Shopping is an experience many people despise. Others live for it. There’s something to it that is different from just buying stuff. It’s the choice you’re given, it’s the many options that you have and the fact that you usually combine it with a walk and chat with a friend or a relative. But as the Internet turned into an essential part of our everyday life it also changed the way we shop. It’s not just the Internet but mobile technology in particular. It is one thing to shop online when you are at home or at work but it’s a whole another story when you can flip out your phone while riding on the subway in London and order something within two taps of the screen. Mobile technology has revolutionized how we do many things, not only shopping, but also sports betting, ordering food or a taxi etc.
Amazon and Ebay were the first global websites to sell various types of items. In the beginning there were only auctions for used items. Basically these websites were initially substituting newspaper listings. Later on companies and manufacturers started using them and the „auction”option wasn’t the only one. Users were allowed to buy products instantly at a set price. And thus online shopping started blooming. The possibilities are endless. When you logon to a website you save so much more time than going in and out of stores at a mall. Accessibility is really key here. It’s what makes this business profitable. People are easily manipulated. When you have to get dressed, go out and walk into fitting rooms to change clothes for hours and hours the thrill of shopping slowly dies. Also having to physically take out some money and give it away is never a positive thing in people’s heads. It’s just a little bit of a turn off. When you go to a store you simply can’t buy things on an impulse. As you sit at home and you see an attractive photo of something that you don’t mind having with all the explanations it’s easy to make a decision. When you pay with your credit/debit card this feeling of parting ways with some money is never that strong. Besides there’s something that makes you feel warm and fuzzy when you expect a shipment to arrive at the local post office.
Many websites have been founded lately. China has been dominating lately with websites such as Aliexpress. They offer practically everything there. Things range from clothes for men, women and kids through consumer electronics all the way to home & garden. And there are constantly some discounts. Add the fact that 90% of the time you get free shipping and you get the ultimate online shopping experience. No need to pay extra for something that you can get at half price. Furthermore during holidays these discounts get ridiculous. Online stores (across the UK such as newegg.com) even organize their own “Black Friday”. You don’t have to go and camp in front of stores (just sleep in front of the PC) and you’ll still be able to buy what you need. Aliexpress holds its biggest shopping event on11.11 every year. Prices go down to up to the astonishing 95%. Now that’s what I call cheap. They also organize special listings. Mobile phones get their prices slashed in half (even iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy S6) but they got only a couple of hundred units available. So they open a certain offer at a previously announced time and the principle is first come, first serve. Within seconds all the cool phones are sold. That’s the equivalent of pushing and shoving people at the entrance of a Walmart but here’s it’s achieved only by clicking some mouse buttons. You don’t need to leave you home.
However, many people are still reluctant to fully trust online shopping. Of course there are some drawbacks but depending on how significant of a purchase you are trying to accomplish you can just let the tension go. When you buy clothes you can’t try them on and that could become a problem. The seller will usually provide a size chart but you simply have no idea how it’s going to look on you once you put it on. But if you buy t-shirts or even jackets it should be fine – no one is making you order a suit online. I personally never order pants because it’s impossible to guess if they will fit me. Second of all people are afraid of their financial security. They hear stories about fraud every day. Each time they enter their credit card number they think someone’s collecting that data and will one day clear out their bank accounts. In reality paying online is safe nowadays. There are plenty of protections that these websites will assume but even if something goes wrong and money ends up missing from your account, you can usually freeze it and void the transaction even if your information has been stolen.
However, many people are still reluctant to fully trust online shopping. Of course there are some drawbacks but depending on how significant of a purchase you are trying to accomplish you can just let the tension go. When you buy clothes you can’t try them on and that could become a problem. The seller will usually provide a size chart but you simply have no idea how it’s going to look on you once you put it on. But if you buy t-shirts or even jackets it should be fine – no one is making you order a suit online. I personally never order pants because it’s impossible to guess if they will fit me. Second of all people are afraid of their financial security. They hear stories about fraud every day. Each time they enter their credit card number they think someone’s collecting that data and will one day clear out their bank accounts. In reality paying online is safe nowadays. There are plenty of protections that these websites will assume but even if something goes wrong and money ends up missing from your account, you can usually freeze it and void the transaction even if your information has been stolen.