What
Are the Advantages of Online Shopping (versus Shopping at a Physical Store)?
Convenience,
no pressure shopping, savings in time, consistency between advertised price and
site price, no driving and parking, sometimes no cost delivery even to third
party receiver, information on product comparison easily available, sometimes
price comparison available online, third party shopping sites keeping merchants
competitive hence offering the best products and prices, 24/7 shopping, ease in
merchandise cancellation or return, sometimes tracking of shipping
available, large online shopping site offering store comparison and sometimes no
taxes.
What
Are the Disadvantages of Online Shopping (versus Shopping at a Physical Store)?
Lack
of touch and feel of merchandise, lack of personal attention from a salesman (*MWS
Online Shopping Mart offers ClickCall service to talk to a sales representative
which may be a necessity for online shopping), not able to try the merchandise
on (especially clothing), lack of close quality examination (physically visiting
different stores and examine the same product is assuring but costly in time),
more chances to encounter fraud (disappearance of shopping site), more chances
for mistakes in ordering the wrong item, slightly higher exposure of credit card
security (*This is a controversial point since using CVV2 code with credit card,
can be more secure or less chance of fraud.) Verification of credit card owner
less rigorous (physically one can ask for other identifications).
Advice
to the Online Merchants
-
Provide
clear and sufficient information so consumers can make an informed choice
-
Take reasonable steps to ensure the consumer's choice is informed and intentional
(avoid mistakes and misunderstanding)
-
Publish
privacy statement and protect personal information
-
Use
secure e-commerce
transaction system with fair, timely and affordable methods to resolve transaction problems
-
Never
use spam marketing through email or Internet
-
Offer
third party references about safe use of e-commerce
-
Display
company logo and information in prominent places (especially company address
and contact information)
-
Exhibit
terms and conditions (guarantee, currency used etc) clearly (do not use
unreadable font size and large legal document)
Advice
to the Online Shoppers
-
Know
your online merchants well through objective third party information and
references
-
Shop
through reputable third party online shopping sites which select and filter
to list only reputable merchants
-
Familiarize
with merchants' purchasing processes (beware of any process change when move
from site to site)
-
Only
deal with merchants who use secure transaction system involving credit card
-
Be
careful with international sites since the laws governing them are very
different (trust third party site which has done the filtering and
selection)
-
Always
check terms and conditions (guarantee, currency used and refund policy)
carefully before committing purchase
-
Read
about merchants and check their quality and/or security certificates if
relevant
-
Review
third party offered information about merchants, products and comparisons to
establish confidence
Value
of Third Party Online Shopping Site
-
Objective
presentation of multiple stores even with competitive products
-
Can
offer unbiased opinions about individual store and/or product with the
purpose of establishing shopper confidence
-
Can
remove undesirable merchants and/or products easily to maintain quality of
shopping site
-
Shoppers
feel free to offer comments and feedback about their shopping experiences
-
Can
publish critical review papers about certain product and/or merchant (the
larger the site the more freedom to do so)
