Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce that allows consumers to buy goods or services directly from sellers over the Internet using a web browser. Consumers find products of interest by visiting reseller websites directly or by searching among alternative vendors using search engine shopping, featuring the availability and price of the same product at different electronics retailers. Starting 2016, customers can shop online using a variety of different computers and devices, including desktop computers, laptops, tablet computers, and smartphones.
Online stores evoke a physical analogy to buy products or services in "mediocre" retailers and shopping centers; the process is called online business-to-consumer shopping (B2C). When an online store is set up to allow businesses to buy from other businesses, the process is called online business-to-business (B2B) shopping. Typical online stores allow customers to browse through various company products and services, view photos or product images, along with information about product specifications, features and prices.
Online stores usually allow shoppers to use the "search" feature to find specific models, brands, or items. Online customers must have access to Internet and valid payment methods to complete transactions, such as credit cards, Interac-enabled debit cards, or services such as PayPal. For physical products (for example, books or thin clothing), e-tailers ship products to customers; for digital products, such as digital audio files of songs or software, e-tailers usually send files to customers over the Internet. The largest online retailing companies are Alibaba, Amazon.com, and eBay.
Video Online shopping
Terminology
The alternative name for this activity is "e-tailing", a shortened form of "electronic retail" or "e-shopping", a short form of "electronic shopping." An online store can also be called an e-web store, an e-shop, an e-store, an internet store, a web store, a web store, an online store, an online storefront, and a virtual store. Mobile commerce (or m-commerce) describes purchases from websites or software applications that are optimized for online retailers ("apps"). This website or app is designed to let customers search for company products and services on tablet and smartphone computers.
Maps Online shopping
History
History of online shopping
The growth of the internet as a secure shopping channel has grown since 1994, with the first sale of Sting 'Ten Summoner's Tales' album. Grapes, chocolates and flowers soon followed and included the pioneering retail category that spurred online shopping growth. The researchers found that having an appropriate product for e-commerce is a key indicator of Internet success. Many of these products work well because they are generic products that do not need to be touched and perceived buyers to buy. But it is also important in the early days that there are some online shoppers and they come from a narrow segment: prosperous, male, 30. Online shopping has come in early and in the UK-accounted for a significant percentage (depending on product category as percentage may vary).
Growth of online shoppers
Because revenue from online sales continues to increase significantly, researchers identify various types of online shoppers, Rohm & Swaninathan identifies four categories and names them " convenience buyers, variety finders, balanced buyers, and store-oriented buyers ". They focus on spending motivation and find that the variety of products available and the perceived convenience of buying online experience is a significant motivational factor. This is different for offline buyers, who are more motivated by time savings and recreational motives.
Digital High Street 2020
British businessman Michael Aldrich was an online shopping pioneer in 1979. His system connects modified domestic TVs to real-time transaction processing computers via domestic phone lines. He believes that videotex, a modified domestic TV technology with a menu-driven human-computer interface, is a new and universally applicable communication media - the first since the discovery of the phone. 'It enables a' closed 'corporate information system to be opened to' outside 'correspondents not only for transaction processing but also for e-messaging and information retrieval and dissemination, which came to be known as e-business. His understanding of new mass media communications as 'participatory' [interactive, many-to-many] is fundamentally different from the traditional definition of mass communication and mass media and the predecessor of social networking on the Internet 25 years later. In March 1980, it launched Redifon's Office Revolution, which enabled consumers, customers, agents, distributors, suppliers, and service companies to connect on-line to enterprise systems and enable business transactions to be completed electronically in real-time. During the 1980s he designed, produced, sold, installed, maintained, and supported many online shopping systems, using videotex technology. These systems also provide voice response and pre-dated handprint processing of the Internet and World Wide Web, IBM PCs, and Microsoft MS-DOS, and are installed primarily in the UK by large companies.
The first World Wide Web server and browser, created by Tim Berners-Lee in 1990, was opened for commercial use in 1991. Subsequently, subsequent technological innovations emerged in 1994: online banking, the opening of an online pizza shop by Pizza Hut, SSL Netscape standard v2 encryption for secure data transfers, and Intershop's first online shopping system. The first secure retail transaction through the Web was by NetMarket or the Internet Shopping Network in 1994. Soon after, Amazon.com launched an online shopping site in 1995 and eBay was also introduced in 1995. Alibaba Taobao and Tmall sites were launched in 2003 and 2008 , each. Retailers increasingly sell goods and services before availability through "pretail" to test, build, and manage requests.
