ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY

Buying goods from a shop rather than online or at home as the law regulating distance and doorstep selling

Buying goods from a shop rather than online or at home as the law regulating distance and doorstep selling

Introduction

As social trends continue to experience an intense influence on account of globalization, consumers are able to derive increased productivity from their time. The internet is an instrument that plays a major role in the development of the layman's lifestyle. For instance, internet shopping is becoming increasingly popular amongst consumers because it allows consumers to purchase products and services without stepping outside. Internet shopping enables consumers to access a wide variety of products and services through their internet. Almost every product that can be bought off a shelf can be viewed and purchased from a website. In technical terms, internet shopping allows consumers to reduce their expenses because of multiple reasons. Firstly, increasing trends in internet shopping are allowing companies to implement effective e-CRM strategies; thereby providing consumers with improved customer service and customized assistance (Kukar-Kinney, Ridgway and Monroe 2009). The net effect of this is a win-win scenario in which the consumer is able to get more from each unit of currency spent while the seller is able to increase profit margins. Secondly, the simple fact that internet shopping allows consumers to save time comes forth as a major source of motivation for consumers to move from traditional shopping practices to internet shopping. The time that consumers save can be used for alternative activities.

However, while internet shopping may appear to be an undeniably positive element in today's world, there is a catch that merits highlighting. The catch is that the law regulating distance and doorstep selling offers little protection to consumers. This paper will attempt to discuss the role and relevance of this weak legal coverage for internet shopping. In the process, the paper will assert that there is an urgent need of clarification in this area.

Discussion

When a consumer makes a purchase from the internet, he/she is exposed to a multitude of potential threats to his/her safety and security. For one, the customer has to trust the website's security system through blind faith. The customer has to provide sensitive (and often personal) information to the website. This creates a risky scenario for the consumer since there is a chance that the consumer's personal information may leak into the hands of unauthorized third parties (Farag, Schwanen, Dijst and Faber 2007). Secondly, unless the website in question has a reliable logistics system in place, risk to the customers package serves to further complicate matters. Delays in delivery of the purchased goods can render the purchase useless. Nonetheless, the consumer has no other option but to pay the company.

Shopping orientations that relate to tangible and communicative aspects of the shopping process in our study show the greatest power between the shopper types. Some of the shopping orientations that, in previous research, were assumed or "proven" to be the most important factors distinguishing Internet from non-Internet ...