Enjoy Online Shopping and Save Money by Eric Akpore

With the increasing number of Internet users, the revolution called online shopping is fast catching up worldwide. In the U.S., U.K., Australia, etc. the trend of online shopping is popular since a decade or so now but this trend is fast catching up in other parts of the world too mainly Asian, Middle Eastern, and South African countries. The advent of online shopping signals the beginning of a new global trend. It is fast becoming a way of life and consumers find it very convenient to get goods at their doorsteps avoiding long queues. Online shoppers have great expectations, varying attitudes and wish for a hassle-free and safe online shopping experience. However, there is a different category of consumers too who only do their shopping research online but make their purchases offline. In spite of this segment of online shoppers or researchers, online shopping is here to stay. There are many channels of online shopping and e-shopping stores offer discount coupons, seasonal and festival discounts and promotional offers just like physical stores. Online shopping offers ease-of-use, convenience, time-saving, and money saving too. Online stores allow you to pay through various means like credit card, pay pal, cheque, Wire transfer, Postal money order, and some also offer cash on delivery too. There are various innovative e-commerce solutions that give consumers different channels where they can shop online. Consumers look for lowest prices and high-quality merchandise while shopping online. Comparison Shopping Comparison shopping is what all consumers love to do. They visit various online stores and compare prices, products, and user reviews before taking their buying decision. To save consumers from doing research on their own, comparisons shopping stores or comparison shopping search engines have become popular considerably. Comparison shopping search engines connects consumers with millions of merchants, retailers, small and large manufacturers, specialty shops, boutiques, and vendors. Consumers can view ratings of products and browse products by category. Popular comparison shop sites are Shopzilla, Froogle, Price Grabber, Yahoo Shopping, NexTag and more. Comparison shops compare products, prices, and list products available at lowest possible prices. Consumers buy from comparison shops, also called Comp shops, to get best bargains. Retailers and manufacturers want their products listed on comparison shops for low prices to get competitive advantage and to understand the competition out there. At comparison shops, consumers can buy any products like household products, apparel, home appliances, furniture, etc. at a price lower than market price. Usually comparison-shopping engines offer merchandise by other manufacturers and retailers etc, and earn commissions based on sales. Online auctions Online auctions sites are also a popular way to buy or sell new and used merchandise. Auction sites enable product manufacturers or retailers and consumers to sell or buy anything. Auction sites are very popular among consumers as they sometimes get goods at super cheaper prices. On auction site the buyer needs to place bids on the products and services listed. A minimum bid price is listed and the one who places the maximum bid price in the specified time limit is the winning bidder. Online auction sites are ideal for those who love adventurous shopping as it involves a certain amount of risk too. Usually the auction sites don't take the responsibility for items listed and buying and selling activity on the site. Another risk is the addiction to place bids, like gambling, even if the product is not required. At times sellers set a price at which he is willing to sell the product and if any user agrees to buy the product he need not bid and buy the product straightaway. One can bid easily from the convenience of home or office. Popular auction sites are eBay, Amazon, Yahoo and many others. Online Shopping Stores by Manufactures and Retailers There are millions of online stores where retailers or product manufacturers are selling products. Buying on these stores is safe in all respects. They give complete product information, shipping details and also offer product guarantee or warranty. Though such stores may not offer you best lowest possible price but they offer you least risk online shopping experience. Most branded manufacturers of jewelry, electronics, home appliances, designer purses, designer clothes, branded footwear have their own online stores. Manufacturers and retailers are making huge investments to give users a safe and friendly online shopping experience. Shopping online on reputed sites is perfectly safe and secure and they offer impressive delivery time too. Community or Group Buying Group buying is a new online shopping model in comparison to other online shopping models. Group buying sites provide the end users best bargains through volume buying. In a group buying or block buying model, sellers offer huge discounts when a certain number of people in a group buy the same product. Block buying or group buying is ideal for those who want to enjoy great savings through great bargains. This buying and selling model is advantageous to sellers as they can sell large number of products and make profits and thereby save on advertising and marketing costs significantly. More people in a block or group lead to better bargains. Consumers can do group buying at http://www.buyerdom.com/ where buyers and sellers can create a block and add product/services details for free. Buyers can also view existing blocks and can join the block if they want to buy the same product. Buyerdom allows bargain hunters to buy products at lowest prices on the Internet. Almost all product categories are listed. For more information, visit http://www.buyerdom.com/. About the Author Eric, President of Buerdom.com has written many articles related to Block buying and this time writing article on Enjoy Online Shopping and Save Money.