China Beats to All Other Countries in Online Shopping

Chinese are more likely to shop online than consumers from any other country, according to the latest survey by the International Post Corporation, a Brussels-headquartered association on postal services.
In the second annual study of 24,000 respondents in 26 markets across North America, the Asia-Pacific and Europe, the IPC found that 36 per cent of Chinese buy from digital sites at least once a week, a frequency far outstripping peer buyers, People's Daily reported.

China is also the most popular market for consumers around the world to shop from, accounting for 26% of the most recent cross-border purchases, followed by the US with 16%, Germany's 15% and the UK 15%.

Purchases from China are more popular with younger people and women, while purchases from Germany receive warmer welcome by men and the elderly, the international study found.
Online marketplaces such as Amazon.com Inc, eBay and Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd were the most sought-after avenues for buyers from almost all countries, accounting for around two-thirds of all cross-border purchases, the study said.

China was the overall favoured market for Europeans, but notable differences were seen in Luxembourg, Belgium, Austria or Switzerland where customers mainly bought from neighbouring countries with a shared language.

Meanwhile, the US and China were the main markets cross-border shoppers bought from in the Asia-Pacific region and in Canada.

Read more »

Shopping Tips: 4 ways to save yourself from Cyberattacks while Online Shopping

Online fraud spikes during the holiday shopping season, as people searching for the perfect gifts take to cyberspace and head to traditional stores armed with their smartphones.
"The Pandora's box of cyberattacks is about to open," says Pete Tyrrell, chief operating officer for Digital Guardian, a Waltham, Massachusetts-based data protection firm. "The cybercriminals are getting more and more creative — and at the end of the day, it's your personal information at risk."

Here are some tips for protecting yourself and your information from online Grinches.

1. Beware of gifts of free WiFi

It's awful tempting to sign on to a store's free WiFi while you're out shopping, especially since store walls are notorious for blocking or weakening smartphone data connections. But fraudsters also may be lurking on the networks, ready to use that connection to steal credit card or other personal information.
"People may want to log on to their Best Buy or Amazon accounts to check prices, but open WiFi is probably the least secure place to do that," says Michael Kaiser, executive director of the National Cyber Security Alliance.
And never use open WiFi connections to check bank account information. The last thing you want a hacker to have is a direct connection to your bank account.

2. Swim away from potential phish

Phishing spikes during the holiday season. Emails that offer great deals on holiday gifts or donation pitches from charities could actually be attempts to steal your credit card or login information. Another popular trick: fake emails supposedly sent by online retailers or shippers such as FedEx or UPS, saying that a payment for an order didn't go through, or that an order didn't ship.
Don't click on links in these emails. It could contain malware or take you to a fake website that looks very much like that of a legitimate company. Instead of getting help, you'll most likely have your personal information stolen.
Panic over the possibility of not getting a gift in time can make people click before they think, Kaiser says. So, it's best to slow down. If you think an email is genuine, just go directly to the company in question's main website.

3. Check your accounts for "naughty" activity

Both during and after the holidays, shoppers need to keep a close eye on their accounts. The easiest way to do this is to use the same credit card for all of your holiday shopping. Never use your debit card; if hackers get ahold of your number, they could clean out your bank account.
A dedicated email account can also help keep things organized.
It's also a good idea to use different user names and different passwords for your various shopping accounts. That way if one is compromised, it's less likely that the others will fall to hackers as well, says Tim Francis, the head of "cyber insurance" policies at Travelers.

4. If it looks too good to be true ...

Websites and emails that advertise hot deals on popular or hard-to-find gifts, along with free or deeply discounted gift cards, are probably scams. "I still haven't been able to buy an iPad for $7," Tyrrell joked.

Shopping on the websites of companies you've previously done business with can also save you time and hassle, says Steve Platt, a vice president at credit monitoring company Experian.
Online retailers will be on the lookout for fraudsters too. That means they might be more likely to flag a transaction — and slow down your shopping — if they haven't dealt with you before.
"The more information they know about you and your purchases, the more likely you'll have a seamless experience," Platt says.

source: http://goo.gl/DztyQ7

Read more »

Flipkart becomes India's top Entrepreneurs in 2015

Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal topped the list of entrepreneurs in India in 2015, beating stalwarts of Indian business like Anand Mahindra, Sunil Mittal and Chanda Kochhar among others.

As per 'The Goonj India Index 2015: 7 Deadly Indian Sins' report made exclusively available to Zee News, Sachin Bansal bagged first position among all the entreperneurs of India in the year 2015.
This was followed by Chanda Kochhar, Shiv Nadar, Rahul Yadav and Vishal Sikka.

