The Pros and Cons of Online Shopping

Online shopping is defined as the act of purchasing services or products through online channels. It is a way to shop for multiple items or compare rates of service providers from the comfort of home or on a personal mobile device. 

One of the reasons why people flocked into purchasing goods online because it saves time, and less of a hassle. It is proven that online shopping can be good for your wallet as well. 

 

Underneath is the list of reason why you should buy things online: 

The stores are never closed 

You can do online shopping at all time, that you are available. This is very convenient for individuals who have a busy schedule or work with a shift timing which doesn’t allow them to be able to shop for their daily needs. 

Convenience

Another convenience part about purchasing something online is that you do not have to wait in line. Not to mention that it is also good for the environment because you saved yourself from the gas expenses or traveling expenses, especially if you have to travel for quite a while to go to the nearest store. 

If you purchased a digital item, then you do not have to wait to actually watch or read it. All you have to do is download your book or movie, and voila! You can enjoy your selected item. 

Better Prices

This is one of the advantages that online sellers. There are a lot of better deals and prices that you can find online. This is because of a simple reason. The products are marketed and directly sold by the manufacturer and there are no other added costs such as transportation, taxes, and so forth. The items that are sold in your regular brick and mortar shop will include these added costs in their final price, making the products much more expensive. 

Not to mention that it is easier to compare prices online. This makes you, as a customer make the best choice of the store that gives you the best economic advantage. 

There are a lot of online stores that offer discounts, coupons, and rebates as well. 

A huge variation of products 

As a customer, there are infinite number of variation of products that you can browse if you are doing online shopping. You can almost find any brands that you are looking for online. If you are not satisfied with a selection from one particular online vendor, you can switch to the next one. Unlike brick and mortar shop where the choice is often limited. 

Send gift 

You can send gifts much more easily when you shop online as well. All the packaging and shipping is done directly to the vendor. All you have to do is by differentiating your billing address, and shipping address. There are some vendors who offer gift wrapping it for you as well! 

 

Underneath is the list of cons of online shopping: 

Product Trial 

This is one of disadvantages if you are shopping online, especially for clothing. If you are shopping online, the chances are you are only relying on the photos that the vendors put up on their side. You are unable to try it on, you wouldn’t be able to see what kind of material does it has, or even how the material is made. More often than not the measurement that is used by one vendor is different from the other as well. This means as a customer, you will need to be much more careful. Try looking for the size conversion section on the website to ensure that the size would fit you. 

Shipping problems and delay 

There are a lot of big shipping companies that help support online retailing business. However, even the biggest shipping companies have a bad day. Sometimes, the package is prone to be stuck, lost, damaged, or even delivered to the wrong address. Although, to tackle this problem a lot of big shipping companies will include a serial number in which you can track your package, and get notified in case if they are lost. 

Returns can be complicated 

Although there is a lot of websites that provide return policy, some of them are too complicated. Many times, you will not get reimbursed on the shipping cost of returning the packages. Most often than not, there is also a time window in which an online shopper is allowed to return the merchandise. The merchandise has also had to be kept in a certain condition. This type of problem will not occur if you shop directly at a brick and mortar shop. 

Sales assistance 

In brick and mortar shop, we almost are always accompanied by sales assistants who are more than happy to answer our queries and assist us during our shopping spree. Unlike online shopping, some of the consumer's queries can only be handled after 24 hours. This situation is improving with a lot of online retailers adding instant chat to be able to assist shoppers at that moment, however not every site is equipped with it. 

Complicated website

Not every website has a seamless website interface for its guests. Some of the websites require you to even sign up to be able to purchase their products. Some other site makes signing up to their email marketing a compulsory, then makes it difficult for them to unsubscribe to them. 

 

Takeaway : 

There are many advantages and cons of online shopping. An online shopper should be wise and do their due diligence in finding out about the store’s return policy, and the size or any guide that is available at the online store before purchasing something online. 

By reading the customer service policies, it should provide the shoppers with a clear understanding of all fees and guarantees that the online retailer has.