Shopping was once perceived as an activity of going out, exploring many stores and shops across the town, shifting through a myriad of options and finally settling down to purchase a product with full satisfaction.
Satisfaction to an Indian costumer, and to someone like me, will only come after comparing, touching, ascertaining the quality of the product offered by each brand and then making a final decision of buying it. The concept of shopping revolves around mental approval, which comes with a ‘touch and feel’ mindset.
When a consumer goes out and shops, he always prefers not to exceed from the perceived budget. A consumer also seeks for better quality but cannot resist comparing the prices of the similar product offered by other stores and lastly not forgetting the bargaining part.
These are the pillars of our traditional means of shopping, something that is nowadays being called offline shopping.
Now that the technology is skillfully trying to make a person think smartly, without exerting much physical energy, we see that even shopping has been engulfed under grip of changing lifestyle. With online shopping spreading its wings gradually, the experience of ‘touch and feel’ concept is slowly fading among the consumers.
We all must have an experience of waiting in line or waited till the shop assistant is ready to help you with your purchase. With online purchasing the biggest advantage is one does not have to step out to visit a store and can be seamless done even in the midst of hectic schedules, apart from saving time and avoiding crowds. Online shops give us the opportunity to shop 24 x 7 and also reward us with a ‘no pollution’ shopping.
There is no better place to buy information products like e-books. Immediately after the payment is made one can download the information. And downloadable items purchased online eliminate the need for any kind of material goods at all.
Everyone likes to go through various choices before spending money, through online one can get several brands and products from different sellers at one place. You can get in on the latest international trends without spending money on airfare. When you shop online, you can shop from retailers in other parts of the country or even the world without being limited by geographic area. These stores offer a far greater selection of colors and sizes than you will find locally.
Apart from that, how many times have it happened that you spend your money reaching a local shop only to find that the product you need is out of stock? Some online shops have a provision to accept orders without stock and ship it across to you when the stock becomes available.
And at last I would say that technology is advancing at the speed of light and innovations in things are driving people towards the place where almost every work could easily be performed without much effort.