Online Goods and Services Flashcards

1
Q

What is online shopping?

A

This refers to the buying and selling of goods and services using websites accessed through the internet. The items can be physical, ie books, films etc. or non physical like music downloads.

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2
Q

How do online shops work?

A

Website displays the goods for sale
Customer places items in virtual shopping basket
Check out
Payment is made and confirmed
Goods and services are dispatched and delivered to the customer

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3
Q

Features of online shopping?

A
Can sort and search for goods
Images of products provided
24/7 availability
Comparison of prices to similar products
Suggestions of future purchases
Customer reviews of products
Comparison sites
Bookable delivery service, ie for food.
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4
Q

How do online booking systems work?

A

Booking system displays available events
Selection of seat/flight/holiday and placement in virtual shopping basket
Customer enters personal details
Payment is made and secured
Confirmation email ticket sent and customers print the ticket

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5
Q

Advantages of online shopping for customer

A

Greater choice because there is no geographical limitation
Can shop all day, every day
Find best prices using comparison websites
Do not need to leave the house
You have the right to return the goods for any reason within 7 days of delivery unless good are customised
You can read other people’s reviews of the product

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6
Q

Disadvantages of online shopping to the customer

A

You need internet access and computer skills
You cannot pay using cash
You cannot see or touch products and you cannot try them on
Delivery fees usually apply
You need to submit personal info through a website
Risk of not receiving goods or having personal details stolen on fraudulent websites

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7
Q

Impact of online shopping on businesses

A

Online businesses can be located anywhere- do not need to pay expensive high street rental prices
Smaller staff require- saves money
Do not display stock- carry a greater range of products
Attract customers from all over the world

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8
Q

Impact of online shopping on lifestyles

A

Easier access for people with physical disabilities or young children
More choice for people in remote areas
Reduced carbon footprint
Available any time for people who work unsocial hours

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9
Q

How do online auctions work?

A

Seller and bidder create online accounts
Seller supplies a description and photograph of an item for auction
The bidder with the highest bid at a scheduled time wins the item
The bidder is obliged to buy the item they have won in the auction
The seller and bidder exchange emails to arrange payment and delivery

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10
Q

Features of online auctions

A

Can search for items you want
Bidders can see status of their bids
Changes can be made before the scheduled end time
Users of the auction service can rate each other
Sellers can choose to make an item available for purchase immediately rather than have bidders bid for it
Secure payment is arranged by the auction site

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11
Q

Advantages of online auctions

A

Ability to search for good required
Community of users which builds trust by rating both buyers and sellers
Third party payment options for secure payment
Large number of sellers= More competition= Prices being lowered

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12
Q

How does online education and training work?

A

Student creates online account and selects his or her courses
Teaching material is provided on a website
Assignments submitted and returned to students electronically

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13
Q

Features of online education and training

A

Interactive teaching material
Communities of students interacting online
Provides personalised learning
Students work from home

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14
Q

How do online information services work?

A

News reports are written by newspaper and TV companies- made available online for free or by subscription
Users access websites to read the news of select news using RSS feeds

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15
Q

Features of online information services

A
Easy to search for and sort news items
Up to date news available worldwide
Review news items from different sources- some may be biased or make up untrue stories
Allow users to select news
News presented in text, images and videos
Extra content provided for subscribers
Users can add comments
Users can subscribe to content
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16
Q

How do online banking and other financial services work?

A

User creates a secure online bank account
Money can be transferred electronically into the account
Payments can be made to other accounts

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17
Q

Features of online banking and other financial services

A
View up to date bank account details
View all transactions
Pay bills online
Create new bank accounts
Secure access provided
Offers promotions to online customers
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18
Q

How does online gaming work?

A

A central server runs the game software and streams each player’s position and actions to all players over the internet
Players require a high bandwidth, low latency connection to the internet to avoid lag when gaming

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19
Q

Features of online gaming

A

Players select game and create online accounts
Players can interact with each other as well as computer opponent
Some games store data such as graphics and sound LOCALLY on player’s computers

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20
Q

How does streaming work?

A

User selects TV programme/film
Presses play
Programme continually sent from server and streamed over the internet
Player buffers (stores) some data in case of delays in data arriving
Programme plays
INTERNET REQUIRED FOR THE WHOLE PROCESS+ a high bandwidth and low latency connection improves performance of streaming device

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21
Q

How does downloading a film or TV programme work?

