Nowadays, online shopping is becoming more and more accessible for everyone. It is not only accessible, but sometimes even more preferable than dragging yourself from one shop to another.
Instead of wasting time by physically going to several shops to find what we need, now we prefer doing the same thing at home, behind our computers, in our fuzzy slippers (or not) by a couple of simple clicks on the mouse. In the beginning, online shopping was only for a select few, but with the creation and success of the World Wide Web Browser, it became more popular, because of its undeniable comforts. The first commerce site was an online book store, created by Charles Stack in 1992, called Books.com. Shortly after, in 1994, Jeff Bezos joined in and launched Amazon.com. Later on, as progress in this field increased, big efforts were made to build a website-based service called Online Banking.
This was a great step in e-commerce development, as it ultimately allowed safe, effective online purchases without credit and minimized fraud risk. After these achievements, the next big development was the introduction of an online pizza shop by Pizza Hut, which made the online shopping not only convenient but also tasty.
As these developments came to pass, the target audience pool for online shopping increased by leaps and bounds. Online shops started changing their primary demographic from upper-class male to men and women of the middle class. For instance, in USA there were very few women online shoppers in the early years on the Internet, but since 2001 women have been 52.8% of all users.
Yes, the number of online shoppers is increasing, but the question still exists whether this is a positive or negative tendency. At first glance, it may seem very practical, but it may also pose a risk. According to sociological studies, online shopping is the most predictable way to shop. A shopper knows exactly what he/she wants, is able to do a website search for it, and able to see exactly how much the product will cost, etc. There are the ever convenient features in online shopping, that make it a breeze to purchase items online. Shopping carts, for one, will allow you to store items you are interested in purchasing and continue browsing for other items. Also, it’s common now for travelers to buy tickets online, as a result of services offered on some traveling websites. These services make purchasing tickets quick and easy, you are able to view competitor prices side by side, and are able to customize your trip details (i.e.: hotel accommodations, flight, car rental) according to your preferences and what you can afford. From this point of view, online shopping is quite spectacular.
Meanwhile, however, there are also some points which call the incontestable power of online shopping into question. Besides its primary function, shopping is also a way of socialization: an important process for any human being. In addition to this, people generally get rid of negative energy and depression by going to shops. The same is practically impossible while online shopping.
Ultimately, it is up to the individual shopper to decide whether to shop online or not. It’s also up to the individual retailer to decide whether they want to offer the quick, convenient, sterile, impersonal online store or sticking to the good old traditional method of face to face customer service. It is however nice to have the option of both!
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