Difference between revisions of "Online shopping" - New World Encyclopedia

From New World Encyclopedia
(New page: {{Refimprove|date=July 2008}} '''Online shopping''' is the process consumers go through to purchase products or services over the Internet. An online shop, eshop, e-store, internet sho...)
 
Line 1: Line 1:
−
{{Refimprove|date=July 2008}}
+
'''Online shopping''' is the process of researching and purchasing products or services over the [[Internet]]. The earliest online stores went into business in 1992, and online retailing took over a significant segment of the retail market during the first decade of the 21st century as ownership of personal computers increased and established retailers began to offer their products over the Internet. The Nielsen Company estimates that during 2007, 875 million people worldwide made at least one purchase online. By 2011, it is believed that nine percent of U.S. retail sales will be online sales. Online shopping requires a computer and a credit card, making it almost inaccessible to the poor and uneducated. It is popular in some developing countries where many items are not available in stores.
−
'''Online shopping''' is the process consumers go through to purchase products or services over the [[Internet]]. An online shop, eshop, e-store, internet shop, webshop, [[webstore]], online store, or virtual store evokes the physical analogy of buying [[product (business)|product]]s or [[Service (economics)|service]]s at a [[Brick and mortar business|bricks-and-mortar]] [[Retailing|retailer]] or in a [[shopping mall]].
 
  
−
The metaphor of an [[online catalog]] is also used, by analogy with [[mail order]] catalogs. All types of stores have retail web sites, including those that do and do not also have physical storefronts and paper catalogs.
+
[[Electronic commerce]] is used for both [[business-to-business]] (B2B) and [[business-to-consumer]] (B2C) transactions. Buying products from an online shop, eshop, e-store, internet shop, webshop, [[webstore]], online store, or virtual store is similar to purchasing from a [[mail order]] catalogue. Online stores describe products for sale with text, photos, and multimedia files. Typically the customer selects items to be listed on an order form known as a “shopping cart,” and pays with a credit card or some form of electronic payment. The products are then shipped to the customer’s address, or in the case of digital media products such as music, software, e-books or movies, may be downloaded onto the customer’s computer. Online shopping has some advantages over shopping in retail stores, including the ability to easily compare prices from a range of merchants, access to a wide selection of merchandise, and the convenience of not having to drive to a physical store. Online merchants have refined shipping methods and developed incentives such as generous return policies to overcome obstacles such as delays in receiving purchases and the inability to try on or sample merchandise before buying. Online shopping cannot replace the experience of shopping in a retail store or the entertainment value of going to a mall or market, and it is expected that the rapid growth of online shopping will soon level off.
  
−
Online shopping is a type of [[electronic commerce]] used for [[business-to-business]] (B2B) and [[business-to-consumer]] (B2C) transactions.
 
  
−
The term '''"Webshop"''' also refers to a place of business where web development, web hosting and other types of web related activities take place (Web refers to the World Wide Web and "shop" has a colloquial meaning used to describe the place where one's occupation is carried out).
 
  
 
==History==
 
==History==
−
The idea of online shopping predates the World Wide Web, for there were earlier experiments involving real-time transaction processing from a domestic television. The technology, based on [[Videotext]], was first demonstrated in 1979 by Michael Aldrich, who designed and installed systems in the UK, including the first [[Tesco]] pilot system in 1984.<ref>‘Videotex takes Gateshead Teleshopping into the home’ ‘The Incorporated Engineer’ Journal of the IEEIE London September 1984, p. 6.</ref> The first B2B was Thomson Holidays in 1981.<ref>‘Using IT for Competitive Advantage at Thomson Holidays’ ‘Long Range Planning’ vol. 21,  No. 6. p. 26-29.</ref>
+
===Beginnings===
 +
The idea of online shopping predates the World Wide Web. A technology for real-time transaction processing from a domestic television, based on [[Videotext]], was first demonstrated in 1979 by Michael Aldrich, who designed and installed systems in the UK, including the first [[Tesco]] pilot system in 1984.<ref>‘Videotex takes Gateshead Teleshopping into the home’ ‘The Incorporated Engineer’ Journal of the IEEIE London September 1984, p. 6.</ref> The first business-to-business (B2B) computer network was created by Thomson Holidays in 1981.<ref>‘Using IT for Competitive Advantage at Thomson Holidays’ ‘Long Range Planning’ vol. 21,  No. 6. p. 26-29.</ref>
  
−
In 1990 [[Tim Berners-Lee]] created the first World Wide Web server and browser.<ref name="kimpalmer" /> In 1992 Charles Stack created the first online book store, [[Book Stacks Unlimited]] (aka Books.com), two years before Jeff Bezos started Amazon.<ref>[http://www.flashlinepartners.com/about.shtml "Enabling Agile Startups"]</ref> In 1994 other advances took place, such as online banking and the opening of an online pizza shop by [[Pizza Hut]].<ref name="kimpalmer" /> During that same year, [[Netscape]] introduced SSL encryption of data transferred online, which has become essential for secure online shopping. In 1995 Amazon expanded its online shopping, and in 1996 [[eBay]] appeared.<ref name="kimpalmer" />.
+
In 1990 [[Tim Berners-Lee]] created the first World Wide Web server and browser.<ref name="kimpalmer" /> In 1992 Charles Stack created the first online book store, [[Book Stacks Unlimited]] (Books.com), two years before Jeff Bezos started Amazon.com.<ref>[http://www.flashlinepartners.com/about.shtml "Enabling Agile Startups"] Retrieved February 12, 2009.</ref>In 1994 other advances took place, such as online banking and the opening of an online pizza shop by [[Pizza Hut]].<ref name="kimpalmer" /> During that same year, [[Netscape]] introduced SSL encryption of data transferred online, which has become essential for secure online shopping. In 1995 Amazon expanded its online shopping, and in 1996 [[eBay]] appeared.<ref name="kimpalmer" />.
−
 
 
−
==Cultural Impact==
 
−
With its advent in the early 1990s, online shopping has spread into every corner of life, linking people to the [[culture]] of capitalism in frequent and daily ways. <ref name="susandavis">Davis, Susan G.(2001) Culture Works the Political Economy of Culture. Minneapolis, London: University of Minnesota Press.</ref> It lets us buy what we want, when we want, at our convenience, and helps us to imagine ourselves buying, owning, and having positive outcomes by the goods available out there on the web.<ref name="susandavis" /> For some, shopping has become a way of identifying oneself in today's culture by what we purchase and how we use those purchases. Online shopping has always been a middle to high class commodity since its first arrival on the [[internet]] in society.<ref name="kimpalmer">Palmer, Kimberly.(2007) News & World Report.</ref>
 
  
 +
===Growth===
 +
The majority of the earliest online shoppers were young educated males who were familiar with computer technology but by 2001 women were 52.8% of the online population. <ref name="enriquebigne">Bigne, Enrique.(2005) The Impact of Internet User Shopping Patterns and Demographics on Consumer Mobile Buying Behaviour. Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, VOL. 6, NO.3.</ref> Online shopping had caught the attention of the general public by 1999, and both Internet start-ups and well-known retailers launched Web sites offering their products. During the Christmas shopping season of 1999, when many consumers attempted to do their shopping online for the first time, retailers found themselves unprepared to process and ship their orders efficiently. The most publicized debacle was that of Toysrus.com, in Paramus, NJ, which, after a very effective advertising campaign that drove millions of visitors to its Web site, ended up giving $100 gift certificates to the numerous customers whose toys and gifts did not arrive until after the holidays. <ref name=promo>[http://promomagazine.com/mag/marketing_ecommerce/ Once Bitten, Twice Buy? Online retailers vow to avoid the mistakes that plagued the 1999 holiday shopping season.] MATTHEW KINSMAN, Promo Magazine (November 1, 2000) Retrieved February 12, 2009.</ref> Online retailers improved their customer service and shipping companies such as Fedex and UPS expanded their operations to accommodate the increasing traffic. In December 2008, many online retailers were able to  boost their sales by offering guaranteed overnight delivery to last-minute shoppers on Christmas Eve.
 +
Excitement over the potential of online retailing led to unrealistic business expectations during the “dot.com bubble” of 1999 – 2001. Start-ups attempted to sell products like groceries and dog food over the Internet without accounting for the prohibitive cost of maintaining warehouses and delivery systems. Companies with established retail stores and vendors of specialty items, however, were able to expand their customer base using the infrastructure they already had in place.
 +
===Future development===
 +
The rate of growth of online sales began to slow during 2007, prompting many analysts to predict that growth will drop dramatically after 2010 and level off soon afterwards. Researchers have concluded that most of the consumers who are interested in online shopping have already begun purchasing online, and their numbers will not increase as they did over the decade from 1997 to 2007.<ref name=msnbc>[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20321999/ Online shopping growth to slow in next decade] Allison Linn, MSNBC (September 4, 2007) Retrieved February 12, 2009.</ref> Future growth will come through improvements to the shopping process on existing Web sites; the implementation of more online shopping sites by existing retailers; the coming of age of a younger, more technology-oriented generation; and the introduction of novel goods, services and online shopping experiences. The growth of online shopping in developing nations will occur as more people acquire personal computers and credit cards.
 
