Overview
This course examines the business, consumer, and technological practices that shape online shopping. Students analyze e-commerce models, digital storefronts, search and recommendation systems, product listings, online reviews, pricing algorithms, personalization, promotions, marketplaces, fulfillment, delivery, returns, and customer service.
Emphasis is placed on strategic marketplace navigation, seller credibility, product-information verification, counterfeit and deceptive listings, landed-cost calculation, terms of service, privacy policies, secure payments, account protection, phishing, scams, and digital footprints. The course also considers consumer rights, accessibility, ethical data use, sustainability, packaging, labor conditions, and the effects of platform design on purchasing behavior. Students evaluate online shopping experiences from both consumer and business perspectives and develop evidence-based approaches to common transaction problems.
Learning Outcomes
- Analyze e-commerce business models, marketplace structures, and digital storefront practices.
- Evaluate the reliability of seller information, product listings, reviews, recommendations, and promotional claims.
- Calculate complete purchase costs, including pricing, taxes, shipping, duties, returns, and related fees.
- Apply cybersecurity, privacy, account-protection, and secure-payment practices to online transactions.
- Interpret online reviews critically by distinguishing credible evidence from manipulation, bias, and coordinated deception.
- Diagnose counterfeit listings, phishing attempts, fraudulent offers, and other common online-shopping scams.
- Assess terms of service, privacy policies, accessibility provisions, consumer protections, and dispute-resolution processes.
- Develop strategies for resolving delivery, payment, returns, warranty, and customer-service problems.
- Evaluate the ethical, environmental, labor, and behavioral effects of platform design and e-commerce operations.
- Synthesize consumer and business perspectives in an evidence-based evaluation of an online shopping experience.
Timetable
| Type | Length | Frequency | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 2 hours | Weekly | All semester |
| Tutorial | 1 hour | Weekly | All semester |
| Workshop | 2 hours | Fortnightly | All semester |
Assessment Schedule
| Type | Description | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment | Marketplace navigation and seller-credibility audit | 15.00% |
| Assignment | Product-comparison analysis, including landed costs | 15.00% |
| Test | Scam-identification and secure-payment exercises | 15.00% |
| Assignment | Privacy, accessibility, and terms-of-service review | 15.00% |
| Attendance | Participation in applied tutorials and workshops | 10.00% |
| Capstone | Final e-commerce decision project | 30.00% |
Prerequisites
Teaching Staff & Programs
This course is delivered jointly by faculty from the participating programs listed below. In line with the Douchewater Way, the University of Sexology tailors core instruction directly to each cohort's specific discipline — adapting curriculum to program needs rather than forcing students into a one-size-fits-all model. Learn more about our approach at The Douchewater Way.