International statistics
Statistics show that in 2012, Asia-Pacific increased their international sales by more than 30%, giving them more than $ 433 billion in revenue. That is a $ 69 billion difference between US $ 364.66 billion in revenues. It is estimated that Asia-Pacific will increase by another 30% in 2013 to make them more than one-third of all global e-commerce sales. The biggest online shopping day in the world is Hari Singles, with sales only on Alibaba website of US $ 9.3 billion by 2014.
Customer
Online customers must have access to the Internet and a valid payment method to complete the transaction. Generally, higher levels of education and personal income correspond to better online shopping perceptions. Increased exposure to technology also increases the likelihood of developing favorable attitudes toward new spending channels.
Buying behavior of customers in a digital environment
Marketing around the digital environment, customer buying behavior may not be influenced and controlled by brands and companies, when they make purchasing decisions that may involve interaction with search engines, recommendations, online reviews, and other information. With the rapid separation of the digital device environment, people are more likely to use mobile phones, computers, tablets, and other digital devices to gather information. In other words, the digital environment has a growing effect on consumer mind and purchasing behavior. In an online shopping environment, interactive decisions can affect customer decision making. Every customer becomes more interactive, and while online review customers can influence the behavior of other potential buyers.
Furthermore, risk and trust are also two important factors that influence the behavior of people in the digital environment. Customers consider switching between e-channels, as they are primarily affected by comparison with offline shopping, which involves growth in security, financial, and performance-risk. In other words, customers who shop online that they can accept more risks than people who shop at the store. There are three factors that can influence people to make purchasing decisions; firstly, people can not check whether the product meets their needs and wants before they receive it. Second, the customer may be worried on after-sales service. Finally, customers may fear that they can not fully understand the language used in electronic sales. Based on these factors, the customer perceives the risk may be a significant reason for affecting the online buying behavior.
Online retailers have a lot of emphasis on the customer trust aspect, trust is another way to drive customer behavior in a digital environment, which can depend on customer attitudes and expectations. Indeed, the design or idea of ​​a company's product can not meet customer expectations. The customer buying trend is based on rational expectations, as well as the impact on emotional confidence. In addition, these expectations may also be fixed on product information and revisions from others.
Product selection
Consumers find products of interest by visiting reseller websites directly or by searching among alternative vendors using search engine shopping. Once a particular product is found on the seller's website, most online retailers use shopping cart software to allow consumers to collect many items and adjust the amount, such as fill shopping carts or physical shopping carts in conventional stores. The "checkout" process follows (continue the physical store analogy) where payment and shipping information is collected, if required. Some stores allow consumers to sign up for a permanent online account so that some or all of this information only needs to be entered once. Consumers often receive e-mail confirmation after the transaction is completed. Less sophisticated stores may rely on consumers to call or e-mail their orders (although full credit card numbers, expiration dates, and Card Security Codes, or bank accounts and routing numbers may not be accepted via email, for security reasons).
Payments
Online shoppers usually use a credit card or PayPal account to make payments. However, some systems allow users to create accounts and pay in alternative ways, such as:
- Billing to phone and home phone
- Cash on delivery (C.O.D.)
- Check/Check
- Debit card
- Direct debit in some countries
- Electronic money of various types
- Gift card
- Postal order
- Wire transfer/payment delivery
- Invoices, especially popular in some markets/countries, such as Switzerland
- Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency
Some online stores will not accept international credit cards. Some require billing addresses and buyer shipments to be in the same country as the base of online store operations. Other online stores allow customers from any country to send gifts anywhere. The financial part of a transaction can be processed in real-time (eg Letting consumers know their credit card is declined before they log off), or can be done later as part of the fulfillment process.
Product delivery
After payment is received, goods or services may be shipped in the following ways. For physical items:
- Shipping: Items are sent to the address specified by the customer. Delivery of retail packages is usually done by public post system or retail courier such as FedEx, UPS, DHL, or TNT.
- Drop shipping: Orders are forwarded to third party manufacturers or distributors, who then deliver goods directly to consumers, passing through the physical location of the retailer to save time, money and space.
- In-store pickups: Customers choose a local store using tracking software and retrieve the delivered product at the selected location. This is a method often used in brick and click business models.
For digital or ticket items:
- Digital downloading/Distribution: Frequently used method for digital media products such as software, music, movies, or images.
