Web Experience: A New Dimension affecting Consumer's online buying behaviour

Several academics and practitioners have identified the “online shopping experience” or “virtual experience” as a crucial e-commerce marketing issue. Since we all know that an online customer is not only a shopper but is also a person who is familiar with the Information Technology so one can simply debate that the online experience is a more complex issue than the physical shopping experience. The Web experience can be defined as the total impression that the consumer carries about the online company resulting from his/her exposure to a variety of virtual marketing tools. The Web experience is one of the crucial parameters influencing customer behaviour in an online shopping medium. A poorly designed website is not only hazardous for the company's Internet presence but will also leave a bad impression on the minds of consumers. The following section of the paper highlights the various building blocks of Web experience such as Functionality, Interactivity, content factors etc.,which plays an important role in providing an aesthetic environment to the online shopper and can further provide a competitive edge to the various Ecommerce players in the market.