Your
Guide to Online Shopping
The Internet is a vital tool for everyone as
a source of information. It's also proving to be a popular medium in most homes
and for commerce - be it Business to Business or simply buying items or services
from online stores. This guide should help you find the type of shopping sites
that are most useful to you.
At times it can be very frustrating
when you're looking for something specific to buy online. You can try all sorts
of searches only to be presented with web sites that don't offer what you need.
You end up sticking to the names of the stores you know or if you have time you
can "surf" the Net to find the best deals.
Unfortunately for
consumers, the Internet has become a place where lots of businesses try to get
you to part with your money. Some sites will send you all over the place and even
up dead ends, while they get paid for making you click on "their" link. Other
sites list shopping sites who pay them for getting a higher directory listing.
Often the links you click on end up taking you to a similar site with paid-for
listings, and you can just go round in circles. That's not ideal for most consumers.
Armchair Shopping strives to make your online shopping
experience easy, secure, enjoyable and quick. That's why we've tried to classify
the types of online shopping sites and help you to understand how useful each
type really is for you, the as a consumer.
ISP
Your Home Page (normally set for you when you signed up with your ISP) will have
their own "Shopping" section. A lot of people tend to stick with the search engine
or "Shopping" section on their ISP's Home Page. These tend to be designed to provide
an additional revenue stream for the ISP and often only return results from PPC
(Pay Per Click) sites. They are not always the "best" place for the consumers
to find a good choice of online stores.
Search Engines
Most shoppers start to shop using a Search Engine. The top-of-the-tree is Google.
There are lots of other Search Engines - many are provided as a "default" on your
ISP's Home Page. The more experience you get in surfing online, the better you
will learn to assess which search engines you favour. Try to stick with the well
know ones - a lot of smaller ones don't return many results which list sites of
real usefulness. Some also scan other search engines - so if you use one that's
"powered by" Joe Bloggs, use Joe Bloggs instead (cut out the middle man). Be aware
too that the Internet covers the world, so ensure your search is filtered to include
only the Country of use to you. Search Engines we recommend are :- 1. Google,
click here for a list of the best Search Engines.
Online
Shops
These are sites that actually sell online - with products listed
on pages. You can browse the site as you would in a high street store - select
items, drop them in to a shopping cart or basket, go to the Checkout and pay using
your credit card. The best Online Shops are self-contained and run all their own
departments (Customer Service, despatch, own warehouse etc.). The whole site is
purely that shop's business presence on the Internet. Some are well known retailers
(examples - M & S, B & Q, Comet, Woolworths, Tesco etc.). Some will be specialist
Internet stores (examples - Amazon, Play.com, Napster etc.). True Online Shops
normally don't have "links" to other websites - only to their own shopping departments.
Virtual Malls
These are general "shopping" sites
with links to individual Online Shops. Virtual Malls get their income from commissions
on purchases made by surfers passing through or by charging a fee for an Online
Shop to be listed. This type of general shopping site also has features, consumer
information, shopping guides, buying suggestions and review features. They may
also feature "paid" listings from shops. Virtual Malls are normally well planned
and useful resources to help you find a wide range of products and services. Beware
of poor quality VM's - with poor layout, a mixture of text styles, colours and
sizes, and dead links (signified by empty image boxes - like this).
Comparison Shopping Sites
These are
a useful resource for finding and comparing specific products and prices online.
Their income comes from commissions paid by the partner Online Shops they refer
you to, if you make a purchase. The main drawback with Comparison sites is the
limited choice of shops they direct you to. You might have been able to buy a
product cheaper from a store they do not work with. If you plan to use Comparison
sites, and if you have time, check with your favourite Online Shops - see if they
sell it too. (Examples - kelkoo, Priceline, etc.).
PPC
(Pay Per Click) sites
A lot of sites you may stumble across will list
(what they think are) suitable sites based on "keyword" terms you type in. The
sites get listed in the ranking of "how much they have paid" for the click, rather
than it's relevance to your search. These sites are the least useful for buyers,
but unfortunately are growing and ultimately reducing real consumer choice. You
won't always be able to tell which sites you're directed to are PPC, but tell-tale
signs are that they will be a "Sponsored" site, or will have the source of the
PPC engine listed too (look out for Overture, Espotting or on Google Adsense boxes
- normally on the Right Hand side of the Google page). Most ISP Home Pages use
PPC partners.
TIPS
Use your Favorites facility -
save the sites you like and are likely to use again.
Avoid sites where you
find "dead links" and the look and feel is poor.
Don't be afraid to dig deeper
at some sites that look good. Once you know the sites you can trust, chances are
you will use them again. You will become familiar with certain layouts, navigation
and procedures for making your online purchase, and that's always reassuring and
in time you'll get more skilled in finding what you want quickly.
Check that
the site is up-to-date - last updated is a good clue.
If you
are unsure about any site, it's good practice to check that they publish that
they have all the following features :-
An address and phone number.
A Customer Services department.
A returns policy.
Clear information about
the total cost - post and packing, delivery etc.
Confirmation that they service
your Country, with delivery costs and timescales.
Secure methods of payment
- you should only trust your credit card over a secure server. Look for the little
padlock on your browser window.
Tell your friends -
email them if you find a good site, and also let them know about poor ones. It's
worth giving feedback directly to the online stores too - negative or positive
- as this helps them to improve.