- Print, provide codes for, or send e-mail items such as admission and scrip (for example, gift certificates and coupons). Tickets, codes or coupons may be redeemed in the appropriate physical or online places and their content is reviewed to verify their eligibility (for example, a guarantee that the right of acceptance or use is redeemed at the right time and place, for the correct dollar amount, and for the amount of use that correct).
- Will call, COBO (in Care Of Box Office), or pickup "on door": The patron picks up a pre-purchase ticket for an event, such as a drama, sporting event, or concert, either before the event or in advance. With the onset of the Internet and e-commerce sites, which allow customers to buy tickets online, the popularity of these services has increased.
Shopping cart system
A simple shopping cart system enables product administration and off-line categories. Stores are then created as HTML files and graphics that can be uploaded to the web space. The system does not use an online database. High-end solutions can be bought or rented as stand-alone programs or in addition to corporate resource planning programs. These are typically installed on enterprise web servers and can be integrated into existing supply chains so ordering, paying, shipping, accounting, and warehousing can be automated for the most part. Another solution allows users to register and create an online store on a portal hosting multiple stores simultaneously from one back office. Examples are BigCommerce, Shopify, and FlickRocket. The open source shopping cart packages include advanced platforms such as Interchange, and off-the-shelf solutions like Magento, osCommerce, Shopgate, PrestaShop, and Zen Cart. Commercial systems can also be customized so that the store does not have to be made from scratch. Using the existing framework, software modules for the various functions needed by the web store can be customized and combined.
Design
Customers are attracted by online shopping not only because of their high level of comfort, but also because of the wider choice, competitive pricing, and greater information access. Business organizations strive to offer online shopping not only because it costs much less than brick and mortar stores, but also because it offers access to world markets, enhances customer value, and builds sustainable capabilities.
Loading information
The online store designers are concerned about the effects of information loads. The burden of information is the product of the regulation of spatial and temporal stimuli in the web store. Compared to conventional retail shopping, the virtual shopping information environment is enhanced by providing additional product information such as comparative products and services, as well as alternatives and attributes of each alternative, etc. The two main dimensions of information load are complexity and novelty. Complexity refers to the number of different elements or features of a site, often the result of an increased diversity of information. Novelty involves unexpected, pressed, new, or unfamiliar aspects of the site. The new dimension can get consumers to explore shopping sites, while the dimension of complexity can encourage impulsive purchases.
Consumer needs and expectations
According to research reports by Western Michigan University published in 2005, e-commerce websites do not have to be good with lists on many search engines. It has to build relationships with customers to make money. The report also shows that a website must leave a positive impression on the customer, giving them a reason to return. However, hated research has proven that sites with a higher focus on efficiency, comfort, and personal service increase the motivation of customers to make purchases.
Dyn, an Internet performance management company conducted a survey of over 1400 consumers in 11 countries across North America, Europe, Middle East and Asia and the survey results are as follows:
- An online retailer should increase the speed of the website
- Online retailers should reduce consumer fear about security
This concern greatly affects the decision of nearly two thirds of consumers.
User interface
The most important factor that determines whether a customer returns to a website is the ease of use and presence of an easy-to-use feature. Testing usefulness is important for finding issues and improvements in the website. Methods for evaluating usability include heuristic evaluation, cognitive walkthrough, and user testing. Each technique has its own characteristics and emphasizes different aspects of the user experience.
The popularity of online shopping continues to erode the sales of conventional retailers. For example, Best Buy, the largest US electronics retailer in August 2014 reported a fourth straight quarterly sales drop, citing increasing consumer shifts to online shopping. There are 242 million people online shopping in China in 2012. For developing countries and low-income households in developed countries, e-commerce adoption replaces or in addition to conventional methods limited by the lack of affordable Internet access.
Benefits
Convenience
Online stores are usually available 24 hours a day, and many consumers in Western countries have internet access both at the office and at home. Other companies such as internet cafes, community centers and schools provide internet access as well. In contrast, visiting a conventional retail store requires travel or travel and expenses such as gas, parking, or bus tickets, and should normally last during business hours. Delivery is always an issue that affects the convenience of online shopping. But to overcome this many retailers including online retailers in Taiwan bring inter shop service. This now means that customers can buy goods online and pick them up at a nearby store, making online shopping more profitable for customers. If there is a problem with the item (e.g., the Product does not match the consumer's order or the product is not satisfactory), the consumer is worried about the ease of returning the item in return for the correct product or refund. Consumers may need to contact the retailer, visit the post office and pay the shipping fee, and then wait for the replacement or refund. Some online companies have a more generous refund policy to offset the traditional advantages of physical stores. For example, the online shoe retailer Zappos.com includes labels for free re-shipping, and does not charge a restocking fee, even for returns that are not the result of a merchant's fault. (Note: In the United Kingdom, online stores are prohibited from charging a reimbursement fee if consumers cancel their order in accordance with the Consumer Protection Act (Distance Sales) 2000).
