Electronic commerce
Online goods and services
Streaming media
Electronic books
Software
Retail product sales
Online shopping
Online used car shopping
Online pharmacy
Retail services
Online banking
Online food ordering
Online flower delivery
Online DVD rental
Marketplace services
Online trading community
Online auction business model
Online wallet
Online advertising
Price comparison service
E-procurement
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Online shopping is the process consumers go through to purchase products or services over the Internet. An online shop, e-shop, e-store, Internet shop, webshop, online store, or virtual store evokes the physical analogy of buying products or services at a bricks-and-mortar retailer or in a shopping mall.
The metaphor of an online catalog can be faster than browsing the aisles of a physical store. Consumers with dial-up Internet connections rather than broadband have much longer load times for content-rich web sites, and have a considerably slower online shopping experience.
Some consumers prefer interacting with people rather than computers (and vice versa), sometimes because they find computers hard to use. Not all online retailers have succeeded in making their sites easy to use or reliable.
In most cases, merchandise must be shipped to the customer's address.
Drop shipping: The order is passed to the manufacturer or third-party distributor, who ships the item directly to the consumer, introducing a significant delay and potentially uncertainty about whether or not they generally have a fulfillment backlog. A quick response time is sometimes an important factor in consumers' choice of merchant.
In the event of a problem with the item - it is not what they expected - consumers are concerned with the ease with which they can return an item for the correct one or for a refund. Consumers may need to contact the retailer, visit the post office and pay return shipping, and does not charge a restocking fee, even for returns which are not the result of merchant error. (Note: In the United Kingdom, Online
