Research Method-The Problem of Online Shopping Essay

Research Method-The Problem of Online Shopping - Essay Example With online shopping, less time is spent in queues and travels, less money is used in traveling to the stores, chances for pilferage are abated and the geographical barriers between the consumer and the retailer are significantly attenuated. Nevertheless, it is a fact that any human construct is inherently flawed, its merits and many benefits notwithstanding. Online shopping having been contrived by man is not an exception. It is against this backdrop that some of the shortcomings of online shopping are to be discussed forthwith. Problem statement Serious problems accost online shopping, despite its many advantages. The need to tackle these problems is necessitated by the desire to make online shopping more efficient and more secure. The import of this is that it is only upon these problems being discussed, that online shopping can be made more secure, efficient and more user-friendly. There can never be the provision of a viable and sustainable solution without the identification an d discussion of co-occurring problems. The flipside of this is that the failure to discuss these problems is bound to leave online shoppers susceptible to security breaches and general and systems malfunctions. Background and rationale This study is sustained against the backdrop of online shopping’s popularity which continues to suffuse almost all trading blocks. At the moment, online trading or shopping is steadily growing, just as Shah (2012) points out that it has grown from 0.4% in the first quarter of 2012 to 3.9% in the third quarter of 2011. With this growing popularity, the need to strengthen online shopping against its pitfalls remains paramount. Likewise, there can be no strengthening of online shopping without the accurate identification of the loopholes that characterise online shopping. This means that the main intention of this study is not to merely discount online shopping on the account of its weakness. On the contrary, the necessity of this study is precipi tated by the need to ultimately seal the problems of online shopping by identifying the same problems first. Literature review According to a research study that Weiyin-Hong, James and Kar-Yan (2005) conducted and discussed in the Journal of Management Information Systems, the chief problem of online shopping is fraud and security concerns. Some of the problems that border on security matters include identity theft, preponderance of spyware and faulty products. Courtesy of the research study in the Journal of Management Information Systems, Weiyin-Hong, James and Kar-Yan (2005) established that the problem of insecurity is compounded by another sub-problem which is the inability to physically inspect online merchandise before the transaction. The same problem is further aggravated by the merchant’s inability to detect fraudulent purchases. Fraudulent purchases are made with stolen cards, or fraudulent circumventing systems that regulate online purchases. Conversely, clients h ave also had to contend with security shortfalls when participating in online shopping. One of the security breaches that online shoppers have to deal with is phishing. Phishing happens in an instance where online shoppers are duped into thinking that they are dealing with a genuine or reputable dealer. Thus, these online shoppers proceed to feed their private