Research Method-The Problem of Online Shopping - Essay Example

? The Problem of Online Shopping Number: Outline Introduction Hypothesis Problem ment Backgroundand rationale Literature review Research scope Key findings Limitations of results Introduction In itself, online shopping is a form of e-commerce whereby consumers purchase goods or services directly from the seller, without the support of intermediary services, since the transaction takes place over the Internet. Online shopping has its underpinnings in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), globalisation and liberalisation of trade. The advent of online shopping can be traced back to 1990 when the creation of the browser and the World Wide Web materialised. With online shopping, less time is spent in queues and travels, less money is used in traveling to the stores, chances for pilferage are abated and the geographical barriers between the consumer and the retailer are significantly attenuated. Nevertheless, it is a fact that any human construct is inherently flawed, its merits and many benefits notwithstanding. Online shopping having been contrived by man is not an exception. It is against this backdrop that some of the shortcomings of online shopping are to be discussed forthwith. Problem statement Serious problems accost online shopping, despite its many advantages. The need to tackle these problems is necessitated by the desire to make online shopping more efficient and more secure. The import of this is that it is only upon these problems being discussed, that online shopping can be made more secure, efficient and more user-friendly. There can never be the provision of a viable and sustainable solution without the identification and discussion of co-occurring problems. The flipside of this is that the failure to discuss these problems is bound to leave online shoppers susceptible to security breaches and general and systems malfunctions. Background and rationale This study is sustained against the backdrop of online shopping’s popularity which continues to suffuse almost all trading blocks. At the moment, online trading or shopping is steadily growing, just as Shah (2012) points out that it has grown from 0.4% in the first quarter of 2012 to 3.9% in the third quarter of 2011. With this growing popularity, the need to strengthen online shopping against its pitfalls remains paramount. Likewise, there can be no strengthening of online shopping without the accurate identification of the loopholes that characterise online shopping. This means that the main intention of this study is not to merely discount online shopping on the account of its weakness. On the contrary, the necessity of this study is precipitated by the need to ultimately seal the problems of online shopping by identifying the same problems first. Literature review According to a research study that Weiyin-Hong, James and Kar-Yan (2005) conducted and discussed in the Journal of Management Information Systems, the chief problem of online shopping is fraud and security concerns. Some of the problems that border on security matters include identity theft, preponderance of spyware and faulty products. Courtesy of the research study in the Journal of Management Information Systems, Weiyin-Hong, James and Kar-Yan (2005) established that the problem of insecurity is compounded by another sub-problem which is the inability to physically inspect online merchandise before the transaction. The same problem is further aggravated by the merchant’s inability to detect fraudulent purchases. Fraudulent purchases are made with stolen cards, or fraudulent circumventing systems that regulate online purchases. Conversely, clients have also had to contend with security shortfalls when participating in online shopping. One of the security breaches that online shoppers have to deal with is phishing. Phishing happens in an instance where online shoppers are duped into thinking that they are dealing with a genuine or reputable dealer. Thus, these online shoppers proceed to feed their private profile to a system that the malicious party is manipulating or running. In the Journal of Management Information Systems, Weiyin-Hong, James and Kar-Yan (2005) are categorical that this mostly happens when the website for an online outlet is not adequately secure, and thereby allowing tech-savvy individuals with criminal intent to access customers’ information. Furthermore, although most online corporations are responding by implementing new antifraud software, yet these criminals are fast and witty enough to contrive newer ways to manipulate newly set antifraud systems. Passyn, Diriker and Settle (2011) in the Journal of Business & Economics Research also wax poignant that lack of full or adequate disclosure is one of the most problematic setbacks that constantly bedevil online shopping. To Passyn, Diriker and Settle (2011), the failure to make adequate disclosure undermines the client more than the online merchant. Passyn, Diriker and Settle (2011) in the Journal of Business & Economics Research are categorical that one of the avenues through which the online shopper is shortchanged is the disclosure of total cost of the purchase being made. This is because, peripheral charges such as shipping and handling are seldom made visible and thereby making the detection of