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Why Use an Online Shopping Mall?
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Everyone should know that men literally hate two things in this world..Painting and shopping in retail stores.
Yes, this article is being written by, you guessed it, a GUY! I loath shopping in retail stores, especially
when I have to drive to the mall, find a decent parking place, hunt down the product that I want to buy, and
finally wait in line to check out. Why spend the money for gas, put up with traffic, fight crowds, and a never
ending checkout line? OK, that said, now what?
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From the perspective of a guy, the greatest invention of the century is the internet which provides the
ability to do ONLINE SHOPPING. This is my kind of shopping! It is the saving grace for me because I always
forget the important dates until it is almost too late. When shopping online I can take my time from the
comfort of my home, compare products and prices, and, DO NOT have to put up with sales clerks who wish they
were somewhere else hanging out. This shopping capability, along with overnight delivery, has really saved
my character (and marriage) many times..
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However, I do get somewhat frustrated each time I "Google" for a specific type of product offered by a single
merchant store. In the past I typically spend hours before finding what I need. The problem is that I typically
get thousands of responses when searching and all I can do is shake my head! ARG!@#$%^!*!
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The problem that most people have, and I fall in this category, is that they/I really do not know what type present
to buy when they/I sit down to search the internet. We are really looking for ideas at the same time we search.
It finally hit me, why search for just one merchant store?
There has to be a web site that offers many different stores, and/or products!
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Eureka - a BRIGHT idea! I will create an Online Shopping Mall so that I do not have to do all that searching.
Bingo - the i-Shopping-Mall web site was born. The purpose is that an online shopping mall is meant to
provide THE widest selection of web stores and products available for whatever occasion needed, and honestly,
to help me over that mental block of - I do not know what to buy.
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From a male perspective, the Online Shopping Mall is the perfect solution for guys that just need a quick way to
buy products without all the hassles, and, to stay out of trouble with you-know-who. Using an Online Shopping Mall
for all my needs, from the comfort of my home, allows me to look for coupons, discount prices and do price comparison
shopping that I would normally miss in a retail shop. Additionally, an Online Shopping Mall offers a much wider
selection of merchants, products, coupons, and bargains.
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While constructing this shopping mall web site (remember this is a guy that does not like retail shopping), I used
the male mentality. I wanted to be able to find the top outlet malls, discount stores and unique gift shops, all
in one place, and to have access to current discount coupons, sales and great gift ideas from all the merchants.
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I believe that I succeeded in that this site hosts hundreds of merchant web stores and products for ALL shopping
needs. This online shopping mall is a network of online stores and retailers promoting their businesses.
This site is designed to present online retailers and products to hopefully make it easy for all to compare prices,
find gift ideas, merchant bargains, and store coupons.
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Everyone cares about price, product selection, and quality. At i-Shopping-Mall you will find thousands of products for
your selection with good quality and very good prices. When it comes to online shopping, you can't beat the selection
of products and merchants at an Online Shopping Mall site.
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Why use an Online Mall? It just makes sense..IF!
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Shopping and buying online means that there are new ways of reducing costs for everyone involved. The internet is
providing a more effective way of buying products along with enjoying a wider choice of selections. When shopping
online, what it all comes down to is how easy and convenient the process. Shopping a single merchant web site or an
Online Shopping Mall will typically provide:
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Convenience
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Online stores are usually available 24 hours a day, and many consumers have Internet access at work and at home.
A visit to a physical retail store requires travel and must happen during business hours. However, there is always
those consumers that prefer interacting with people rather than computers, primarily because they find computers
hard to use.
Although somewhat frustrating, searching and browsing internet sites can be much faster than browsing the aisles
of a physical store, but the fastest and least frustrating is shopping at an Online Mall that has hundreds of
merchants.
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Selection
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A major advantage of shopping online is being able to quickly find deals for items or services with many different
merchants. Search engines can be used to find a single merchant for a particular product or service, but why
waste the time when a large Online Mall will probably have many more merchants in one location.
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Price
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In general, shoppers can typically find a greater selection and lower prices online. This is because the cost of
doing business for merchants is reduced significantly; no "brick-and-mortar" store needed, lower stocking costs,
and lower staffing overhead. To be competitive merchants typically pass along those savings to consumers.
Shipping costs, to some degree, reduce the price advantage of online merchandise, although a lack of sales tax
may compensate. Many merchants do offer free shipping as an incentive to buy.
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And here is the IF!
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The Merchant Meets Consumer Expectations
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Merchants must satisfy consumer's expectations when building their retail web stores. The most important
factors for consumers are the ease of use and the presence of user-friendly features. Use of a web site must
be intuitive!
