I am hearing a fair bit about the rise in online shopping this christmas. I do remember hearing this for a few years running now. So, what is th lure of the internet for shopping? I myself have moved almost totally onto online shopping. This would be a total statement was it not for the fact every time I seem to order from supermarkets they get our orders wrong. Bar the hiccups of replacement items which all the major supermarkets seem to have a problem surrounding soya milk and their logical swap of cows milk (not overly helpful considering my husband is on a diary free diet); there are many reasons to plumb for the online shopping rather than the real world insanity that is increased this time of year.
I have now managed to get all of my pressie shopping done not only for under what I had budgeted, but also a number of weeks before the rush. Personally, I have never been one of those liking shopping people. The whole experience grates on me and apart from always ending up in a coffee shop to gain some sanity and caffiene, I can not think of anything else I will miss if I never have to go into town again. Online you don’t get crowds, you don’t end up having the urge to use a gun to get to the front of the queue and you don’t end up cold, grumpy and depressed.
The online shopping experience of course varies depending on where you shop. I myself have yet to have any real problems with either ebay or amazon. I do know of a few who have and now vow against them. As with any shop the online shops are no different and the chances of being fleeced may be more publicised, but when you are dealing with purchasing there is a number of things that can and sometimes do go wrong. Thing is if you follow the simple security golden padlock steps and actually engage your brain before clicking a checkout, you are reducing the risks and bringing them inline with any real world shopping purchase. I would also stress bothering to go with credit card insurance for online fraud is also a must if you plan to do any online transaction.
I am happy that more people are realising that shopping online is for everyone and that more and more I see people knowing a bit more about it and going into purchasing with their eyes open. Once the supermarkets get their act together on the substitution of goods I will probably even turn to that for my groceries again. When it comes down to it I hate shops and I loathe shopping so to switch for me isn’t really a difficult decision. If offline shops want to keep the custom then they will have to use both medium for selling and look at the experience they offer on both. There is a large amount of people who will still shop in the real world for the experience of shopping and this is where I see the divide really being drawn. For me, I will stick to online and look forward as companies think more about their online stores and increase this experience and functionality along with their high street stores.
