Online shopping is the process consumers go through to purchase products or services over the internet. It has been predicted that within the next five year, United States online shoppers will double to 132 million (1). By shopping online instead of going to a brick and mortar retailer, it allows you to browse through various stores and sites without leaving the comfort of your home. Online shopping also makes it possible for the consumer to shop at stores that might not be offered locally around them. Online websites/stores such as Amazon.com, Ebay.com, and NewEgg.com offer various new and used products all at the same site.
Pros: Can browse through various products without the congestion and craziness that can be paired with shopping at a store. Many sites offer coupons and money saving incentives that would not be regularly offered in the store. These incentives are designed to draw people into the online shopping world. According to Yahoo! Small Business and Harris Interactive, 90% of holiday shoppers consider free shipping the best incentive (2). Online shopping also saves the consumer money by not having to drive to multiple locations to find the desired product. You can also compare the desired product to other products of similar nature and products offered at different competing stores. The main incentive to online shopping is the ease and simplicity it offers the consumer. There is no shock in the findings that 63% of people who shop online are women (1). I feel that this is probably because in most cases women are the ones who stay at home with the children so online shopping makes it possible for women to multitask by taking care of the children and shopping at the same time. It has also been found that people who children are more likely to shop online than people without children (1). Once again I think this is due to the ease that online shopping provides people, especially those with children.
Cons: When using online shopping as your main means of shopping, you are confronted with some unfavorable differences. First, online shopping does not offer the same immediate gratification of buying a product from a store. You must wait for the product to be delivered, which can sometimes be delayed due to Holidays and back-orders. In addition to waiting for delivery, many companies charge for product delivery. Depending on the company, their choice of delivery method, and different aspects of the product (weight, height, value, etc), delivery prices are based accordingly and can be expensive. Secondly, when shopping online, you are purchasing a tangible object but until you receive it it’s intangible. For example, when buying an article of clothing, you cannot try it on until you actually receive it. If you order a size small t-shirt when in fact you need a size medium t-shirt, you are faced with a huge hassle. You must then go through the process of waiting for the t-shirt delivery, trying it on, sending it back to the store, and then waiting yet again for the different size t-shirt to arrive. This long process has lead to 40% of online shoppers having a lack of satisfaction with the return process (2). Thirdly, when using online shopping you aren't able to receive recommendations from store clerks who could have valuable information for you. 90% of consumers online trust recommendations from people they know. 70% trust recommendations from unknown users (3). Although both percentages are very high, recommendations from people they know is 20% higher and could possibly lead to more effective shopping). Lastly, many people fear that from shopping online their credit card number and such could be stolen and they could be another case of identity theft. However this is beginning to change. 76% of online shoppers believe that online shopping is becoming safer. Eighteen months earlier it was at 66% so people are starting to not fear the idea of identity theft through online shopping (2).
Online shopping is intended to create a world of ease for the everyday shopper. Some unintentional effects of online shopping is addiction, laziness, and lack of face-to-face communication. In a world where addiction and laziness amongst people seems to keep becoming more of a problem, online shopping could be at the root of it. And if not a causation of these negative characteristics, it could most definitely be accompanied by them.
What are your feelings about online shopping, whether they are good or bad, I'd love to hear them!
Peace, Love, and Go Noles!
WORD COUNT: 781
SOURCES:
(1) http://www.internetbasedmoms.com/net_selling.htm
(2) http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~rls/statistics.index.html
(3) http://www.bazaarvoice.com/resources/stats
PICTURES:
http://www.designerclothesonline.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/online-shopping.jpg
I think the online shopping debate comes down to rather each person really likes shopping or not. If you are a person who likes shopping, then you get pleasure out of the companionship of friends, having lunch while out, seeing and meeting people, and all of the stuff that comes with it. If you really just want to get to the products and cut out all of the "fat" from the shopping process, then online is the way to go. For me, the instant gratification and chance to get out of the house always pushes me to go old school. I will, however, shop online if something is not available eslewhere or if the prices are dramatically different. Good post
ReplyDeleteI love online shopping because it is so convenient and I can find things that I would not find in the stores. I'm not one of those that like to make a day of shopping at the mall or going store to store. Online stores such as amazon.com and ebay.com are great because you can find old items that are no longer in stores. You can also find better bargains online because sometimes there are several people selling the same item. Although I love shopping online, I agree with tbaybuc about instant gratification. The waiting to get your items from ordering online can be a bit of a pain. If you go to the store you have it in your hands ready to use. You also get person to person exchange if there is a problem. However, many online stores such as amazon.com and bestbuy.com do have the ability for you to chat live with a sales representative or call a sales representative and get an actual person and not an automated voice system. There are pros and cons to shopping online, but it is growing more popular.
ReplyDeleteI believe that whether you are more of an online shopper or brick and mortar shopper completely depends on the type of person you are. Perhaps it even comes down to being an extrovert or an introvert. An extrovert being someone who is not necessarily friendlier but enjoys the company of others rather than being alone. An introvert prefers to be alone and feels almost uneasy in a sense when surrounded by others. Whether you choose to shop online for your products or physically go to a store is up to the person doing the shopping, both options possess positive and negative characteristics but in the end you receive the same outcome no matter which option you choose...
ReplyDeleteOnline shopping is great. I hate going to the mall so being able to just sit on my couch and do my shopping from there is incredible.
ReplyDeleteYes it is. The major downfall is the returning process, if only they could fix/enhance that...
ReplyDeleteI use online shopping the most around the big Holidays like Christmas. And especially on big shopping days like Black Friday...usually online sites offer the same incentives but without all the chaos you experience in the stores.
ReplyDelete