Buying online

Buying online goes through three stages, just like buying in a shop: pre-purchase (looking for information about products and prices), purchase (negotiating, agreeing the deal and paying), and delivery.

The steps of an online purchase:

• Registration: you first open an account with the online seller, protected by a password, giving your name, address and other details.
• Placing the order: as you browse, the items you pick are recorded in an online shopping cart. When you are ready, you go to checkout and choose how to pay.
• Payment, by one of several modes.

Modes of payment:

• Cash on delivery (COD): you pay when the goods reach you.
• Cheque: the seller sends the goods once the cheque has been cleared.
• Net banking transfer: the money moves straight from your bank account to the seller's, through IMPS, NEFT or RTGS.
• Credit or debit card: a debit card can spend only the money already in your bank account; a credit card lets you buy on credit, and you pay the card company later.
• Digital cash: a form of electronic money that exists only in cyberspace, with no physical coins or notes.

After payment, the goods are delivered. Some products, such as software, music or e-books, can even be delivered over the internet itself.