2 Unit 1 Living in a digital world Chapter 5: Shopping and banking online 3

In this chapter you’ll meet Krista, whose parents have given her some money to redecorate her bedroom as a reward for passing her exams and getting into college. Krista wants to use the money to buy some new furniture and other items to make her bedroom into a place where she can sit and chat with her friends. She has a limited amount of money so she will need to look for bargains and manage her finances very carefully.

The family has a computer with access to the Internet so Krista has decided to carry out her research and buy as much as she can online.

Click on the questions above and read the information provided. What does this information make you think about?

Shopping and banking online

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How do I set up an online account?

Is it safe to use a credit card online? How can I pay online?

Is it safe to buy online?

What can companies do with my personal information?

In this chapter you will consider…buying goods and services online•setting up online accounts•online identification and authentication•staying safe and preventing fraud•data protection. •

By completing this chapter…you will learn the advantages and disadvantages of shopping •online

you will learn the security risks associates with online accounts•you will learn to create strong passwords•you will learn to identify safe payment sites•you will learn how to identify security risks to personal information •transmitted digitally

you will learn how personal data is used for advertising•you will learn about the laws in place to protect personal data.•

How you will be assessed…You will be completing activities that check your knowledge and understanding as well as allowing you to put your learning into practice as you make recommendations based on what you have learned throughout the chapter. Practice exam questions at the end of the chapter will test your overall understanding.

The interactive activities and websites you will use in this section are listed here:

Interactive Activities:

1Activity 1

2Activity 2

Websites:

1http://www.kelkoo.co.uk/

2http://www.shopsafe.co.uk

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Is shopping online a good thing?

Learn about

advantages and disadvantages •of shopping online

how and why organisations sell •and advertise online

the impact that goods and •services online have on lifestyles

Advantages of shopping online

Availability• – You can shop all day every day. Online stores are always open, even on Christmas Day.

Greater • selection – You have far greater choice online than on any high street or in any shopping mall. You aren’t restricted to what you can find in your local area because you can browse every suitable online shop, including those on the other side of the world.

Compare prices• – You can easily find the best price for the item you want to buy using price comparison websites such as www.kelkoo.co.uk [website 1]. These websites search lots of online stores for you and display the vendors’ prices.

Convenience• – For some people, physically travelling to the shops is difficult. Being able to shop from home and have items delivered to your door is a great advantage.

Disadvantages of shopping online

Delivery• – All of the items you buy have to be delivered regardless of their size. This means you have to pay the delivery costs and wait for your items to arrive. Sometimes, the delivery costs can be more expensive than the product you’re actually buying!

Try-before-buying• – You cannot see items before you buy (except in photographs) and you can’t try the items before you buy either. For products such as clothes this is not ideal because if they do not fit you have the added issue of returning them.

Some sites have tried to solve this problem by using virtual models which can be customised to match your face and body shape:

You can then see how the clothes you want to buy look on the model.

Screenshot of virtual model

Krista wants to make a start on buying new things for her bedroom but is it better to buy them online or on the high street? What are the advantages and disadvantages of shopping online?

StarterList all of the items that your family has bought online during the last three months. Are there any websites that your family usually uses when buying items online. How did you find them? Were they recommended by a friend? Are they always reliable? Have you ever had problems with any of them?

Task 2 Below is a list of items that Krista wants to buy. Read through the advantages and disadvantages of online shopping on page X. Now decide whether Krista should shop online or shop on the high street for each of the items, and give your reasons.

iPod speakers • •rug to match decoration

flatscreen television • • desk lamp

Did you know?Online shopping is becoming a favourite Christmas Day activity.

The BBC reported that on 25 December 2008 online shoppers in Britain spent £102 million online. The busiest time was at 7pm.

There were online shopping systems before the Internet. In the late 1970s and 1980s, people could buy a limited range of goods using Videotext on their domestic television sets. In 1992 the first Internet bookstore opened and in 1994 you could bank online and order a pizza from Pizza Hut online.

