online and traditional shopping essay

Online Shopping vs. Traditional Shopping Essay

Introduction.

The advent of internet shopping in the late nineties created a revolution in the retail industry. Benefits that were previously inaccessible to the masses became a reality. Today, buyers can get the latest I-Pad from Apple at the click of a button. They can purchase the latest designer-colognes from Paris, even if they live in New York. One, therefore, wonders whether online shopping will replace traditional shopping. Through a contrast and comparison of these two shopping channels, it can then be possible to answer the latter question.

Comparisons and contrast

Some of the most advent supporters of online shopping are environmentalists. Many of them assert that online shopping eliminates the need for consumers to transport themselves to a physical store. This saves on fuel charges and paper. Similarly, traditional shopping from a supermarket or in a mall can also save on plenty of energy costs.

Customers can get everything they require under one roof, thus eliminating the need to transport themselves from one point to another. This saves on fuel and other charges that emanate from physical movement of people for shopping. On the other hand, these two channels differ in terms of their environmental-friendliness.

Individuals can use the Postal service to ship their online commodities. Since the postal service is bound to come to a certain neighborhood anyway, then fuel costs can be minimized. Such economies are unavailable in traditional brick and motor stores. Furthermore, one can buy multiple items from distant locations and save volumes of fuel. Traditional retail stores would require one to drive physically to the concerned store, even though it might be located all the way in China.

Both types of shopping avenues provide buyers with a certain level of comfort and ease. Customers go to online stores in order to avoid the overcrowding and hurling that is synonymous to traditional stores. This is quite helpful during the holiday seasons. Buyers can transform their shopping into a pleasant experience by simply avoiding these crowded areas. Similarly, some customers go to traditional stores in order to enjoy a different type of comfort.

They approach these physical stores in order to access immediate help from sales persons concerning certain items. Shopping from traditional stores allows retailers to consult about the features of a certain product and this causes them a certain level of ease and comfort. On the other hand, traditional retailers cannot offer the same level of comfort that online stores can.

In online shopping, buyers simply have to select an item and pay; everything else is handled by the internet firm. Conversely, shoppers from physical stores have to plan for their transportation to and from the brick and mortar store. If the products they are purchasing are bulky, then they must make special arrangements to carry the item to their homes.

All channels of shopping furnish customers with information about the features of products. It is possible to know about the sizes, features, and costs of products in online and traditional shopping. Conversely, the dependability of the information differs substantially depending on whether one is using online shopping or traditional methods. Many customers have complained about misleading information or unavailable information in online stores.

Buyers who need advise about using a certain product or need to inquire about its capabilities in traditional stores can easily get this information from sales persons. On the contrary, one cannot get this information easily from internet forums. Some websites may have contact numbers or e-chat forums; however, these are not available in all of them. Online shoppers only have pictures and product descriptions to know everything they need to know about a product.

This method may work for certain types of products that have low prices and minimal modifications. However, the same approach may not work for expensive and highly customizable products such as cars or houses. Few customers would buy houses based solely on a product description or picture they saw; many would want to see the spacing and features in that house. Automobile purchasers would also need to test-drive items before they can walk away with them. In this regard, internet channels fall short because they cannot provide personalized information or experiences.

It is possible to compare prices in these two avenues. One can walk from shop to shop and find the best offers in one’s location. The same thing happens in internet shopping. One can visit a number of websites and compare the prices offered by these entities. In contrast, it is much easier to compare prices on the internet than in physical locations. If a store was located in a different city, it would be impractical to drive all the way to that store simply to find out what their prices are. Therefore, online shopping is superior in this regard.

These two platforms are both vulnerable to theft or fraud. In physical stores, criminals may organize a massive robbery and this can cause substantial losses to the concerned entrepreneurs. Alternatively, customers may shoplift or get away with non payment in physical stores. Similarly, theft can occur in online stores when an alleged retailer either purports to sell non – existent products or sells counterfeit or inferior goods to clients.

The main difference between these two types of channels is that in physical stores, customers do most of the stealing. Furthermore, they use relatively simple methods to carry out these activities. On the other hand, the internet has created a new breed of wrongdoers. Most fraudsters are fake sellers rather than buyers.

A number of them tend to use very sophisticated methods to lure their ‘clients’ and defraud them. It takes a lot of intelligence and security measures to guard against these individuals. Therefore, buyers must be wary of these challenges when they select online shopping as their preferred method of purchasing.

Cases of missing information exist in these two approaches. A customer may purchase something from a brick – and – mortar store, and this item may not be easily examinable at the retail store. This may make it easy to find flaws in it. For example, someone may purchase a television set from an electronics shop, and when the buyer gets to his or her house, he or she may find that the keys on the remote control do not work as stated.

