Better Understanding Of Online Sales

Better Understanding Of Online Sales

An online sale is the process where consumers go through

to purchase products, goods or services over the Internet.

An online shop, eshop, e-store, internet shop, webshop,

web store, online store, or virtual store evokes the physical

analogy of buying products or services at a bricks-and-mortar

retailer or in a shopping mall. An online sale is a type of

electronic commerce which is commonly known as

(electronic marketing) e-commerce or eCommerce, consists

of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic

systems such as the Internet and other computer networks

is used for business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer

(B2C) transactions.

Buying online introduced new ways of reducing costs by reducing

the number of staff needed. It is a more effective way of

getting products to people and spreading into different

demographic. 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. 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 favour able

attitudes towards new shopping channels.

Online shopping widened the target audience to men and

women of the middle class. At first, the main users of online

shopping were young men with a high level of income and

a university education. This profile is changing. 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. 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. 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. 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. From a sociological perspective,

online shopping is arguably the most predictable way to shop.

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. 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).

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), Cheque,

Wire transfer/delivery on payment, Postal money order,

Reverse SMS billing to mobile phones, Gift cards and 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. Once a payment has been accepted the goods

or services can be delivered by Downloading, Shipping,

Drop shipping, In-store pickup, In the case of buying an

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.

Advantages include convenience, Information and reviews,

Price and selection. 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.

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. 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 engines do exist to help

consumers locate products for sale in nearby stores).

Search engines, online price comparison services and

discovery shopping engines can be used to look up sellers

of a particular product or service.