Online shopping is becoming more and more popular annually as people embrace the convenience, selection, and low prices available when shopping online. In this article I talk with some of the pros and cons of online shopping.
There is something to be said for walking right into a physical store and being able to see, touch, and easily ask questions about a product. You could argue that brick and mortar shopping is just a more engaging experience, often full of music of some type, combined with the sights and sounds of other customers and clerks available to supply assistance when needed. Different products may be compared side by side with very little effort. One advantageous asset of brick and mortar shopping is its organization, allowing one to locate the best department and the best shelf pretty easily. Everything the store offers is created available using a layout of straight-forward, logical departments. Websites offer an organizational layout and text search capability, but this different method of locating something of interest is one online shopping difference that takes some getting used to. Other benefits of brick front shopping is being able to get free from the home, exercise somewhat, breathe some outdoor air and avoid cabin fever (this type of activity was quite important in the winter when I lived in Chicago).
People which are cautious in nature might find certain top features of online shopping somewhat hard to become accustomed to, such as for instance getting acclimated as to the would be the equivalent of searching for merchandise with tunnel blinders that only permit a really narrow view of what’s directly ahead of one’s eyes. Brick and mortar stores are physically arranged to make it more probable that certain items will soon be seen more than others. Online stores offer focus on certain products over others. Most websites contain product descriptions, nevertheless the descriptions may be either too general or too detailed, which makes it difficult to compare two or more products on the features. If the shopper has a question that is appropriate for a person such as a clerk in a shop, where does the online customer go to ask the question? There is something lost in not having an informed person available to supply a sudden answer. Many popular online shopping sites now provide customer reviews-independent reviews provided by customers that have bought each product. These reviews go a long way toward providing enough detailed information about something so it’s possible to determine whether to get it.
In the USA online shopping malls and websites address the limitations within the online shopping process by offering near enough to a no-questions-asked return policy to ensure the happiness of the online customer. However, one downside of online shopping is having to hold back to acquire the product, based on whatever mode of shipping is selected. In case a product needs to be refunded or returned for whatever reason, there’s the inconvenience of returning the product. This often involves a call and trip to the neighborhood post office, after which one waits again to either receive a replacement or refund. Compare this to just running that and receipt back to a local brick front store and having either a reimbursement or an exchanged product in hand in just a few minutes.
Let’s discuss security. In a real store, cash may be used, and in case a debit or credit card is employed the shopper gets to see who processes his or her card. Also, one is usually not required to supply personal information such as a name and physical address. Not so with online shopping, as that should be addressed and sent to an individual at an address. Cash can’t be used online, what exactly entity processes the card and captures the non-public information over the internet? mens jewelry And how well is the non-public information protected? One way to greatly reduce risk when shopping on the internet is to utilize virtual credit card numbers. These numbers are provided by credit card issuers such as for instance Citi and Discover, and may be used only once, so even if the credit card information is captured by several other entity throughout the transaction, it can’t be used to perform an additional purchase. I take advantage of virtual credit card numbers when I shop online, and I suggest this practice.
Let us look at the benefits of shopping online. If the four-wheeled vehicle in one’s driveway is expensive to gas up, then it’s an obvious plus to manage to shop the virtual market and save transportation costs. It can also be a “greener” arrangement-computers emit little if any carbon even if powered. For people who find it tiring to cope with crowds, you will find none in cyberspace, and no lines to hold back in during checkout. The magical online domain doesn’t have weather to hinder one, either-all shopping is completed in just a sheltered environment, safe from inclement weather. And there’s no need to be worried about keeping one’s children together and in sight when online shopping. But perhaps the best feature of all is the price savings that can be realized online. Online items can more frequently that not be purchased and shipped for substantially less, because the cost doesn’t include any overhead costs associated with having a real brick and mortar store. In most cases there is also no sales tax either, unless the merchant maintains some form of physical presence in the state where that is purchased. Like, Amazon.com only charges sales tax on orders which are shipped to Kansas, North Dakota, New York or Washington, and Overstock.com only charges sales tax on orders which are shipped to Utah. To sweeten the deal, many merchants offer special online coupons, coupon codes and promotional codes offering additional discounts.
For example of the cash that can be saved when shopping on the internet, I bought a “Cuisinart Prep 11 Plus” food processor and used the online comparison shopping engine at Shopzilla.com to find a very good deal, which was at Etronics.com for $172 with no sales tax and free shipping. An area Sears store had it listed at $199.99 and would have charged about $16 in sales tax for a total of $216. In this specific case I saved $44 (20%) shopping on the internet and using Shopzilla to place online stores in competition for my business. And it only took me about 10 minutes of effort. With the advent of cheaper computing and increasing degrees of online competition, people are generally becoming used to accessing the planet through the eyes of cyberspace. So it is the coming thing, and a tide that is not likely to be turned. We as a society have adapted to other significant changes over time, such as the advent and convenience of air travel, trains and automobiles over horses, and online shopping is just one more paradigm shift we shall adapt to.
In summary, when looking at the good qualities and cons of online shopping, the good qualities outweigh the cons, especially for items which are widely available and which is why the best price will be sought. Shoppers save time and money buying what they want online and virtual store owners can run their businesses on much less overhead. The fact the good qualities outweigh the cons is evident when one talks about the sharp increases in online shopping that have occurred on a global basis in the last few years.