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Online Shopping New Zealand |
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Online shopping is the
process consumers go through to purchase products or
services over the internet. An online shop, internet
shop, webshop or online store evokes the physical
analogy of buying products or services at a
bricks-and-mortar retailer or in a shopping mall. It
is an electronic commerce application used for B2B
or B2C. Online shopping is popular mainly because of
its speed and ease of use. Some issues of concern
can include fluctuating exchange rates for foreign
currencies, local and international laws and
delivery methods.
Price comparison
An advantage of shopping online is being able to use
the power of the internet to seek out the lowest
prices or the best deals available for items or
services. For example if one is buying a digital
camera he/she should enter "digital camera" into a
search engine or a price search engine. Most price
comparison services have the advantage of store
ratings and reviews. Getting the lowest price is
important but it is more important to make sure the
merchant or store the customer is purchasing from is
reputable.
Coupons
There are multiple websites that compile coupon
information for most online merchants. Before
purchasing online, it is usually worth checking for
coupons. Typing the name of the online merchant
along with the word "coupon" in a search engine will
provide multiple results. Some of the more popular
coupon websites have forums where you can ask for
help hunting down a deal if you don't have the time.
Rebates
There are at least three major shopping portals that
provide members rebates for shopping via their
sites. How does it work? The merchants pay the
portals for the business; the portals share the
proceeds with the member. Rebates usually range in
the 2-5% range. Membership is free, but some portals
require a higher rebate balance before payout. Some
will send out a payment automatically, others wait
until the member requests one. If you join, be sure
to read the fine print so you understand the rebate
program.
Additional information can also be found at Online
shopping rewards.
Steps when buying online
Browse product categories using a web browser
Put items into virtual shopping cart (or market
basket).
Just as in a physical store viewing the contents of
the cart can be done at any time.
Quantities of products can be changed or deleted.
Checkout
Log in or register by choosing a username and a
password.
Enter personal data.
Billing address
Shipping address (can be different from the billing
address)
Phone number
E-Mail address (usually optional)
Choose means of payment
Choose delivery speed and method (post, courier and
logistics service, etc.)
Confirm order
After editing the personal data a confirmation page
is displayed so that the online shopper can approve,
change or abort the order.
Logout
Means of payment
Online shoppers commonly use their Credit card for
making payments, however some systems enable users
to create accounts and pay by alternative means,
such as
Debit card
Various types of electronic money
Cash on delivery (C.O.D.)
Cheque
Wire transfer/delivery on payment
Postal money order
Once a payment has been accepted the goods or
services can either be downloaded from the internet
or delivered to the consumer via traditional means.
Security issues
User and payment data is encrypted by SSL when it is
transferred on the Internet.
Quality seals can be placed on the Shop webpage if
it has undergone an independent assessment and meets
all requirements of the company issuing the seal.
The purpose of these seals is to increase the
confidence of the online shoppers; the existence of
many different seals foils this effort to a certain
extent.
Privacy of personal information is a big issue. In
spite of Privacy Guidelines of the OECD, for
example, privacy violations still occur and hamper
eCommerce from developing to its full potential.
Setting up a shopping cart system
Simple systems allow the offline administration of
products and categories. The shop is then generated
as HTML files and graphics that can be uploaded to a
webspace. These systems don't use an online
database.
A high end solution can be bought or rented as a
standalone program or as an addition to an ERP
program. It is usually installed on the company's
own webserver and may integrate very well into the
existing supply chain so that ordering, payment,
delivery, accounting and warehousing can be
automated to a large extent.
Other solutions allow the user to register and
create an online shop on a portal that hosts
multiple shops at the same time.
Open Source solutions can be adapted and installed
on a webspace.
There are also commercial systems that can be
tailored to ones needs so that the shop does not
have to be created from scratch. By using a
framework already existing, software modules for
different functionalities required by a webshop can
be adapted and combined.
Following the growth of online retailing activities,
there are a number of specialist online retail
professional services providers who offer e-commerce
and internet marketing to retailers. This will
involve website design and development, integration
with order processing and stock systems as well as
online advertising services. |
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