Top Five Online Shopping Sites

Exchanging gifts is one of the most common and effective ways of showing affection. While taking the time to go shopping and buy a gift that will complement the receiver is one way to go, shopping online is an extremely convenient way for those who hate crowded malls, do not have a particular gift in mind and may not necessarily have the time to lounge around shopping arcades looking for the perfect gift. Surfing shopping sites online gives users more variety than they would get in a regular mall and gives them tons of ideas too.

Read on to find out the best places to shop online.

Founded in 1996, Rediff.com is one of the earliest dot-com companies based and operating out of India. To shop using this portal, visit www.rediff.com and click the ‘Shopping’ icon. The products are classified under categories such as Apparels & Accessories, Art, Baby Care, Computers & Peripherals, Electronics, Faith & Beliefs, Flowers, Food & Beverages, Gifts, Health & Fitness, Home Decor & Appliances, Office Products, Personal Care & Beauty, Services, Sports, Toys & Games, Travel, Valentine and Video & Music to cater to recipients with varied tastes. They also come up with special pages for gifting on special occasions.

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Products like flowers and cakes listed as ‘Express Delivery’ is delivered within 24-hours in select cities. If you don’t like anything on their shopping link you can try Rediff Auctions for gift options too.

You can pick from a variety of payment options such as demand drafts, cheques, net banking, COD (cash on delivery), ITZ, Bill Junction, PayMate or credit cards. While the website offers cancellation procedures, there are certain preconditions. Promotional products which come under special Events & Promotions (like Valentine’s Day) or are marked for Express Delivery cannot be cancelled. You can cancel orders placed for perishable goods, but only after paying for the product in full.

Any refund and returns request needs to reach the website with seven days of delivery. A list of valid refund and returns reasons can be found under the customer care section of the website. You can ask for a refund if you found the gift to be different from what you ordered online.
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Indiatimes

Indiatimes started in 1999, and it is a venture of The Times Group. The web portal is home to over 30,000 products listed under sections like Apparel & Jewellery, Movies, Music & Games, Books & Magazines, Health & Beauty, Electronics & Computers, Mobiles & Cameras, Flowers & Gifts, Home & Office, Baby, Toys & Sports, Art & Paintings, and Astro & Services.

Products like flowers, gifts and cakes come with an assured 24-hour delivery clause. The website offers very good cross branding of various products under special offers and discounts. You can opt for the Indiatimes Book Club membership program to receive special offers on newly released books and bestsellers. You can pick from a variety of payment options such as demand drafts, cheques, net banking, COD (cash on delivery), ITZ cash card and Done cards, mobile payments gateways like mCheck and Paymate or credit cards.

For any refund and returns request needs to reach the website with 21 days of delivery. A list of valid refund and returns reasons can be found under the customer care section of the website.

You can ask for a refund if you found the gift to be different from what you ordered online.
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Future Bazaar

Another popular retailing chain headquartered in Mumbai since as early as 1987, futurebazaar.com is best described as an ’e-tailing’ portal for the mega retail chain. It provides an online mall for the Future Group, which has its wings well spread across all verticals of retailing, like fashion chain Pantaloons, consumer durables eZone, food chain Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar, to name a few.

Unlike the other web portals, you can walk into any of the retail stores to see what the product is like. You can pick from a variety of payment options such as demand drafts, cheques, net banking or credit cards. The best selling and most widely ordered products are listed under the ‘Deals & Promotions’ section of the website.

The website claims free shipping on most of its products and also promises 50% money back if the product is not delivered within 7 days, however, it is advisable to read the terms and conditions carefully.

Any refund and returns request needs to reach the website within 15 days of delivery. A list of valid refund and returns reasons can be found under the returns policy of the website.
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Shoppers’ Stop

This is the online version of the retail chain of stores. You can shop across various departments on the website which include Apparel, Accessories and Footwear for both men and women, Mustang Jeans, Hidesign, Kids Toys, Mothercare, Watches, Home & Travel , Fragrances, Skincare, Cosmetics and Makeup, Gift Ideas , Gift Vouchers, Crossword, Zoozoo Collection apart from their special offers section.

You can either pay using your net banking account or credit cards. Unlike futurebazaar.com, the website doesn’t feature its entire physical collection for sale online. For any refund and returns request needs to reach the website with 14 days of delivery. You can also return products purchased online through their physical stores too. A list of valid refund and returns reasons can be found under the returns policy of the website.
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eBay
It’s not a typical e-tailing or e-commerce website. eBay can be best described as a peer-to-peer auction website. Although the company is headquartered in San Jose, USA, there are localized websites stationed in almost 30 countries. Other big names that the company owns are PayPal and Skype among others. You can purchase and sell many items on the website that are categorized under Apparel & Accessories, Books & Magazines, Cameras & Optics, Cars, Bikes & CVs, Coins & Notes, Collectibles, Antiques, Computers & Peripherals, Consumer Electronics, Fitness & Sports, Fun Stuff, Health & Beauty, Home, Decor & Furnishings, Jewellery, Kitchen & Home Appliances, Memory Cards, Pen Drives & HDD, Mobiles & Accessories, Movies & Music, Musical Instruments, Services & Real Estate, Stamps, Tools & Hardware, Toys, Games & Baby, Travel, Video & Computer Games, Watches, Alternative Energy -Solar/Wind, etc.

You don’t need to register with the web portal unless you want to buy or sell products. You can look through the products without the need to sign in to the website. You can sell anything from valuable items to intangibles as long as they don’t violate eBay terms and conditions. Some products attract little or no shipping costs if sent anywhere in India.

You can pick from a variety of payment options such as demand drafts, cheques, net banking, bank deposits, COD (cash on delivery), credit cards or PaisaPay, which is the Indian version of PayPal.
You can also shop from eBay USA directly if you want to use your PayPal account instead. There are certain offers and products available exclusively for PayPal users.
For any refunds or replacements, you will have to contact the seller directly.