A

User selects TV programme/film
User downloads entire file from server to their computer
User presses play
Programme plays
INTERNET ONLY REQUIRED TO FIND AND DOWNLOAD PROGRAMME

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22
Q

Why do organisations operate online?

A

Work from any location
Can sell to people around the world
Overheads are usually lower for online shops so they can be more profitable than high street shops
Online shops can, therefore, be able to afford to sell products cheaper and still make a good profit

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23
Q

Advantages of operating online for retailers

A

No need to distribute goods to shops
Easy to make changes to products and prices
Customers only need a web browser, an internet connection and means of paying electronically
Inexpensive way to reach new markets
Minimal start up time and investment needed- can be set up from home
Organisation can be located wherever it likes

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24
Q

Disadvantages of operating online for retailers

A

Skilled staff are required to develop and run an efficient website
Ensuring online payment security is difficult
Need a delivery service and the facilities to handle returns
Customers limited to those with access to internet and those who can pay electronically
If retailer has high street shops too, they may find high street shops suffer and have to close down because they cannot compete with online shop.

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25
Q

What is transactional data?

A

Info collected about a sale or purchase

Stored in databases which can be searched and sorted

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26
Q

What is the commercial value of transactional data?

A

It is extremely valuable to organisations you buy from because:
It allows the organisation to keep a record of your purchases
Allows your delivery to be tracked
Contains a rich source of info about customer shopping habits and preferences

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27
Q

What transactional data is collected?

A

Purchase price
Unique reference number given to each transaction
Details of items purchased
Delivery tracking data that displays delivery status and location
Personal info from your online account
Date and time of the purchase

28
Q

What is transactional data used for?

A

To understand customers’ buying habits and see trends in sales
To produce a more personalised experience- show other goods you might be interested in
Targeted advertising campaigns and to produce personalised adverts
To create personalised marketing such as coupons for products that customers are likely to purchase
To track delivery of goods

29
Q

Why do organisations use internet advertising?

A

Can be targeted at certain customers
Stats can be gathered
Cheaper than traditional advertising, for example TV adverts
It reaches a wide range of customers
Reaches customers faster than traditional ads

30
Q

How does internet advertising with search engines work?

A

Ads are displayed when customers search using key words
Google Adwords allows the advertising company to pay google when people click on their adverts- cost per click
Key words have to be carefully chosen and the advert carefully worded to make people want to click on it

31
Q

How does internet advertising using social networking work?

A

Many social networking sites use the info they have about users to target particular ads at them
Organisations pay FB to display ads on particular users’ pages and FB can select customers by location, age and interests

32
Q

What is viral marketing?

A

When an organisation creates interesting and entertaining content that makes people want to pass it on to their friends via social media, email and texting

33
Q

How does viral marketing work?

A

Interesting and entertaining content (such as a video) is created that people will want to share
Content is spread by people sharing content with their friends
Similar to a spread of a “virus” between people

34
Q

Why is viral marketing used?

A

Content may spread very quickly- Goes viral
Cheap- organisation does not have to pay for adverts
Memorable content- people will remember brand name

35
Q

What is online targeted marketing?

A

Concentrating online advertising on the groups of customers who are most likely to buy a product

36
Q

How does targeted marketing work?

A

Online organisations collect and combine online data from:
Cookies stored on your computer- browsing habits
Transactional data
Social networking sites
Microblogging sites
Personal info from online profiles

Use that data to send ads just to those users whose age, gender, interests or previous purchases may incline them to buy the suggested product

37
Q

Personalisation techniques

A

Personalised emails, specific- maybe special occasion reminders- sent to your email address.
Based on past browsing and searching on other websites, alternative products and favourite categories and recommendations based on your browsing history and other items you may have purchased.

38
Q

How can you avoid targeted marketing?

A

Opt out of sharing your personal info with other organisations when creating online accounts
Delete cookies
Be careful with the personal info you add to online profiles

39
Q

What are the four methods of paying online?

A

Credit/Debit cards
Online Bank Transfer
Third party payment processors
Online Coupons and online gift vouchers/e-Vouchers

40
Q

How do debit cards work?

A

Let the customer pay by taking money directly out of their account

41
Q

How do credit cards work?

A

Allow customer to borrow money which they then have to pay back at a later date with interest

42
Q

What details do you give when you pay online?

A

Card number
Expiry date of card
Cardholder’s name
Credit Card Verification code

43
Q

How can you make sure a website is secure?

