Online shopping is definitely a technology success as it has become one of the most popular internet trends since the introduction of the likes of Ebay and Amazon.
People now know the benefits of having their favourite stores online. In particular, it means that they do not have to rush around trying to fit retail purchases into their day. But not only this, there are many other reasons why online shopping tops the bill, for instance:
- Convenience: if you have a browser you can shop online which means no parking and if it is that time of year you don’t have to brave the crowds;
- Wider selection – the World Wide Web means you do not have to stay with a particular online store you can search for what you require quickly with different search engines;
- Compare – you can easily compare products online by make, model and price through websites such as Kelkoo and again search engines; and
- Quantity: some online retailers bulk buy their stock which in turn means more of a discount to the consumer.
Online Shopping Statistics
The website IMRG showed a study by Nielson Netratings in December 2006 where shoppers preferred online to high street and 41% of respondents to their survey stated that they intended to spend more than five hours a week researching and buying online in the run-up to Christmas.
Since then IMRG has displayed more results and for 2010 where 16% more people are expected to go online. Also the number of cards registered with online passwords for Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode rose by 32% from 2009 to 70 million, estimating that a total online spend for the Christmas period covering November and December 2010 is anticipated to be £12.4bn.
However, it is all well and good knowing where to look for items online and the statistics, but how do you as a consumer save money?
Discounts with High Street Stores - Vouchers & Rebates
A tip is to sign up to online email alerts to stores you already use. Within these email alerts they will send you discounts which are valid in store and online, but the discount is normally higher for online shopping.
The article How to Save Money Shopping Online in 5 Minutes! gives advice on how to gain a 15% reduction on your shopping cart. There are also online coupon stores such as Voucher Codes or Discount Vouchers which gives you discount codes on various stores. There is a slight downfall in that if you sign up to too many discount voucher sites or online stores you could be bombarded with emails containing the same information.
Best Online Shopping Sites
Good old eBay and Amazon – but remember you can still get stung. The downfall is you could pay more by getting caught up in a bidding war so it is wise to research the product beforehand. Another problem if you are purchasing at a particular time of year (like Christmas) means a delay on posting times.
Online Penny Auctions such as Madbid are a variation to the regular where you have to purchase bids before you can place a bid place a bid to raise the price by 1p. You then need to wait for the timer to reach zero, if someone else bids the timer restarts but if nobody else bids you have won the item.
One Million Pound Minute
The Evening Standard (free London Newspaper), reported on 6 December 2010 that on that one day online Christmas shoppers spent £1million in just one minute. They published that the precise time was 12:58pm when 128 transactions per second were processed by retailers. The most popular items purchased according to analysis by the online fraud prevention company Retail Decisions, were T-bar scooter, the Nintendo Wii Fit Plus game, Lego’s Winter Toy workshop and Apple iPod Touch.
Considering the UK was hit by snow during 6 December 2010 this may be a coincidence but it is unsurprising that prominent parts of the year receive more traffic. The year before that coincidently on 7 December 2009 the busiest minute had grossed £732,000.
Online shopping can save you money, the selection is wider, you can compare product specifications and prices in seconds, there are a range of online discounts but it is very easy to get lost in the void of search engine results trying to find something cheaper. The price of one item can fluctuate greatly and whilst in your crusade for cheaper products can prosper, saving time may not.
Kelly Foxhall - Kelly by trade is an IT Training Manager at a London law firm. She is also an Internet Journalist that writes about technology, law and ...
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