Legal compliance improved in onine Shopping Sites

Internet shoppers are more aware of their rights and more online retailers are complying with consumer protection laws than previously, according to studies by consumer protection regulator the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).

Out-Law.com reports that the OFT has carried out a survey of online shoppers and a study of online retail sites in a follow-up to research published in 2007 which showed that many consumers were ignorant of their rights and many sites broke consumer-protection laws. The report noted OFT said that it found improvements when it conducted follow-up research last year. According to the report, it said: 'Overall assumed compliance and information provision by online businesses has improved with more sites (89% in 2009 compared to 84% in 2006) now providing full geographical addresses, and fewer sites (26% in 2009 compared to 38% in 2006) imposing restrictions on cancellations.'
Full Out-Law.com report
Link to the report

World's largest public corporation Going Global

Walmart has created an e-commerce group to drive global online sales as part of significant structural changes at the company.

The organization, called Global.com, will be responsible for bolstering online growth in markets where the retailer has stores and a Web presence, as well as those where it doesn't. The company will also be split into three geographic business units — Walmart West, Walmart South and Walmart North.

Raul Vazquez, president and CEO of Walmart.com, will become EVP and president of Walmart West.
Wan Ling Martello, former CFO of Walmart International, will serve as EVP and COO of Global.com. Her responsibilities will include developing a global e-commerce strategy, establishing cross-border Walmart relationships to increase online sales efficiencies and creating technology platforms and applications that can be used in each Walmart market.

Walmart's product management, application development, platform engineering and strategy teams will become part of Global.com and report to Martello.

“Online shopping has continued to significantly outpace the growth of traditional retail channels around the world,” said Eduardo Castro-Wright, Walmart's vice chairman, in a memo available on the company's Web site. “In order to fully evolve into a multichannel retailer here in the US, we need to make our organization, particularly in merchandising and marketing, channel-agnostic.”
The retailer has e-commerce Web sites in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the UK.

Phone calls to Walmart seeking comment were not immediately returned.
Source :  DMNews

MaaMall - Shop Online - Early 2010

Britain Shoppers Love Online Shopping

If you’re a UK shopper then you probably already do a lot of your shopping online. Now there’s new research to prove it. A recent study about online shopping habits reveals that UK shoppers made up about one third of all European online consumerism in 2009. They weren’t afraid to spend a lot of money online but this doesn’t mean that these consumers were being wasteful. If they used online promotional codes to save money then they might have spent less than their in-store shopping counterparts even though it looks like a lot was spent.
Some statistics revealed from the new research include:

• UK shoppers spent about £38 billion shopping online this year.
• This amount is still only about ten percent of the total shopping done in the UK.
• This indicates that there’s room for even more growth in UK online shopping. It’s predicted that UK shoppers will spend over £42 billion in 2010.
• The average amount spent by individual shoppers in 2009 (who shopped online) was £1,102.
• Some people are even willing to spend an amount like that in one transaction. Approximately one in four people would be willing to spend over £1,000 on one transaction if they were getting a good deal.
• Following the UK in online shopping in Europe were Germany and France but shoppers there spent considerably less in 2009.

This research was done by the Centre for Retail Research

If you Love Online Shopping Visit MaaMall.com. ( A virtual Shopping Mall ) 

Future for internet shopping

More eCommerce Web-sties with internet  shopping will continue to have a huge impact on the retail sector this decade, it has been claimed.

By 2020, it is thought that '90 per cent of retailing is going to be influenced by' the internet, according to David Smith, director of operations at the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG).

He added: 'There are a number of key drivers. You've got the rise of broadband. Ever since the wider introduction of broadband in 2005-6 that has driven a lot of online shopping, because of the way in which people can react with the retailers' websites.

'By the end of this decade we should be looking at around 50 per cent [of sales being] e-commerce - not just retail, but including travel and ticketing and all that sort of thing as well.'

Mr Smith's comments came after it was revealed that the UK accounted for a third of all European online sales in the past year.

