By Muthukumar K
ET Intelligence Group

Shopping has changed so much over the last few years that one no longer has to physically visit a shop to shop, thanks to all those teleshopping companies. For people who don’t quite enjoy the shopping experience, this is a pretty convenient alternative.

Unlike catalogue shopping, where you don’t get to see the products alive and kicking, teleshopping offers a vicarious audio-visual way to experience the product, which is even delivered right at your doorstep.

Payments
The payment options available are — bank cheques, money orders, demand drafts and credit cards. If you are looking for faster delivery of the order, avoid paying through cheques. That’s because teleshopping companies wait for cheques to be cleared before shipping orders.

Using a credit card, though, has its own pitfalls. One, there is a possibility of misuse of a credit card number given on the phone. And second, you cannot change your mind about buying the product after you have given your card number, since these orders are generally not cancelled.

Another problem with this mode of shopping is that most companies don’t give a Cash On Delivery (COD) option, which would have allowed you to scrutinise and check the product, before actually making a payment.