Online shopping has taken over the
world by a storm. So much so that start up e-commerce portals have
made many people millionaires and even billionaires. In fact, many of
these start ups have a higher valuation than other counterparts that
are decades old.
The question comes as to why has there
been such a sudden and meteoric rise in online shopping? The biggest
factor that makes online shopping such an attractive proposition to
many people is the fact that you can shop from anywhere. All you need
is an internet connection and maybe a payment gateway like a credit
or debit card or internet banking (which isn’t always required
anyways). This fact appeals to lots of working professionals. I mean
who would like to waste their Sundays going to a market and shopping
for hours just to buy a gadget? This freedom of logging in and
shopping is something that cannot be duplicated.
Online shopping has emerged a lot from
its “dark ages”. It isn’t only for those who have credit and
debit cards. The cash on delivery system is something that has
attracted a large segment of people who are averse to putting their
financial details on the internet. This has given another huge boost
to the online shopping business.
Another tremendous benefit for
consumers that online shopping provides is the cost factor. For any
company operating out of a physical store, there are tremendous costs
involved. After all, maintenance of brick and mortar stores does take
a lot of money. These costs are then passed on to the customers. In
case of Online Shopping Portals, a huge portion of money is saved
because no physical stores are employed. This cost saving is then
passed on to the customers. So why would a customer spend time and go
to a physical store to get a product that they can order online from
the comfort of their own home and get for a far cheaper rate.
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| The New Trend in Shopping- E-Shopping! |
It is advantages like these that push
consumers towards online shopping. However, there are certain
advantages to offline shopping; one gets to communicate with people
and physically handle the products that they want to buy. However,
online shopping portals are trying to bridge this gap by providing
facilities like chat and forums that help customers communicate with
each other to find out the best products as well as the best deals.
Another major factor in popularizing
online shopping is mobile internet. With more and more people using
internet on their mobile devices, online shopping has never been so
easy. With large market penetration and even more growth potential,
we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg when it comes to online
shopping. This is sure to be an interesting ride.
