SolveYourProblem Article Series: Online Shopping
Teach Me To Shop Smarter Online
5
Disadvantages of Online Shopping
The preference of whether to shop online or
in person is one that is very individual and is different for
everyone. The choice to e-shop may even differ within each
person depending on what is being shopped for and what time
of the year it is. The major issue to either choice is of course,
preference. The technology of the Internet gives people the
option of shopping online if for some reason they do not or
cannot go out into the “real” stores. This form of shopping
did not exist a few years ago. Although you might think that
online shopping would be the easier choice of the two, shopping
at a major known store is definitely to your advantage.
There are
5 main disadvantages to online shopping:
You
do not see in person the item that is being sold. This
can include that ability to try on clothing of being able to
see the true size of the product. Many times items that are
sitting in a warehouse get bumped around and begin to show
signs of wear and tear. When buying online there is no guarantee
that the item you get will not be one of those that are dented
or otherwise worn in some way. Along, the same lines, you do
not deal directly with the salespeople as well. If you have
a major problem that you need to take care of immediately you
cannot deal with it in person. If you are simply a people person,
shopping online will not be for you because you will not be
participating with anyone but yourself.
During
times of heavy Internet use or on extremely smaller online
websites, you may retrieve a site that is loading
slowly which can take a lot of time spent waiting and even cause you
to get bumped off of the internet. This can happen at any point
in the shopping experience and cause you to waste a lot of
time trying to get back on the site and also trying to figure
out what of your information was saved, if any. E-shopping
is not for the shopper with a short temper.
When you shop online you
do not get the instant gratification that comes with purchasing an item at the store and bringing
it home with you. You do not get to use it or wear it right
away but have to wait – many times several weeks. This wait
can be accompanied by shipping costs, which equates to basically
paying to wait for your purchase.
Seasonal
shopping online can be difficult because in order
to avoid the problem of items being back ordered or out of
stock you need to begin shopping several months ahead of time.
People are not always ready to start shopping this early and
do not always know what they need to buy. This is certainly
something to consider when planning your holiday shopping.
For some people security is an issue. To make certain that
the site you are ordering from is secure; follow the recommended
checks and balances to determine the authenticity and security.
This includes checking the certificate of authenticity, making
sure there is a physical address and working telephone number
listed and as you navigate through the secure section of the
website watch the pictures of locks up in the corner of the
dialogue boxes. Closed locks mean secure information while
open locks mean that the area you are in is not as secure as
it could be. Another clue as to whether or not the website
you are on is legitimate is how professional the site looks.
If you are on a site that looks unprofessional and does not
give any information about the product(s) this could be a red
flag. Websites that give a lot of consumer testimonials but
no other explanations can possibly be over compensating for
having less than adequate product and need to be checked further
before purchasing from them.
There are both advantages and disadvantages to Internet shopping.
The decision to shop online is a very individual decision and
may change for you depending upon what you are looking to buy
and what time of the year it is. A solution to the fear of
security when e-shopping is to purchase from major known chains
of stores and online stores that have been around for a long
time and have a long history of contented customers.
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SolveYourProblem.com
: 2008
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