Online Gift Delivery Services in Vietnam

Shoppers in Vietnam are increasingly turning to online gift delivery services to avoid crowded market and shopping centres as Tet (Lunar New Year) approaches, Vietnam news agency (VNA) reported Tuesday.

Supermarkets and shops are busy as demand for Tet gifts increases and the economy sees signs of recovery while outlets have been serving both on the-spot customers and those who have turned to online shopping.

"This is the second year I've decided to buy gifts for my colleagues through the internet because its easy to select what I want," said Nguyen Thanh Binh, director of the DSC Information and Technology Joint Stock Company here.

In the last two weeks, online Tet gift service providers have launched a series of promotional programmes to attract more customers, with some companies offering between five to 10 percent discounts for bulk orders made via the internet.

The online Tet gift delivery service providers have established 24 hour hot lines to receive orders and have also launched consulting services for customers.

Tet gifts can be searched for using various criteria, be relatives, friends, counterparts or lovers.

According to online gift providers, Tet gift baskets remain the favourite gift of choice among customers.

The average price of a gift basket with five to 10 commodities stands between 120,000 VND (US$7) to 1 million VND (US$56).

The gifts include a variety of traditional products such as banh chung (square rice cake), dried fruits, confectionery and alcohol to modern products, electronic goods.

Nguyen Van Hai, at online distributor Vietnam Development and Investment Research joint Stock Co, said that the company had prepared more goods for sale than last year.

"To date, few individuals are ordering via internet, but companies are in bigger numbers," said Hai.

Nguyen Thu Hanh from the Thang Long Flower Delivery Company also said that the number of orders prior to Tet will double due to rising demand.

However, consumers have been warned that before clicking their mouse and making an online purchase that they check that they are dealing with reliable suppliers.

The number of online-swindles also has increased in the recent period.

Customers should select well known online service providers to guarantee good quality products, said Ho Anh Tuan, director of the Atech Communication Informatics Technology Co.

Online Shopping Advantages

We use internet more widely now, and online shopping is  growing Rapidly. As many businesses are trying to capture the global market , Internet Shopping have become more socialized and used as a  primary means of marketing and generating sales Wold Wide.

Here are some of the advantages of shopping Online 
 
Convenient- Convenience includes the overall ease of finding a product, time spent on shopping, minimization of overall shoppoing effort (Schaupp & Belanger, 2005). Online shopping allows consumers to shop at the convenience of their own home, and to save traveling time to retail stores and spend their time on other important tasks and hobbies. Researchers idenfity convenience as a 'fundamental objective' related to online shopping (Schaupp & Belanger, 2005). This is relevant to 72% of online shoppers' claim that they would rather surf online than go to retail store to attain information about a product (Lokken et al., 2003). According to a study, 72% of online shoppers chose convenience over privacy (Bhatnagar, Misra, & Rao, 2000). In addition to ease of finding products online and shopping time reduction, consumers can shop without time limitation with 24-hr access at their convenience because the World Wide Web never closees. Lokken mentions 24-hr access as a beneficial characteristic of online shopping (Lokken et al., 2003). Also, consumers can exchange information online through chatting and discussion forums to help them make wise consumer decisions.

No need for vendors and no pressure to buy - Online shopping benefits both the society as a whole and individuals. The society can save human resources when consumers help themselves by browsing freely online instead of asking for assistance from vendors. In addition, consumers are freed from the pressure to buy from the vendors and can spend more time to make wise purchase decisions. But it is imorpant that Web sites have good product descriptions because it is one of the significant condition that satisfy consumers (Limayem, M., Khalifa, M., & Frini, A., 2000). 

"Infinite shelfspace" available- Consumers desire a variety of products because they look for the right product that will fully satisfy them. There is infinite variety of products available online because online shopping allows consumers to browse through products that are made all around the world without geographical boundaries. 

Able to compare product price and features- With the online tools that enable product comparison, consumers can compare product prices and features to make a better decision with less effort. 

So if you are looking for great online shopping visit MaaMall