Lost in the Amazon

I have a little problem. I'm an impulse buyer. Mostly DVDs and books (which is funny since up until last spring, I wasn't much of a reader).

I didn't know I had this problem. I always thought I was pretty much in control of what I spent my money on. I mean, I'm in the tech field, there are tons of toys and gadgets out there that I would love to own, yet I don't even own an ipod! In some circles, that would be considered sacrilege! But recently something happened. Something unexpected. Something that has exposed my little impulse problem. Something that would make it all-too-easy for me to part with my money... I discovered Amazon.

Buying and selling online (eCommerce) has faced many obstacles; not the least of which is fraud and credit theft. Online merchants have had to tackle both the logistical challenges of selling stuff online as well as the challenges of perception.

This would prove to be a difficult task; one that would take time. After all, you can't change people's habits or opinions over night, plus there are many products that just need to be seen, touched, heard, tried on, smelled, tasted or driven before they're bought and nothing beats the shopping experience of a brick-and-mortar store right?

So with all of these obstacles, why even bother with ecommerce?

Well, obviously there are some pretty major benefits or else companies would not have bothered.

If you're like me, then to you, the brick-and-mortar experience is highly overrated. I'm not a big fan of shopping and I hate shopping Mauls (yes, I realize I misspelled it), especially around this time of year. The idea of being able to buy something from the comfort of my home is a particularly tantalizing one. Imagine, no pushy salespeople, you could compare prices with dozens of merchants without leaving your chair AND you have the entire planet as your marketplace! Sounds pretty ideal right?

But how do I know I can trust the vendors?

How do you know you can trust any vendor, real or virtual? I mean, would you buy something out of the back of a cube van just because it's tangibly real OR would you buy from a known chain like Walmart, Sears or The Brick? You KNOW those big chains. You don't just buy their products, you buy into their name, reputation and their buying power.

Shopping online is no different. In fact, we're entering the heyday of eCommerce.

Right now, everyone and their dog is selling something online. Be it, services; new or used products; collectibles; advertising; anything you can think of, you can probably find someone selling it.

<shameless plug>I'm no different. My band's CD is for sale online.</shameless plug>

You can take your chance with a small vendor who (like in the real world) will sell him/herself on personalized customer service; and that's fine, if you're lucky you'll find an honest one who won't sell you fake or stolen merchandise (you may not even care). Or you can go with one of the big established online retailers like ebay, chapters.indigo, or Amazon. Now these guys have their shit together. They're  just some of the few, large, successful online retailers; ebay probably being the largest but, in my humble opinion, Amazon is king of the jungle.

I don't even want to think about how much money I've spent on this site. They make it so easy! Once you've established an account with them, you can save your credit card information and buy things with one click of your mouse!

Aren't you afraid of your credit card information being stolen?

There is as much chance of that happening on Amazon, as there is of me dropping my credit card in a store somewhere and someone picking it up and using it to make their own purchases. Besides, Amazon has secure encryption and privacy policies; all credit cards have some measure of security; but above all that, if you're not checking your credit card statements on a regular basis for unauthorized transactions, then turn your hand around and point the finger in your own direction to find the responsible party.

The thing that I love about Amazon (besides the service, selection and all of the other excellent features) is that I can save my credit card information in my Amazon account. What does this mean? Well, whenever I want to make a purchase, all I have to do is fill my "shopping cart" and click "purchase". Since my credit card info is already in their system, I don't have to reenter it every time. The fewer times that information is sent, the less chance it has of being intercepted. A couple of days later, my purchase is waiting for me in my mailbox. It's that simple!

How can you trust Amazon with your credit card?

Look, at some point somewhere, there needs to be trust, but it doesn't hurt to have some logic behind your leap of faith. If your credit card info was EVER leaked by Amazon to anyone who might use it for the purpose of evil what do you think would happen? I'll tell you. You would raise such a stink, complain to anyone that would listen, email the Better Business Bureau, maybe even threaten litigation. Amazon, being the huge retailer they are, would get loads of bad PR, word-of-mouth (WOM) would turn on them (and in the internet world, WOM is uber-important), they'd lose millions and all the hard work they put into establishing their good name would be thrown out the window. Needless to say, it may be in there best interest to treat your information with the utmost care and security.

Something else you may want to consider instead of using your credit card online is to make your online payments via a company such as Paypal. Paypal is like an online bank account. You deposit money into it and then you can pay for items, receive payment on items, and transfer money to other people securely without having to expose your financial information to potential poachers. However, once again, you need to trust the Paypal to keep your info secure. Paypal is the largest company of this kind on the net. They now administer over 86.6 million accounts. Most major sites will accept Paypal as a payment method.

In the end, shopping online can be just as secure as traditional shopping. As long as you are willing to apply the same common sense you would apply if you were to...say...go to the mall.

Just remember these tips:

• Stick to known and trusted retailers
• Use one credit card for all purchases to make it easier to keep track of them
• Check with your credit card company about purchase protection
• Never share your personal or financial information with anyone via email
• Keep all records of transactions in case you need to refer to them at a later time
• Review your credit card statement every month to confirm all purchases
• Consider using a online payment service such as Paypal

You may notice that, except for the last one, these are good tips to follow weather you're buying online, or in a regular store.

Now of course, there are many products that are never going to sell well online. I probably will never buy a car online, but then again, you never know.

In the end, it all boils down to convenience. Yesterday, I took ten minutes out of my lunch break at work and finished my Christmas shopping on Amazon. I bought for 4 people without leaving my desk. I'll receive the package the day after tomorrow. I could have even specified that the items be gift wrapped for me at no extra charge, but that would be lazy of me wouldn't it?

Boy am I glad, I didn't have to go out into the cold weather and put up with holiday shoppers. It would have seriously cut into my lunch-hour and my patience.

Comments

[kate]

You know - I hate people who do the "How secure is my credit card" thing with online shopping. It's a hell of a lot more secure than it is when you hand it to the doof who just pumped your gas.

Also - you've completely left out Grocery Gateway.

[Al]

Baby steps Kate. Baby steps.

[kate]

See - it's great, because you don't have to go to the grocery store. Have you seen the people at the grocery store?

[Al]

Well you know that option is out for me. Since they won't come up to my neck of the woods. When they do, I'll certainly check them out. So to speak.