full costs a near impossible feat. This problem is further propounded when it comes to online cross-border trade. Usually, in transnational trade, the cost being reflected at the ultimate checkout screen sidesteps extra fees that are always exacted upon delivery. Some of these extra fees that are advanced in cross border trading include brokerage fees and duties. Like its local counterpart, in cross border online business, these unforeseen charges become only palpable during the terminal steps in the checkout process. This state of affairs makes online purchasers very vulnerable, as they end up incurring more expenses than previously anticipated. In some cases, extra fees are illegally levied on online customers. Even when waivers have been applied over duties and tariffs, through partial or inadequate disclosures, it will be possible for either the merchants or handlers to exact these extra charges, when deducting the total cost of transaction. In another wavelength, Hamer (2011) in the Services Marketing Quarterly waxes polemical that there will have been no complete discussion on the downsides of online shopping, if the issue of privacy is not mentioned and discussed. Hamer (2011) in the same journal adduces research finding to advance the widely held notion that because of the absence of corrective mechanisms, online shopping is almost always an associate of compromise of privacy. While privacy of personal details is paramount to online shoppers, laws that sanction and safeguard consumer privacy are unique to every legal jurisdiction. However, all online consumers, whether online or conventional, loathe spam, telemarketing and the unauthorised supplying of their profiles to other online businesses. Even though many merchants promise not to engage consumers’ profiles for these ends, cases where these promises are contravened abound (Kurtz, 2010). In the same vein, the way ICT technology operates still continues to expose online clients’ underbelly. This is the case since many websites track consumers’ shopping tendencies and preferences to suggest websites and other items for viewership. While other online outlets require the filling in of phone numbers and addresses at checkouts, brick and mortar shops are allowed to collect details belonging to online shoppers. However, consumers still enjoy the prerogative to either turn down or yield to such overtures. Additionally, several big stores consult address information that is encoded in consumers’ credit cards, as an artifice to creating a larger catalogue of mailing list. The gravity behind this development is that no matter how meticulous an online shopper may want to be with his information, it remains totally impossible to delude privacy breaches. In a separate wavelength, Hamer (2011) in the Services Marketing Quarterly charges that product suitability is a problem that needs to be tamed, if online shopping is to be effectively ameliorated. This problem is less profound in the buying and selling of digital products such as movies, music, education and educational materials and resources, software, communication equipment, office supplies and monetary transactions. However, the case is very different and more pronounced when it comes to buying and selling of tangible goods. Online transactions of tangible goods attach great importance to value-to-weight ratio. The flipside of this is that the value-to-weight ratio is not detectable online. Thus, it is very possible for the client to be shortchanged. Similarly, it is the same inability to physically interact with the desired item that leads to embarrassing or inappropriate purchases and shut-ins. Also, instances whereby products do not get to the intended destination are not rare. Also, products with smell, touch, taste and size components and low value-to-weight ratio court a lot of problems when being procured online. Products which require trial fittings may also fall within this rubric. This development has rendered clothes, perfumes and victuals, especially vegetables highly avoidable, in respect to product suitability. For instance, because of sizing, many people eschew online clothing when intending to buy clothes. This is because, products requiring trial fittings and having smell, touch, taste and size components may appear different in real life, from what they appeared to be, when in the virtual shelf. While online financial transaction is very easy and viable when taking the client-merchant format, the merchant-customer monetary flow has proven to be very difficult, if not impossible. Abdul-Muhmin (2011) in the Journal of International Consumer Marketing explains that this is because, online shopping is modeled after the assumption that monetary capital flows from the purchaser to the seller, while services or goods emanate from the seller to the buyer, always. In the same Journal of International Consumer Marketing, Abdul-Muhmin (2011) postulates that the assumption that monetary exchanges have to take the conventional client-merchant fashion, plays a significant role in compounding the pitfalls of online shopping. Specifically, Abdul-Muhmin (2011) in the same journal maintains that this assumption has acted as the harbinger of difficulty in exacting refunds. In the event that a client is overcharged, there is very little room for the reimbursement, if at