F08 CPSC203 T09 GROUP 2

Online Shopping --- -

Team Information
Team Name: Online Shopping

Team Members

 * Aidan Maclnnis
 * Danqing Cheng
 * Jin Yan
 * Lei Ma

Introduction
Online shopping refers to the process of buying products or services over the internet. The internet has become a universal tool of exploration that is commonly used among all ages. While the popularity of electric commerce continues to increase, more and more people are using it to browse and buy products or services online. As many businesses are attempting to globalize their sales, the internet has become the primary means of advertising and selling their products and services worldwide. Many businesses are creating web pages in addition to their retail stores, and many others even start their businesses with online stores alone. On the other hand, customers can browse, buy, or bid on products and services without ever leaving their house. Online stores are the number one remote shopping method that consumers use, ahead of phone orders and mailing. Online shopping is a type of electric commerce and creates many new opportunities for customers and businesses; however, there are also many dangers present whenever you give out your personal information. Because online shopping doesn't involve a physical exchange of money for goods, new methods of payment and delivery have been created to meet customer expectations. Online shopping has rapidly increased in popularity in the past 10 years and can be extremely useful for certain individuals. In this report we will give a brief summary of the history of online shopping and discuss some of the different advantages and disadvantages for both buyers and sellers. After researching the different aspects of online shopping, we will present different arguments and examine if online shopping is actually more convenient. Regarding privacy and security, we will consider different types of theft that can occur while shopping online and ways people can protect their computer and their private information. Online shopping has become a big part of the market and has changed the way many businesses operate. With the increasing popularity of shopping on the internet, it is important people educate themselves about the structure and methods so that they have a safe and enjoyable experience while shopping online.

History
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How did we come up with the term "online shopping".In talking about the history of online shopping, we should trace back to how internet moved in our daily life. The internet is used to describe the network of several computers throughout the world. The first internet usage emerged back to the 1950s and 60s, we were not aware of it since it was part of the US Defense System. In the early ages of internet, the web was considered to be a medium for information sharing. Passionate users created web pages on the topics they like and people loved to read it. Gradually we begun to share our information about the goods and service. After decades of years, now internet to do tons of things which are making our daily life way more interesting and convenience than before, one of the most commonly known factor is ---online shopping.

At the early stage of online shopping, people only shared the phone number, and mail order businesses through email and USENET, the stores started accepting communication through email and making catalogs available online.According to the research, Pizza Hut was first testing online ordering in Santa Cruz, California in 1994, and who has the first full-blown ecommerce sites on the web. However, it was a very old version of the onling shopping, since at the time their online pizza service only took customer’s name, address, and phone number, and then the restaurant called customer for order details. Here is their website that we can refer to how their website looked like at the time: http://web.archive.org/web/19961219205128/http://www.pizzahut.com/

Years later, people started reviewing products online while stores were posting their commercial catalog on their very own websites or public visiting websites. Online shopping gradually begins walking in people’s life. In 1994, Jeff Bezos founded Amazon.com, and this business was launched in 1995. They started out as an online bookstore and then quickly diversified by add other items, such as VHS tapes and DVDs, music CDs, software, video games, electronics, MP3s, clothing, furniture, toys and even food items.

The emergence of Amazon.com is an important step in the history of online shopping. After the success of Amazon, a lot of online shopping websites appeared all over the world, some of them allow individuals trade with each other, how they work is people post phones of their merchandises on the specific websites, and the interested buyers will pay via the websites, after the sellers get the money, the merchandise will be delivered, Such websites allow people the pay online as well (which has its benefit, also causes some problems, which we discuss later in our project.). Here the websites are just the inter-media which get revenue from the process fee, for instance, eBay.com.

Here is some important years in online shopping history.

1994 : Pizza Hut opened its Online Shop.

1994 : Netscape introduced the SSL system, which became the necessity for every online transaction.

1995 : Amazon.com launched its operations.

1996 : eBay started its services.

