Online shopping has become increasingly popular in the urban population. It is a great way to shop, as the products you purchase come to the concerned address within a specific period of time, and saves you from the hassles to get to the stores every time you need something. Along with that, online shopping is popular because of their good deals and discounts in India. However, there are some negatives aspects to it as well. In this article we will widely discuss the various pros and cons of online shopping in India, to help you shop your products a little more tactfully.
Pros
- Saves time and money: the prime reason why people love to shop online is to save their time. Probably you get some free time right after dinner, and all you could scroll through some online shopping apps to see the deals of the day. You purchase something and have a glorious sleep! Thus, it saves time and it is pretty convenient because you can shop whenever you like.
- Discounts and offers: the Indian market loves discounts and offers. Online shopping gives you the best of deals possible and saves excess money that you’d probably spend at the stores. They often come with coupon offers which give you further benefits. There are some sites which have specific deals for everyday, and those come with the best discount benefits.
- Comparative shopping: there are multiple e-commerce brands selling the same products, but they all have different price ranges. When you have a particular product in mind, you would like to surf through different sites and find the one which would cost you least. Some sites could also have offers on that particular product, and you might just be lucky enough to grab it!
- 24*7 open: as long as you have sound internet connection and proper access to it, you can shop at any odd hour of the day. The e-commerce sites don’t shut down by11 p.m., they stay up with you for your convenient time and all you need to do is surf through! You might be having a sleepless night and you suddenly remember that you need a dress for the party next week. Simply use your smartphone and browse through numerous brands, designs and colors of the dress you’d like to purchase. Sometimes we are in real hurry and all that we want to do is get our purchases done swiftly. Keep adding the products to the online cart and carry on your work. When you get enough time to browse through the site, get back and find your product and not re-search it again.
- Sizes and kinds: many a time you don’t get apt sizes and variety of designs at the stores. This isn’t quite common with online shopping. There are numerous designs, brands and even sizes which they allocate for you. There are more chances of getting a unique print or style of an attire when you purchase online, that what you get at stores.
- Privacy: one of the greatest advantages of online shopping is that it is done in private. There are many products like undergarments, products for personal hygiene, which we hesitate to buy from the stores. You can do these shopping online and cut down on the discomforts otherwise. There won’t be people snooping around and even when the delivery comes, they are sealed and wrapped up thus the concerned person wouldn’t know what’s insider either. Online shopping respects privacy as its best!
- Don’t have to drag your kids: sometimes it is a real challenge to shop with kids along, especially if they are very small.
- No salesmen: salesmen are usually helpful, but sometimes they are very nagging and manipulating. Shopping should be one’s own experience and something to be done with convenience. We hate to have been popped up with numerous salesmen when we ourselves are in a dilemma to choose between two products. Sometimes the entire purchasing process become more confusing and we end up not purchasing the product we had initially demanded for. Online shopping leaves you alone, with no nagging salesmen, and you can do your comparisons at your own comfort.
- No long queues: Being in India, you can imagine the common rush before festive seasons and the crowd at stores! One real disadvantage of shopping on stores is the additional time spent waiting at the queues for billing. Online shopping cuts down on that time as well.
- Perfect to send gifts to distant places: this is one of the best advantages of online shopping. You can simply buy something and send it across to your friend or relative, who does not stay in the same state, or who you cannot meet often. For this, you should obviously opt for card payments.
- Reviews: most sites have the facilities on putting in reviews of people who have purchased the product. This is very helpful for a new buyer, as he can simply scroll down and see what reviews have been given for the choice of product he just made. The reviews would include the features and functioning of the product along with the authenticity, promptness of delivery, etc. All these sorts off feedbacks help you have a confident choice on buying a product.
- Payment methods: with a variety of payment methods, shopping becomes more convenient. You can opt for cash on delivery and simply not sign-in to the sites or share your pin numbers. You also get to save money as online shopping has comparatively been proven to be cheaper than what you buy from the stores. Apart from the deals and offers, you are saved from the conveyance charges to get to the stores and you can comfortably sit back and do your shopping.
Cons
- Could be surprising: one of the major disadvantages of online shopping would include the surprise factor. When you order something you look at the images and read the description, but when the order delivers you’re expectations are not met! Sometimes the texture of the product may vary from what you thought, sometimes the color is different and sometimes the style itself doesn’t look like how you thought it’d be. It is best to choose some reputed e-commerce brands than some lesser known stores whose credit ability could be in doubt.
