Shopping: Get up. Get ready. Get out. Traffic, honk, more traffic, honk honk... crowded store. Screaming, scratching, and catching whatever comes my way, Rain, rain go away, come again another day... Finally when I beat the flock, The salesman says, “Sorry sir, we are out of stock!” Shopping online: Lazing away, opening site, See, choose, click, buy. Moral: Use brain not brawn. Choose to shop online for a better and a faster buy. Given our hectic schedules, planning and executing a shopping spree is often a time consuming activity. It includes the cost of travelling along with the time consumed, the traffic that often hits the road whenever you wish to escape it most and the harrowing experience of moving from store to store in order to compare the price of the object that you wish to buy to avail the best deal offered. To combat all this trouble, online shopping is gaining popularity amongst people who prefer a hassle free shopping experience. Not only do they benefit from the wide range of prices inclusive of discounts that are offered online, they also manage to evade the trouble of physically going to the store and wasting much more time than what it takes to shop online. The various reasons for shopping online include: 1) Comfort over excess effort: An online shopper is required only to log in to a site and choose the best deal available, and buy online. It saves up on time and the money used in travelling to the shop in order to make a purchase. 2) More variety: Online shopping makes it easier to explore from a greater variety in terms of the product and brand, from the comfort of sitting at one place. Whereas while shopping from a store, one is required to move from shop to shop in order to get the best deal and the lowest price possible. This is a tiring and a stressful experience, not to mention the excess expenditure that it causes. 3) Pricing: online shoppers enjoy the advantage of availing good discounts on the same product that is available in a store. 4) In depth information: An online shopper is saved from the clutches of a smart salesman who knows how to influence a buyer. This hasty purchase is often disadvantageous. As opposed to this, while shopping online, it is possible to read variously on the product, its features and user comments. This is a big help while making a rather expensive purchase. 5) Availability: While shopping online the shopper rests assured that his product of choice is available in the market and is not out of stock at that time. He is also readily made aware of upgraded versions of the same product. There are several websites such as www.flipkart.com, www.ebay.in, www.amazon.com, www.yebhi.com , that make it an easy and a more user friendly experience. Apart from the shopping experience a number of sites help users in choosing what to buy and how to buy it. Some running examples include www.howstuffworks.com, www.gizmodo.com , and www.dedoimedo.com. And a recent burst is of sites offering online coupons on various products and services like www.snapdeal.com, www.mastsale.com. In spite of the various advantages of shopping online, it is seen that most of the shoppers still prefer to shop from a retail store. This is perhaps owing to certain concerns such as: 1. Consumer information privacy: Most prospective buyers are seen to be concerned about their credit card details and other confidential information that they feed in while shopping online. Tip: In order to avoid any such tension the consumer can be made aware of several secure gateways that minimize the chances of any private information leakage. a. To check if the site is secure look for the character ‘s’ behind the ‘http’ word in the URL. b. Locate a lock sign on the right side of the browser at the bottom of the web page. c. Look for verified secured image to ensure absolute privacy of user information. 2. Lack of information: Not many consumers are aware of the pros of shopping online. As per tradition they prefer to go to a retail store, and make a purchase. In this situation it is imperative for them to try out shopping online in order to realise the merits of this hassle free, shopping experience. Tip: Share with your friends and family your online experiences and get to know about newer and better deals along with making your loved ones a part of this circle. Write and read up on the advantages of online shopping online through blogs and social networking sites such as www.facebook.com. 3. The risk factor: Most consumers find it difficult to rely on online purchases for the fear of receiving a malfunctioning product, of non replacement of the product and of not being refunded for the same. Tip: Make sure to do some background check on the website. Read carefully their terms and conditions paying close attention to rules regarding guarantee, refund and replacement policies. Read up extensively before using an international site as their rules and regulations vary. Go for hybrid shopping. It is a method that places the interest of the buyer at the apex, making sure that at no point does the buyer find himself in a fix. Several sites such as www.groupon.com, www.koovs.comand www.mastsale.com offer this solution to erase all confusion. They offer the best deals on a variety of products and services in a user friendly manner promising you the best of both worlds, that is, you make a choice sitting in your living space, at your comfort, any time of the day pay online just for the product or the service with no hidden or extra charges and get a coupon for your purchase. Following which you have the luxury to walk into the concerned retail store and pick up your purchase in person, thus eliminating the fear of any fault in the product which can be rectified by instantly replacing it. Shopping online is the gateway to an easier means to achieving a material end. All you need is to click away to glory in order to buy what you always wanted but dreaded the endless traffic and the wastage of precious time and money. It is user friendly as it allows the customer to shop anytime of the day, offering the best deals in terms of variety and discounted prices. One time an online user makes shopping always a pleasure.
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