point-and-click-and-hitch

A few years ago, at around the time that E-commerce became quite a hot topic, or shall we say, “fashionable”, in the country, the promise of shopping for imported goods without budging from one’s house (or seat, for that matter) appeared on the horizon. Suddenly, one need not badger his or her relatives in the States or elsewhere to buy some coveted stuff for him/her and have it Fed-exed to Manila. One could actually just “point and click” and after some time, (given sufficient credit card balance) the a guy in a blue and white uniform knocks on the door and hands over the thing. At least, that was the promise.

As expected though, some hassles and kinks had to be smoothed out. Amongst the very first purchases of my sister were books from Amazon.com which took 4 months to reach us, no kidding. The frustrating thing is that they had actually been delivered to the country within a month of her order, but were held up due to customs duties issues (which we discovered much later). This was around the time that a new set of issuances were released (at least that’s what they told us) and the people on the field were quite confused as to what would actually be charged. That experience brought to light the vast improvements required on the logistical aspects of E-commerce activities. But still we were hopeful that it would improve in time.

Fast forward a few years and the operation of E-commerce is still bogged down by logistical concerns. Just the other day I read in Yes! magazine (uh, I visited my mom back in our old house and had nothing else to read) that brand name luxury goods, if they so happen to be unavailable in Rustan’s (or in Greenbelt) can be bought online, though you risk them getting stolen by unscrupulous cargo handlers (this was an article where Gretchen Barretto showcased the particular brands of shoes, clothes, accessories and make-up which make Tonyboy Cojuangco a bit poorer by the day). That would give new meaning to the term “traveling bag”. Considering that the imported goods which are worth buying online would surely be the ones which cost a bundle, buying online and having them shipped when such vulnerabilities still exist becomes less attractive (except maybe for fashion-minded and naughty-handed customs personnel). Very unfashionable.

Considering also that at best one can only see a video (usually just a picture, which maybe from a sample and not the particular stock your buying, or more commonly just words describing the item for sale) before buying something, even if indeed the thing arrives at the buyer’s doorstep (after escapes delay and more importantly, disaster (theft, that is)) another concern is genuineness: whether the “LV” you bought is THE LV. Then again, at least they’re offering stuff for sale and to be delivered to us. Apple’s iTunes has so far snubbed Asia (wont sell downloads outright). Now that’s one hitch.