ICT Topic 4

Online shopping refers to the buying and selling of goods and services using websites accessed through the Internet. Some companies sell only online and some have 'real' shops as well.

How do they work?

• Website displays the goods for sale
• Customer places products in the virtual 'shopping basket'
• Customer selects 'check out'
• Payment is made and confirmed
• Goods and services are dispatched and delivered to customers

Features

-24/7/365 availability, comparison of prices to similar products, customer reviews of products, bookable delivery service, recommendations for future purchases

Advantages

• Far greater choice (not limited to one geographical area)
• Shop all day, every day
• You can find the best price using price comparison websites
• You don't have to leave the house
• You have the right to return products for any reason within 7 days 
• Read other users' reviews of a product

Disadvantages

• Need Internet access 
• Cannot pay using cash
• Cannot see/touch products or try on clothes
• Usually have to pay for delivery
• You have to submit personal information and could have the details stolen

Online auctions are similar to traditional auctions, but buyers or sellers can be all over the world.

Features

• Users of the auction service can rate each other
• Sellers can choose to make an item available for purchase imediately rather than bid for it
• Secure payment is arranged by the auction site
• Changes can be made before the scheduled end time

Advantages

• The ability to search easily for goods that you want
• A community of users which builds trust by rating both buyers and sellers
• Third party payment options for secure payments
• A large number of sellers competing for business, which drives down prices

How it works

• Students can create online accounts and select his or her course
• Teaching materials are provided on a website
• Assignments submitted and returned to students electronically

Features

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

How they work?

• News reports are written by newpaper and TV companies and made available online
• Users access the websites to read the news/select news using RSS feeds

Features

• Easy to search for
• Up to date news 
• Review news items
• Allows users to select news 
• News presented in text/images/videos
• Extra content provided for subscribers
• Users can add comments
• Users can subscribe to content

How they work?

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

Features

• 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

Online gaming

• Central server runs the game software and streams each player's position and actions to all players
• Need a high bandwidth and low latency to avoid lag when playing
• Players select game and create online accounts then interact with each other
• Some games store data locally on players' computer

A high bandwidth and low latency Internet connection improves the performance of steaming content.

Advantages

• 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 a means of paying electronically
• Inexpensive way to reach new markets
• Minimal start up time and investment needed
• Organisation can be located wherever it likes

Disadvantages

• Skilled staff needed to run the website
• Ensuring online payment security is difficult
• Need a delivery service
• Customers limited to those with Internet access
• The retailer may find their high street shops suffer and have to close down because they cannot compete with the online shop

Why do they advertise?

• It can be targeted at particular customers
• Statisitcs can be gathered
• It is cheaper than traditional advertising
• It reaches a wide range of customers
• It reaches customers much faster than traditional advertising

Four ways of paying online:

• Credit/debit cards
• Online bank transfer
• Third party payment processors
• Online coupons/online gift vouchers/eVouchers

Credit cards- allow the customer to borrow the money. The customer pays the money back at a later date, often with interest.

Debit cards- let the customer pay by taking money directly out of their account.

Near Field Communication (NFC) is a contactless payment service which allows devices to communicate when close together. NFC cards can be used to make payments.

Advantages

• Good security due to short transmission range
• Losing an NFC card only loses the credit in the account
• Convenience of not having to enter payment details

Disadvantages

• Can only pay for small accounts
• Need to protect against accidental payments
• If the NFC card is lost, anyone can use the credit on it

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

If you buy online from a UK-based retailer then you have the same rights buying online as you do buying in a shop.

'Cooling off' Period

This means that orders places online can be cancelled, for any reason, up to seven days after receiving the items and a full refund of any money paid.

Applies to anything except:

• goods to a personalised specification
• perishable goods, e.g. food, flowers, etc...
• CDs/DVDs/software where the seal has been broken
• newspapers, magazines, or other reading material (not books)
• gaming, betting, lotteries

Proprietary Software

This is developed by a company. You usually have to pay to use it on your computer or online, e.g. Microsoft Word.

Open Source Software

Developed by volunteers who gradually improve it. It is free to use on your computer or online, e.g. OpenOffice.org

Locally installed

User obtains software on DVD/downloads from Internet.

Advantages

• Works without being online
• You hold the license to use the software
• Security is good

Disadvantages

• Takes up a large amount of space
• Must download and install upgrades- fix bugs
• All data is stored locally- must be abcked up

Hosted Software (SaaS)

User logs in through Internet to use software when needed- runs on a web server

Advantages

• Doesn't take up any file space on computer
• Allows users from different parts of the world to work the same document at same time

Disadvantages

• Needs an Internet connection
• Not as secure
• Depends on good network speed

Commercial software producers have had to come up with ways to ensure that customers are still willing to pay for their software.

They have:

• Made their products more appealing and of better quality
• Provided the software in when you buy a computer- it comes with the software already installed
• Provided technical support
• Used copyright to stop similar 'free' products being offered as a software service
• Offered their own versions of SaaS

Local storage is when files are stored on the digital device.

Advantages

• Better security
• Don't need Internet to access files

Disadvantages

• Responsible for keeping data safe
• Difficult to share data with others
• Have to back up data

Online storage is when your files are stored on a server anywhere which you access using the Internet. AKA- in the cloud.

Advantages

• Data is available anywhere
• Some data storage services are free
• Data is backed up

Disadvantages

• Have to trust the organisation will keep your data secure
• May not be reliable
• Need an Internet connection
• Less control of where your data is stored

Search engines are a computer program that search for web content that contain, or is tagged with, the key words you have entered into the search box.

They then search their indexes for content conatining those key words and displays a list of the content is matched.

NO ONE CHECKS OR VERIFIES THAT WEBSITES CONTAIN TRUTHFUL INFORMATION.