- Substandard good: sometimes they deliver you duplicate products or sub-standard ones. These happen mostly in case of electronics, so if you see a highly decreased/discounted amount, chances are that the product is fake! Maybe you ordered for a Samsung charger and they delivered you a duplicate product, which looks similar to the original one. On complaint, they do promise to replace the product for you, but would you rely on the seller again? Read the reviews and shop from a renowned e-commerce brand to get authentic products. Finally, make sure that the hallmarks and bills are duly correct.
- Fittings: you might get a variety of sizes but you might not be sure which one would fit you perfect. Maybe medium was what you thought but large was what you actually needed. These circumstances arrive because clothes are made of different material and have different look and feel. This could stress you but there sure have proper return and replacement policies provided by proper e-commerce brands. This might make the purchase lengthier and isn’t advised for prompt needs.
- You cannot see or touch the product: the prime reason why online shopping went into losses initially was people preferred to see and buy their products and not rely on online transaction. As lives got busier and e-commerce excelled with their marketing strategies, the scenes started looking different. Well, this still is a major issue, because looking, feeling, trailing a product from stores is always more convenient and hassle-free.
- Payment methods: many products do not have cash on delivery facilities. You can neither hand them a cheque over, which you can do at various shopping stores.
- Cost of return shipping: most sellers promise replacement and payback policies, but they do not return the shipping cost. If you return something to the seller, you might have to bear the shipping costs yourself. Make sure you are aware of all the terms and conditions before placing and purchasing an order.
- Payments frauds: online payments are getting stricter and secure day by day, but these conditions have ascended by a lot of scams. Credit card information has been hacked, and thus, it is very important to be careful about online payments. Make sure ‘http’ is mentioned in the URL while you are making payments. You must also use online virtual keyboards while entering your passwords during OPT authentications, as they have added security procedures. Finally, you must also check if you’re computer has anti-virus security as online shopping needs internet protection. Try and avoid shopping from commonly used computers of computers as cyber cafes.
- Relying on the internet: every product has a different page to be displayed at, so you have to give equal attention to each of them, and open a tab for each of them too. You also have to rely on sound internet, as the slower the net the boring your shopping experience will be!
- Time consuming delivery: you might shop with rapidity, but you do not get the product at hand at that very moment, unlike shopping from stores. Your delivery takes around a week to come at your doors, and sometimes we really lose our patience with the anticipation!
- Hassles on return: the returning policies are often full of hassles. Even they are hassle-free they’ll at least be time consuming. Once your product goes back to the seller, they take some more time to refund the money.
Online shopping is getting more and more advanced day by day, but there are some pros and cons which would always remain. We hope that the above tips would be beneficial enough for you to make proper purchases from now and onwards. It is better to shop smart and get maximum utility of your time and experience. Shop for reputed sites and be sure about the authenticity of the products.
Things to remember while shopping online
- Quality ratings are aspects of online shopping that you simply cannot avoid. You have to be sure about the words you read on a merchandise description and interpret them in the right way. There are terms like new, fair and refurbished mentioned on products. These will define the quality of the particular thing you buy. You should specifically look out for the stars which accurately summarizes the quality ratings.
- Don’t go in for quick buys. It is more important to stress on a product you buy online that what you get from stores. You need to make sure that it is actually what you are looking for. Pictures and descriptions of products should be properly analyzed so that you are deceived and dissatisfied. Read the product description well and figure it out on your mind. It should meet your expectation to disappointment. Value for money should always be on mind, even when you order something inexpensive. The little bit amount spend could have had a better alternative usage, so it is best to opt for a product which would assure you satisfaction.
- Make sure that you are verified about the timing of shipping. A product, depending on the brand you buy from, can vary from 1 to 15 days or more. It is a vital part which doesn’t work when your need is urgent. Make sure that you check the delivery dates and you are also assured that the brand would deliver you within the promised time.
- Finally, make sure that you read the return policy. If you are not happy with the merchandise, you would have to go for a longer span to return, but you need to first make sure that the policy to return is hassle-free. Sound process of return policy reflects the quality of the brand.
