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Online shopping is the process consumers go through to purchase products or services over the Internet. An online shop, eshop, e-store, internet shop, webshop, webstore, online store, or virtual store evokes the physical analogy of buying products or services at a bricks-and-mortar retailer or in a shopping mall.
The metaphor of an online catalog is also used, by analogy with mail order catalogs. All types of stores have retail web sites, including those that do and do not also have physical storefronts and paper catalogs. Online shopping is a type of electronic commerce used for business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions.
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Benefits of online shopping
- Bargaining power of consumers. They enjoy a wider choice
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Supplier power. It is more difficult for consumers to manage a non-digital channel.
- Internet increases commoditisation
- Threat of new entrants. Online means it is easier to introduce new services with lower over-heads
- Threat of substitutes
- Rivalry among competitors. It is easier to introduce products and services to different markets
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