One of the many revolutionary changes that have come into vogue as a result of introduction of internet is online marketing. Internet has truly made the world a global village and marketers and companies launching their products and services can think of the world as global platform for them. Online marketing has opened new vistas for the marketing companies and strategies and one even comes across case studies on online marketing as part of higher studies in management. Cash on delivery (COD) is one of the by products of this phenomenon called online marketing.
The concept of cash on delivery is quite simple and fast becoming popular in the context of internet marketing. It relates to the payment to be made after one receives the product that one has ordered online. The financial transaction COD is one where the payment against the delivery of products/services is done once the customer receives the said item. The payment is not done in advance and is applied usually to products purchased from a third party while payment is made to the deliverer.
An important feature that is part of cash on delivery transaction is that usually a small levy is charged against delivery of the item. Some of the popular products that are part of this COD transaction include cameras, digital cameras, cell phones, handy cams, dress, books, pen drives, watches, jewelry and many such popular items which are frequently marketed on the internet.
Since companies around the globe are going in a big way to use the internet to promote respective businesses, competition has become much tougher that it was ever before. The number of companies, their offerings, variety and choices before the consumers are increasing day by day. It indeed has become difficult to succeed in this extremely competitive environment till companies make an all out effort to promote their products by using all possible means. With the availability of internet and online marketing, cash on delivery is gradually gaining popularity.
One advantage that the concept of COD does have is that the customers usually are a bit unsure about the credibility of the sellers in the filed of online marketing. However, cash on delivery provides them with the option of choosing a product as per the specifications and needs of their choice which they go through on the internet. Further, when it comes to the payment they are to make the payment only after receiving the product and hence the customer feels more secure about doing by cash on delivery financial transaction. Also, the delivery usually is done within a specified time frame of 2 to 7 working days. Some of the popular sites that provide for cash on payment facility through internet marketing includes yahoo, indiatimes, rediff and many others.
In spite of the advantages associated with the concept of cash on delivery (COD), the trend is still more popular in the developed countries of the west such as the US, western Europe, Japan, Canada and Australia. In spite of substantial progress in the filed on internet penetration, countries like India, China, Brazil, Russia have yet to witness a significant rise in online marketing though the trend now is catching up.
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