==Customers==
 
==Customers==
−
In general, [[shopping]] has always catered to middle class and upper class women.  Shopping is fragmented and pyramid-shaped. At the pinnacle are elegant boutiques for the affluent, a huge belt of inelegant but ruthlessly efficient “discounters” flog plenty at the pyramid’s precarious middle.  According to the anaylsis of Susan D. Davis, at its base are the world’s workers and poor, on whose cheapened labor the rest of the pyramid depends for its incredible abundance.<ref name="susandavis" /> Shopping has evolved from single stores to large [[malls]] containing many stores that most often offer attentive service, store credit, delivery, and acceptance of returns.<ref name="susandavis" /> These new additions to shopping have encouraged and targeted middle class women.
+
Online shopping requires access to a computer, and some form of payment such as a bank account and a [[debit card]], credit card, or Paypal account.  According to research found in the Journal of Electronic Commerce, the higher the level of education, income, and occupation of the head of the household, the more favorable the perception of non-store shopping. Increased exposure to technology increases the probability of developing favorable attitudes towards new shopping channels.<ref name="enriquebigne">Bigne, Enrique.(2005) The Impact of Internet User Shopping Patterns and Demographics on Consumer Mobile Buying Behaviour. Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, VOL. 6, NO.3.</ref> Online shoppers are most likely to belong to the middle and upper classes, but as the growth of technology has made computers less expensive and available to more people, and increased the ease of connecting to the internet, the customer base has expanded.  
  
−
In recent years, online shopping has become popular; however, it still caters to the middle and upper class. In order to shop online, one must be able to have access to a computer, a bank account and a [[debit card]]. Shopping has evolved with the growth of technology. According to research found in the Journal of Electronic Commerce, if we focus on the demographic characteristics of the in-home shopper, in general, the higher the level of education, income, and occupation of the head of the household, the more favourable the perception of non-store shopping.<ref name="enriquebigne">Bigne, Enrique.(2005) The Impact of Internet User Shopping Patterns and Demographics on Consumer Mobile Buying Behaviour. Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, VOL. 6, NO.3.</ref> An influential factor in consumer attitude towards non-store shopping is exposure to technology, since it has been demonstrated that increased exposure to technology increases the probability of developing favourable attitudes towards new shopping channels.<ref name="enriquebigne" />  
+
The popularity of online shopping is a global phenomenon. Surveys of internet users have revealed that 99 percent of South Korean internet users have shopped online, closely followed by 97 percent of internet users in Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom. Ninety-four percent of internet users in the United States reported that they had purchased something online. Using a credit card to purchase items on the Internet is especially appealing to consumers in emerging markets who cannot easily find or buy items they want in local retail stores.<ref name="nielsen">[http://www.nielsen.com/solutions/GlobalOnlineShoppingReportFeb08.pdf Online Shopping Takes Off] Trends in Online Shopping a Global Nielsen Consumer Report.Retrieved February 12, 2009.</ref>
  
−
Online shopping widened the target audience to men and women of the middle class. At first, main users of online shopping were young men with a high level of income and a university education.<ref name="enriquebigne" /> This profile is changing. For example, in USA in the early years of Internet there were very few women users, but by 2001 women were 52.8% of the online population.<ref name="enriquebigne" /> Sociocultural pressure has made men generally more independent in their purchase decisions, while women place greater value on personal contact and social relations.<ref name="enriquebigne" /> In addition, male shoppers are more independent when deciding on purchasing products because, unlike women, they don’t necessarily need to see or try on the product.
+
==Merchants==
 +
Many successful [[virtual shopping|virtual]] retailers sell digital products, (including information storage, retrieval, and modification), music, movies, education, communication, software, photography, and financial transactions. Examples of this type of company include: [[Google]], [[eBay]] and [[Paypal]]. Large numbers of successful marketers, including numerous sellers on [[eBay]], use [[Drop shipping]] or [[affiliate marketing]] techniques to facilitate transactions of tangible goods without maintaining real inventory. Small items such as books, CDs and jewelry that have a high value-to-weight and can easily fit into a standard mailbox are particularly suitable for virtual stores. The initial success of [[Amazon]], perhaps the longest-enduring [[Dot-com company|dot-com company]], was based on selling items that were easy to ship.
  
−
==Trends==
+
High-volume websites, such as [[Yahoo!]], [[Amazon.com]] and [[eBay]], offer hosting services for online stores to small retailers. These stores are presented within an integrated navigation framework. Collections of online stores are sometimes known as [[virtual shopping malls]] or [[online marketplace]]s.  
−
One third of people that shop online use a [[search engine]] to find what they are looking for and about one fourth find websites by word of mouth.<ref name="nielsen">Trends in Online Shopping a Global Nielsen Consumer Report. Online Shopping Takes Off. Retrieved April 14, 2008, from http://www.nielsen.com/solutions/GlobalOnlineShoppingReportFeb08.pdf</ref> Word of mouth has become a leading way by which people find shopping websites. When an online shopper has a good first experience with a certain website, sixty percent of the time they will return to that website to buy more.<ref name="nielsen" />
 
  
−
[[Books]] are one of the things bought most online. However, clothes, shoes, and accessories are all very popular things bought online. Cosmetics, nutrition products, and groceries are increasingly being purchased online.<ref name="nielsen" /> About one fourth of travelers buy their plane tickets online because it is a quick and easy way to compare airline travel and make a purchase. Online shopping provides more freedom and control than shopping in a store.<ref name="susandavis" /><ref name="nielsen" />
+
==Logistics==
 +
Consumers find a product of interest by using a search engine, visiting the Website of the retailer directly, or doing a search across many different vendors using a [[shopping search engine]] that offers price and quality comparisons.
  
−
From a sociological perspective, online shopping is arguably the most predictable way to shop.<ref name="susandavis" /> One knows exactly what website to go to, how much the product will cost, and how long it will take for the product to reach them. Online shopping has become extremely routine and predictable, which is one of its great appeals to the consumer.
+
Most online retailers use [[shopping cart software]] that allows the customer to select multiple items to add to an order and adjust quantities. Once the order is complete, the customer moves through a "checkout" process during which payment and delivery information is collected. Some stores allow consumers to sign up for an online account  that keeps payment information and shipping addresses on permanent record so that the checkout process can be automated. The consumer typically sees a confirmation page and is sent an e-mail confirmation once the transaction is complete. Additional emails notify the customer when the order has been shipped and may provide tracking information for the shipment.
  
−
==Logistics==
+
Less sophisticated stores may simply display a catalog on their Web site and rely on consumers to order by telephone or e-mail.  
−
Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the retailer directly, or do a search across many different vendors using a [[shopping search engine]].
 
−
 
 
−
Once a particular product has been found on the web site of the seller, most online retailers use [[shopping cart software]] to allow the consumer to accumulate multiple items and to adjust quantities, by analogy with filling a physical shopping cart or basket in a conventional store.  A "checkout" process follows (continuing the physical-store analogy) in which payment and delivery information is collected, if necessary.  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.  The consumer often receives an e-mail confirmation once the transaction is complete. Less sophisticated stores may rely on consumers to phone or e-mail their orders (though credit card numbers are not accepted by e-mail, for security reasons).
 
  
 
===Payment===
 
===Payment===
Line 41: Line 39:
 
* Various types of [[electronic money]]
 
* Various types of [[electronic money]]
 
* [[Cash on delivery]] (C.O.D., offered by very few online stores)
 
* [[Cash on delivery]] (C.O.D., offered by very few online stores)
−
* [[Cheque]]
+
* [[Electronic bank check]]
 
* [[Wire transfer]]/delivery on payment
 
* [[Wire transfer]]/delivery on payment
 
* [[Money order|Postal money order]]
 
* [[Money order|Postal money order]]
Line 53: Line 51:
 
* Direct debit in some countries
 
* Direct debit in some countries
  
−
Some sites will not allow international credit cards and billing address and shipping address have to be in the same country in which site does its business. Other sites allow customers from anywhere to send gifts anywhere. The financial part of a transaction might be processed in [[real time]] (for example, letting the consumer know their credit card was declined before they log off), or might be done later as part of the fulfillment process.
+
Some merchants are not prepared to ship overseas and will not allow international credit cards and or shipping addresses outside the country in which site does its business. Other sites allow customers from anywhere to send gifts anywhere in the world. The financial part of a transaction may be processed in [[real time]] (for example, letting the consumer know immediately that a credit card has been declined), or might be done later as part of the fulfillment process.
  
−
While credit cards are currently the most popular means of paying for online goods and services, alternative online payments will account for 26% of e-commerce volume by 2009 according to [[Celent]].<ref name=Celent> [[Celent Report]]: According to figures published by [[Celent.net]] [[25 May]] [[2006]].</ref>
+
While credit cards are currently the most popular means of paying for online goods and services, Celent reported in 2008 that alternative payments accounted for 15 percent of e-commerce transactions, and predicted that by 2015, alternative payment methods would be used for $1.7 billion of online transactions. <ref>[http://www.celent.com/PressReleases/20081006/Payments.asp Alternative Realities: The Commoditization and Allure of Alternative Payments] Celent.com (October 7, 2008) Retrieved February 12, 2009.</ref>
  
 
===Product delivery===
 
===Product delivery===
−
Once a payment has been accepted the goods or services can be delivered in the following ways.
+
Once a payment has been accepted the goods or services can be delivered in a number of ways:
  
 
* [[Download]]:  This is the method often used for digital media products such as software, music, movies, or images.
 
* [[Download]]:  This is the method often used for digital media products such as software, music, movies, or images.
 
* [[Shipping]]: The product is shipped to the customer's address.
 
* [[Shipping]]: The product is shipped to the customer's address.
 +
* [[Postal service]]: The merchant uses regular mail services to send the product.
 
* [[Drop shipping]]: The order is passed to the manufacturer or third-party distributor, who ships the item directly to the consumer, bypassing the retailer's physical location to save time, money, and space.
 