At the Goonj India Index 2015, Sachin Bansal became number one entrpreneur of 2015 with 5.36 GPM while Uday Kotak was the last in the list with 0.87 GPM.
Others in the list are: Chanda Kochhar (4.39 GPM), Shiv Nadar (3.58 GPM), Rahul Yadav (3.38 GPM), Vishal Sikka (2.92 GPM), Lakshmi Mittal (2.39 GPM), Binny Bansal (1.96 GPM), Kumar Mangalam Birla (1.96 GPM), Narayan Murthy (1.96 GPM), Subhash Chandra (1.96 GPM), Ekta KapooR (1.68 GPM), K V Kamath (1.60 GPM), Anand Mahindra (1.30 GPM), Naina Lal Kidwai (1.30 GPM), Sabeer Bhatia (1.30 GPM), Sunil Mittal (1.30 GPM), Aditya Puri (1.07 GPM), Kishore Biyani (0.87 GPM), Sunil Bharti Mittal (0.87 GPM) and Uday Kotak (0.87 GPM).
more: http://goo.gl/mwR7xA

Read more »

Shoplifter Says Lifetime Ban From Walmart Won’t Stop Her From Shopping There

Much like there are people driving with suspended or revoked licenses, not everyone banned from life from entering a Walmart abides by that order. But most of these folks don’t go around brazenly telling reporters that they intend to violate a court order.

Last week, a court in New Jersey fined a 63-year-old admitted shoplifter a total of $258 and barred her from stepping foot into any of the thousands of Walmarts in the U.S.

But when the NY Daily News caught up with the sexagenarian shoplifter for a chat, she dubbed the judge’s ruling “stupid,” and said she planned to appeal.

“The judge can’t say that. He doesn’t own Walmart,” says the woman, who pleaded guilty to trying to sticky-finger some vitamins last December.

Some former prosecutors say she may be correct.

One tells NJ.com that Walmart can ban people if it chooses, but doubts that a municipal judge in New Jersey can impose such a wide-ranging sentence for a simple shoplifting charge.

“It appears to be outside of the purview of the sentencing provisions,” says the former prosecutor, “and it appears to have aspects to it that don’t seem enforceable.”

Another prosecutor-turned-defense-attorney says that the judge “does not have the authority to impose such a sentence.”

However, she does admit to the Daily News that she did once sign a document at a different Walmart agreeing to stay away from the retailer.

Regardless of whether the judge’s sentence holds up or whether that old ban is still in place, the woman says she intends to keep shopping at Walmart and tells the Daily News that “I already have.”

She says she doesn’t shop at the store where she was arrested, and explains that elsewhere it’s just a matter of not doing anything that draws attention to herself: “No one knows me at any other Walmarts.”

Of course, had she not attempted to shoplift in the first place she wouldn’t have to shop around for a Walmart where no one recognizes her.
source: http://goo.gl/6I3YPl

Read more »

Amazon, Google roll out online shopping features

In the morning, Amazon said members of its Prime program in select cities will have access to free, same-day delivery on certain items, a move that broadens the subscription service as new players are poised to provide fresh competition online.

In the afternoon, Google introduced “Android Pay,” which will allow users to pay for items by waving their smartphones in front of a scanner at cash registers. And at its developer’s conference in San Francisco, the search giant announced it would add a “buy button” to Web pages that makes it easier to purchase products featured in ads that appear alongside search results.

Meanwhile, Apple confirmed this week that it would partner with logistics company Postmates to offer same-day delivery of online orders. Apple already offers Apple Pay on its newer iPhones; analysts have said it is the first mobile payment system to gain traction with consumers.

The bevy of offerings illustrates the growing competition over online shopping — and the ability of big tech companies to act quickly to define the experience for consumers. Internet shopping is fast replacing trips to the local plaza or mall. Over the holiday shopping season, online sales grew 13.8 percent, compared with a growth of 8.5 percent the year before.
Google unveiled payment services, security upgrades and access to HBO shows for its Android software. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg)

Among online stores, Amazon still has a dominant hold, driven by its Prime subscription program. The company said same-day delivery would be available in 14 metro areas, including Washington and Baltimore. Prime shoppers who place orders before noon will be able to get free, same-day delivery on $35-or-more orders of items such as pet food and books. Amazon founder Jeffrey P. Bezos owns The Washington Post.

Some 20 million items are available for two-day shipping, compared with the 1 million to 4 million that will be available for same-day delivery.  An even smaller assortment of items, “tens of thousands,” the company says, are available for one-hour delivery in certain markets. That may help Amazon fend off two new e-commerce membership offerings.

Read more »

North Korea: Online shopping site launched

North Korea's government has announced that it started an online shopping website

The state-run site, called Okryu, offers a range of products including food and medicines, according to official news agency KCNA. While it says the site is "aimed at promoting convenience for the people", it's not clear how many will actually be able to use it, as internet access is extremely limited outside of elite circles. Some people can use the country's own state-controlled intranet - known as Kwangmyong - via their smartphones, but computers are prohibitively
expensive for the average worker and ownership requires government approval.

"While it is questionable how accessible it is to regular people, North Korea can easily manage an online shopping mall with its technology," North Korean economy expert Hong Soon-jik tells South Korea's JoongAng Daily. Okryu also shows that North Korea has improved its IT systems, Kim Heung-kwang, a former professor at Pyongyang Computer Technology University, tells the paper. "North Korea can no longer block the market economy completely and is responding in its own way," he says.

source: http://goo.gl/updYJ6

See Video:

Read more »