly drive this lifestyle. Happiness cannot be sold, and we have become mindless in our consumption. It is in the heart of the suburban world where you can find the beginning of the end. It is the North American shopping mall. We created it as means to meet our demands for more convenient access to stores and services. Its design was manipulated, unapologetically perfected, and rigorously overproduced. The mall has replaced our town squares and main streets with fields of asphalt, yields of the same giant signs, neon lights and brand names. The public realm has been privatized and commercialized. The zombie apocalypse is upon us. The shopping mall stands among us as the reanimated corpse of the dead downtown and represents the loss of great space. Through horror films and personal inflection, a biography of the mall, and a literary dissection of its contemporaries, this thesis examines the misconceptions of North American public spaces through the shopping mall and branded culture. This thesis rediscovers the practise of creating great space through an architectural discourse of the Humbertown Shopping Centre. We desperately need spaces for the living. I argue for public spaces that serve no commercial intent, but rather nourish our desires for authentic human interaction.

As competition among on-line retailers escalates, more services are added to increase shopping convenience, such as free delivery, 24-hour arrival, payment-pickup service in the assigned convenience stores, etc. Many e-commerce researches have included convenience as a critical factor on on-line shopping attitudes and behavior. Although the importance of convenience in on-line shopping (this is abbreviated as e-Convenience) is recognized, very few studies have discussed it in detail. After a review of convenience literature, including physical convenience and e-Convenience, this study proposes a theoretical model to systematically evaluate e-Convenience. We first define e-Convenience with its three constructs relating to the shopping and purchasing process. These are shopping convenience, delivery convenience and post-purchase convenience. The antecedent factors are on-line shopping characteristics, such as one-stop shopping, website design, shopping service, personalized touch, and exhaustive information characteristics. In addition, the dependent factors include satisfaction and loyalty. The discussions in this paper clarify the meaning of e-Convenience and provide further commentary on the role that it plays nowadays on e-shopping.