Tag: shopping

18
August
0

I was asked to tip while shopping online — guilt-tipping has gone too far

By avi maxwel / in , , , , /

He thought it put the “gratuitous” in gratuity.

As if “guilt tipping” wasn’t prevalent enough in the brick-and-mortar sphere, the gratuity-pressuring trend has metastasized to e-commerce as well.

A TikTok influencer raised eyebrows after revealing that he was asked to tip while shopping online, as detailed in a video with more than 400,000 views.

“Online shopping and this company asked for a tip??” wrote Noah Miller — who goes by @whiteboyonthebeat on the platform — in the caption over the clip.

The seven-second snippet showed the digital shopper flashing a quizzical expression before showing the tip list on the transaction, which apparently was made through the Shop Pay app; it asked customers whether they wanted to leave a gratuity before checking out.

Tip options ranged from 5% to 15% percent, although there was also an option to leave a custom tip, as well as “none.”

Needless to say, the TikTok commentariat was equally flummoxed by the digital tip jar with one commenter writing, “THERES NO WAY.”

“Like is the tip gonna make it ship faster orrr,” wondered one person, while someone else wondered to whom the gratuity would go, prompting a reply from Miller: “The mailman???? Idfk.”

“Me when the

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08
August
0

Revolutionizing Retail With Seamless Omnichannel Shopping

By avi maxwel / in , , , , /

The retail landscape is evolving beyond bricks versus clicks, demanding a unified and complementary strategy that bridges physical stores with digital engagement.

Imagine a busy executive browsing online and discovering a product at home. Later, during their commute, they receive a personalized notification about the same item available at a nearby store. Intrigued, they visit the store and complete the purchase. This is a very basic example of a purchasing journey where the boundaries between physical and digital retail spaces are becoming increasingly blurred, resulting in an interconnected ecosystem that caters to consumers’ constantly evolving needs. This is omnichannel advertising.

Omnichannel advertising is all about creating a seamless and fully integrated experience for consumers across multiple channels — both online and offline. It transcends the traditional boundaries of physical and digital retail, ensuring that the consumer journey is consistent, cohesive, and convenient.

Mastering the omnichannel journey between ecommerce and in-store experiences is crucial — and retail media can help connect the dots along that journey. Retail media, where retailers sell ad inventory on their sites to brands who are eager for engagement, is one of the fastest-growing sectors in advertising and is expected to represent over $150

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05
August
0

What will consumers’ shopping behavior look like for the 2024 holidays?

By avi maxwel / in , , , /

Consumers remain extremely concerned about inflation and the higher prices of products and services, with many gravitating to online retailers that make personalized offers with the best deals and discounts, bolstered by free shipping and easy access to customer reviews. This finding comes from a survey conducted in February by Celigo.

The survey, which received more than 1,500 responses from U.S. and U.K. consumers, also asked about their online shopping preferences, habits and plans for 2024. 

Survey respondents answered questions about their 2023 holiday shopping experience and how that will shape their 2024 purchasing plans. They also were asked about the most important qualities they seek from online retailers, how they research and buy products online and their shopping expectations moving forward. 

(Read more: HRG’s five notable products from May 2023)

Generation Z—which will soon emerge as the most dominant online shopping demographic— expects lower prices and free on-time shipping with every interaction, so it behooves online retailers to deliver flawless customer experiences in those areas to drive greater loyalty with younger shoppers, Celigo said.

The majority of those polled also had multiple poor online retail shopping incidents last year, although holiday 2023 seemed to be

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31
July
0

Online Shopping Fails and How To Avoid Them – Forbes Advisor

By avi maxwel / in , , , , , /

These are some of the most common online shopping fails, complete with personal anecdotes from those who have survived them.

Not Checking the Return Policy

From fees for return shipping labels to getting e-credits instead of refunds, returns when shopping online are a pain. And since you’re not actually seeing the merchandise in person or trying it on to see if it fits when buying, returns are relatively commonplace when shopping online.

While you don’t have to head to the store to return an item, you may have to head to the post office, print various shipping labels, buy an envelope or box or dig through poorly designed websites to figure out if and how you can complete a return for something you bought online.

Elise, an Indiana resident, experienced this firsthand when she did online shopping hauls at a few stores. One store charged her $7 for a return label to send the item that didn’t fit quite right back for a return, while another vendor only provided her with an e-credit to use online instead of a refund for an item that didn’t work for her. “You have to be careful with the online return policies,” she said.

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25
July
0

Massive Online Shopping Scam Racks Up 850,000 Victims

By avi maxwel / in , , , , , /

A group of bad actors — likely from China — is running a global cybercrime-as-a-service operation. It oversees a massive network of fake shopping websites that has conned more than 850,000 people in the United States and Europe into purchasing items, over the past three years, and the organization has tried to process more than $50 million in fraudulent orders.

The scam, called BogusBazaar by the researchers at German security research and consulting firm Security Research Labs (SRLabs), has included 75,000 false online shops with two goals: stealing credit card credentials from victims and processing never-fulfilled orders for expensive items through the fake websites.

“Both methods are sometimes used against the same victim in sequence: First, credit card data is harvested through a spoofed payment interface,” SRLabs consultant Matthias Marx wrote in a report. “The victim is then shown an error message and forwarded to a functioning payment gateway, which initiates a payment.”

As of last month, about 22,500 fake shopping sites were still active. Since 2021, the network has processed more than a million orders with an aggregated order volume of more than $50 million. Because not every order is successful, the overall financial loss from processing orders is

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