Task 1Work with a partner and, using Activity 1, imagine that one of you is shopping online and that the other is shopping on the high street. The activity will help you to understand the differences between the two ways of shopping.

CD-ROM

Availability – How easy something is to obtain.

Selection – The range of items available.

Price comparison website – A website where you enter the details of a product and the website searches lots of online stores and displays different vendors’ prices to allow you to compare them.

Convenience – Not requiring too much effort or causing difficulty.

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Online customer rights

When shopping online, as long as you are buying from a UK-based seller or supplier, you have the same rights as if you were shopping on the high street and you can return items just as you can to a shop.

One major advantage that UK online shoppers have over real world buyers (those who shop on the high street) is a statutory ‘cooling-off’ period of seven days. When you purchase an item in a shop, by rights you can only expect a refund if the goods are faulty. If you simply change your mind or decide you don’t like the colour of what you have bought, you have no right to a refund, although most shops allow customers to return goods if they are still unused, in their original packaging and fit to be resold. However, you can cancel an online transaction and receive a full refund any time in the first seven working days after you made the purchase for any reason... or for no reason at all.

Task 4 Discuss with a partner why you think some high street shops think it is important to have an online store but why some online stores are not present on the high street. Here are some things to think about:

staff • • costs

customers • • type of product being sold

size of business•

Task 3 Search the Internet to find a site that Krista could use to compare the price of televisions. Recommend a trustworthy price comparison site to her.

Using the price comparison website you have recommended to Krista as a starting point, recommend a website where she should purchase her items. You must be able to justify your recommendation. Have you chosen on price alone or have you taken other factors into consideration?

Viewing onscreen• – You might be disappointed by the item you have purchased when it is delivered. Images and presentations online can sometimes give a different impression of a product.

Payment method• – The only way many online shops can take payment for goods is using a credit or debit card and, if you don’t have either of these, online shopping is not an option. Even some of those people who do have credit and debit cards prefer not to shop online as they are worried about handing over personal details on a computer.

Digital access• – Not everybody has access to the Internet and some people lack the computer skills needed to be able to shop online.

Online shopping has opened up more avenues of choice but, for many people, nothing can replace the enjoyment of meeting up with friends and family to go shopping or the interaction with ‘real’ people in the shops they visit.

Be safeUse websites that investigate the security of different online sellers such as www.shopsafe.com and make a note of the ones that they have found to be safe and secure.

You can make sure that you’re buying from a reliable vendor known for such things as prompt delivery and good after-sales service by looking at sites that display customer comments and ratings of different vendors such as www.pricerunner.co.uk.

Give two advantages and one disadvantage of shopping online. (3)

Exam questIons

Task 5 Has the availability of goods online affected our lifestyle and behaviour? Use Activity 2 to help you discuss the issues.

Write a short paragraph to explain the effects on society of products being available to buy online.

CD-ROM

Digital access – Availability of computer technology and ability to use it.

Watch out!

Think about the advantages and disadvantages of the technology you use when shopping online and what this allows you to do or prevents you from doing rather than thinking about the type of product you can find online and how that compares with availability on the high street.

The number of marks reflects the number of different pieces of information you need to give: in this case there are three marks available. One mark is awarded for each of the two advantages given and one mark is awarded for the disadvantage given.

How to.… decide on the trustworthiness of a website.

There are a few quick checks you can do:

Does it offer secure purchases •(check for the padlock)?

Does it give a mailing address •(not a PO Box) and landline telephone number?

Do the pages load easily?•

Does the website have a specific •domain name?

Is it free from pop-ups?•

Does if offer guarantees?•

Skills BuilderYou are a graphic designer who specialises in creating retail websites and you want to advertise your services. Create an advertisement to send to the magazine ‘Small Businesses Monthly’. Your advert should explain to businesses how your services will benefit their company.

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