all. In the Journal of International Consumer Marketing, to Abdul-Muhmin (2011), the problem is serious, since according to statistics, 43% of those who have participated in online shopping have at one point applied for reimbursement, but in vain. In almost the same wavelength, in the event that the client has received a product that he did not like, exchanging that same product or seeking a refund remains very difficult, if not impossible. Research scope The main purpose of this study is to determine the problems of online shopping, as an important step to bringing ameliorations to online shopping. The research study also discusses the sub-problems which are: Security concerns and fraud, Encroachment of clients’ privacy, and Inadequate disclosure of information Hypothesis Based on the discussion that has been sustained, it can be hypothetically advanced that: Security breaches and fraud is one of the most formidable challenges of online shopping but it has a workable solution in legislation, software development and logistics; Encroachment of customers’ privacy undercuts online shopping, though it has a sustainable solution in legislation; and, Inadequate disclosure of terms and conditions seriously undermine online shopping but can be solved through legislation. Key findings From the foregoing, it has become clear that in order to seal the loopholes of online shopping, it is important that correctional mechanisms are put in place. Because the problems besetting online shopping are multifaceted, the correctional mechanisms have to take on a legal, logistical and technological mien. When it comes to technology, the need to emphasise and improve the use of more meticulous software programmes such as the Safer Socket Layer (SSL) cannot be repudiated. Logistically, measures should be put in place to safeguard the exaction of personal responsibility, on the side of the online seller and buyer. For instance, regulation must be put in place to ensure that websites of online markets do not accept buyers’ accounts which have very weak passwords. Conversely, online buyers must exercise personal responsibility and discretion by having very strong passwords. Legal amendments are also in order, to ensure that the act of disclosing buyers’ information or profile outside the buyers’ consent is a criminal offence, punishable by law. Above all, it will be also expedient that terms and conditions of online shopping are made legally binding. This is to the effect that sanctions are to be made on partial disclosures. All online merchants are to specify if their prices are inclusive of extraneous charges such as duties and brokerage fees, or not. The onus must also be placed on the online merchant to specify the exact rates of these peripheral charges, including the price of shipping and handling. The import of this is that felicity conditions should be specified to the client, so that should he sustain any unforeseen and unspecified deductions, he is able to seek legal redress. The ground for the case should be the online merchant not deliberating on the extra charges such as duties and brokerage fees and then proceeding to confer them on the online buyer. Limitations of results Although the findings seem readily plausible and viable, yet there are limitations that still accost them. For one, the results have not yet been made to explain the existence of one-to-one correlation between the proposals in the findings and the presumed success. For example, the findings have not taken time to explain the reason why SSL has been around for more than a decade; yet, cases of insecurity and fraud in online shopping remain perennially stubborn. The limitation of the results is also seen in the same results or findings not having been subjected to an objective research investigation. It is only after this investigation that the veracity of the findings can be established. For instance, whether SSL and other software advancements, legislation and logistics can herald positive change in online shopping is a matter that is best verifiable through research investigations. It is not that the findings or the results are faulty or questionable; it is only that no evidence has been adduced for their verification. References Abdul-Muhmin, A. G. (2011). “Repeat Purchase Intentions in Online Shopping: The Role of Satisfaction, Attitude, and Online Retailers' Performance.” Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 23 (1), 5-20. Hamer, L. O. (2011). “Reducing Online Buyers' Perceptions of Risk: A Study of Online Auctions.” Services Marketing Quarterly, 32 (2), 83-95. Kurtz, D. L. (2010). Contemporary Marketing. London: Cengage Learning. Passyn, K. A., Diriker, M. & Settle, R. B. (2011). “Images Of Online Versus Store Shopping: Have The Attitudes Of Men And Women, Young And Old Really Changed?” Journal of Business & Economics Research, 9 (1), 99-110. Shah, S. (2012). “Analysis: Challenges that Online Retailers Face in 2012.” Computing.co.uk Retrieved from: http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/analysis/2141008/analysis-challenges-online-retailers-2012 Weiyin-Hong, T. & James, Y. L. & Kar-Yan, T. (2005). “The Effects of Information Format and Shopping Task on Consumers' Online Shopping Behavior: A Cognitive Fit Perspective.” Journal of Management Information Systems, 21 (3), 149-84. Read More