Tibaldo: Shopping online: Are you a cyber consumer?

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

WANT to know the cost of a brand new digital camera, a 32” LED flat screen TV, used 4x4 SUV, airfare to a particular place or even a hotel accommodation in Bangkok? You don’t have to lift a phone and dial a number as you can check the above items online. Each day, more and more people are getting used to checking online stores that offers a variety of services that ranges from T-shirt printing, body massaging to booking in hotels around the world.

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce in a statement released sometime in 2006, e-commerce is growing at a rate of roughly 25% per year even though the number of shoppers has remained about the same. Surveys also showed that 66% of American adults use the internet and consumers are 50% more likely to be influenced by blogs and e-mails than radio or TV advertising.

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Also, charts revealed that 75% of online shoppers say they would not return to a website that took longer than 4 seconds to load and statistics in the US bared that 20% of internet home use is for work purposes and 26% of internet use at work is for personal use.

In the Philippines, e-commerce or online sites such as Ebay Philippines, AyosDito, Sulit.com, ebuyphilippines and pinoyshoppingmall are offering alternatives to shopping complete with sales promotions and delivery options. A menu of products is usually shown with the actual cost of each of the item and a cart is displayed on screen doubling as a computing tool once an item is dropped using the computer mouse. Once the online buyer finally decides to make the purchase, the total amount is computed and payment is offered through various paying modes or preferences.

As a cyber consumer myself, I have ordered and made payments online using my Gold VISA card that I only use on rare buys. There are options offered for the delivery of services like Fedex, UPS and DHL that has local branches and subsidiaries.

One time electronic payment transactions are common to e-commerce sites in the Philippines like the use of mobile phone based Globe G-Cash and Smart Padala if the products availed are in small amount denomination.

For the usual online purchases, all you have to do is type in your credit card information when you click on the shopping cart icon. The site then checks the information you have provided and sends you an email regarding your transaction after the account was verified. Some sites accept e-checks. In this electronic payment method, you have to input your bank routing number in conjunction with the account number to send payments.

PayPal is an e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. Online money transfers serve as electronic alternatives to traditional paper methods such as checks and money orders. A PayPal account can be funded with an electronic debit from a bank account or by a credit card. The recipient or payee of a PayPal transfer can either request a check from PayPal, establish their own PayPal deposit account or request a transfer to their bank account. During the delivery, an online shopper is usually given e-mailed details on the exact whereabouts of the purchased goods through a delivery tracking system and it helps the forwarders if you have included a home or office telephone in the delivery address.

If you hate the overcrowded malls in big cities and find it convenient to shop online, then you’d better look for online sites, check the listed products but make sure that you read the comments and discussions in the forums provided.

I have also observed scores of e-commerce trading in social networks such as facebook and www.multiply.com but this are mostly peer-to-peer deals that are usually agreed on a buy-deal and meet-ups. I have known successful buys following the meet-up scheme but mostly within the MRT-LRT stations in Metro Manila where goods such as camera accessories and fashionable garments are traded.

When, I needed a battery charger last year for my Anton Bauer Pro camera batteries, I searched the Philippine based AyosDito online site and I was able to find a used AB charger being sold not in Manila but in San Fernando, Pampanga. I called the seller and we agreed to meet in Dau which is closest to a bus terminal where Baguio-Manila buses regularly stops. The small-business-deal is well worth my 5 hour trip to Pampanga on a Weekend being able to catch up with a dinner with my family on that same day.

Today, small enterprises particularly in the countryside have yet to fully adopt e-commerce as part of their trade. Online promotion is another thing that can boost an enterprise should they want to hit the online community here and abroad. Online promotion will be my next topic. Until then.