Not all online retailers have succeeded in making their sites reliable or easy to use. Before including a
particular merchant web site in an Online Shopping Mall, the merchant web site should be navigated to see if
any program errors are present. If so, that merchant site SHOULD NOT be included in the Shopping Mall list.
Errors on a web site simply states that the merchant has not thought about the consumer and their expectations.
If a merchant wants their website to be popular among online shoppers they should try to leave the user with a
positive impression about the web site so that consumers will get an impression that the merchant cares
about them.
The merchant should remember that it is easier to lose a customer than to gain one. Merchant web sites will go
nowhere if the site fails to live up to common etiquette such as returning e-mails in a timely fashion,
notifying customers of problems, being honest, and being responsible with the customers information.
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With all good things there has to be a downside!
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Most all the current Online Shopping Malls (in name only) offer primarily their specific products, which is
good and primarily why they are in business. I do not consider these web sites shopping malls. The consumer
has no real way of product or price comparison. A few do offer a mix of products and competing merchant stores,
but very few!
The stewards of real Online Shopping Malls should realize that they have a responsibility to consumers.
That responsibility lies in the area of helping the consumer understand the pitfalls of online shopping, and,
making sure that the merchant stores that the shopping mall represents are reputable. The pitfalls to consumers
and merchants are many, and no doubt more will be hatched by those that want something for nothing. Following
are a few that consumers should be aware:
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Am I getting what I ordered and can I return it?
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Given that the consumer cannot touch the product, there is a concern that they will not get what they ordered.
If there is a problem with the product or service, such as it is not what they ordered, or it is not what they
expected, consumers have a fear that since it is not a "brick-and-mortar" store will they have a problem
returning an item for the correct one or for a refund.
The consumer should always make sure that they read the return policy, if posted. If there is not a return
policy on the site, DO NOT BUY!
Online merchants should have a more generous return policy to compensate for the traditional advantage of
physical stores, and, to help consumers over the fear that they will not get what they ordered. Merchants
should include labels for free return shipping, and not charge a restocking fee, even for returns which are
not the result of a merchant error.
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2-Way fraud and security concerns
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Given the lack of ability to inspect merchandise before purchase, consumers are at higher risk of scams on the
part of the merchant than in a physical store. Merchants also risk fraudulent purchases using stolen credit
cards or fraudulent rejection of the online purchase.
Identity theft is a concern for consumers when they hear that hackers bypass a merchant's web site security
and steal names, addresses and credit card numbers. Computer security has become a major concern for merchants
and e-commerce service providers. To offset this fear, merchants have installed countermeasures such as
firewalls and anti-virus software to protect their networks and information.
To further build consumer confidence, many merchant web sites have undergone an independent assessment to make
sure that their sites are hacker proof. Independent assessment companies will place a quality seal on the site
if it meets all requirements of the company issuing the seal. Again, the purpose of these seals is to increase
the confidence of online shoppers, although, many consumers do not know what those seals (images) mean.
Merchants should promote this security feature to a larger degree.
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Privacy
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Privacy of personal information is a significant issue for a lot of consumers. Many consumers want to avoid
spam and telemarketing which could result from supplying contact information to an online merchant that is
not so reputable. In response, many merchants promise not to use consumer information for these purposes,
or provide a mechanism to opt-out of such contacts.
Brick-and-mortar stores also collect consumer information. Some ask for address and phone number at checkout,
and some consumers refuse to provide it. Many larger stores use the address information encoded on consumers'
credit cards, often without the consumers knowledge, to add them to a catalog mailing list. People should
remember that this information is not accessible to the merchant when paying in cash.
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Ah,the unprepared shopper!
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Phishing is when consumers are fooled into thinking they are dealing with a reputable retailer when they
have actually been manipulated into feeding private information to a system operated by a malicious party.
To overcome this problem, consumers should:
* Stick with known stores or find consumer reviews of merchants they want to buy from.
* Ensure that there is viable contact information on the website before purchasing.
* Notice if the retailer has enrolled in industry oversight programs such as trust mark or trust seal.
* Ensure that the merchant has an acceptable privacy policy posted regarding information. If the retailer
does not explicitly state that it will not share private information with others without your consent,
DO NOT buy from that merchant.
* Ensure that the merchant web site is protected with SSL when entering credit card information.
If it does the URL in the address line entry screen will start with "HTTPS".
* Use strong passwords, without personal information.
* Another option is to use a "pass phrase," which might be a phrase that means nothing.
i.e. - "I lost my cereal". These phrases are very difficult to hack.
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