Similarly, one may buy a book from Amazon and find that it has several missing pages. These issues occur because sellers may have hidden certain information about their materials. On the flipside, it is easier for retailers to hide information about their products on the internet than in physical stores. Many online customers often complain about the hidden costs that come with internet purchases. Shipping costs and other miscellaneous charges may hide the true price of a certain commodity on the internet.

Furthermore, even the process of purchasing an item on the internet is never as short as retailers claim. One must register, enter a series of personal details, read the privacy policy, and enter details about one’s credit card information. It may take a phone call or an e-chat to find out about certain order details. Therefore, what should have taken fifteen minutes ends up taking forty five or fifty minutes. There are more loopholes on the internet to facilitate missing information as compared to traditional shopping

Internet shopping still has a series of flaws that physical shopping does not. Nonetheless, the convenience and flexibility offered by this method are unrivaled in brick and mortar stores. It is likely that these two methods of shopping will continue to complement each other in the future as the pros and cons of one method are neutralized by another.

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Amazon's Online Shopping and Innovative Delivery
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Online Bill Pay vs. Paying via Postal Mail
Overcoming Challenges in E-Contracting for Effective E-Commerce
E-Commerce in India: Growth, Challenges, and Future Prospects
Electronic Payment Issues in E-Commerce
Starting a New E-Business: Principles and Practices
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IvyPanda. (2020, April 25). Online Shopping vs. Traditional Shopping. https://ivypanda.com/essays/internet-shopping/

"Online Shopping vs. Traditional Shopping." IvyPanda , 25 Apr. 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/internet-shopping/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'Online Shopping vs. Traditional Shopping'. 25 April.

IvyPanda . 2020. "Online Shopping vs. Traditional Shopping." April 25, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/internet-shopping/.

1. IvyPanda . "Online Shopping vs. Traditional Shopping." April 25, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/internet-shopping/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Online Shopping vs. Traditional Shopping." April 25, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/internet-shopping/.

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Online Shopping vs Traditional Shopping, Essay Example

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Even before internet became a widespread phenomenon, futurists used to predict that a day will come when we may shop from the comfort of our homes. It might have seemed a strange idea in those times but now we finally understand what they truly meant. Online commerce has emerged as a serious challenger to traditional brick-and-mortar commerce. Both formats have their own pros and cons and it may be mistake to declare either online shopping or traditional shopping as the superior of the two shopping formats. People have different lifestyles and whether online shopping or traditional shopping may be a better option, depend upon the needs of the individual customers.

Online shopping is a better option when time and prices are the main concerns. Online shopping makes it easier to do quick price-comparison among different online retailers and do so inexpensively. Unlike traditional shopping in which one has to go from store to store for price comparison, online shopping tools allow price comparison among hundreds of online retailers in few seconds. In addition, one can purchase items online from virtually anywhere and anytime of the day as long as there is an internet access. Thus, online shopping may also appeal more to those who have very busy work schedule and cannot afford to spare few hours for traditional shopping. Traditional shopping may appeal more to those who actually like to experience or try the items in person and who enjoy the experience of shopping in mall as much as they enjoy purchasing the items. They view the time spent in traditional shopping also as an opportunity to bond with friends and family. Those who prefer traditional shopping may also care about prices but they have an idea of what they want to pay and do not want to spend too much time and efforts to find the cheapest-possible price. But traditional shoppers may switch to online shopping during difficult economic times because not only online shopping results in better deals, it also allows the shoppers to save on fuel costs. Online retailers understand this which is why many now offer an opportunity to customers to qualify for free shopping.

Whether online shopping and traditional shopping is a better option also depends upon the nature of the goods and services purchased. While online shopping is suitable for many items such as electronics, clothing, and grooming products etc., goods such as perishable food item and big-ticket splurges may be best suited to traditional shopping. Big-ticket splurges are specifically suited to traditional shopping because they often require huge financial investment and require personal inspection and/or test-trials. Some items are so complex or need to be customized that traditional shopping is the only option.

Traditional shopping appeals more when we also enjoy discovering new things in the shopping mall and do not always know what we want to buy. In online shopping, we usually know what we are looking for. But when we know what we want, online retailers have an advantage over traditional retailers. Online retailers do not have to invest in physical infrastructure, thus, they can display lot more varieties on their website than a traditional retailer.

Both online shopping and traditional shopping meet different needs, thus, it is common for most people to employ both shopping formats. Shopping is a lot more than just purchasing goods or services. Online shopping is a relatively new phenomenon, thus, it will continue to evolve and get better over time while traditional shopping format may continue to exist more or less unchanged.