* [[Drop shipping]]: The order is passed to the manufacturer or third-party distributor, who ships the item directly to the consumer, bypassing the retailer's physical location to save time, money, and space.
−
* [[Retailing|In-store pickup]]:  The customer orders online, finds a local store using [[locator software]] and picks the product up at the closest store.  This is the method often used in the [[bricks and clicks]] business model.
+
* [[Retailing|In-store pickup]]:  The customer orders and pays online, finds a local store using [[locator software]] and picks the product up at the closest store.  This is the method often used in the [[bricks and clicks]] business model.
−
* In the case of buying an [[Ticket (admission)|admission ticket]] one may get a code, or a ticket that can be printed out. At the premises it is made sure that the same right of admission is not used twice.
+
* If the purchase is an [[Ticket (admission)|admission ticket]] or a gift card, the customer may receive a numerical code, or a ticket that can be printed out and presented at the gate. To prevent duplication, the same right of admission can not be used twice.
 +
* [[Electronic check-in]]: A customer purchasing an airline ticket receives only a confirmation email, and checks in at the airport by swiping the same credit card or a passport at a kiosk.
  
 
===Shopping cart systems===
 
===Shopping cart systems===
−
* 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 do not use an online database.
+
* Simple shopping cart systems do not use an online database. The merchant creates an offline database of products, categories, graphics and prices, and then uploads it to an online shopping cart.
−
* A high end solution can be bought or rented as a standalone program or as an addition to an [[enterprise resource planning]] program. It is usually installed on the company's own webserver and may integrate into the existing [[supply chain]] so that ordering, payment, delivery, accounting and warehousing can be automated to a large extent.
+
* Sophisticated shopping cart software can be bought or rented as a standalone program or as an addition to an [[enterprise resource planning]] program. It is usually installed on the company's own Web server and may be integrated into the company’s existing [[supply chain]] system so that ordering, payment, delivery, accounting and fulfillment can be automated to a large extent.
−
* Other solutions allow the user to register and create an online shop on a [[web portal|portal]] that hosts multiple shops at the same time.
+
* A merchant can register and create an online shop on a [[web portal|portal]] that hosts multiple shops and offers additional services such as credit card processing.
−
* [[open source]] shopping cart packages include advanced platforms such as [[Interchange (software)|Interchange]], and off the shelf solutions as [[Satchmo (online store)|Satchmo]], [[osCommerce]], [[Magento]], [[Zen Cart]], [[VirtueMart]] and [[PrestaShop]].
+
* [[Open source]] shopping cart packages include advanced platforms such as [[Interchange (software)|Interchange]], and off the shelf solutions as [[Satchmo (online store)|Satchmo]], [[osCommerce]], [[Magento]], [[Zen Cart]], [[VirtueMart]] and [[PrestaShop]]. These can be tailored to suit the merchant’s needs.
−
* Commercial systems can also 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 web shop can be adapted and combined.
 
  
−
==Design==
+
==Web site design==
−
Why does electronic shopping exist? For customers it is not only because of the high level of convenience, but also because of the broader selection; competitive pricing and greater access to information. <ref>Jarvenpaa, S. L., & Todd, P. A. (1997). Consumer reactions to electronic shopping on the world wide web. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 1, 59–88.</ref><ref>Peterson, R. A., Balasubramanian, S., & Bronnenberg, B. J. (1997). Exploring the implications of the Internet for consumer marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 25, 329–346.</ref>. For organizations it increases their customer value and the building of sustainable capabilities, next to the increased profits<ref name="stephenking">Stephen F. King en Juhn-Shiuan Liou, “A framework for internet channel evaluation”, International Journal of Information & Management 24 (2004), 473-488</ref>.
+
Customers choose online shopping because of its high level of convenience, and because it offers a broader selection; competitive pricing and greater access to information. <ref>Jarvenpaa, S. L., & Todd, P. A. (1997). Consumer reactions to electronic shopping on the world wide web. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 1, 59–88.</ref><ref>Peterson, R. A., Balasubramanian, S., & Bronnenberg, B. J. (1997). Exploring the implications of the Internet for consumer marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 25, 329–346.</ref>. For a retailer, a shopping Web site increases sales, increases customer access to its products, and strengthens brand awareness and customer loyalty.<ref name="stephenking">Stephen F. King en Juhn-Shiuan Liou, “A framework for internet channel evaluation”, International Journal of Information & Management 24 (2004), 473-488</ref>. Good Web site design is crucial to the success of an online shopping Web site. Many retailers continue to face challenges in creating a satisfactory and appealing online shopping experience for their customers.
  
−
===Information load===
+
Online shopping sites provide detailed product information that is not usually available in a retail store, along with a means of easily comparing the attributes of several similar products.  The amount of information and the way in which it is presented directly affects the customer’s inclination to buy products and services online. <ref name="huang">Huang, M. (2000) Information load: its relationship to online exploratory and shopping behavior. International Journal of Information Management 20: 337-347.</ref>.<ref>Mehrabian, A., & Russel J.A. (1974) An Approach to Environmental Psychology. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.</ref> Two important factors that have been found to influence buying behavior are complexity and novelty. <ref>Campbell, D.J. (1988) Task complexity: A review and analysis. Academy of Management Review, 13(1), 40-52.</ref> “Complexity” refers to the number of different elements or features of a site; a site that presents the same information in several different ways has the potential to induce impulse purchases. Novelty involves adding unexpected, new, or unfamiliar aspects to a site, such as weekly special offers, seasonal products, news articles, and pop-up windows; novelty keeps customers exploring the shopping sites.<ref name="huang" />.
−
Designers of online shops should consider the effects of information load. Mehrabian and Russel (1974) introduced the concept of information rate (load) as the complex spatial and temporal arrangements of stimuli within a setting.<ref>Mehrabian, A., & Russel J.A. (1974) An Approach to Environmental Psychology. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.</ref> The notion of information load is directly related to concerns about whether consumers can be given too much information in virtual shopping environments. Compared with conventional retail shopping, computer shopping enriches the information environment of virtual shopping by providing additional product information, such as comparative products and services, as well as various alternatives and attributes of each alternative, etc.<ref name="huang">Huang, M. (2000) Information load: its relationship to online exploratory and shopping behavior. International Journal of Information Management 20: 337-347.</ref>
 
  
−
Two major sub-dimensions have been identified for information load: complexity and novelty.<ref>Campbell, D.J. (1988) Task complexity: A review and analysis. Academy of Management Review, 13(1), 40-52.</ref> Complexity refers to the number of different elements or features of a site, which can be the result of increased information diversity. Novelty involves the unexpected, suppressing, new, or unfamiliar aspects of the site. A research by Huang (2000) showed that the novelty dimension kept consumers exploring the shopping sites, whereas the complexity dimension has the potential to induce impulse purchases<ref name="huang" />.
+
User-centered design is very important. The purpose of an online [[shopping]] site is to build relationships with customers and make money. The primary focus of the Web site should be satisfying the consumers' expectations, not supporting the organization’s culture and brand name. Consumers seek efficiency, good customer service, a sense that the company cares about them, and a consistent experience each time they return to the site.<ref name="louisfalk">Falk, Louis K.; Sockel, Hy; Chen, Kuanchin. (2005) “E-Commerce and Consumer's Expectations: What Makes a Website Work.” Journal of Website Promotion, 1(1) (65-75) </ref>. An organization must invest substantial resources to define, design, develop, test, implement, and maintain a shopping Web site. Errors should be corrected as soon as they are discovered. To retain customers, a customer service network must return emails in a timely fashion, notify customers of problems, be honest, and be a good steward of the customers’ data. <ref name="louisfalk" > Internet sales cannot be fully automated; a large number of online shoppers contact the company by telephone or email to ask questions before making a purchase, and to resolve problems afterwards.
  
−
===Consumer expectations===
+
Web design must allow for the cultural peculiarities and tastes of prospective customers. Design elements that appeal to a Japanese or Chinese customer may have the opposite effect on a German customer. It is important to make the information on a site available in the language of the customers to avoid misunderstandings and increase their confidence in the product.<ref name="stephenking" /> A user’s familiarity with the internet also affects behavior on a shopping site. Experienced users focus more on the variables that directly influence the task at hand, while novice users concentrate on locating and understanding the information on a shopping site.<ref>Ram L. Kumar et al., “User interface features influencing overall ease of use and personalization”, Information & Management 41 (2004): 289-302</ref>
−
The main idea of online [[shopping]] is not in having a good looking [[website]] that could be listed in a lot of search engines and it is not about the art behind the site. <ref name="louisfalk">Falk, Louis K.; Sockel, Hy; Chen, Kuanchin. (2005) “E-Commerce and Consumer's Expectations: What Makes a Website Work.” Journal of Website Promotion, 1(1) (65-75) </ref> It also is not only just about disseminating information, because it is all about building relationships and making money. <ref name="louisfalk" /> Mostly, [[organizations]] try to adopt techniques of online shopping without understanding these techniques and/or without a sound business model. <ref name="louisfalk" /> Rather than supporting the organization’s culture and brand name, the website should satisfy consumer's expectations. <ref name="louisfalk" /> Many researchers notify that the uniqueness of the web has dissolved and the need for the design, which will be user centered, is very important. <ref name="louisfalk" /> Companies should always remember that there are certain things, such as understanding the customer’s wants and needs, living up to promises, never go out of style, because they give reason to come back.  <ref name="louisfalk" /> And the reason will stay if consumers always get what they expect. [[McDonaldization]] theory can be used in terms of online shopping, because online shopping is becoming more and more popular and website that wants to gain more shoppers will use four major principles of McDonaldization: efficiency, calculability, predictability and control.
 
