Despite the fact that ecommerce is growing at a rapid pace, there are still some people who are on the fence about doing their shopping online.
Sure, justifying such a decision is sensible. After all, you cannot try the goods in person when you are ordering online. And it is not like you can trust reviews of strangers.
With that said, there are still plenty of reasons why online shopping is so popular. If you want to find out what those are, continue reading.
Freedom of Choice
Let’s start with the freedom of choice. Say that you are going clothes shopping and visit a local store. The odds are that the available products will be quite limited.
On the other hand, shopping on the internet offers you a plethora of options. In some cases, you have the freedom to customize clothes to your liking. For example, if you are interested in embroidered hats and beanies, t-shirts, or face masks, you should have an easy time finding a store that specializes in such goods.
A similar thing applies to other stuff. The odds are that you might not even find what you are looking for because there are no sellers nearby. And traveling who knows how far just to purchase something is clearly not a solution in most if not all cases.
No Queues
You do not have to worry about standing in line when shopping online. So long as the website has a decent loading speed and no issues in the checkout process, the shopping experience is smooth and fast.
Some people go as far as shopping very early in the morning or late at night to avoid queues. This is not a concern when shopping on the internet.
Availability
Availability is another advantage that many shoppers take for granted, particularly when they are used to it.
Online websites usually have a 24/7 uptime, meaning that you can shop whenever you like. That is not really a thing with physical stores. There are some exceptions, but 24/7 stores are hardly common, and even if they operate all the time, do not expect to find what you are looking for.
Delivery Arrangements
Online shopping means that you need to wait for deliveries, but you also have to consider the advantage of the fact that you can arrange the delivery.
It is common to have a delivery to your home. However, if you are not able to pick up the package yourself, you might need to look for an alternative. Perhaps someone can collect on your behalf? Or maybe you have a parcel box for delivery drops?
Most delivery services also often collaborate with drop services. There are dedicated storage parcels that function as a dropping point. Customers receive information from a delivery company and can collect packages at a designated pickup point.
Anonymity
Shopping online protects you from getting exposed. For instance, if you want to remain anonymous shopping for a birthday gift, you might run into someone you know when in a physical store, which might ruin your surprise.
Online shopping is different. You finish the transaction when nobody is looking and delete the browsing history.
Price Comparisons
Shopping in a physical store has its limitations because you do not have that many options. But there is more.
When you shop on the internet, you can open multiple browser tabs and quickly compare the prices to find the best deal. In fact, there are dedicated browser extensions that can do the work for you, which makes everything even easier.
It is common among online business owners to seek ways that allow for business scaling. Offering competitive prices is one of the methods which benefits consumers.
Lack of Sales Pressure
Sales pressure is not really a thing online if you ignore subliminal FOMO messages and ads. For the latter, do not forget about using an ad blocker to make things easier for yourself.
Physical stores, meanwhile, are a bit different in this regard. Some of them have annoying and pushy staff that will try to persuade you into spending money.
If you are trying to have a good time walking around and browsing the goods, the whole experience can get ruined quickly by the store’s staff. Online shopping, on the other hand, is not like that. Even if you have no intention of purchasing something, you can browse the goods for as long as you wish.
International Shipping
International shipping is great if you want to purchase something that is not available in your country.
Sure, there is the downside of having to wait for a long time, but the option is still better than not having access in the first place.