1999 : First online shop in UK launched.

2000 : Dot.com Burst.

2003 : Amazon.com’s first year of profit.

2005 : Google became the dominant search engine to find and buy goods and services.

[the list is from website http://www.ishopping.co.in/history-of-online-shopping/]

Advantages of Online-shopping
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As internet becomes virtually indispensable for today’s life, online shopping is also growing faster. Shopping is very necessary for people, and online shopping is the best way for those who like to make shopping simple and short. Online shopping grows faster because of several advantages which make convenience for people’s life. The main advantages of online shopping are the following parts:

Convenience
Online shopping is convenience for people because it saves a lot of time, find products easily, and shop without time limitation. First, online goods are generally cheaper, you don't have to go to the store, then looking for a parking and then physically selecting the good. Online shopping allows customers to browse through many items and categories without leaving their own home. By researching, most online shoppers would like to surf online rather than go to retail store to attain information about a product. 98 percent of our shopping survey respondents claim to be comfortable or extremely comfortable using the Internet. And 75 percent have been using the Internet for five years or more (Pike, Sarah, 2000). Most websites provide the variety in an organized way that will make consumers easier to search. Moreover, customers can shop without the time limitation. Online stores always open 24 hours, so people do not need to worry about time. Also, customers can exchange information about product by discussing on websites to help them make a better decision.

Comparison---comparing the price and features
Online shopping could help people to compare the price and features of products. Usually, online stores will give a great description of products that customers search. Also, online shopping has benefit for customers as there is no pressure to buy goods from vendors. They can have more time to decide what to buy and compare the features and price of products. For the society, it also is a good way to save human resource. The stores do not need too much staffs to help customers.

Delivery
People do not need to worry about the delivery of products. The online store will contain this service, but maybe people should pay extra fees for transportation. For example, IKEA and E-Bay both have a complete delivery system. people can recieve their expected products without going out. Even some online stores allow people pay after they recieve the goods, such as the Taobao Website in China.

Disadvantages/Concerns
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Even though online shopping has a lot of convenience for people, it still has some serious problems that people should pay attention to, such as the proper design of products, protection of private infomation, and the technology security problem and so on. The problems that involved in online shopping are various. According to the research, there are some majority inadequacies that are listed below.

-People will never know what kind of merchants they are getting,since the products may be different from where it is showed on the websites.

-Clothing in particular had negative rating in online shopping because it is difficult to feel and see the texture of color online, that is incomparable to going to a retail store, even with magnifying tools online.

-Customers cannot try on a cloth before buying it online, so it would be very inconvenient if the size did not fit the person and he had to return it.

-Enjoyment of retail shopping lost: Many enjoy shopping with others and it is often a good way to make social connections. When shopping independently online, the enjoyment is lost.

One more important component of the disadvantage about online shopping is the safety and security. Untill now, many customers do not trust the privay of the Internet and are concerned with their credit card fauds, unwanted solicitation, and use of their information for other purposes. Customers are reluctant to release payment card information to online merchants, fearing a loss of control over their accounts. Also, merchants and financial institutions are concerned about the costs associated with online chargebacks and fraud.

Safety & Security Issues
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Privacy and Security
Shopping on the internet has quickly become a major part of business and has revealed many new opportunities for customers and retailers. Almost all businesses have recognized the possibilities of using the internet to market and sell their products. Electric commerce (e-commerce) allows people to browse and purchase merchandise from the comfort of their home. Although shopping online might seem much easier in many ways, new security issues arise for both customers and merchants. Companies selling products or services online must ensure that their websites contain the proper protection against hackers and viruses. In order to be successful, businesses must guarantee to customers that their personal information is kept safe and secure. Although e-commerce allows merchants to be lees concerned with physical theft, companies still run the risk of fraudulent purchases due to stolen credit cards. Customers are most concerned about the privacy and protection of their financial information. Some people may avoid online shopping all together because they are reluctant to give out their credit or debit card information. Furthermore, customers not only expect quality products, but also assume their payment will be a simple and secure procedure. A survey by AC Nielson shows the top security concerns for online shoppers in 2004:

•	Not receiving item purchased, or receiving item different from expectations

•	Email addresses being available to third parties

•	Financial or personal information stolen

•	Email scams (phishing, spoofing)

Privacy of personal information can be a very important aspect for consumers. Shopping online can be quite safe in reality, as long as shoppers take necessary precautions in order to avoid fraud or theft.