  
−
Organizations, which want people to shop more online for them, should consume extensive amounts of time and money to define, design, develop, test, implement, and maintain [[website]]. <ref name="louisfalk" /> Also if company wants their website to be popular among online shoppers it should leave the user with a positive impression about the organization, so consumers can get an impression that the company cares about them. <ref name="louisfalk" /> The organization that wants to be acceptable in online shopping needs to remember, that it is easier to lose a customer then to gain one. <ref name="louisfalk" /> Lots of researchers state that even when site was a “top-rated”, it would go nowhere if the organization failed to live up to common etiquette, such as returning e-mails in a timely fashion, notifying customers of problems, being honest, and being good stewards of the customers’ data. <ref name="louisfalk" /> Organizations that want to keep their customers or gain new ones try to get rid of all mistakes and be more appealing to be more desirable for online shoppers. And this is why many designers of webshops considered research outcomes concerning consumer expectations. Research conducted by Elliot and Fowell (2000) revealed satisfactory and unsatisfactory customer experiences.<ref>Steve Elliot and Sue Fowell, “Expectations versus reality: a snapshot of consumer experiences with Internet retailing”, International Journal of Information Management 20 (2000): 323-336</ref>
+
==Online shopping and retail shopping==
 +
Online shopping offers certain benefits and advantages, but it will never replace the experience of shopping in a retail store. A customer who knows exactly what he or she wants can look it up online, read and compare the information, and purchase from the site that offers the best price or service. A shopper who is uncertain what to look for, or who just enjoys browsing through items on display, will prefer a retail store where the merchandise can be seen, handled and sampled. The décor, music and arrangement of goods in a retail store creates a multi-dimensional shopping environment that cannot be duplicated online. For many people, going shopping at a mall, department store or market is a form of entertainment and a social experience.
 +
Many people who are currently unfamiliar with computers and do not feel comfortable using the internet to shop are not likely to change their habits. Forrester Research expects U.S. online sales to comprise just 9 percent of overall U.S. retail sales in 2011.
 +
Online stores must describe products for sale with text, photos, and multimedia files, while in a retail store, the actual product and the manufacturer's packaging are available for direct inspection which might involve a test drive, fitting, or other experimentation. In a conventional retail store, clerks are typically available to answer questions. Some items, like clothing and shoes, may need to be tried on before the customer can be certain that they are the right size. Online shopping sites offer size charts, diagrams and multi-sided views to help the customer make a selection. Most offer generous return policies to encourage customers to place an order. Research by IMRG Capgemini in 2008 showed that one in five online shoppers in the U.K. purchased an item in multiple sizes, with intention of sending the wrong sizes back.<ref>[http://ptcchallenge.com/2008/12/online-shopping/ Online Shopping] Charu Suri (December 1, 2008). Retrieved February 12, 2009.</ref>
 +
===Advantages of online shopping===
  
−
===User interface===
+
Online stores are available 24 hours a day, and many consumers have Internet access both at work and at home. A visit to a conventional retail store requires travel and must take place during business hours. During the holiday season and on weekends, shoppers in retail stores must contend with crowds and long lines.
−
It is important to take the country and customers into account. For example, in Japan privacy is very important and emotional involvement is more important on a pension’s site than on a shopping site.<ref name="stephenking" /> Next to that, there is a difference in experience: experienced users focus more on the variables that directly influence the task, while novice users are focusing more on understanding the information.<ref>Ram L. Kumar et al., “User interface features influencing overall ease of use and personalization”, Information & Management 41 (2004): 289-302</ref>
 
  
−
There are several techniques for the inspection of the [[usability]]. The ones used in the research of Chen & Macredie (2005) are Heuristic evaluation, cognitive walk through and the user testing. Every technique has its own (dis-)advantages and it is therefore important to check per situation which technique is appropriate.<ref name="sherry">Sherry Y. Chen en Robert D. Macredie, “The assessment of usability of electronic shopping: A heuristic evaluation”, International Journal of Information Management 25 (2005), 516-532</ref>  
+
Searching or browsing an online catalog can be faster than browsing the aisles of a physical store.  One advantage of shopping online is being able to quickly seek out and compare prices for items or services from many different vendors using search engines and online [[price comparison service]]s. In certain market segments such as books and music, computers and consumer electronics, shoppers find a greater selection online <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,189445.shtml|title=Consumer Reports: Online Retailers Better Than Walk-In Stores for Electronics Shopping - Press Release|accessdate= February 12, 2009}}</ref>) and may be able to locate refurbished or second-hand items at much lower prices.
  
−
When the customers went to the online shop, a couple of factors determine whether they will return to the site. The most important factors are the ease of use and the presence of user-friendly features.<ref name="sherry" />
+
Collectors and hobbyists can find supplies and rare items online that are rarely available in retail stores, and can use auction sites to sell, trade and research collectibles, antiques and one-of-a-kind pieces. Specialty products such as ethnic foods and wines, outdoor equipment, and sporting goods are also sold at competitive prices online. Online shopping is also an efficient way to buy automobile parts and replacement parts for appliances, since it is difficult for a retail outlet to keep them in stock.
 +
Some online stores provide or link to supplemental product information, such as instructions, safety procedures, demonstrations, manufacturer specifications, advice, or how-to guides. Many shopping sites allow customers to comment or rate their items. There are also dedicated [[review site]]s that host user reviews for different products. MediaPost.com reports that at least 70 percent of online shoppers read a minimum of four reviews of a product before buying it, and almost 25 percent check eight or more reviews.<ref>[http://ptcchallenge.com/2008/12/online-shopping/ Online Shopping] Retrieved February 12, 2009.</ref>
 +
===Shipping===
 +
In most cases, merchandise purchased online must be shipped to the customer. This introduces a significant delay and potential uncertainty about whether or not the item was actually in stock at the time of purchase. Many retailers inform customers how long they can expect to wait before receiving a package and provide a delivery tracking number. Even if a purchase can be made 24 hours a day, the customer must often be at home during normal business hours to accept the [[home delivery|delivery]].
  
−
==Market share==
+
In the event of a problem with the item, the customer may need to contact the retailer, visit the post office and pay return shipping, and then wait for a replacement or refund.
  
−
E-commerce product sales totaled $146.4 billion in the United States in 2006, representing about 6% of retail product sales in the country. The $18.3 billion worth of clothes sold online represented about 10% of the domestic market.<ref name="cnnmoney">{{cite web|url=http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/14/news/economy/online_retailing/|title=Total online sales expected to grow 19% to $174.5B in 2007|accessdate=2008-12-24}}</ref>
+
Shipping costs (if applicable) reduce the price advantage of online merchandise, though depending on the jurisdiction, a lack of [[sales tax]] may compensate for this. Online retailers sometimes make a profit by charging a standard shipping fee that exceeds the actual cost of shipping the item.
  
−
For developing countries and low-income households in developed countries, adoption of e-commerce in place of or in addition to conventional methods is limited by a lack of affordable Internet access.
+
[[Bricks and clicks]] stores offer the ability to buy an item online and pick it up in a nearby store.  Orders are filled immediately so that they are ready before the customer has time to arrive at the store. This feature gives retail stores a competitive edge over other online retailers who might offer lower prices but must ship out merchandise, and satisfies customers who want their goods immediately. It also brings online customers onto the store premises where they might buy additional merchandise or seek assistance with a product.
  
−
==Advantages==
+
==Trends==
 +
One third of people that shop online use a [[search engine]] to find what they are looking for and about one fourth find websites by word of mouth.<ref name="nielsen">.[http://www.nielsen.com/solutions/GlobalOnlineShoppingReportFeb08.pdf Online Shopping Takes Off] Trends in Online Shopping a Global Nielsen Consumer Report.Retrieved February 12, 2009.</ref> Many shoppers respond to special offers in emails and advertising, or find a merchant through a price comparison Web site.
  
−
===Convenience===
+
Trust is a significant factor in selecting an online merchant. Sixty percent of online shoppers who have a good first experience with a certain Web site return to that website to buy more.<ref name="nielsen" /> An established retailer with a well-known brand is more likely to be trusted than an unknown merchant.
−
Online stores are usually available 24 hours a day, and many consumers have Internet access both at work and at home. A visit to a conventional retail store requires travel and must take place during business hours.
 
  
−
Searching or browsing an online catalog can be faster than browsing the aisles of a physical store.  Consumers with [[dial-up]] Internet connections rather than [[broadband]] have much longer load times for content-rich web sites and have a considerably slower online shopping experience.
+
[[Books]] and music are the most popular online purchases, followed by clothing and accessories, shoes, videos and DVDs, games, airline tickets and electronic equipment. Cosmetics, nutrition products, and groceries are increasingly being purchased online.<ref name="nielsen" /> About one fourth of travelers buy their airplane tickets online because it is a quick and easy way to compare airline travel and make a purchase.<ref name="susandavis" /><ref name="nielsen" />
  
−
Some consumers prefer interacting with people rather than computers (and vice versa), sometimes because they find computers hard to use.  Not all online retailers have succeeded in making their sites easy to use or reliable.
+
Many successful purely [[virtual shopping|virtual]] companies deal with digital products, (including information storage, retrieval, and modification), music, movies, office supplies, education, communication, software, photography, and financial transactions. Examples of this type of company include: [[Google]], [[eBay]] and [[Paypal]]. Other successful marketers use [[Drop shipping]] or [[affiliate marketing]] techniques to facilitate transactions of tangible goods without maintaining real inventory. Examples include numerous sellers on [[eBay]].
−
 
 
−
In most cases, merchandise must be shipped to the consumer, introducing a significant delay and potentially uncertainty about whether or not the item was actually in stock at the time of purchase. [[Bricks and clicks]] stores offer the ability to buy online but pick up in a nearby store.  Many stores give the consumer the delivery company's tracking number for their package when shipped, so they can check its status online and know exactly when it will arrive.  For efficiency reasons, online stores generally do not ship products immediately upon receiving an order.  Orders are only filled during warehouse operating hours, and there may be a delay of anywhere from a few minutes to a few days to a few weeks before in-stock items are actually packaged and shipped.  Many retailers inform customers how long they can expect to wait before receiving a package, and whether or not they generally have a fulfillment backlog.  A quick response time is sometimes an important factor in consumers' choice of merchant. A weakness of online shopping is that, even if a purchase can be made 24 hours a day, the customer must often be at home during normal business hours to accept the [[home delivery|delivery]]. For many professionals this can be difficult, and absence at the time of delivery can result in delays, or in some cases, return of the item to the retailer. Automated delivery booths, such as [[DHL|DHL's]] [[Packstation]], have tried to address this problem. There are sites such as www.visitthebest.com that gives essential guide to top shopping sites
 
−
 
 
−
In the event of a problem with the item - it is not what the consumer ordered, or it is not what they expected - consumers are concerned with the ease with which they can return an item for the correct one or for a refund.  Consumers may need to contact the retailer, visit the post office and pay return shipping, and then wait for a replacement or refund. Some online companies have more generous return policies to compensate for the traditional advantage of physical stores.  For example, the online shoe retailer [[Zappos.com]] includes labels for free return shipping, and does not charge a restocking fee, even for returns which are not the result of merchant error.  (Note: In the United Kingdom, Online shops are prohibited from charging a restocking fee if the consumer cancels their order in accordance with the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Act 2000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/general/oft698.pdf|title=A guide for businesses on distance selling|accessdate=2008-12-24}}</ref>)
 
−
 
 
−
===Information and reviews===
 
−
 
 
−
Online stores must describe products for sale with text, photos, and multimedia files, whereas in a physical retail store, the actual product and the manufacturer's packaging will be available for direct inspection (which might involve a test drive, fitting, or other experimentation).
 
