Essay Sample on Causes and Effects of Online Shopping

Introduction

Online shopping can be described as the activity of purchasing goods and services directly through the internet. The consumer first visits the website to look for a particular product or service of interest from a specific retailer or by searching other vendors using a shopping search engine (Saprikis, Chouliara, & Vlachopoulou, 2010). Each item has different pricing from several e-sellers. Research shows that people shop online through their electronic gadgets like laptops, desktops, and smartphones as well. These online customers are required to have a valid method of payment to enable them to complete their transactions. These modes of payment may include credit and debit cards, or services such as Payoneer and PayPal. Digital products like audio files or software are directly sent to the client through their electronic gadgets. However, physical products such as electronics and furniture must be shipped to the customer (Saprikis et al., 2010). Some of the most successful online retailing companies include Amazon, Alibaba, and eBay. In the United Arab Emirates, well-established online retailers include Noon.com and souq.com. The primary goal of this essay is to discuss the causes and effects of online shopping.

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Advantages of Online Shopping

Many people prefer shopping online than in stores for various reasons. One of the primary reasons is convenience. For example, it requires a person to travel or commute to get to a particular store, a process that is time-consuming and one may incur costs such as fuel, parking fees and tickets (Lim, Osman, Salahuddin, Romle, & Abdullah, 2016). Moreover, stores and supermarkets usually operate during business hours. Therefore, one may not purchase their goods at certain times. Online shopping makes it convenient for its customers since after making purchases, the online retail service offers store pick-up services so that customers easily access their goods.

Comparison and Price Benefits of Online Shopping

Another reason why people prefer online shopping is because they are given an opportunity to make a comparison within a short time on a variety of products. Consumers can also compare the products and prices offered by different online retailers (Lim et al., 2016). It is better to make these comparisons at the comfort of your home instead of going from one store to another. Online shoppers navigate from one website to the other, and within no time, one gets the desired product. However, these consumers must look at the reviews of the product they would like to purchase to determine if they would buy it. When clients purchase products from a particular online retailer, they are encouraged to leave feedback regarding the item as well as customer service so that other customers can refer while shopping.

Thirdly, online shopping has an advantage over stores since most of them offer better prices for their products. However, most customers first visit different stores and identify the items that they would like to purchase, for instance, clothes or electronics. The procedure explained above is referred to as the hybrid shopping system which is mostly applicable when the consumer wants to see the actual product or feel its texture in the case of clothing (Nabot, Garaj, & Balachandran, 2018). After identifying the product at a physical store, people go to different websites to get the best prices for the specific item they want.

Disadvantages of Online Shopping

Even with the reasons for online shopping and their merits discussed above, the activity has disadvantages too. One of the adverse effects of online shopping is that it can lead to inconvenience (Jain & Kulhar, 2019). At times, after purchasing a product using online means, consumers may find that the item is not satisfactory or it is different from what was ordered. Consumers are required to return the product and sometimes may ask for a refund. However, in some cases, it might be difficult to return the goods to the online retailer, and the process may take a long time. Customers are required to contact the retailer, go to the post office and pay return shipping after which they wait for either a replacement or a refund (Jain & Kulhar, 2019). They, therefore, end up spending more time and money to get their desired products. However, some online companies have more generous return policy offers than others.

Competition Among Online Retailers

Due to the increased need for people to shop online, the online companies all over the world compete with each other to get more customers. For instance, Noon, an e-commerce business' goal is to be Amazon's most significant competitor. The owner, Mohammed Alabbar in an interview said that he would accomplish his goal of becoming the best through being harsh to the staff who work under strict rule. Amazon already acquired Souq, a retail company in the United Arab Emirates and the former has upgraded its technology systems making it one of the best retailers in the world. However, Noon has not gone international and only provides household goods, electronics, and other products to people in the Middle East alone.

Conclusion

In conclusion, online shopping has become a lucrative business appreciated by people due to its many advantages. People navigate through different websites to search for their desired item after which they purchase through means such as credit cards and services like PayPal. Online shopping is convenient because it is open throughout unlike stores which operate only during business hours. There is also better pricing and customers can compare items offered by various companies. However, online shopping has some disadvantages especially while returning goods if they are damaged or for any other issue. Some retailers require customers to pay extra shipping fees, and the item may take a lot of time to be delivered. Some of the most successful online shopping retailers include Amazon and eBay. In the United Arab Emirates, some of the upcoming retailers include Souq and Noon, although Amazon bought the former.

References

Jain, R., & Kulhar, M. (2019). Barriers to online shopping. International Journal of Business Information Systems, 30(1), 31-50.

Lim, Y. J., Osman, A., Salahuddin, S. N., Romle, A. R., & Abdullah, S. (2016). Factors influencing online shopping behavior: the mediating role of purchase intention. Procedia Economics and Finance, 35, 401-410.

Nabot, A., Garaj, V., & Balachandran, W. (2018). Consumer attitudes toward online shopping: an exploratory study from Jordan. In Mobile Commerce: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications (pp. 1110-1123). IGI Global.

Saprikis, V., Chouliara, A., & Vlachopoulou, M. (2010). Perceptions towards online shopping: Analyzing the Greek university students' attitude. Communications of the IBIMA.