Retail purchasing environments on the internet : case studies on two commercial websites

In recent years, the Internet has generated a tremendous level of excitement. The promise of electronic commerce and online shopping will depend to a great extent upon the interface of how people interact with the computer. Electronic access to a global marketplace can bring more powerful and efficient purchasing, greater choice, more personalised service, and new kinds of products and services together with new ways to purchase. The purchase environment is of great importance in this new way of handling businesses. The familiar layout of the physical store becomes, on the Website, a labyrinth of demolish menus, product indices and search features. A help button on the home page of the Web shopping site replaces the sales clerk’s friendly advice and service. The aim with this thesis is to investigate the purchase environment on the Internet by looking more closely at how the layout and design of Websites can be described and how customer service is handled online. The result shows that it is important to take advantage of the creative ways of presenting information that comes with the Internet, especially the opportunities to expose products in a different way than in traditional stores. Aspects such as entertainment and customer support are two important issues when operating on the Internet.Validerat; 20101217 (root