Online Shopping

Allow Internet users to buy goods or services online any time day or night without needing to travel anywhere or get pushed around in crowded shops.

Some companies do all of their business over the Internet e.g. Amazon, ebay.

Advantages of Online Shopping

• Money doesn’t have to be spent on normal business overheads like renting shops and paying employees;
• Customers can be offered a much wider choice of goods because they can be ordered from suppliers as required rather than having to be kept available on the shelves all the time;
• Money is not tied up in unsold stock or wasted on products that aren’t popular;
• Data about customers and their buying habits can be collected directly and used to offer a much more personalised service tailored to suit the needs of an individual customer.

Disadvantages of Online Shopping

• Online transactions require users to enter a debit or credit card number before a purchase can be completed;
• There is a danger of these numbers being intercepted by hackers during transmission and used to make unauthorised purchases.The use of encryption and smart cards can help to protect against this;
• Criminals can set up fake web sites offering goods or services often using the name of a genuine company. This can lead to people spending money on goods and services that they will never receive as well as damaging the reputation of a genuine business;
• It is much easier for a business to gather information about its rivals by simply accessing their web sites — this can make it much harder to remain competitive.