Cash Vs Card: Card is winning race in emerging markets

Convenience, security and better shopping experience playing key role in making card winner over cash. Electronic payments can revolutionise the way people pay. The increasing benefits of electronic payments worldwide can be seen in their rapid growth across many emerging markets. According to the World Payments Report 2010, non-cash payments in Russia rose 66 percent between 2008 and 2009, while China (+29 percent) and South Africa (+25 percent) also posted large gains. 

While India has seen similar growth numbers in debit cards (+42% in FY2009-10 compared to the previous financial year, cards still account for less than 5 percent of consumer spending.


Why pay by card?

Increasing card usage often depends on increasing consumers’ awareness of the benefits of using them. These include:


Convenience and control: 


Cards allow people to shop and manage their spending without the need to carry cash. Cardholders can choose between using debit cards which gives them the security of knowing there will be no interest payments on purchases or using credit cards for greater flexibility.

• Greater security
• Time Saving
• Enables online shopping
• More payment options
• Better consumer control

Cash vs cards – The advantages of electronic payments

This table below illustrates the typical advantages that card payments offer consumers over cash. Not all card products carry the same level of functionality. 

	Cash	Debit cards	Credit cards
Budget control	Some	Yes	Some
Replaced if lost	No	Yes	Yes
Monthly statements	No	Yes	Yes
Transaction insurance protection	No	No	Yes
Card and transaction security features	No	Yes	Yes
Reward programmes	No	Yes	Yes
Revolving credit	No		Yes
SMS transaction alerts	No	Yes	Yes

India is already making rapid progress in developing electronic payments. Several industry-leading technology applications are already widely used to improve customer service and security. For example, Indian banks send SMS messages to clients after they have made an ATM withdrawal so that cardholders get confirmation that a transaction was carried out on their account. Value-added applications like this encourage more people to pay with cards.
Ref: indiainfoline.com

Digital Audio Video Media Player with 80GB

The LaCie Silverscreen portable multimedia drive easily turns your TV into an entertainment center for enjoying DivX, movies, photos and music. LaCie Silverscreen 80 GB Digital AV Player and compatible with HDTV screens and Dolby Digital or DTS audio, there's no compromise on quality. Simply plug it into your PC or Mac via USB 2.0 to transfer your digital media. It comes with easy on-TV-screen navigation and a user-friendly remote control. The silverscreen can also serve as a USB 2.0 bus-powered mobile hard drive with up to 80GB capacity.

Features:
LaCie silverscreen is a 80GB USB hard drive that plugs into TVs, VCRs, cable boxes or satellite tuners with an AV cable for instant playback of stored movies, music or photos. Plug and play on your PC or Mac through Hi-Speed USB to store data and then view your media on almost any TV or monitor. Compatible with DivX (home theatre) and Dolby Digital or DTS quality audio, there's no compromise on quality with home theaters. Share home-movies and photos with friends and family, or use it for exhibitions, promotions, and delivering rough cuts to clients. The LaCie silverscreen's user-friendly interface and remote control provide for an easy set-up. The VOD (Video On-Demand) feature allows you to go online to rent or buy DivX VOD movies from the DivX website. Build your own virtual library of up to 80 DivX movies, 15 MPEG-2 DVD movies or up to 80,000 photos or nearly 20,000 MP3s music and carry them with you anywhere.

* Up to 80GB multimedia hard drive for movies, photos or music
* Plug directly into a TV for instant viewing, no computer needed
* Store and view up to 14 MPEG-2 or 80 DivX videos on 80GB drive
* Video: MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (AVI, VOB, ISO) and DivX
* Audio: MP3, WAV, WMA, AAC1, and AC3
* Photo: JPEG(up to 8 mega pixel)2

Specification:

Key Features
Storage Capacity - 80 GB
Key Functions - Audio Player, Photo Viewer, Video Player
Supported Media Format - AC-3, WAV, WMA, AAC, MP3, JPEG, AVI, MPEG-4, DivX, XviD, MPEG-2, MPEG-1
Compatible OS - Apple Mac OS 9.x, Apple Mac OS X 10.x, MS Windows XP, MS Windows 2000, MS Windows ME, MS Windows 98 SE
Connector Types - SCART, Hi-Speed USB, Composite video output, Audio line-out, VGA, Component video output, S-Video output, SPDIF output

Multimedia Device Features

Digital Device - Type Digital AV player
Key Features - Digital audio player, Digital photo viewer, Digital video player
TV Standards Supported - NTSC, PAL
PC Connection - Hi-Speed USB

Video Playback and Capture Features
Video Playback Formats - AVI, MP4, MPEG-4, DivX, XviD, MPEG-2, MPEG-1

Digital Audio Features
Supported Audio Formats - AC-3, WAV, WMA, AAC, MP3

Storage Features
Hard Drive Capacity - 80 GB

General Product Info:
UPC - 093053682095
Dimension - 1.1 in x 5.5 in x 3.5 in (HxWxD)

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Online Shopping store

Online shopping is the fastest growing multi billion-dollar business in the world. Online shopping is remarkably easy whether you’re looking for the latest fashions or trying to keep up with the latest electrical gadgets and wizardry.

Online shopping mall is getting more and more crowded. today’s customers have more options than ever when it comes to online shopping. This is good news for customers who belive in Online shopping malls. Very few Indians are aware of the fact that there is more security when it comes to purchasing online. When you purchase offline, there’s a possibility that someone misuses your credit card. But when it comes to online shopping, all your personal information, like user name, passwords, credit card number and transaction history, is encrypted so that they cannot be read as it travels over the Internet.Recently, India has seen tremendous growth in online shopping People can easily shop for their favourite products sitting in the comfort of their places. Now indian people are more comfortable in transactions, as credit card users are increasing day by day. According to recent survey, Indians are the third biggest credit card users globally for online purchases. In the survey, more than 84 per cent of online shoppers from India said they have used credit cards for such transactions. Other modes of payment include debit cards, cheques and demand drafts.

E-commerce figures are going through the roof, according to Assocham (Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India). Today (2006-07) the figures are touching Rs. 2200 crore, but are expected to increase by 150 percent by 2007-08 - to Rs 5,500 crores! And two metros - Delhi and Mumbai are driving the growth.
Online shopping is becoming more popular these days and Number of people who shops online has been increased. New online shopping portals are coming with new shopping features to reach their customers.

We will find various online shopping portals which help these consumers to buy their daily needs, Gifts, Accessories, Apparels etc online
The more options the customres have , more and more varities can choose of there internet, so stop comparision of products and prices across retailers. Not surprisingly, several comparison shopping platforms have been launched in the Indian market. cafegadgets.com and crazypricing.com are the two most prominent ones. So if we have these comparison shopping platforms available, why aren’t people using them? Or are they?
In India, electronics and gadgets are among the most sought after products that people tend to buy online. For example, cafegadgets.in, From last year number of orders are more in this year for gadgets and electronic items.
This time Cafegadgets is one of the biggest ever occuring online shopping in india. Offers all types of electronics gadgets, Consumer electronics, ipods, laptops, bag coves, bags, mobile phones, nokia mobile phones, motorola phones, samsung mobiles, cdma and many more. The best part of cafegadgets is that it gives lots of options for evry product means vast number of varities are available at cheaper rates. you can also do online compare shopping throug this. In india online shopping is best possible with cafegadgets.in