SAY goodbye to frustrations when an online merchant rejects your orders because you don't have a United States-issued credit card or a US shipping address.
With vPost, Comgateway and newly launched Globeshopper, consumers can now whip out their Singapore-issued credit cards and shop online to their hearts' content.
Essentially shipping services, the three companies provide shoppers with a US forwarding address which they can use when making buys at any US merchant's website. The companies then ship the goods here.
The services also go one step up with virtual concierge help which buys products on customers' behalf, then ships them here.
Of course, customers can ship directly from merchants like Victoria's Secrets or Amazon since these accept international credit cards. However, freight charges can be disproportionate to the value of the goods.
A December 2007 AC Nielsen survey showed that eight in 10 Singaporeans shop online. About one-third of online shoppers said they bought clothing, accessories and shoes. Other popular items include airline tickets and hotel reservations.
Citibank said a favourable US currency conversion has contributed to more online shopping this year but it declined to provide any numbers.
To cash in on the trend, the bank has joined hands with global logistics firm DHL and British e-commerce solutions firm Borderlinx to launch Globeshopper.
Globeshopper allows Citibank credit card users to buy from 300,000 online US merchants - from 7 for all Mankind and Forever 21 to Fossil and Nordstrom - through its free concierge service.
Monthly deliveries from the US to Singapore are in the order of 'several thousands', Citibank said.
The proof of the pudding
Are these services as convenient and user-friendly as they are touted to be? How do they fare on price?
Digital Life tested their services to find out.
We placed 12 orders on Aug 1 with four merchants through each service provider - vPost (which is owned by SingPost), Comgateway and Globeshopper.
The merchants were these:
Northwestern University Athletics Official Online Store - an obscure merchant, where we bought a T-shirt
Macy's, a famous US retail chain that doesn't ship to Singapore, where we bought a bottle of Marc Jacobs perfume
Amazon for Stargate and Rambo boxset DVDs, and
Barnes & Noble for DC Comics Encyclopedia.
Comgateway, Globeshopper and vPost's services were tested on these points: ease of use, security, communication with customers, payment and shipment, delivery timeliness and price.
Certainly, the experiment yields more anecdotal findings - based on Digital Life's experience - rather than empirical data.
We also confined our tests to US online shopping sites to streamline comparisons.
The tests, however, give a good gauge of what online shoppers can expect. Be guided.
This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life on 3 September 2008.
