SHOPPER'S SPECIAL...Go for Only Trusted Brands While Buying Goods Online

You can buy almost everything on the internet these days. Be it books, apparel, mobile phones, or even expensive electronic items like an LCD, refrigerator, washing machine can be bought online. These purchases can be made from independent online retailers like flipkart.com, infibeam.com, snapdeal.com, crazeal.com, jabong.com and many others. Even retailers like Shoppers Stop, Pantaloon have online websites through which you can buy their products.
So is it safe to buy any product, even if it is expensive like jewellery or consumer durables, online? Or should you restrict yourself to certain categories and brands only?
“Reputed brands or standardised products like books or mobile phones can be bought online. However, the consumers need to be careful when it comes to buying expensive products or items like apparel or footwear where size and colour play an important role in a purchase,” says Ashok Hedge, an online marketing consultant.
BE AWARE OF THE RISKS
In a physical store, the buying process is simple. Once you have zeroed in on a product, pay for it and the product becomes yours. However, in the online world, after booking your product and making the payment, the product could take as much as 2 to 15 days to reach you. At times the websites are not updated. While the website will show the product as available, in reality, it may be out of stock. The communication could come to you late and at times you may lose a week in the process or may not even get the product at all. Most products purchased online are delivered to you by courier. At times, the courier may come to your house at odd hours, when you are not at home, or your parcel could even be misplaced. There is also a risk of the product getting damaged during transport, or spurious or duplicate products reaching you. In the case of apparel or footwear, there could be variations in size too. “The size you order and think will fit you may ultimately not fit you because different brands could have different sizes,” says Ashok Hegde. In some cases the colour of the apparel that you saw on your computer screen turns out to be far different when it actually reaches you. So you may have ordered a shirt which you think is light blue, but when it finally arrives, you may find the shade to be darker than what you had thought of.
TACKLING THE RISKS
As an online buyer you need to keep a few things in mind before placing a purchase order. Ask your friends or office colleagues about their buying experience before placing an order on a website. Since e-commerce is a hot and buzzing business, there are a number of new entrants coming up with websites. One should be careful of fly-by-night operators. “Read reviews of websites on the internet, before choosing one. This will give you some idea of the reliability of the website,” says Ankit Kumar, an internet marketing consultant. “If you are buying for the first time, opt to pay cash on delivery to be on the safer side,” adds Ankit Kumar. Go through the website’s terms and conditions and check how transparent it is. See if the logistics partner is a known name. Today some online portals such as Flipkart, Infibeam have their own delivery personnel in key cities, besides tying up with reputed courier services at other locations. See what kind of replacement guarantee the website is offering, so that if the product is not up to your expectation you have the option of getting it replaced.
“Terms, conditions and return policy need to be absolutely clear. Websites also need to ensure their security levels are at high standards, thus ensuring the safety and security of consumer details,” says Ankur Warikoo, CEO, Crazeal.com.
ONLINE IS CONVENIENT
A lot of risks are offset by convenience that the online mode offers. Due to the lack of shelf space and high rentals, there are limitations on the number of products and brands that a store can display. In comparison, an online store has no such limitation. Price discovery is far easier when it comes to shopping online. “It is difficult to physically go to 10 stores to check prices. However, one can check prices online easily,” says Vishal Mehta, founder CEO of Infibeam-.com. There are a number of options to make payments too. While earlier one had to use net banking or credit cards, today there are several online websites which allow cash on delivery. This means you pay only when you actually have the product, which gives a lot of comfort to buyers.
AVOID BUYING
EXPENSIVE PRODUCTS
The biggest barrier in buying an expensive product online is the risk of replacement. While reputed online stores do have replacement policies, the process may be cumbersome. You will have to pack the product back and get it collected by the courier. It may finally take some 15-30 days before the product is replaced. In the eventuality that you decide not to buy the product from the online store, the store may give you points back which you can use to buy any other product from the same store. “In the case of expensive products, your cash could be stuck, leading to a cash flow problem,” says Ashok Hedge.
Besides, in the case of branded high-value products, there will be very little price difference between a physical store and an online store. “The price difference between a retail store and an online store in case of high-value branded products, like LCDs, refrigerators or washing machines, is marginal. In a physical store you can negotiate on expensive products, which is not possible online,” adds Ashok Hegde.
prashant.maheshET30MAR12