The Internet Consumer Bible - Softcover

At this time of the year, as the Christmas lights go up and the shops get ready for their busiest period, shopping online can save you pounding the streets, and jostling people in crowded, busy stores. But how does the web shape up as a shopping tool?

There are certainly bargains to be had. For instance, we recently bought a top-of-the-range Sony Vaio laptop computer. Selling for around #1,600 on Tottenham Court Road, we bought it from Sony's own website for #400 less.

"Shopbots" allow you to compare prices across a wide range of online retailers, so that you can see at a glance where the best deals are. Shopsmart, for instance, will tell you not only which shop sells a book for least, but also which has the cheapest delivery charges - and which can get the book to you fastest.

However, shopbots are not always a silver bullet. They work well for things like books, CDs, computer equipment, software, information, entertainment, and financial services, where it is possible to be confident that like is being compared with like. But many goods and services (like furniture, or haircuts) need personal experience, and here the web can provide some useful input, but cannot usually take you all the way to a purchase decision.

Another problem is that few people have internet connections that are as fast and as reliable as they would like. Like a selfish giant, BT seems determined to eke out its control over parts of the telecommunications infrastructure - regardless of the damage and inconvenience to others.

And then there is the vexed issue of delivery. Any experienced online shopper will have stories about baskets of goods arriving with some essential items missing, or replaced with hilariously ill-judged alternatives. Van drivers can't find your house, or turn up at the wrong time; sometimes it seems as though they wait round the corner until you pop out for a pint of milk, and then rush to your door to leave a note saying that you were out when they called.

Things are improving. Sainsbury's website is getting pretty reliable, and e-tailers are experimenting with various drop-off points like newsagents, petrol stations and train stations. But for the moment, the best advice is to shop in advance, and don't bank on receiving exactly the goods you ordered, at exactly the time you ordered them for.

What about security? A fair amount of nonsense has been written about security on the web. Journalists need exciting, headline-grabbing stories, and "internet fraud threatens civilisation" is far more likely to attract the casual reader's attention than "internet fraud has so far caused no serious problems to any consumer". Despite assiduous sleuthing by Fleet Street's finest, this second headline essentially tells the story.

As far as you the customer are concerned, if you use a credit card, you are protected by the consumer credit laws. This means that your financial relationship is not with the company you bought from, but with the credit card company. They are liable for any amount falsely spent on your card - so long as they cannot prove you were involved in a fraud. (But note that the same is not true of debit cards.)

So how good is the internet as a shopping tool? If you hate crowded shops and trains and buses, it's terrific. It can't do everything, though, and do make your purchases well in advance!

An Oxford graduate, Calum spent two years as a BBC journalist and six years in international marketing with BP before taking an MBA at Cranfield, and moving into management consultancy. During the 1990s, he helped build one of London's leading niche strategic consulting firms. In this role he has advised investors and management teams on many aspects of e-business.

While writing the Internet Start-Up Bible he decided it was time to put his theories into practice, so he has spent several months developing plans for internet businesses.

Tess Read:

Tess graduated from Cambridge University and worked at the bank of England where she became an expert on Llyod's of London advising the Govenor of the Bank and the Number 10 Policy Unit. Returning to academia in 1996 she undertook research at Oxford University specialising in the banking sector of France. In the last year she has carried out a series of strategic consulting projects, advising investors and teams on internet strategy. She has written fro Euromoney and the Financial Times, contributed on BBC Radio 4, written Vietnam by Rail as well as co-authoring The Internet Start-Up Bible.