The number of people who now shop online has increased over the past few years. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages to a customer of shopping online rather than travelling to a mall to shop.
Answers
Advantages of Online Shopping
Point-of-sale advantages include stores offering no shipping charges and free ship-to-store options. A lot of online stores do not pass on sales tax (unless required by the state) to customers, which can add up to substantial savings for those shoppers who buy primarily online.
- Other advantages of shopping online include:
- The stores are almost never closed.
- Shoppers can shop in their pajamas.
- Online shoppers save on gas.
- There are no parking hassles.
- Online shoppers rarely have to deal with aggressive salespeople.
- There are no annoying crowds.
- Online shoppers do not have to wait in long lines to check out.
- Many online retailers allow shoppers to post reviews about the products that they purchased.
- There are more choices for buying refurbished products.
- Online sales representatives often receive more intensive product training than those at the local stores.
- Online sales representatives often have more flexibility in making decisions such as applying coupons, meeting competitors' prices and expediting shipping at no extra charge.
Disadvantages of Shopping Online
Sometimes a deal that looks great falls short of what has been advertised. Communicating dissatisfaction can be difficult online and often takes enormous patience and tenacity to achieve satisfaction. Problem-solving face-to-face with local store employees is often faster and more satisfying. Contacting the next level of management is much easier at local stores than online.
Other disadvantages of shopping online include:
- Online shoppers do not have the ability to physically inspect or try on the items being considered for purchase.
- Online shoppers sometimes lose the power to negotiate the price and payment terms that may exist in local stores.
- Items ordered online are sometimes back-ordered, but shoppers may not find out until weeks later. This is particularly problematic when buying gifts.
- Online shoppers do not always know if a site is a legitimate retail store and if is safe to shop.
- Restocking and shipping costs are often charged on returns.
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