What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Shopping

Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Shopping – Online Shopping is the process of buying goods & services from the Internet. Nowadays, it is highly recommended as it is very convenient to buys things online. There are many options for the items, affordable prices & easy returns as well. It is a very simple to get things online. It gives 24*7 accessibility, wide range of products, and a comfort for shopping from home. From Fashion to Home Needs, From Gadgets to Sports Equipment, you can buy almost anything Online. There are many sites available for online shopping such as amazon, flipkart, walmart, myntra, etc.

However, if there are advantages of online shopping then, there are some disadvantages too. So let’s have a look at some of the Pros and Cons of Online Shopping.

Some of the Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Shopping;

Advantages of Online Shopping:

1. Convenience-

It is very convenient to buy goods online as you don’t have to go out every time to buy things. A time saving process, available 24*7, provide a wide range of items to choose without going outside in traffic. It is a major benefit of online shopping. It saves time & efforts. Online Shopping made shopping very easy as we don’t need to stuck in lines for the payments. We can shop online from anywhere as per our comfort. In online shopping we can easily do the transactions & can cancel the order, also we get the detailed information about the products with discounts & affordable prices.

2. No Crowds-

During festive seasons, weekends or holidays crowd in the market is very common. It is very inconvenient and irritating to shop during festivals or during holidays in the crowdy area. It become a very huge headache & hectic to shop in the crowdy environment. But with the help of online shopping, we can avoid these kind of situation very easily by buying goods or products online. Also we don’t need to stand in line to make payments. There is no need to do unusual battles for parking.

3. No Pressure-

Sometimes we all face these kinds of situations that shopkeeper pressurizes us to buy the item which we don’t require or we don’t need. In the end we use to purchase the items which we actually don’t like or don’t require. But in online shopping we don’t be forced to buy the things. There is no pressure to buy unnecessarily things. We can easily buys goods which we want to buy without any kind of pressure or something. We can easily purchase those products which we need.

4. Saves Time-

In traditional shopping, we have to stand in lines during rush or crowd while making payments. But unlike in online shopping, we can easily order or purchase the items without wasting time. This will results in saving travelling time. It gives a facility to look the products by entering some keywords or by using search engines.

5. Saves Money-

In online shopping, there are many offers & discounts to attract the customers to shop online. Online sites offers promotional codes & sales which are not available at stores. These offers & discounts are a very useful as they are very affordable as compare to the offline shopping.

6. Reviews of Product-

Most of the consumers read reviews online before buying anything online just to get to know about the some basic knowledge about the product by the customer who already using it. Online reviews help us to get the inside information of the product in which we are interested. For example, we are going to purchase a cloth, we can easily see the reviews of the product, about the material, its durability from the persons who are already using it. Also we can see the images posted by the customers wearing that particular product. From this we can do smart shopping.

7. A Wide Range of Varieties-

In Online shopping, we get more & more varieties of the same product. Hence it is the best advantage of online shopping. Byer is having multiple options for shopping from a single place. From size to color, there are multiple options to purchase online. A large volume of stock is available in online shopping. By online shopping we can purchase international brands without spending money on airfare.

8. We can send gifts easily-

A very helpful & interesting advantage of online shopping. Online services helps to send gifts to our relatives & friends. The gift will be packed and shipped by the online venders to the address we mentioned. By this, no one make excuses of long – distancing to not sending cards or gifts.

9. Easy Price Comparison-

Comparing prices is one of the significant advantage of online shopping. In online shopping, it is very easy to compare the prices & research the products. Online sites makes it easier to compare the online price with the market prices.

10. Accessibility & Online tracking-

It is one of the meaningful advantage of online shopping. We can shop as any time from anywhere as it is convenient at any place & any time, available 24*7. By online tracking we can know about the status of our product & its delivery dates.

So these are some of the Advantages of Online Shopping. Now let’s give a look on Disadvantages of Online Shopping.

Disadvantages of Online Shopping:

1. Risk of Fraud:

There are risks such as hacking, identity thefts, credit card & other scams during online shopping. Online fraud is very common in today’s time. There are multiple fake e-commerce sites available so always be careful while doing payments online. These frauds can be done by calls or messages, so always be careful while attending any unknown call & clicking any kind of link you receive in you messages.

2. Delay in Delivery:

This is very common & known disadvantage of online shopping. While shopping online, buyers has to face delay in their deliveries. It hardly takes 5 minutes to order something online but it takes 5 – 7 days for the delivery of that product. While, if we purchase offline there is no delaying & we get the things instantly.

3. Less Community Contact:

Online Shopping decreases the community contact. If we always prefer online shopping, we never leave the home for offline shopping. This can be good for a while but, sometimes we have to go outside, to talk to new people, to get knowledge from the surroundings, to take some fresh air, to know what’s going outside, show involvement in the community and to do other outside activities. A computer can never make a good connection with human.

4. Lack of Touch With Items:

In online shopping we cannot touch the items to get the exact idea about the quality of the product. It can be possible only after the delivery of the product. Moreover, if the products aren’t examined properly, especially in the case of clothes, there is a risk of having bad quality of the fabric.

5. Lack of Shopping Experience:

In online shopping, there is absence of marketing visit due to which consumers miss out the actual shopping experience like directly interacting with merchandise. This version conveys that the lack of physical presence in stores can result in missing out on aspects of the shopping experience that involve direct interaction with products and environments.

6. Faulty Products:

In online shopping there is a risk factor of getting wrong, used or rugged products. It is one of major demerit of online shopping. In online shopping, a product is collected from a packaging unit and it further goes through various different locations during transit, & due to this product we received sometimes, is broken.

7. Returns can be Complicated:

Although, returns are easy in online shopping, but there are some online shopping sites which are complicated for the buyers. There are multiple questions asked by the consumer for returning the product such as form fill, send images, etc & hence this may irritate the person & mostly they avoid it.

8. No Support for Local Retailers:

If everyone start online shopping on regular basis, the business of local stores will come to a stop. As a result, all the local stores will get closed. In some places, the rise of e-commerce has had negative impact to the local retailers, such as job losses and adverse effects on local economies.

9. Delivery charges:

In online shopping, we have to give extra charge for the delivery as comparison of buying things for the local stores. It is one of the most significant disadvantages of online shopping. Sometimes the delivery fees increases the total cost of your purchase, specially for the bulky items which are meant to be delivered in proper manner & require special handling.

10. Environmental Impact is a Challenge in Online Shopping:

When we order online or shop online, the products which are used in the packaging are mostly plastic or non-biodegradable which can harm the environment & leads to pollution.

Conclusion: Online Shopping provides a number of benefits, such as unparalleled convenience, a wide range of products & the ability to compare prices easily from the home comfortably. It also provides a opportunity of savings by offering discounts & promotions. However, it comes with its own set of challenges, including the inability to physically purchase products, potential environmental impacts from excessive packaging and risks related to privacy and security. As Online Shopping is becoming a continuous practice, one should be aware of the drawbacks & advantages of online shopping as well. By understanding What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Shopping, one can be aware before making any decision of buying online, and manage their online shopping experiences more effectively.

Online shopping will continue to evolve, and staying informed will help individuals to enjoy a better and more responsible shopping experience. But, Online Shoppers must be aware of the Disadvantages of Online Shopping, as they are going to invest their hard-earned money on buying.