Information and reviews
Online stores should describe products sold with text, photos and multimedia files, whereas in physical retail stores, actual products and factory packaging will be available for direct inspection (which may involve test drives, fittings, or other experiments). Some online stores provide or link to additional product information, such as instructions, safety procedures, demonstrations, or manufacturer specifications. Some provide background information, suggestions, or how-to guides are designed to help consumers decide which products to buy. Some stores even allow customers to comment or rate their merchandise. There is also a special review site that hosts user reviews for various products. Reviews and even some blogs give customers the option to shop for cheaper purchases from around the world without having to rely on local retailers. In conventional retail stores, clerks are generally available to answer questions. Some online stores have real-time chat features, but most rely on e-mail or phone calls to handle customer inquiries. Even if the online store is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the customer service team can only be available during regular business hours.
Prices and options
One of the advantages of online shopping is that it can quickly search for offers for goods or services provided by many different vendors (although some local search engines do exist to help consumers find products to sell at nearby stores). Search engines, online price comparison services, and inventory shopping engines can be used to search for sellers of specific products or services. Shipping costs (if applicable) reduce the price advantage of online merchandise, though depending on jurisdiction, the lack of sales tax can compensate for this. Delivery of small quantities of goods, especially from other countries, is much more expensive than making larger orders for brick-and-cement retailers. Some retailers (especially those selling high-value items such as electronics) offer free shipping with large orders. Another major advantage for retailers is the ability to switch quickly to suppliers and vendors without disrupting the user's shopping experience.
Disadvantages
Fraud and security issues
Given the lack of ability to check merchandise before it is purchased, consumers have a higher risk of fraud than face to face transactions. When ordering online goods, the item may not work properly, there may be a flaw, or it may not be the same item depicted in the online photo. Merchants are also at risk of making fraudulent purchases if customers use stolen credit cards or fraudulent scams on online purchases. However, traders face less risk of physical theft by using a warehouse, not a retail storefront. Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption has generally solved the problem of credit card numbers being intercepted in transit between consumers and merchants. However, one should still trust merchants (and employees) not to use further credit card information for their own purchases, and not relay such information to others. In addition, hackers can break through merchant websites and steal names, addresses, and credit card numbers, even though the Card Payments Industry Data Security Standard is intended to minimize the impact of those violations. Identity theft is still a concern for consumers. A number of high profile break-ins in the 2000s have prompted several US states to require disclosure to consumers when this happens. Computer security has become a major concern for merchants and e-commerce service providers, who implement retaliatory measures such as firewalls and anti-virus software to protect their networks. Phishing is another danger, where consumers are tricked into thinking that they are dealing with leading retailers, when they have actually been manipulated to feed personal information to systems operated by malicious parties. Service denial attacks are a small risk for merchants, as are network and server outages.
Quality seals may be placed on the Store's webpage if they have been assessed independently and meet all company requirements that issue seals. The purpose of this seal is to increase the confidence of online shoppers. However, the existence of many different seals, or seals unknown to consumers, can thwart this effort to some extent.
Several sources offer advice on how consumers can protect themselves when using online reseller services. These include:
- Hold fast to a well-known store, or try to find independent consumer reviews about their experience; also ensures that there is comprehensive contact information on the website before using the service, and notes whether the reseller has been enrolled in an industry surveillance program such as a trust or trust seal.
- Before purchasing from a new company, evaluate the website by considering issues such as: professionalism and user friendliness of the site; does the company include a phone number and/or street address along with e-contact information; whether fair and reasonable returns and returns to policies are clearly stated; and whether there is a hidden price inflation, such as overhead shipping and handling.
- Ensure that resellers have an acceptable privacy policy posted. For example, consider if a reseller does not explicitly state that he will not share personal information with others without consent.
- Ensure that vendor addresses are protected with SSL (see above) when entering credit card information. If the address on the credit card information entry screen will begin with "HTTPS".
- Use strong passwords that do not contain personal information such as usernames or birthdates. Another option is the "graduation sentence," which may be something in common: "I'm shopping for 4 great deals !!" It's hard to hack, because they do not consist of words found in the dictionary, and provide a variety of top, bottom, and special characters. These passwords can be site-specific and may be easy to remember.