−
 
 
−
Some online stores provide or link to supplemental product information, such as instructions, safety procedures, demonstrations, or manufacturer specifications.  Some provide background information, advice, or how-to guides designed to help consumers decide which product to buy.
 
−
 
 
−
Some stores even allow customers to comment or rate their items. There are also dedicated [[review site]]s that host user reviews for different products.
 
−
 
 
−
In a conventional retail store, 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 questions.
 
−
 
 
−
===Price and selection===
 
−
 
 
−
One advantage of shopping online is being able to quickly seek out deals for items or services with many different vendors (though some [[Local search (Internet)|local search]] engines do exist to help consumers locate products for sale in nearby stores). Search engines and online [[price comparison service]]s can be used to look up sellers of a particular product or service.
 
−
 
 
−
Shoppers find a greater selection online in certain market segments (for example, computers and consumer electronics<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,189445.shtml|title=Consumer Reports: Online Retailers Better Than Walk-In Stores for Electronics Shopping - Press Release|accessdate=2008-12-24}}</ref>) and in some cases lower prices.  This is due to a relaxation of certain constraints, such as the size of a "brick-and-mortar" store, lower stocking costs (or none, if [[drop shipping]] is used), and lower staffing overhead.
 
−
 
 
−
Shipping costs (if applicable) reduce the price advantage of online merchandise, though depending on the jurisdiction, a lack of [[sales tax]] may compensate for this. 
 
−
 
 
−
Shipping a small number of items, especially from another country, is much more expensive than making the larger shipments bricks-and-mortar retailers order. Some retailers (especially those selling small, high-value items like electronics) offer free shipping on sufficiently large orders.
 
  
 
==Concerns==
 
==Concerns==
Line 136: Line 115:
 
===Fraud and security concerns===
 
===Fraud and security concerns===
  
−
Given the lack of ability to inspect merchandise before purchase, consumers are at higher risk of [[fraud]] on the part of the merchant than in a physical store. Merchants also risk fraudulent purchases using stolen credit cards or fraudulent repudiation of the online purchase.  With a warehouse instead of a retail storefront, merchants face less risk from physical [[theft]].
+
Online shoppers have a higher risk of being [[fraud\defrauded]] by a merchant because they are unable to physically examine merchandise before purchasing it. Dishonest sellers occasionally accept payment for an order and never send the merchandise. Most credit card services offer protection against this type of fraud. Merchants also risk losses from purchases made using stolen credit cards, or fraudulent repudiation of online purchases.   
  
−
[[Secure Sockets Layer]] (SSL) encryption has generally solved the problem of credit card numbers being intercepted in transit between the consumer and the merchant.  [[Identity theft]] is still a concern for consumers when [[Hacker (computer security)|hackers]] break into a merchant's web site and steal names, addresses and credit card numbers.  A number of high-profile break-ins in the 2000s has prompted some U.S. states to require disclosure to consumers when this happens.  [[Computer security]] has thus become a major concern for merchants and e-commerce service providers, who deploy countermeasures such as [[firewalls]] and [[anti-virus software]] to protect their networks.
+
[[Secure Sockets Layer]] (SSL) encryption prevents credit card numbers from being intercepted in transit between the consumer and the merchant.  [[Identity theft]] is still a concern for consumers if [[Hacker (computer security)|hackers]] break into a merchant's web site and steal names, addresses and credit card numbers.  [[Computer security]] is a major concern for merchants and e-commerce service providers, who deploy countermeasures such as [[firewalls]] and [[anti-virus software]] to protect their networks.
  
−
[[Phishing]] is another danger, where consumers are fooled into thinking they are dealing with a reputable retailer, when they have actually been manipulated into feeding private information to a system operated by a malicious party. [[Denial of service attack]]s are a minor risk for merchants, as are server and network outages.
+
[[Phishing]], in which consumers are fooled into thinking they are dealing with a reputable retailer, and are manipulated into giving private information to a malicious party, is another danger. [[Denial of service attack]]s are a minor risk for merchants, as are server and network outages.
  
−
Quality seals can be placed on the Shop web page 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, or seals unfamiliar to consumers, may foil this effort to a certain extent.
+
Consumers can protect themselves when using online retailer services by<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statssheet.com/articles/article7322.html|title=10 Tips To Safe Online Shopping|author=Gina Stathopoulos|accessdate=Retrieved February 12, 2009.}}</ref>: 
  
−
A number of resources offer advice on how consumers can protect themselves when using online retailer services.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statssheet.com/articles/article7322.html|title=10 Tips To Safe Online Shopping|author=Gina Stathopoulos|accessdate=2008-12-24}}</ref>  These include:
+
* Using known stores, ensuring that there is comprehensive contact information on the website before using the service, and noting if the retailer has enrolled in industry oversight programs such as trust mark or trust seal.  
−
* Sticking with known stores, or attempting to find independent consumer reviews of their experiences; also ensuring that there is comprehensive contact information on the website before using the service, and noting if the retailer has enrolled in industry oversight programs such as trust mark or trust seal.
+
* Ensuring that the retailer has posted a privacy policy stating that it will not share private information with others without consent.
−
* Ensuring that the retailer has an acceptable privacy policy posted.  For example note if the retailer does not explicitly state that it will not share private information with others without consent.
+
* Ensuring that the vendor address is protected with SSL (see above) when entering credit card information. The URL of the credit card information entry screen should start with "HTTPS."
−
* Ensuring that the vendor address is protected with SSL (see above) when entering credit card information. If it does the address on the credit card information entry screen will start with "HTTPS".
+
* Using strong passwords, which do not include personal information such as names or birthdates.   
−
* Using strong passwords, without personal information.  Another option is a "pass phrase," which might be something along the lines: "I shop 4 good a buy!!"  These are difficult to hack, and provides a variety of upper, lower, and special characters and could be site specific and easy to remember.
+
* Reading independent consumer reviews of personal experiences with a company or product. These can often be found by typing the company name into a search engine.
 +
*Confirming that special offers in emails or online advertising are genuine by going directly to the merchant’s site.
  
−
Although the benefits of online shopping are considerable, when the process goes poorly it can create a thorny situation.  A few problems that shoppers potentially face include identity theft, faulty products, and the accumulation of spy ware.  Most large online corporations are inventing new ways to make fraud more difficult, however, the criminals are constantly responding to these developments with new ways to manipulate the system.  Even though these efforts are making it easier to protect yourself online, it is a constant fight to maintain the lead. It is advisable to be aware of the most current technology and scams out there to fully protect yourself and your finances.<ref name="federal">
+
Most companies offer shipping insurance in case a product is lost or damaged; if an item is particularly valuable the customer should confirm that it is insured.
−
{{cite web|url=http://www.ftc.gov/|title=Federal Trade Commission|accessdate=2008-12-24}}</ref>.
 
−
 
 
−
One of the hardest areas to deal with in online shopping is the delivery of the products.  Most companies offer shipping insurance in case the product is lost or damaged; however, if the buyer opts not to purchase insurance on their products, they are generally out of luck.  Some shipping companies will offer refunds or compensation for the damage, but it is up to their discretion if this will happen.  It is important to realize that once the product leaves the hands of the seller, they have no responsibility (provided the product is what the buyer ordered and is in the specified condition).<ref name="federal" />.
 
  
 
===Privacy===
 
===Privacy===
  
−
Privacy of personal information is a significant issue for some consumers.  Different legal jurisdictions have different laws concerning consumer privacy, and different levels of enforcement. Many consumers wish to avoid [[Spam (electronic)|spam]] and [[telemarketing]] which could result from supplying contact information to an online merchant. In response, many merchants promise not to use consumer information for these purposes, or provide a mechanism to opt-out of such contacts.
+
Protection of personal information is important to some consumers.  Legal jurisdictions have different laws concerning consumer privacy, and different levels of enforcement. Many consumers wish to avoid [[Spam (electronic)|spam]] and [[telemarketing]] which could result from supplying contact information to an online merchant. Most merchants promise not to use consumer information for these purposes, or provide a mechanism to opt-out of such contacts.
  
