ONLINE SHOPPING

Online shopping is the new phenomenon in today’s market scenario. In 1994 the German company Intershop introduced its first online shopping system. Since then Amazon launched its online shopping site in 1995 and eBay in 1996. In spite of its growing popularity online shopping still caters to the middle and upper class. The reason being that for online shopping one must have access to a computer, a bank account and a debit or credit card.

Apparently this kind of shopping finds favour in households with higher level of education, income and occupation. Obviously people with exposure to technology would not be daunted by the prospect of exploring technology. Hence the probability of their developing favourable attitude towards new shopping channels would be more. Though at first, the main users of online shopping were young men with a high level of education and income, by 2001 in USA 52.8% women became avid online shoppers.

In comparison to store hopping, electronic shopping is convenient and offers customers broader selection, competitive pricing and greater access to information. So, designers of online shops should remember that consumers should not be given too much information, which could very well confuse them, but enough information in such a simple way so as to make their surfing a pleasant experience. In short, it should be user friendly. Companies in fact, can use four major principles of McDonald: efficiency, calculability, predictability and control to draw people to their online shops.

The Shopping Cart system is exactly like the system which is prevalent in any conventional retail store, where the customer first chooses the product and then adds the product to the cart. The person then follows the steps provided by the website in order to fulfil the transaction.

The idea of online marketing is catching on like wild fire. The reasons are obvious: online stores are open 24 hours, and many consumers have internet access both at work and at home. Moreover, a visit to a retail store is time consuming and must be done during business hours. In case there is a problem with the item delivered it is easy to return it for the correct one or for a refund.

However, we cannot overlook the disadvantages of this modern form of shopping. First of all consumers cannot check the merchandise physically before purchasing so they can be victims of fraud. Moreover interception of credit card numbers in transit between the consumer and the merchant has infused a fear of online shopping. So, merchants and e-commerce service providers now use countermeasures such as firewalls and anti-virus software to protect their networks. Another form of danger is Phishing where consumers are fooled into giving away private information to a system not operated by a genuine party. Last but not the least the total cost is not visible as additional fees such as shipping are often not added until the final step in the checkout process.

Nonetheless we cannot deny the fact that shopping has truly evolved with the growth of technology.