E-commerce : Should or Should Not

e-bay one of online shopping site

(source: www.ebay.com)

E-commerce or usually called as Online Shopping, becomes the most popular stuff to do recently. Tim Gray (2005) in his journal title “Consumer Buy Into Online Shopping” showed that 37 per cent from 1,000 correspondents were “very satisfied” with shopping online during the holidays, while 24 per cent were “somewhat satisfied”. Thirty per cent said their online shopping experience had improved over 2003. The term of shopping online has been influencing consumer behaviour, consumer feel that online shopping offers some features which can not be seen in ordinary stores. Moreover, since 1990 online shopping has emerged into every corner of life, linking of people to the culture of capitalism in frequent and daily ways (Davis, 2001).

In my opinion, convenience is the most factors why people choose shopping through online, firstly because online store available 24 hours and secondly, people can access wherever they are and whenever they want, as long as there is internet connection. Mary Wolfinbarger and Mary Gilly (2001) in their report titled “Shopping Online for Freedom, Control, and Fun” point out that according to their research with online shoopers suggest that goal-oriented shoppers are interested in e-tailing because of four specific attributes:
1. Convenience and accessibility
2. Selection
3. Availability of information
4. Lack of sociality

However Steve Elliot and Sue Fowell (2000) report satisfactory and unsatisfactory costumer experiences:
SATISFACTORY:
- Increased customisations, (e.g capability to treat customers as individuals)
- Convenience in purchasing (e.g anytime, from anywhere, to anywhere)
- Responsiveness in product delivery (e.g instantaneous distribution of digital products and service)
- Cost saving through lower price (e.g site aims at providing lower costs and latest information on music scene


UNSATISFACTORY
- Security
- Ease to use
- Poor levels of service
- Costs
- Product delivered did not meet expectations.

Regarding to security risk, Miyazaki and Fernandez (2001) point out that government and industry organisations have declared information privacy and security to be major obstacles in the development of consumer-related e-commerce. Privacy of personal information is a serious issue for customers. Some customers hesitate to do online shopping simply because avoiding their privacy information for being corrupted by other people.

To conclude, shopping online is a fun stuff to do, people can enjoy the features but costumers need to be aware during transaction especially regarding their personal information because this is the most problem that customer usually faced.

References:

Davis,S.G, 2001, Culture Works the Political Economy of Culture, Minneapolis, London: University of Minnesota Press.

Elliot, S & Fowell, S ,2000, Expectations versus reality: a snapshot of consumer experiences with Internet retailing, International Journal of Information Management 20, [online], viewed 8 June 2008.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_shop#cite_ref-39

Gray, T, 2005, Consumers Buy Into Online Shopping, Ecommerce-Guide.com, [online], viewed 7 June 2008.
http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/news/news/article.php/3454171

Miyazaki, A.D & Fernandez, A 2001, Consumer Perceptions of Privacy and Security Risks for Online Shopping, Journal of Consumer Affairs, vol. 35, issue 1, pp. 27-44, [online], viewed 7 June 2008.
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1745-6606.2001.tb00101.x

Wolfinbarger, M & Gilly,M, 2001, Shopping Online For Freedom,Control and Fun, California Management Review, [online], viewed 7 June 2008.
http://www.csulb.edu/~mwolfin/Freedom_Control_Fun.pdf