Agreed, shopping online energy and time is saved. I'd so much like it if I can do most of my daily tasks right from the comfort of my home. Again, while online we can take all the time to browse through the store for available items compare prices with other similar stores and get to read the product reviews before deciding to buy. Finally I get to order for goods and have them delivered to my door step. These are things I enjoy while I shop online.
I have been shopping online of the electronic gadget which I need for myself. It is indeed time saving as it is said. It is a little economical. It is easy to canvas or look for the commodities or items you want to purchase. Offline shopping takes time. Like in our case, we live far from the capital city. To shopping, we have to travel and to spend almost a day to complete our shopping purchases. We usually go home at night.
I think both options have their pros and cons and as each experience is unique, it becomes complicated to generalize what is good and what is bad. However, I still prefer to buy things in the physical store (which would be offline stores) because this always gives me more security when I really want to buy something. It's an easier and safer way, though not as practical as online stores.
In past I wasn't much in the online shopping. But not anymore. Now I do lots of online shopping. There are more advantages of online shopping over offline shopping. I can reach to different products which are not available at my place. And also price wise most of the time I found good deals on online sites. So for me yes I prefer online shopping except few items which are better to purchase at offline market as we need to check its quality first.
I have been shopping regularly online for last couple of years especially since Flipkart and Snapdeal started operating in our country. I used to be a little hesitant in the beginning so I would delete my details from all such sites but ever since I started getting number of Gift Cards from different source. I have bought number of costly gadgets and gifts for my loved ones using these Gift Cards in last few years.
For me I like to see what I can get online and get money back from ebates.com, but not all shops are at ebates.com to get money back with. At ebates.com you save money and get discounts so its great shopping online. I like to get food in store as much as possible on sale, so you save money, but takes a lot of time, especially for me since I ride the bus. I found specialty foods like sugar free candies and chocolate covered nuts, with free shipping at baysidecandy.com, which is really a money saver for us living in Hawaii. For clothes, I like to go to thrift stores for the best bargains of all! You save a lot of money at thrift stores. I get Senior Citizen 30% off discounts at Saver's on Tuesdays. Monday is Saver's Club card discount days savings of 25%!
@Krissttina Isobe We have too few online food suppliers in our country especially in my area barring metro cities and fast food chains which I can get by telephonic order. I have a feeling that what the fast food chains offer in the name of discounts is still too high but surely the things will change here as the competition is getting tougher and more players are coming up. Besides majority our country is not yet ready for online purchase of food item as yet.
@Ray1 Gee, that's very harsh for big food chains like Safeway that's national has wonderful prices and weekly sales,so you save a lot of money shopping for staples. On Oahu, in Hawaii the food chains got down pact with weekly sales for the region with produce sales as well. Local food chains also give weekly sales. Drug stores like Walgreens & CVS has food sales as well as OTC stuff on sale like vitamins, baby food, cleaning agents and more. There are huge savings weekly from all these stores. There is Walmart that has good prices for food as well as non-food products. I can stay within my budget range most of the time with all these sales throughout the year. I hope that things, get better so people can have enough food to eat always and save money whether online or offline.
@Ray1 Same here. Even I was hesitating in the starting because of the reason you have mentioned. But after experiencing few times it became quite normal for me. Me too have purchased costly electronics stuffs like mobile phones and other accessories many time. Yes sites like flipkart and snapdeal have changed lots of people mind in our country. People started using online shopping more frequently. now.
While online shopping is more convenient as it is a time and money saver we may also receive items in which we are not fully satisfied with especially when it comes to clothing. I like going shopping as it is a stress reliever for me and I get to check the items myself before buying them. I haven't had a bad online experience just yet but I have known of many people that have and need to fo through a long process to exchange their items.
@kamai That's very true. Online shopping can be risky when we are about to buy clothes. But recently I purchased Jeans from online site and I found them good and also in good deal. Well, it was my first experience in buying any cloth. But yes it is quite risky when we think about fitting and all that. Better to purchase from offline store by trying.
@kamai I have started to believe that some sellers at famous eCommerce sites are not behaving ethically or supplying inferior quality intentionally. I have also found that some of the items of the same manufactures are available at half price in local market. So I am giving it thorough research in my local market before placing an order online. However, the things are certainly different in different countries.
I love online shopping for obvious reasons. And I enjoy offline shopping just as much. With online shopping, I am very careful about the store's return policy. If they let me try the product and return it within a few days (typically 14-day period) without issues, I'll definitely shop there even for those items (like clothing) that I prefer shopping offline.
I like shopping online although it takes me a longer time to browse and select one item especially if it is clothes. I have to be extra careful as most materials are below the standard especially if it is of lesser cost. I still prefer online shopping as it gives me a wider choices at my convinience. Some items are better bought offline though especially perishable goods.
It looks like a lot of store closings are going on lately,and the competition of e-commerce is probably a big reason in today's marketplace. A lot of retailers are closing a lot of their stores in the future,or totally closing down all their places. I know malls have expensive leases and less foot traffic today,than they used to. A lot of these stores will still have a online place to shop though,but I find shopping online positive in different ways, like better pricing,shopping is easier,a better selection,and sometimes more information. The downside though, is you can't touch and see the product before you buy.
I only shop online for items that I can't buy offline at reasonable prices. Sometimes, I'd actually check out online shops just to read user reviews on items that I want to buy but I'll eventually buy them offline because I want to inspect the item before paying for them. That's the big difference and depending on the item, that could be the deciding factor for me. Likewise, I'm very impatient when it comes to things that I want to buy. I can't wait for 3 or more days for an item to be delivered considering that the supplier is only located in a nearby city where I can travel for less than two hours to pick it up.
Online shopping is more convenient than offline shopping although at times online shops have high prices than local stores, excluding shipping fees. The only time I'll prefer online shopping than offline is when I'm too lazy to go out or when the item I'm looking for is not available at the local store. I've had several experiences with online shopping and most of them have been great thankfully
I shop offline quite a lot, but I prefer online shopping. If it's shopping for clothes and I already know my sizes in a specific store, I'll shop online. If I need something quick, I'll go to the store. Both options have their pros and cons. Online shopping is convenient and saves you time, especially for the holidays. Offline shopping is quick, and you get to try things in person. It all depends on what you need and how fast you need it.
@naruto100 besides cheaper items you often get handsome online deals. I am missing on many good deals lately being out of the country but I get notification of all good deals in my email regularly. Like it was kind of war going on in between Amazon India and Flipkart when Samsung and iPhone introduced their new products in the market. There were other opportunities coming from different e-commerce and other telecom sites which were really worth.
@Ray1 Yes it is kind of war going on, and I already took benefit of it by purchasing my new phone. It will be arriving soon , may be in two days. Lol. It is kind of advantage to customer as they drops really good price on some occasion. I have purchased LED TV too (few months back) in really good deal from flipkart which is working really well.