−
Brick-and-mortar stores also collect consumer information. Some ask for address and phone number at checkout, though consumers may refuse to provide it.  Many larger stores use the address information encoded on consumers' credit cards (often without their knowledge) to add them to a catalog mailing list.  This information is obviously not accessible to the merchant when paying in cash.
+
Retail stores also collect consumer information. Some ask for addresses and phone numbers at the cash register, though consumers may refuse to provide it.  Larger companies sometimes use the address information encoded on consumers' credit cards to add them to a catalog mailing list.   
−
 
 
−
==Product suitability==
 
−
 
 
−
{|class="wikitable"
 
−
|-
 
−
!Category
 
−
!U.S. online sales (2006)<ref>
 
−
{{cite web|url=http://www.shop.org/soro07/pr-051407.asp|title=The State of Retailing Online 2007 - Press Release May 14, 2007|accessdate=2008-12-24}}</ref>
 
−
|-
 
−
|Apparel, accessories and footwear
 
−
|$18.3 billion
 
−
|-
 
−
|Computer hardware and software
 
−
|$17.2 billion
 
−
|-
 
−
|Autos and auto parts
 
−
|$16.7 billion
 
−
|-
 
−
|Home furnishings
 
−
|$10.0 billion
 
−
|-
 
−
|'''Total products sales (excluding travel)'''
 
−
|'''$146.4 billion'''
 
−
|-
 
−
|Travel
 
−
|$73.5 billion<ref name="cnnmoney" />
 
−
|}
 
−
 
 
−
Many successful purely [[virtual shopping|virtual]] companies deal with digital products, (including information storage, retrieval, and modification), music, movies, office supplies, education, communication, software, photography, and financial transactions. Examples of this type of company include: [[Google]], [[eBay]] and [[Paypal]]. Other successful marketers use [[Drop shipping]] or [[affiliate marketing]] techniques to facilitate transactions of tangible goods without maintaining real inventory. Examples include numerous sellers on [[eBay]].
 
−
 
 
−
Some non-digital products have been more successful than others for online stores. Profitable items often have a high value-to-weight ratio, they may involve embarrassing purchases, they may typically go to people in remote locations, and they may have shut-ins as their typical purchasers. {{Fact|date=April 2008}} Items which can fit through a standard letterbox — such as music CDs, DVDs and books — are particularly suitable for a virtual marketer, and indeed [[Amazon.com]], one of the few enduring [[Dot-com company|dot-com companies]], has historically concentrated on this field.{{Fact|date=April 2008}}
 
−
 
 
−
Products such as spare parts, both for consumer items like washing machines and for industrial equipment like centrifugal pumps, also seem good candidates for selling online. Retailers often need to order spare parts specially, since they  typically do not stock them at consumer outlets — in such cases, e-commerce solutions in spares do not compete with retail stores, only with other ordering systems. A factor for success in this niche can consist of providing customers with exact, reliable information about which part number their particular version of a product needs, for example by providing parts lists keyed by serial number.{{Fact|date=April 2008}}
 
−
 
 
−
Products less suitable for e-commerce include products that have a low value-to-weight ratio, products that have a smell, taste, or touch component, products that need trial fittings — most notably clothing — and products where colour integrity appears important. Nonetheless, [[Tesco|Tesco.com]] has had success delivering groceries in the [[United Kingdom|UK]], albeit that many of its goods are of a generic quality, and clothing sold through the internet is big business in the U.S.  Also, the recycling program [[Cheapcycle]] sells goods over the internet, but avoids the low value-to-weight ratio problem by creating different groups for various regions, so that shipping costs remain low.{{Fact|date=April 2008}}
 
−
 
 
−
==Aggregation==
 
−
 
 
−
High-volume websites, such as [[Yahoo!]], [[Amazon.com]] and [[eBay]], offer hosting services for online stores to small retailers.  These stores are presented within an integrated navigation framework.  Collections of online stores are sometimes known as [[virtual shopping malls]] or [[online marketplace]]s.
 
−
 
 
−
[[Become.com]] is a product price comparison service and discovery shopping search engine with a mission to help shoppers make ideal buying decisions. [[Dulance]] was a price engine that specialized in searching for hard-to-find products often sold by small independent online retailers (“[[The Long Tail]]”).
 
  
 
==See also==
 
==See also==
Line 215: Line 151:
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
−
{{refbegin}}
+
* Chen, Sherry Y. en Robert D. Macredie, “The assessment of usability of electronic shopping: A heuristic evaluation”, International Journal of Information Management 25 (2005), 516-532
−
* Cumming, Maeve, ''et al.'' <u>Management Information Systems, Third Canadian Edition</u>. Canada: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2006.
+
* Court, Yvonne, and Richard Barkham. Online retailing: the impact of click on brick. Future of retail property, 03. London: BCSC. 2006. ISBN 781897958322
−
* https://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie6/using/articles/shopping.mspx {{Dead link|date=December 2008}}
+
*Elliott,  Steve and Sue Fowell, “Expectations versus reality: a snapshot of consumer experiences with Internet retailing”, International Journal of Information Management 20 (2000): 323-336
−
* http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/LAM05119112007 {{Dead link|date=December 2008}}
+
* Gao, Yuan. Web systems design and online consumer behavior. Hershey PA: Idea Group Pub. 2005. ISBN 9781591403272
−
* 'Videotex-Key to the Wired City' Michael Aldrich Quiller Press London 1982
+
* Mendelsohn, Hillary. Thepurplebook: the definitive guide to exceptional online shopping. New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books. 2003. ISBN 9780553382785
−
{{refend}}
+
*Miller, Michael. Bargain hunter's secrets to online shopping. Indianapolis, IN: Que Pub. 2004. ISBN 9780768663143
 +
* Pheba, Anandan Pillai. Online retailing: a new paradigm. Hyderabad, India: ICFAI University Press. 2008. ISBN 9788131420553
 +
* United States. 10 tips for smart holiday shopping online. FTC consumer alert. [Washington, D.C.]: Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Division of Consumer & Business Education. 2007. [http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS102858] Retrieved February 12, 2009.
 +
* Watson, Kerry. Zen Cart— building an online store the Zen way: for beginners. [S.l.]: Pithy Productions, Inc. 2005.  ISBN 9781412066457
 +
 
 +
==External links==
 +
All links retrieved February 12, 2009.
 +
*[http://www.nielsen.com/solutions/GlobalOnlineShoppingReportFeb08.pdf Online Shopping Takes Off] Trends in Online Shopping a Global Nielsen Consumer Report
 +
*[http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jan2009/gb20090115_870517.htm Record Online Christmas Sales in Britain] Julian Goldsmith, Businesweek.com (January 15, 2009)
  
−
[[Category:Electronic commerce]]
+
[[Category:Electronic commerce]]
 
[[Category:Online retailers]]
 
[[Category:Online retailers]]
 +
  
 
{{credits|Online_shopping&oldid=270223864|}}
 
{{credits|Online_shopping&oldid=270223864|}}

Revision as of 17:36, 13 February 2009

Online shopping is the process of researching and purchasing products or services over the Internet. The earliest online stores went into business in 1992, and online retailing took over a significant segment of the retail market during the first decade of the 21st century as ownership of personal computers increased and established retailers began to offer their products over the Internet. The Nielsen Company estimates that during 2007, 875 million people worldwide made at least one purchase online. By 2011, it is believed that nine percent of U.S. retail sales will be online sales. Online shopping requires a computer and a credit card, making it almost inaccessible to the poor and uneducated. It is popular in some developing countries where many items are not available in stores.

Electronic commerce is used for both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions. Buying products from an online shop, eshop, e-store, internet shop, webshop, webstore, online store, or virtual store is similar to purchasing from a mail order catalogue. Online stores describe products for sale with text, photos, and multimedia files. Typically the customer selects items to be listed on an order form known as a “shopping cart,” and pays with a credit card or some form of electronic payment. The products are then shipped to the customer’s address, or in the case of digital media products such as music, software, e-books or movies, may be downloaded onto the customer’s computer. Online shopping has some advantages over shopping in retail stores, including the ability to easily compare prices from a range of merchants, access to a wide selection of merchandise, and the convenience of not having to drive to a physical store. Online merchants have refined shipping methods and developed incentives such as generous return policies to overcome obstacles such as delays in receiving purchases and the inability to try on or sample merchandise before buying. Online shopping cannot replace the experience of shopping in a retail store or the entertainment value of going to a mall or market, and it is expected that the rapid growth of online shopping will soon level off.


History

Beginnings

The idea of online shopping predates the World Wide Web. A technology for real-time transaction processing from a domestic television, based on Videotext, was first demonstrated in 1979 by Michael Aldrich, who designed and installed systems in the UK, including the first Tesco pilot system in 1984.[1] The first business-to-business (B2B) computer network was created by Thomson Holidays in 1981.[2]

In 1990 Tim Berners-Lee created the first World Wide Web server and browser.[3] In 1992 Charles Stack created the first online book store, Book Stacks Unlimited (Books.com), two years before Jeff Bezos started Amazon.com.[4]In 1994 other advances took place, such as online banking and the opening of an online pizza shop by Pizza Hut.[3] During that same year, Netscape introduced SSL encryption of data transferred online, which has become essential for secure online shopping. In 1995 Amazon expanded its online shopping, and in 1996 eBay appeared.[3].

Growth

The majority of the earliest online shoppers were young educated males who were familiar with computer technology but by 2001 women were 52.8% of the online population. [5] Online shopping had caught the attention of the general public by 1999, and both Internet start-ups and well-known retailers launched Web sites offering their products. During the Christmas shopping season of 1999, when many consumers attempted to do their shopping online for the first time, retailers found themselves unprepared to process and ship their orders efficiently. The most publicized debacle was that of Toysrus.com, in Paramus, NJ, which, after a very effective advertising campaign that drove millions of visitors to its Web site, ended up giving $100 gift certificates to the numerous customers whose toys and gifts did not arrive until after the holidays. [6] Online retailers improved their customer service and shipping companies such as Fedex and UPS expanded their operations to accommodate the increasing traffic. In December 2008, many online retailers were able to boost their sales by offering guaranteed overnight delivery to last-minute shoppers on Christmas Eve. Excitement over the potential of online retailing led to unrealistic business expectations during the “dot.com bubble” of 1999 – 2001. Start-ups attempted to sell products like groceries and dog food over the Internet without accounting for the prohibitive cost of maintaining warehouses and delivery systems. Companies with established retail stores and vendors of specialty items, however, were able to expand their customer base using the infrastructure they already had in place.