Precautions
When shopping online, it is always a good idea to buy from companies you are familiar with. If buying products for the first time on a particular site, it is often useful to do some research. Customers should always read the website’s security and refund policies before ordering anything to avoid confusion and frustration later. Also, customers should record merchant’s telephone number and address in case they have questions or need to contact the company directly. Moreover, people must make sure that the website they are using is secure. Most websites use encryption technology which scrambles the information sent over the internet. This ensures that customer’s information will be secure from hackers on the way to the merchant computers. There are three ways to recognize that the website you are using is secure:

1.	A closed padlock will appear at the bottom of your screen

2.	An unbroken key symbol will appear somewhere on the page

3.	Web address begins with https, not just http. This may only appear on the transaction page of the website.

If either symbol appears as an open lock or broken key, one can assume that the website is not secure and no information should be sent. In addition to these security symbols, most websites display a dialogue box at the time of ordering, informing you whether your information is being sent to a secure site.

Fraud and Theft
Phishing: Phishing is the process of attempting to acquire personal information by pretending to be a legitimate and trustworthy website. This process is usually carried out by email and asks users to enter information into a fake website that is almost identical to the real one. Hackers send millions of emails and use this technique to “fish” for valuable financial information or passwords. People can protect against phishing by implementing spam filters to their email that eliminate most phish emails. Other signs that help point out fraudulent emails are the misspelling of simple words and a lack of personal greeting.

Credit Card Fraud: Online shopping may reduce the risk of physical theft for companies but creates an opportunity for people to make fraudulent purchases using stolen credit card information. As a result of phishing scams and viruses, hackers can obtain personal information about people and use it to purchase products or services over the internet. In some cases, credit card numbers that get approved turn out to be totally made up numbers. This is possible through illegal software that can generate fictitious credit card numbers that are mathematically valid. These are major concerns for merchants as cardholders are rarely responsible for fraudulent purchases. The maximum liability of a cardholder is only $50 under federal law; In other words, credit card payment online may be the safest way to pay for consumers.

Identity Theft: Identity theft occurs when someone takes information about you and uses it to pretend to be you usually for financial gain. Identity theft is occurring more and more due to the increasing popularity of social networking sites and e-commerce. In fact thousands of people are affected by identity theft every year. Thieves can use phishing techniques or Trojan horses that put key loggers on your computer in order to access people’s personal information. Although there is no way to prevent identity theft entirely, there are some precautions you can take to lower your risk. The best way to lower your risk of identity theft is to always make sure that the website you are transmitting information over is secure. Reducing the number of websites that have your personal information is also a good idea. Finally, people should be especially cautious about giving out their SIN. This is a valuable piece of information to identity thieves and should only be given out when absolutely necessary.

Conclusion
Advances in technology have been the most important factors in the creation and improvement in online shopping. The internet has set the foundation for millions of people search for and buy products or services. Merchants may expand their business to other markets worldwide via the internet and consumers may purchase items with the click of a button. After careful research, it appears that online shopping is convenient and safe for the most part. Delivery, payment, and privacy are important factors that need to be considered when buying online. Furthermore, it is essential that before making a transaction online, shoppers must make sure that they are operating on a secure website to avoid theft or fraud. Purchasing items online is becoming a part of everyday life; as consumer expectation continue to rise, businesses are implementing enhanced security systems and new customer-friendly design to make online shopping a safe and convenient experience.