Among many businesses that did well and fostered because of the pandemic, online shopping is one of them. The fear of the virus and social distancing made people stay inside their houses most of the time in the past year. And what do you think made everyone’s lives a lot easier? Online shopping.
Most people weren’t at all accustomed to online shopping before the coronavirus. Only those businesses did well which could attract the eyes of the customers and delivered something out of the box. The only customers used to be younger people and the few people who had learned about online shopping. However, once the pandemic started, people started surfing online shopping platforms out of necessity and compulsion. Online shopping became the only way to buy edibles and essential goods from the market. So, from buying fresh vegetables to ordering items online, it became very popular among people.
As days are passing by, things are falling back in place and people have started getting back to their normal lifestyles. The lockdown has lifted and you can now go out to your favorite restaurant and shopping malls. How are you planning to purchase your essentials now? Are you going to start shopping physically (traditionally) or continue shopping online?
Check out: Top Online shopping sites in Nepal
If you have been pondering over this topic, let’s dive deeper into it by paying attention to both the good and bad sides of online shopping.
Online Shopping: Advantages
- The first and foremost advantage of online shopping is convenience. You get to surf a large number of sites by sitting at home. This might be equivalent to visiting five or six big shopping malls at a time physically. So clearly, it saves you a lot of your time and energy.
- There is no doubt that you get a lot of variety in any item when you are shopping online. The diversity in clothes or any accessories is never-ending which might not be the same case while you shop physically.
- Online shopping gives you an opportunity to shop items by knowing all the detailed information about them. From the exact price, discount offers, quality, and quantity of the item to the way it looks when somebody puts it on, it makes your choices easier. Also, reading the customer reviews of your desired product helps a lot.
- Another important perk about online shopping is the chance to compare prices. If you are someone who would be happy to save a few bucks while buying something, online shopping is totally for you. With various platforms available online, you can purchase an item at the most reasonable price.
- Online shopping might be very helpful to you if you are easily influenced by people and surroundings. Often there develops a kind of pressure to buy something when you physically visit the market. This doesn’t happen when you shop online. Here, you can make sensible decisions and shop as much as you want and as you like without any pressure or time limit.
- Different discounts and offers are being given out while you shop online. It depends upon the fashion trends, popular demand, and also your payment method. It will be a lot easier to get notified when you have the market on your phone.
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Online Shopping: Disadvantages
- The most notable disadvantage of online shopping is fraud and scams. With many discount offers being offered every now and then by the shopping platforms, it becomes difficult to recognize genuine and authentic offers. In such a situation, people might fall victim to online fraud and hacking.
- Online shopping might not be the best choice in case of an emergency or urgency. If there is any item that you would like to have right now or the day after, online shopping won’t deliver it right away. It will take certain days for the item to be delivered to your place. However, while shopping physically, you can pick up the item from the nearest market in just a few minutes.
- Have you thought about the “Expectations VS Reality” part in online shopping? Since you cannot actually touch it with your hands and see what the product looks like in front of your eyes, there are high chances of customers being dissatisfied while they shop online. But you can read this post for how to buy the best products online?
- If you are new to online shopping and aren’t so sure about any product, it’s better to get help from someone who has experience with it. Some platforms might sell items for really higher prices and might not deliver the exact quality of the product you might be looking for.
- If you are someone who likes bargaining, online shopping is not at all for you. There is no way you could bargain or get any item at a lesser price than mentioned while shopping online. However, it’s an exception when the items are on sale or discount offers.
- Online shopping also requires you to pay some additional fees for shipping or delivery charges. This is not required at all if you visit the market physically.
- Online shopping over Computer or Mobile; Which one to prefer?
Conclusion
These are both the benefits and drawbacks of shopping online from web platforms. Some people might really grow to like online shopping because of their tight time and schedule while some people might enjoy going shopping physically with their friends and family. It is totally upon you to decide which you like the most and which shopping method are you partial about. Please let us know in the comments below.
