Taming the Amazon: the domestication of online shopping in Bangalore, India

Abstract

Marketplaces are rich sites for studying existing practices surrounding technology adoption, as well as for understanding how the entry of new technologies impact a diversity of social-economic groups. With the high-profile entry of e-commerce companies into the Indian retail scene, this paper seeks to understand the ways in which online shopping integrates into the everyday practices of shoppers. Using semi-structured qualitative interviews with shoppers in marketplaces at Bangalore, India and through the lens of domestication theory, we examine how the relationship between online shopping and shoppers is constructed. Beyond individual agency, this paper describes how institutional, infrastructural, and cultural forces shape the use and non-use of online marketplaces. By specifically studying non-use, we improve our understanding of the shortcomings of existing sites where technologies are encountered and of the potential considerations for future introductions of new ICTs.