The trend of online marketing has been growing rapidly since the last decade. It is taking an extensive form, growing from important cities to smaller towns and semiurban centres in terms of online trade. 

Online marketing may have to go through three stages on the basis of its trends –

1. Pre-Sale-Purchase Stage – It includes propaganda and publicity information. 

2. Sale-Purchase Stage – 

Except delivery stage, all other stages involve a flow of information. Information exchange is also done through traditional business system, but it takes place with serious obstruction of time and investment. Internet, however, is free from all such obstructions. The delivery can be given online in case of information-intensive products and services. 

3. Delivery Stage – 

Except for the delivery stage, all the other stages involve a flow of information. Information exchange is also done through traditional business system, but it takes place with serious obstructions of time:

(1) Registration – 

The buyer has to register himself online with the seller, in which the indicating password of the buyer’s account has to be given and the shopping cart protects your password. This password is known only to the buyer and the seller, and to no one else. 

(2) Sending Order — 

You can select the product of your choice from the shopping cart which is an online record of all the available products. After selecting the product, you can exit and select your payment option. 

(3) Payment System – 

The buyer can select one of the following options of payment. 

(a) Cash Payment on delivery. 

(b) Cheque payment on delivery. 

(c) Net banking transfer – Transfer of payment into the bank account provided by the seller before delivery. 

4. Credit and Debit Card – 

It is known as ‘Plastic Money’. A credit card gives the facility of credit buying to the holder. The amount of debt on the cardholder is taken upon itself by the issuing bank and it deposits the amount of transaction, while a debit card allows the user to buy up to that limit to which credit balance remains in his account. 

5. Digital Cash – 

It is a form of electronic currency, which exists only in cyberspace. In this, first of all, you’ll have to deposit the amount in a bank (through cheque/draft, etc.) which is equal to that digital cash which you need to credit in your favour. After this, the bank conducting e-cash transaction will send you a specialised software (which you can download onto your hard disk) which gives you the permission to make digital withdrawals from the account in your bank. Now you can use digital funds to buy products/services on various websites. This payment system makes efforts to remove the problems related to the use of the numbers of credit cards on the internet.