Are you a frequent shopper? Which do you prefer- Online or traditional shopping? To be very honest, it all depends on the personal preference. Some people say that online shopping is better than traditional shopping while others say that traditional shopping is better than online shopping. For example, my sister prefers to shop online whereas my mother prefers to shop by visiting a store.
I know you all are curious to know which is better among traditional and online shopping but there is one thing that I have learned from my experience of writing such articles i.e. such topics have the potential to confuse the readers. So to avoid that, we will go through a series of steps.
- Meaning of online and traditional shopping
- Pros & Cons of online and traditional shopping
- What is my opinion?
But before we move ahead, let’s understand the meaning of online and traditional shopping. In online shopping, a person buys a particular item from an E-commerce website. For example, purchasing a mobile from Amazon. In traditional shopping, a person visits a store to buy a particular item. For example, purchasing a mobile from Croma store. Now that the meaning is clear, let’s move on to the next point.
Pros of traditional shopping
Face to face communication
When you visit any store, you find salespeople willing to help you to purchase a product. You can have direct and face to face communication with them regarding a product’s features, use etc. For example, when you visit a Croma store, its salespeople are willing to help you regarding a particular product.
Easy to return
It is easy to return a product bought from a traditional store as compared to an online site. Usually, it takes 3 or more days to return a product which is bought from an online website but it takes only a few minutes to return a product in a traditional store. For example, I had to return my mobile which I had purchased from Flipkart and the whole process took 4 days. My mother bought a saree from a store and it took her 10 minutes to return that saree to the store manager.
Feel of the product
Traditional shopping allows you to touch and feel the product. I know a few people who are dependent on this feature when they go out for shopping. Online shopping lacks this feature. For example, my mother still buys fruits/vegetables by completely checking (touch & feel) the product.
Shipping charges
Unlike online shopping, you don’t have to pay any shipping charges when you buy a product from a traditional store. It’s just the product cost plus the taxes.
Cons of traditional shopping
Traveling
A person who is loyal to traditional shopping has to travel long distances for the same. It is a waste of time and money. For example, my friend has to travel 5 Km to buy fruits and vegetables. He can invest that time and money in some other activity.
No convenience
What if you want to buy a product at 11 PM at night? Which traditional store will be open for you? None, right? Traditional stores are open until 10 PM at night. They offer no flexibility to its customers.
Variety
Due to a limited shelf space, a traditional store is not able to offer a huge variety of products to its customers because of which customers have to make a choice between a limited variety of products.
Reviews- Unlike online shopping, you won’t find any expert reviews/comments when you buy a product from a traditional store. It’s just you and the salesperson of the store who is desperately trying to convince you to make a purchase.
Pros of online shopping
Flexibility
Unlike traditional stores, you can shop 24/7 online.
Variety
Online websites offer a variety of products to its customers. For example, you are planning to buy a mobile. You can open Flipkart and Amazon simultaneously and get a variety of mobile choices.
Discounts
Every month you can find discounts on various online websites. For example, just a few days back Amazon organized a Diwali sale where it was offering discounts upto 40%. With the help of these deals, you can easily buy cheap products.
Reviews
It’s easy to make an informed decision while shopping online. Let me explain this with the help of an example. You go to Amazon to buy a mobile (iPhone 7). At the end of the page, you will find 1000’s of reviews about iPhone 7. You can read those reviews and make a purchase accordingly.
Cons of online shopping
Security
We all are aware of online hacks and ransomware attacks. Such attacks can easily steal our bank account information. Due to this, people are afraid to buy online products through their debit/credit cards.
Delivery time
How much time does it take for a shopkeeper to give you a packet of chips? Hardly 2 minutes. In online shopping, delivery timing varies between 1-4 business days. You have to wait for a while in order to access your product.
Shipping charges
Many E-commerce websites charge shipping charges for delivering a product. Many people are not willing to pay those extra charges. For example, why will I pay Rs. 50,000 Plus Rs. 100 (shipping charges) for an iPhone when I am getting that same iPhone for Rs. 50,000 offline.
Feel of the product
Sometimes it doesn’t make any sense to buy a product online. For example, it’s better to buy a perfume offline where you can smell it and make an informed decision as compared to buying that same perfume online.
What’s my opinion?
In my opinion, there is no clear winner. Like I have said earlier, it all depends on your preference. Still after reading these pros & cons, many will prefer online shopping while others will prefer traditional shopping. There is nothing wrong with being an online or a traditional shopper. At last, it all depends on your convenience and preference.