e commerce

Online shopping

advantages

disadvantages

·         Convenience ·         Transport csts ·         Wider access ·         Wider range ·         24 hour shopping ·         Cheaper ( business don’t need to hire as many staff for stores) ·         Cheaper ( customers can get special deals and special offers) ·         No retail staff ( many people find these irritating) ·         Reviews ( different customers opinions) ·         Don’t have to pay it all off at once

·         No socialising ·         Delivery times and charges ·         Security ( the lack of it ) ·         Cant try things on ,  lack of physical contact ·         You need to know what your doing ·         Scams ·         Refunds ·         Product substitution

A year after the web had initially been created in 1990 the web opened for commercial use. Online banking and early retail services then began to arise in 1994 with sites such as pizza hut making appearances.

Now days’ online shopping, although not as big as normal shopping, still plays an important roll in today’s world. Many people like to use online shopping for the general convenience of the service.  These include things such as not having to go to collect your purchase and the wider range of stock available in online stores.

Security

There are however still issues with online shopping, with the key one of these being the security within transactions. Many people will choose not to use phone shopping as there is an increased risk  of there bank details been obtained by an unwanted party who will then use it to gain access to the funds in your bank.  This is only really an issue to the user when debit cards are concerned, credit cards on the other hand operate using the banks money, and thus it’s a problem related directly to the bank. There are special secure sites, denoted by “https” that prevent any information being displaced for safer transactions and their high levels of security ensure that hacking is virtually impossible. The most common site for secure transactions is paypal which takes hold of your money and waits until the good have been sent before the money is sent instantly into the sellers account. Paypal also offers the option to hold a certain amount of money ( denoted by the account holder) much like a bank until you choose to use this capital on a transaction.

Amazon

Amazon is an online shopping service well known on the market for their extensive range of books.  One reason for the key to this success is infact because books are the most purchased item on the web, this is due to the fact that you always know what your getting with a book and the content will always remain the same, whereas purchasing clothes is a risk because you never know what they will look like in physicality. Amazon however does not solely rely on just book sales. They have attempted to reach every aspect of the retail world to enhance profit figures to a max, and there is also the opportunity for people to sell their own items on amazon, at a fixed price unlike the auction style of the competitor ebay. Amazon also appeals to many customers as it is a secure site, therefore the customers who don’t generally trust online shopping may feel more appealed to amazon. The store itself is also only available online so all their stock is located in one massive warehouse. This means that any deliveries to a certain area can all be shipped at the same time, saving more fuel than of 5 items were being shipped to the same destination from 5 separate locations. This itself would appeal to more economically aware users.