A

URL changes to https
Change in the colour of the address bar (usually green)
Padlock symbol
“Norton Secured” adds further layer of authentication

44
Q

How does online bank transfer work?

A

Customers can make online payments directly from their account to other accounts as long as they know the bank account details of the organisation they are paying

45
Q

How do online banks keep customers safe from online fraud?

A

They check bank accounts to make sure there is no unusual activity
They provide secure encrypted web services
They use login protection schemes such as PINsentry

46
Q

How can online coupons and eVouchers be used?

A

The recipient creates an online account and enters the unique reference numbers given on the eVoucher or coupon

47
Q

What do third party processors do?

A

They are trusted organisations who stand between customers and retailers so payments are not made directly
The buyer creates a third party payment account with details of their debit/credit card- this info is never shared with retailers
Buyer pays the third party who holds money until payment is authorized
Once payment is authorized, the third party transfers it to the seller

48
Q

Consumer rights under UK law

A

Purchased item must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described.
If the item is faulty, it has to be replaced, repaired or money refunded

49
Q

Consumer rights when shopping online

A

If buying from a UK-based retailer, you have the same rights buying online as you do buying in a shop, eg. faulty items can be returned

50
Q

What is the cooling off period?

A

Orders placed online can be cancelled, for any reason, up to seven working days after receiving items and a full refund of money paid will be made

51
Q

What does the cooling period not apply to?

A

Personalised goods
Perishable goods- food, flowers
CDs/DVDs/software where seal has been broken
Newspapers, magazines and other reading material excluding books
Gaming, betting and lotteries

52
Q

How does locally installed software work?

A

User obtains software on DVD or downloads from internet and installs software on computer or file server

53
Q

Advantages of locally installed software?

A

Works without being online
You have the license to use the software
You control access to the computer so security is good

54
Q

Disadvantages of locally installed software

A

Takes up a large amount of file space
Must download and install upgrades and patches to fix bugs
All data is stored locally so it must be backed up

55
Q

How does hosted software/software as a service (SaaS) work?

A

User logs in through internet to use software when needed and the software runs on a web server over the internet

56
Q

Advantages of hosted software

A

Software does not take up any file space your computer

Allows users from different parts of the world to work on the same document at the same time

57
Q

Disadvantages of hosted software

A

Cannot work without internet connection
Not as secure due to possibility of hosting company being hacked
Response time depends on network speed

58
Q

What is proprietary software?

A

Developed by a company and usually requires payment to use on your computer or online, eg. Microsoft Word

59
Q

What is open source software?

A

Developed by volunteers who gradually improve it and it is free to use on your computer or online, eg. Open Office

60
Q

How can commercial software producers make users want to buy their software rather than using SaaS or open source software?

A

Make their products more appealing and of better quality by including more features and functions
Provide “bundled” software, ie. it is already installed on new computers and laptops
Provide technical support, help services and training materials
Use copyright to protect their products to stop similar free products being offered as a software service
Offer their own versions of SaaS

61
Q

What is local data storage?

A

Files are stored on the digital device you are using

62
Q

What is online data storage?

A

Files are stored on a server elsewhere which you access through the internet. Referred to as “in the cloud”.

63
Q

Advantages and disadvantages of local storage

A

+You have control over access to your files and the security of the data
+Data can be accessed quickly
+You do not need an internet connection to access data

  • You are responsible for keeping data safe
  • Difficult to share data with others
  • Data needs to be backed up
64
Q

Advantages and disadvantages of online storage

A

+Data is available anywhere as long as you have internet connection and a browser
+Some online data storage services are free
+Easy to share data with others
+Data is backed up for you

  • Need to trust the organisation storing your data will keep your data secure
  • Online data storage may not be reliable
  • Need a good internet connection to get access to your data
  • Less control of your data as you do not know where your data is stored
65
Q

What is a search engine?

A

A computer program that searched for web content that contains or is tagged with key words you have entered into the box. It searches it’s indexes and displays a list of the content that is matched

66
Q

Search techniques

A
More key words to narrow down search
Search by type of object you are searching for, eg. image, news, etc.
Use advanced search facilities
Search by date/language
Use more than one search engine
67
Q

How to check the validity of search results

A

Look at URLs to check results come from a trusted organisation
Check that the info is up to date
Look at the summary to see if the website contains relevant info
Look at summary to see if there are any spelling mistakes or preview website to check if it looks professional or If it is full of ads