Although the benefits of online shopping are quite large, when the process goes bad it can create a difficult situation. Some of the problems potential buyers encounter include identity theft, wrong products, and spyware accumulation. If the user is requested to enter credit card information and billing/shipping addresses and the website is not secure, customer information is accessible to anyone who knows how to get it. Most online companies create new ways to make deception more difficult. However, criminals always respond to these developments in new ways to manipulate the system. Although online retailers are trying to protect consumer information, it is a constant struggle to maintain excellence. It is advisable to be aware of the latest technology and fraud to protect consumer and financial identity. Product delivery is also a major concern of online shopping. Most companies offer shipping insurance if the product is lost or damaged. Some shipping companies will offer refunds or compensation for damages, but this is up to their discretion.
Lack of full cost disclosure
Lack of full cost disclosure may also be problematic. While it may be easy to compare the basic prices of goods online, it may not be easy to see the total up-front costs. Additional charges such as shipments are often not visible until the last step in the checkout process. The problem is very clear with cross-border purchases, where the fees shown on the final checkout screen may not include any additional fees to be paid at the time of delivery such as fees and brokers. Some services such as Canabi based in Canada try to include these additional cost estimates, however, the lack of full cost disclosure generally remains a concern.
Privacy
Privacy of personal information is an important issue for some consumers. Many consumers want to avoid spam and telemarketing that can result from providing contact information to online merchants. In response, many traders promise not to use consumer information for this purpose. Many websites track consumer spending habits to suggest other items and websites to view. Brick and mortar stores also collect consumer information. Some ask for shoppers' addresses and phone numbers at checkout, though consumers may refuse to provide them. Many larger stores use address information encoded on a consumer credit card (often without their knowledge) to add it to the catalog mail catalog. This information is clearly inaccessible to the merchant when paying cash or via bank (money transfer, in this case there is also proof of payment).
Product conformity
Many successful virtual companies pure dealing with digital products, (including information storage, retrieval, and modification), music, movies, office supplies, education, communications, software, photography, and financial transactions. Other successful marketers use drop shipping techniques or affiliate marketing to facilitate the transaction of tangible goods without maintaining real inventory. Some non-digital products are more successful than others for online stores. Favorable items often have a high value-to-weight ratio, they may involve embarrassing purchases, they usually go to people in remote locations, and they may have been cover-ups as their regular buyers. Items that can be stored in standard mailboxes - like music CDs, DVDs, and books - are perfect for virtual marketers.
Products like spare parts, good for consumer goods such as washing machines and industrial equipment such as centrifugal pumps, also seem to be good candidates for selling online. Retailers often need to order special parts, because they usually do not store them in consumer outlets - in such cases, e-commerce solutions in spare parts do not compete with retail stores, only with other ordering systems. The factor for success in this niche can consist of providing customers with precise, reliable information about which part number is their particular version of the product requirement, for example by providing a list of sections that are locked by the serial number. Products that are less suited to e-commerce include products that have low value-to-weight ratios, products that have odor, taste, or touch components, products that require experimental fittings - especially clothing - and products where color integrity appears important. Nevertheless, some websites have successfully delivered food and clothing sold through the internet is a big business in the US.
Aggregation
High-volume websites, such as Yahoo !, Amazon.com, and eBay, offer hosting services for online stores to all size retailers. These stores are presented within an integrated navigation framework, sometimes known as a virtual shopping center or an online marketplace.
Review impact on consumer behavior
One of the great advantages of online shopping is the ability to read product reviews, written either by experts or fellow online shoppers. The Nielsen company conducted a survey in March 2010 and surveyed more than 27,000 internet users in 55 markets from Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East, North America and South America to see questions like "How do consumers shop online?" , "What do they want to buy?", "How do they use various online shopping webpages?", And the impact of social media and other factors that play a role when consumers are trying to decide how to spend their money on which product or service. According to research, reviews of electronics (57%) such as DVD players, cell phones, or PlayStations, etc., reviews about cars (45%), and reviews about software (37%) play an important role in influencing consumers who tend to make purchases on line. In addition, 40% of online shoppers indicate that they will not even buy electronics without consulting an online review first.
In addition to online reviews, peer recommendations on online shopping pages or social media websites play a key role for online shoppers as they research future purchases. 90% of all purchases made are influenced by social media.
See also
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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