Men’s shirts online – at the crossroad of ecommerce

Mens shirts that you can buy online represent the middle of the road for ecommerce. Catalogue selling/buying is nothing new and the internet has enabled it to move online, to speed up the whole process and to make it fashionable again. However, not all products benefit from being bought and sold online.

Shirts are light, small and compact and easily despatched by post. Consequently, the price of packaging and posting - the delivery price - is low and is either paid for by the customer or by the retailer himself in the case of free deliveries.
A white shirt is a white shirt and if there are high quality close-up pictures, you can see all the details you need to see. When buying small-size physical items over the internet, you just have to wait for delivery through your letterbox.

Even better-suited to ecommerce are virtual products, those that can exist on a computer in the form of zeroes and ones: music, software, video, pictures, ebooks, texts. This is a marked improvement on catalogue purchases. You don't even have to pay for the delivery, let alone waiting to receive that CD by post. You find it, you want it, you pay it and you get it right there and then.

Another class is services sold over the internet. This could comprise dating websites, holiday bookings, library books renewals, software updates and bill payments. This is ecommerce at its best and bears no comparison to catalogue purchases. The convenience of doing this online and avoiding queues, traffic and poor weather is a selling point.

Where there are pitfalls in buying online from the point of view of a customer is when the look or size matters. Buying furniture over the net sounds great. Imagine how much money you should be able to save as the eretailer cuts the cost of having a beautifully decorated showroom. You probably do save a lot of money buying such bulky items online.

But do you get to see all the details? Would you like to have a beautifully-finished furniture, with attention paid to the finish, carvings here and elaborate handles there and a lack of defects and scratches? Wouldn't you want to be able to touch and feel the finish under your fingers and note how smooth - or scratched - the surface has been rendered.

A key aspect of buying furniture is to buy it at the right size. Yes, you can get the dimensions online but nothing beats seeing it for real 'in the flesh' to find out how it dominates the room. Sometimes, the proportions get be a little different in real. Measurements cannot help you visualise how it will fit in your room.

And it's not all about size. It could be something as small as a pair of earrings. Nothing helps to visualise how a necklace would look around your neck than actually wearing it or at least holding them to your neck. You get to see it, you get to feel it. After all, jewellery serves no other purpose than to look exquisite and more importantly, make the wearer look stunning.

If you don't like your online purchase, you can always return it. Buying online means that you can return your items for any reasons - or no reasons at all- within at least 7 days by law. But sometimes it can end up being a lot of hard work and leave you out of pocket. If it's a bulky item you are returning, the retailer will arrange a collection date and you may have to take time off work to be there when the courier comes. If you return your jewellery, it's less of a hassle as you will send it by post, but you may well have to pay the cost of the purchase. Note that the retailer does not benefit from this either - it is Royal Mail who pockets your money.

This is not to put you off buying men's shirts, fashion accessories or beds over the internet but to warn you what to expect. Many people do buy items such as cars on ebay and they are very happy with their purchase; however, if you are a fussy buyer or have high expectations of a hand-made oak wardrobe bought online for £20 with 70% discount, stay clear.

If you still enjoy the convenience of shopping online but want to avoid the pitfalls, then visit physical stores and buy over their websites. Ecommerce is here to stay, but only as long as the customer is satisfied.