Future development

The rate of growth of online sales began to slow during 2007, prompting many analysts to predict that growth will drop dramatically after 2010 and level off soon afterwards. Researchers have concluded that most of the consumers who are interested in online shopping have already begun purchasing online, and their numbers will not increase as they did over the decade from 1997 to 2007.[7] Future growth will come through improvements to the shopping process on existing Web sites; the implementation of more online shopping sites by existing retailers; the coming of age of a younger, more technology-oriented generation; and the introduction of novel goods, services and online shopping experiences. The growth of online shopping in developing nations will occur as more people acquire personal computers and credit cards.

Customers

Online shopping requires access to a computer, and some form of payment such as a bank account and a debit card, credit card, or Paypal account. According to research found in the Journal of Electronic Commerce, the higher the level of education, income, and occupation of the head of the household, the more favorable the perception of non-store shopping. Increased exposure to technology increases the probability of developing favorable attitudes towards new shopping channels.[5] Online shoppers are most likely to belong to the middle and upper classes, but as the growth of technology has made computers less expensive and available to more people, and increased the ease of connecting to the internet, the customer base has expanded.

The popularity of online shopping is a global phenomenon. Surveys of internet users have revealed that 99 percent of South Korean internet users have shopped online, closely followed by 97 percent of internet users in Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom. Ninety-four percent of internet users in the United States reported that they had purchased something online. Using a credit card to purchase items on the Internet is especially appealing to consumers in emerging markets who cannot easily find or buy items they want in local retail stores.[8]

Merchants

Many successful virtual retailers sell digital products, (including information storage, retrieval, and modification), music, movies, education, communication, software, photography, and financial transactions. Examples of this type of company include: Google, eBay and Paypal. Large numbers of successful marketers, including numerous sellers on eBay, use Drop shipping or affiliate marketing techniques to facilitate transactions of tangible goods without maintaining real inventory. Small items such as books, CDs and jewelry that have a high value-to-weight and can easily fit into a standard mailbox are particularly suitable for virtual stores. The initial success of Amazon, perhaps the longest-enduring dot-com company, was based on selling items that were easy to ship.

High-volume websites, such as Yahoo!, Amazon.com and eBay, offer hosting services for online stores to small retailers. These stores are presented within an integrated navigation framework. Collections of online stores are sometimes known as virtual shopping malls or online marketplaces.

Logistics

Consumers find a product of interest by using a search engine, visiting the Website of the retailer directly, or doing a search across many different vendors using a shopping search engine that offers price and quality comparisons.

Most online retailers use shopping cart software that allows the customer to select multiple items to add to an order and adjust quantities. Once the order is complete, the customer moves through a "checkout" process during which payment and delivery information is collected. Some stores allow consumers to sign up for an online account that keeps payment information and shipping addresses on permanent record so that the checkout process can be automated. The consumer typically sees a confirmation page and is sent an e-mail confirmation once the transaction is complete. Additional emails notify the customer when the order has been shipped and may provide tracking information for the shipment.

Less sophisticated stores may simply display a catalog on their Web site and rely on consumers to order by telephone or e-mail.

Payment

Online shoppers commonly use credit card to make 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., offered by very few online stores)
  • Electronic bank check
  • Wire transfer/delivery on payment
  • Postal money order
  • PayPal
  • Google Checkout
  • Amazon Payments
  • Bill Me Later
  • Money bookers
  • Reverse SMS billing to mobile phones
  • Gift cards
  • Direct debit in some countries

Some merchants are not prepared to ship overseas and will not allow international credit cards and or shipping addresses outside the country in which site does its business. Other sites allow customers from anywhere to send gifts anywhere in the world. The financial part of a transaction may be processed in real time (for example, letting the consumer know immediately that a credit card has been declined), or might be done later as part of the fulfillment process.

While credit cards are currently the most popular means of paying for online goods and services, Celent reported in 2008 that alternative payments accounted for 15 percent of e-commerce transactions, and predicted that by 2015, alternative payment methods would be used for $1.7 billion of online transactions. [9]

Product delivery

Once a payment has been accepted the goods or services can be delivered in a number of ways:

  • Download: This is the method often used for digital media products such as software, music, movies, or images.
  • Shipping: The product is shipped to the customer's address.
  • Postal service: The merchant uses regular mail services to send the product.
  • Drop shipping: The order is passed to the manufacturer or third-party distributor, who ships the item directly to the consumer, bypassing the retailer's physical location to save time, money, and space.
  • In-store pickup: The customer orders and pays online, finds a local store using locator software and picks the product up at the closest store. This is the method often used in the bricks and clicks business model.
  • If the purchase is an admission ticket or a gift card, the customer may receive a numerical code, or a ticket that can be printed out and presented at the gate. To prevent duplication, the same right of admission can not be used twice.
  • Electronic check-in: A customer purchasing an airline ticket receives only a confirmation email, and checks in at the airport by swiping the same credit card or a passport at a kiosk.

Shopping cart systems

  • Simple shopping cart systems do not use an online database. The merchant creates an offline database of products, categories, graphics and prices, and then uploads it to an online shopping cart.
  • Sophisticated shopping cart software can be bought or rented as a standalone program or as an addition to an enterprise resource planning program. It is usually installed on the company's own Web server and may be integrated into the company’s existing supply chain system so that ordering, payment, delivery, accounting and fulfillment can be automated to a large extent.
  • A merchant can register and create an online shop on a portal that hosts multiple shops and offers additional services such as credit card processing.
  • Open source shopping cart packages include advanced platforms such as Interchange, and off the shelf solutions as Satchmo, osCommerce, Magento, Zen Cart, VirtueMart and PrestaShop. These can be tailored to suit the merchant’s needs.

Web site design

Customers choose online shopping because of its high level of convenience, and because it offers a broader selection; competitive pricing and greater access to information. [10][11]. For a retailer, a shopping Web site increases sales, increases customer access to its products, and strengthens brand awareness and customer loyalty.[12]. Good Web site design is crucial to the success of an online shopping Web site. Many retailers continue to face challenges in creating a satisfactory and appealing online shopping experience for their customers.

Online shopping sites provide detailed product information that is not usually available in a retail store, along with a means of easily comparing the attributes of several similar products. The amount of information and the way in which it is presented directly affects the customer’s inclination to buy products and services online. [13].[14] Two important factors that have been found to influence buying behavior are complexity and novelty. [15] “Complexity” refers to the number of different elements or features of a site; a site that presents the same information in several different ways has the potential to induce impulse purchases. Novelty involves adding unexpected, new, or unfamiliar aspects to a site, such as weekly special offers, seasonal products, news articles, and pop-up windows; novelty keeps customers exploring the shopping sites.[13].

User-centered design is very important. The purpose of an online shopping site is to build relationships with customers and make money. The primary focus of the Web site should be satisfying the consumers' expectations, not supporting the organization’s culture and brand name. Consumers seek efficiency, good customer service, a sense that the company cares about them, and a consistent experience each time they return to the site.[16]. An organization must invest substantial resources to define, design, develop, test, implement, and maintain a shopping Web site. Errors should be corrected as soon as they are discovered. To retain customers, a customer service network must return emails in a timely fashion, notify customers of problems, be honest, and be a good steward of the customers’ data. Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag

Online shopping and retail shopping

Online shopping offers certain benefits and advantages, but it will never replace the experience of shopping in a retail store. A customer who knows exactly what he or she wants can look it up online, read and compare the information, and purchase from the site that offers the best price or service. A shopper who is uncertain what to look for, or who just enjoys browsing through items on display, will prefer a retail store where the merchandise can be seen, handled and sampled. The décor, music and arrangement of goods in a retail store creates a multi-dimensional shopping environment that cannot be duplicated online. For many people, going shopping at a mall, department store or market is a form of entertainment and a social experience. Many people who are currently unfamiliar with computers and do not feel comfortable using the internet to shop are not likely to change their habits. Forrester Research expects U.S. online sales to comprise just 9 percent of overall U.S. retail sales in 2011. Online stores must describe products for sale with text, photos, and multimedia files, while in a retail store, the actual product and the manufacturer's packaging are available for direct inspection which might involve a test drive, fitting, or other experimentation. In a conventional retail store, clerks are typically available to answer questions. Some items, like clothing and shoes, may need to be tried on before the customer can be certain that they are the right size. Online shopping sites offer size charts, diagrams and multi-sided views to help the customer make a selection. Most offer generous return policies to encourage customers to place an order. Research by IMRG Capgemini in 2008 showed that one in five online shoppers in the U.K. purchased an item in multiple sizes, with intention of sending the wrong sizes back.[17]

Advantages of online shopping

Online stores are available 24 hours a day, and many consumers have Internet access both at work and at home. A visit to a conventional retail store requires travel and must take place during business hours. During the holiday season and on weekends, shoppers in retail stores must contend with crowds and long lines.

Searching or browsing an online catalog can be faster than browsing the aisles of a physical store. One advantage of shopping online is being able to quickly seek out and compare prices for items or services from many different vendors using search engines and online price comparison services. In certain market segments such as books and music, computers and consumer electronics, shoppers find a greater selection online [18]) and may be able to locate refurbished or second-hand items at much lower prices.