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Compare and Contrast: Online Shopping vs. Traditional Shopping

Comparison point: costs, comparison point: immediacy, comparison point: tangibility, comparison point: convenience, conclusions.

Historically, traditional shopping practices dominated the field of selling and purchasing goods and services. If anyone needed to buy a new pair of shoes, a new dress, or even a new house appliance, they would go to the market, or visit a dedicated store, to make a purchase. While a rewarding experience, it was time-consuming as well as region-locked, with customers from rural areas having to travel great distances to purchase even the most basic of goods (Markham, 2016). Smaller companies, incapable of exporting their items abroad, were naturally oriented towards domestic clients. The 21st century saw the development of the Internet as well as the globalization of the supply chain, enabling sellers and customers to engage in online shopping from the comfort of their homes (Markham, 2016). Although the two premises share some basic traits attributed to shopping, the processes are inherently different one from another, making them suited for different types of purchase.

Traditional shopping is associated with a plethora of costs for the sellers as well as for the clients. A brick-and-mortar store would need to be built or placed inside of an existing structure, which is expensive. Warehousing and regular supplying also add to the costs of operation and maintenance. Finally, traditional stores have to afford to pay shopkeepers, consultants, janitors, and other support personnel. All of these expenditures increase the costs of final purchase for the end customer (Markham, 2016). Online shops do not have to face such issues. The only costs they have to endure are warehousing and good transportation from the seller to client, without having to worry about structural maintenance, paying sellers and supports, and dealing with numerous other issues that brick-and-mortar shops face (Markham, 2016). Because of these factors, buying online is typically much cheaper than doing so in a store.

One strong advantage traditional shopping has over online purchasing is the immediacy of purchase. The client can buy the item or service they need from a retailer and use it immediately, without any lag or waiting time (Markham, 2016). Online shopping, due to the nature of their business model, cannot offer the same. Usually it takes between one day to several months before the product reaches the end customer, the conditions depending on where is it purchased from and what company is handling the deliveries (Markham, 2016). Such waiting times can be too much for some customers to accept, as the items they need are often required immediately. An example of products that require immediacy include foodstuffs that have short shelf lives. Although online purchasing of foods exists, it is dominated by cooked food deliveries, whereas most customers buy their food products from traditional shops.

Another strong suit of traditional marketing is the ability to see and feel the item a person is buying. In case with clothes, the customer can try it on to see if it fits their body complexion. Online marketing cannot offer such an advantage, and has to rely on pictures, videos, and numbers in order to accurately describe the sizes of a good or an item. While in most cases it is enough to commit to a purchase, other times it becomes a significant obstacle, especially in cases where the appearance of a delivered item is significantly different than that on the picture. Clothes industry remains largely dominated by traditional marketing for those very reasons (Markham, 2016). In comparison, over a third of all clothing items being sold online is returned to the seller or exchanged for a different item due to a mismatch of some kind (Markham, 2016). At the same time, tangibility plays less of a factor when purchasing items that do not need to be held or felt to ensure quality. Electronics purchases are often done online due to price range differences.

Traditional shopping is a time-consuming process. Even the simplest purchases require leaving the house, traveling back and forth, and spending time selecting goods, paying for them, and bringing them home (Markham, 2016). A simple run to the store for groceries can take a whole hour. More significant purchases might take an entire day. In some countries, like the US, the lack of a personal vehicle is a significant obstacle, especially to the poor, who find it hard to reach the nearest Walmart. Online shopping is much more convenient, as the purchase can be achieved from the comfort of one’s own home, with the goods delivered to the client’s doorstep (Markham, 2016). The time spent waiting for the delivery can be focused on other tasks, especially when said delivery is not required to be urgent.

Traditional and online shopping offer their own distinctive sets of pros and cons when it comes to purchasing goods. Brick-and-mortar shops offer immediacy, tangibility, and the “true spirit of shopping, whereas convenience and cheapness are the primary selling points for online marketing. Depending on what types of goods are needed, customers may choose one over the other. It is unlikely for either one to replace the other in full, thus ensuring the harmonious coexistence of both types of shopping.

Markham, J. E. (2016). The future of shopping: traditional patterns and net effects . Springer.

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"Compare and Contrast: Online Shopping vs. Traditional Shopping." StudyCorgi , 25 Feb. 2022, studycorgi.com/compare-and-contrast-online-shopping-vs-traditional-shopping/.

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1. StudyCorgi . "Compare and Contrast: Online Shopping vs. Traditional Shopping." February 25, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/compare-and-contrast-online-shopping-vs-traditional-shopping/.

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