Introduction

Since the invention of the World Wide Web(WWW), about two decades ago, the use of internet has become an important source of information for consumers world wide. The shopper can use the web as a tool in searching for information about a product, process or service. One can study the design of a product in the internet by accessing the web (Hirsh, & Hiller, 2005)

Like many other auction internet sites, websites provide both small enterprises and large companies to develop online shopping sites with simple ways of purchasing procedure rather than developing personal software which might be very expensive.

Most business transactions can be executed online even if others are manual. Generation of international business documents such as directories, catalogs are giving competitive data for primary web. A tool like this one, however important it is, it could not come into use till 1994. Search costs are the factors that dictate the consumers’ choice on a given product. Costs also do determine the pricing of a given service thus making consumers to look for better ways to manage their searches at reduced costs(Bakos,2001).

The strategies used by consumers include search engines, query design tactics and filtering regulations to improve their information searching techniques. Regular use of search engines, if well used can be economical and effective tool that can be applied to cut down the costs because the content accessed at any given time can be vast and very elaborate. It’s easy to access customized services thus satisfying customer needs. There is always need for customer satisfaction at the end of shopping exercise via the internet. Therefore consumer information searches success must be determined by the end result of the whole process. Greater experience in shopping is what can be used to tell if the process of information search was effective or not.

In the processing of searching for information by the consumer, there are two things that must not be separated and they include the techniques and character search factors because they are important in studying the trends of cost in online shopping (Bradlow,& Schmittlein,2006).

To make online search successful the following areas must be taken into account:

Web Design

Why online?

Online shopping provides more convenience and broader selection base. Competitive prices and information is readily available for consumers to base their decisions thus adding value to customer buying behaviour and profit realizations for the sellers.