Online shopping is so in vogue nowadays that for some of us it is even difficult to imagine a time when we were not placing orders online, sitting right on our couch. There was a time when you had to move from store to store looking for that one thing that you are looking for. That might be some dress that you always wanted or a gift that you wish to give. Shopping was about taking a day off and going around the city looking for items of your choice. In the last one decade with the growing popularity of the computer and internet the world has shifted to your home. So does shopping. Now you shop with a click at your fingertips and browse thousands of objects and brands and items just the same way. Now tell me doesn’t that walking on foot and sweating in the crowd sound pre-historic?
Relax on your couch and just type the name of your kind of merchandise and in no time you’ll find thousands of varieties on your computer screen. Offline shopping is ten thousand times more of a tedious job than online shopping. Doing it online also has innumerable advantages over offline shopping. Obviously you work less and at the same time get hundreds of new varieties and options. The storekeeper does not turn you out saying that there is no stock or the store is getting closed. 24/7 availability is an added advantage to the fact that you can compare the price of any object at any point of time. You can also choose your mode of payment. Credit cards, debit cards, cash on delivery, name the way you want to make the payment and your online shopkeeper has a way.
While eBay rules over the European market, China online shopping has long been taken over by Taobao. Though not all that popular worldwide, Taobao is China’s biggest C2C website and without a doubt has captured the heart of every Chinese citizen. The youth of China spends more than millions every year on this website which has occupied more than 80% of the Chinese C2C market becoming the biggest online market in this huge country. China’s home market is the largest known in the world and capturing such a huge market is a miracle. Based on its own factory, China has created a revolution as far as online shopping is concerned as it makes the same C2C online sale as eBay or iOffer while just concentrating on the Chinese market. It is a flexible and fresh platform with a customized instant messenger that is there to help customers choose and make payments.
The payment system used here is called Zhifubao which is mainly for Chinese market while paypal is more international as it accepts almost all main currencies with updated exchange rates in USD.
Watch now, Taobao is now trying to go international with Agents who offer facilities like translations and even contacting the seller for customer advantage. So place your orders now.
Online Shopping In China: The Past and The Present
