Surf, click, buy!

Latoya Grindley, Staff Reporter

Remember the days when shopping overseas literally meant purchasing a plane ticket and physically going abroad, and when you arrive, you shop 'til you drop?

Well, those days of retail therapy seem to be dwindling as many shopaholics now gravitate towards Internet shopping.

Surf, click and buy has grown in popularity in recent times in Jamaica and this is facilitated by the growing number of courier services promoting online shopping and delivery services.

According to Stacy-Ann Jackson, marketing and advertising assistant at International Express, the increase has simply given persons more options.

"When we started International Express 25 years ago, we were the first to offer this kind of service. And it caught on very well, resulting in us having many top-end clients. But now there
are several players in the game and so customers just have more
choices."

What are some of the advantages of online
purchases?

"People have wider choices and can benefit
from lower prices. Sometimes a lot of things persons order are here
locally but they are priced in a way for the seller to make a profit,
which means a lot more money for the buyer. Online, you can find lower
prices and greater bargains," Jackson explained.

She
also highlighted that the ability to shop abroad without having to
travel gives persons the chance to acquire things that are not easily
accessed or sourced locally.

She noted, however, that
persons when ordering should keep in mind the total cost of the entire
transaction which includes mandatory duty fees and service
charges.

"Persons are finding the duty charges to be
outrageous. We encourage comparing prices here locally versus the cost
abroad which include all the charges. But you do find that many times
you can get more for your money online but, of course, depending on the
need of the individual."

Another dimension to online
shopping is that many courier services allow non-credit card holders to
shop using their credit services. This has been introduced by courier
services such as International Express to remain
competitive.

"They can purchase using their credit
cards and just ship items to our mailing address. If not, our company's
credit card can be used which comes with a service charge of five per
cent of the cost of item," said Jackson.

Frequent
online shoppers also get benefits. Jackson noted that when persons sign
up as members, they receive discounted rates. The US$25 charge per year
also gives members the choice of adding two persons to their
account.

With cyber shopping, there are no limits to
purchasing items as there are no time restrictions. But naturally,
certain periods will bring on a spike.

And for e-Shop
Ja, that spike was very recent. Administrator Kara Vaz said that during
the recently celebrated Thanksgiving holiday in the United States of
America, there was an increase in orders and shipments through the
company.

"We had a mix of new and old customers. But
from a promotion that we had, we have been getting new customers. People
are signing up every day."

Two years in operation,
e-Shop Ja said that the bulk of orders received are for computers and
tablets.

For Express International, the top categories
are electronics, clothing and books to a lesser
extent.

Getting value for hard-earned dollars and
greater variety of items online are certainly plus factors for online
shopping. At any minute, you can log on to some of your favourite
websites, find your favourites, click, buy and then await your package
at the specified time given to you by your courier
service.

Happy
shopping!