Collectors and hobbyists can find supplies and rare items online that are rarely available in retail stores, and can use auction sites to sell, trade and research collectibles, antiques and one-of-a-kind pieces. Specialty products such as ethnic foods and wines, outdoor equipment, and sporting goods are also sold at competitive prices online. Online shopping is also an efficient way to buy automobile parts and replacement parts for appliances, since it is difficult for a retail outlet to keep them in stock. Some online stores provide or link to supplemental product information, such as instructions, safety procedures, demonstrations, manufacturer specifications, advice, or how-to guides. Many shopping sites allow customers to comment or rate their items. There are also dedicated review sites that host user reviews for different products. MediaPost.com reports that at least 70 percent of online shoppers read a minimum of four reviews of a product before buying it, and almost 25 percent check eight or more reviews.[19]

Shipping

In most cases, merchandise purchased online must be shipped to the customer. This introduces a significant delay and potential uncertainty about whether or not the item was actually in stock at the time of purchase. Many retailers inform customers how long they can expect to wait before receiving a package and provide a delivery tracking number. Even if a purchase can be made 24 hours a day, the customer must often be at home during normal business hours to accept the delivery.

In the event of a problem with the item, the customer may need to contact the retailer, visit the post office and pay return shipping, and then wait for a replacement or refund.

Shipping costs (if applicable) reduce the price advantage of online merchandise, though depending on the jurisdiction, a lack of sales tax may compensate for this. Online retailers sometimes make a profit by charging a standard shipping fee that exceeds the actual cost of shipping the item.

Bricks and clicks stores offer the ability to buy an item online and pick it up in a nearby store. Orders are filled immediately so that they are ready before the customer has time to arrive at the store. This feature gives retail stores a competitive edge over other online retailers who might offer lower prices but must ship out merchandise, and satisfies customers who want their goods immediately. It also brings online customers onto the store premises where they might buy additional merchandise or seek assistance with a product.

Trends

One third of people that shop online use a search engine to find what they are looking for and about one fourth find websites by word of mouth.[8] Many shoppers respond to special offers in emails and advertising, or find a merchant through a price comparison Web site.

Trust is a significant factor in selecting an online merchant. Sixty percent of online shoppers who have a good first experience with a certain Web site return to that website to buy more.[8] An established retailer with a well-known brand is more likely to be trusted than an unknown merchant.

Books and music are the most popular online purchases, followed by clothing and accessories, shoes, videos and DVDs, games, airline tickets and electronic equipment. Cosmetics, nutrition products, and groceries are increasingly being purchased online.[8] About one fourth of travelers buy their airplane tickets online because it is a quick and easy way to compare airline travel and make a purchase.[20][8]

Many successful purely virtual companies deal with digital products, (including information storage, retrieval, and modification), music, movies, office supplies, education, communication, software, photography, and financial transactions. Examples of this type of company include: Google, eBay and Paypal. Other successful marketers use Drop shipping or affiliate marketing techniques to facilitate transactions of tangible goods without maintaining real inventory. Examples include numerous sellers on eBay.

Concerns

Fraud and security concerns

Online shoppers have a higher risk of being fraud\defrauded by a merchant because they are unable to physically examine merchandise before purchasing it. Dishonest sellers occasionally accept payment for an order and never send the merchandise. Most credit card services offer protection against this type of fraud. Merchants also risk losses from purchases made using stolen credit cards, or fraudulent repudiation of online purchases.

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption prevents credit card numbers from being intercepted in transit between the consumer and the merchant. Identity theft is still a concern for consumers if hackers break into a merchant's web site and steal names, addresses and credit card numbers. Computer security is a major concern for merchants and e-commerce service providers, who deploy countermeasures such as firewalls and anti-virus software to protect their networks.

Phishing, in which consumers are fooled into thinking they are dealing with a reputable retailer, and are manipulated into giving private information to a malicious party, is another danger. Denial of service attacks are a minor risk for merchants, as are server and network outages.

Consumers can protect themselves when using online retailer services by[21]:

  • Using known stores, ensuring that there is comprehensive contact information on the website before using the service, and noting if the retailer has enrolled in industry oversight programs such as trust mark or trust seal.
  • Ensuring that the retailer has posted a privacy policy stating that it will not share private information with others without consent.
  • Ensuring that the vendor address is protected with SSL (see above) when entering credit card information. The URL of the credit card information entry screen should start with "HTTPS."
  • Using strong passwords, which do not include personal information such as names or birthdates.
  • Reading independent consumer reviews of personal experiences with a company or product. These can often be found by typing the company name into a search engine.
  • Confirming that special offers in emails or online advertising are genuine by going directly to the merchant’s site.

Most companies offer shipping insurance in case a product is lost or damaged; if an item is particularly valuable the customer should confirm that it is insured.

Privacy

Protection of personal information is important to some consumers. Legal jurisdictions have different laws concerning consumer privacy, and different levels of enforcement. Many consumers wish to avoid spam and telemarketing which could result from supplying contact information to an online merchant. Most merchants promise not to use consumer information for these purposes, or provide a mechanism to opt-out of such contacts.

Retail stores also collect consumer information. Some ask for addresses and phone numbers at the cash register, though consumers may refuse to provide it. Larger companies sometimes use the address information encoded on consumers' credit cards to add them to a catalog mailing list.

See also

  • Bricks and clicks business model
  • Electronic business
  • Electronic commerce
  • Open catalogue
  • Retail therapy
  • Online shopping rewards

Notes

  1. ↑ ‘Videotex takes Gateshead Teleshopping into the home’ ‘The Incorporated Engineer’ Journal of the IEEIE London September 1984, p. 6.
  2. ↑ ‘Using IT for Competitive Advantage at Thomson Holidays’ ‘Long Range Planning’ vol. 21, No. 6. p. 26-29.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named kimpalmer
  4. ↑ "Enabling Agile Startups" Retrieved February 12, 2009.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Bigne, Enrique.(2005) The Impact of Internet User Shopping Patterns and Demographics on Consumer Mobile Buying Behaviour. Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, VOL. 6, NO.3.
  6. ↑ Once Bitten, Twice Buy? Online retailers vow to avoid the mistakes that plagued the 1999 holiday shopping season. MATTHEW KINSMAN, Promo Magazine (November 1, 2000) Retrieved February 12, 2009.
  7. ↑ Online shopping growth to slow in next decade Allison Linn, MSNBC (September 4, 2007) Retrieved February 12, 2009.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Online Shopping Takes Off Trends in Online Shopping a Global Nielsen Consumer Report.Retrieved February 12, 2009. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "nielsen" defined multiple times with different content
  9. ↑ Alternative Realities: The Commoditization and Allure of Alternative Payments Celent.com (October 7, 2008) Retrieved February 12, 2009.
  10. ↑ Jarvenpaa, S. L., & Todd, P. A. (1997). Consumer reactions to electronic shopping on the world wide web. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 1, 59–88.
  11. ↑ Peterson, R. A., Balasubramanian, S., & Bronnenberg, B. J. (1997). Exploring the implications of the Internet for consumer marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 25, 329–346.
  12. ↑ Stephen F. King en Juhn-Shiuan Liou, “A framework for internet channel evaluation”, International Journal of Information & Management 24 (2004), 473-488
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Huang, M. (2000) Information load: its relationship to online exploratory and shopping behavior. International Journal of Information Management 20: 337-347.
  14. ↑ Mehrabian, A., & Russel J.A. (1974) An Approach to Environmental Psychology. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
  15. ↑ Campbell, D.J. (1988) Task complexity: A review and analysis. Academy of Management Review, 13(1), 40-52.
  16. ↑ Falk, Louis K.; Sockel, Hy; Chen, Kuanchin. (2005) “E-Commerce and Consumer's Expectations: What Makes a Website Work.” Journal of Website Promotion, 1(1) (65-75)
  17. ↑ Online Shopping Charu Suri (December 1, 2008). Retrieved February 12, 2009.
  18. ↑ Consumer Reports: Online Retailers Better Than Walk-In Stores for Electronics Shopping - Press Release. Retrieved February 12, 2009.
  19. ↑ Online Shopping Retrieved February 12, 2009.
  20. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named susandavis
  21. ↑ Gina Stathopoulos. 10 Tips To Safe Online Shopping. Retrieved Retrieved February 12, 2009..

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Chen, Sherry Y. en Robert D. Macredie, “The assessment of usability of electronic shopping: A heuristic evaluation”, International Journal of Information Management 25 (2005), 516-532
  • Court, Yvonne, and Richard Barkham. Online retailing: the impact of click on brick. Future of retail property, 03. London: BCSC. 2006. ISBN 781897958322
  • Elliott, Steve and Sue Fowell, “Expectations versus reality: a snapshot of consumer experiences with Internet retailing”, International Journal of Information Management 20 (2000): 323-336
  • Gao, Yuan. Web systems design and online consumer behavior. Hershey PA: Idea Group Pub. 2005. ISBN 9781591403272
  • Mendelsohn, Hillary. Thepurplebook: the definitive guide to exceptional online shopping. New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books. 2003. ISBN 9780553382785
  • Miller, Michael. Bargain hunter's secrets to online shopping. Indianapolis, IN: Que Pub. 2004. ISBN 9780768663143
  • Pheba, Anandan Pillai. Online retailing: a new paradigm. Hyderabad, India: ICFAI University Press. 2008. ISBN 9788131420553
  • United States. 10 tips for smart holiday shopping online. FTC consumer alert. [Washington, D.C.]: Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Division of Consumer & Business Education. 2007. [1] Retrieved February 12, 2009.
  • Watson, Kerry. Zen Cart— building an online store the Zen way: for beginners. [S.l.]: Pithy Productions, Inc. 2005. ISBN 9781412066457

External links

All links retrieved February 12, 2009.


Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.

Retrieved from https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Online_shopping&oldid=925267

Content is available under Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of Use for details.
Copyright Logo
Powered by MediaWiki