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Benefits of Online Shopping

Convenience
Online stores are available 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. Many consumers have Internet access both at work and at home. A visit to a conventional retail store requires some sort of travel and must be done during business hours. Searching an online catalog is normally faster than browsing the aisles of a physical store.

Price 
One advantage of online shopping is being able to quickly select the best deals for items or services while choosing from numerous different vendors. Search engines and price comparison services are readily available to find the best deals. They will allow you to look up sellers of a particular product or service. In many cases the lowest prices are available on the Internet. Shipping costs (if applicable) may reduce the price advantage of online merchandise, while depending on the jurisdiction, a lack of sales tax may compensate for this.

Selection
Shoppers will find a much greater selection online in most market segments  and in some cases lower prices. This is due to a relaxation of certain constraints, such as the size of a "brick-and-mortar" store, lower stocking costs (or none, if drop shipping is used), and lower staffing overhead.

Search Directories
Directories will help you find virtually anything online. While the best known, Google, Yahoo and MSN, are worldwide, the emergence of geo-targeted  local search engines help consumers locate products for sale in nearby stores, while reducing the dependence on Yellow Pages.

Bargaining power of consumers. They enjoy a wider choice
Supplier power. It is more difficult for consumers to manage a non-digital channel.
Threat of new entrants. Online means it is easier to introduce new services with lower over-heads.
Threat of substitutes
Rivalry among competitors. It is easier to introduce products and services to different markets

Information and Reviews
Online stores must describe products available with descriptive text, photos and multimedia files, whereas conventional retail store will make the actual product and the manufacturer's packaging available for direct inspection.
Most online stores provide supplemental product information, such as instructions, safety procedures, demonstrations or manufacturer specifications on their sites or they may provide links to sites where this information is available. Some provide background information, advice or how-to guides designed to help consumers decide which product to buy. Some stores will allow customers to comment or rate their items. There are also many dedicated review sites that will host user reviews for various products.


Product Delivery
Once a payment has been finalized the merchandise or services can be delivered in the following ways:
  • Download: This method is often used for digital media products such as software, ebooks, music, videos or images.
  • Conventional shipping: The product is shipped to the buyer's address.
  • Drop shipping: The order is passed to the manufacturer or third-party distributor, who ships the item directly to the consumer, bypassing the seller's physical location to save time, money and warehouse space.
  • In-store pickup: The customer orders online, finds a local store using locator software and picks the product up at the closest store. This is the method often used in the bricks and clicks business model, particularly by chain stores.
  • In the case of buying an admission ticket to some venue, the buyer may get a code,or a ticket that can be printed out.