Purchasing of goods and services online called online shopping, has been made easy through the integration of the World Wide Web. Buyers can buy directly from sellers online by going through the sellers’ website. The internet shops of today are used just for the same things the traditional brick and mortar stores are used for. Online, business can buy from another business, or customers can buy from a buy from a business. In this you cannot but mention Amazon and EBay as the most frequented stores online that provide most household products. In addition, hope you would like to join this giveaway where you can get a free Amazon gift card worth up to $500 just to participate in the contest.
To connect to any store online, you must have a good internet access. Most of the time consumers don’t know where to buy products from, so they resort to using search engines to look for what is available. Just like in a physical shop, an online store has shopping cart for carrying the items meant for purchasing before a customer will finally pay for them. You can checkout after packing all your items in the shopping cart by entering the necessary delivery information and price. The store will normally send you an email after charging your card or payment system. Phone or mail in order is also possible with small stores. This is direct and fast, but you cannot use credit card for payment.
The major payment systems used by consumers are credit cards, billing to mobile phones and landlines, cheque/check, debit card, direct debit in some countries, electronic money of various types, gift cards, Postal money order, Wire transfer/delivery on payment. There are various ways for the delivery too after purchase; this is an option the customer must pick from before purchasing. Getting information from online stores is very easy and fast, you can quickly determine whether a store is right for you or not. A typical online store is open to the world, and can get visitors from any part of the world, hence there is more potential for greater profits when compared to local stores.
Two customers may have the same needs, but their behavior and expectations are not the same. People are often controlled by their habits, emotions and culture in spite of many features in online stores that can make them do otherwise. Many people spend their time trying to understand what makes online stores work because they are not familiar with it.
The internet is open for 24 hours making it easy for people to assess it at any time of the day right from their homes. Even schools and cafes have also served as places to get internet facilities from. The conventional stores only open for business during the normal business hour and not at the weekend at all. Many people in the developing countries cannot afford to connect to the inter net because it is expensive over there, hence they cannot real make use of internet shopping.
For an online store to be able to serve visitors effectively it is more than having flashy features and getting top positions on the search engines. It must give the right information that will aid the visitor to take a decision that lead to purchasing the product. From online stores you will not find the usual traditional clerks to answer your questions, but you are not without a guide. Customer questions in an online store are answered in three ways; emails, phone calls, and charting.
