Online shopping and webshops in general have become an inevitable part of our everydau\y life. While some are still sticklers to traditional retail shopping, others prefer saving their time and money by purchasing online. Surely, the advantages of shopping online are huge but there are also some disadvantages. Let’s take a look at what one should have in mind when buying products or services online.
Pros of Online Shopping
First of all, shopping from the comfort of your own home or while on the move means a lot to some people. If you are one of the lazy, busy, or in any way disabled you will find online shopping quite useful. If the shipping is free and there are no taxes included this might be an even better option than spending gas or money on commuting to the nearest store.
Apart from that, you can purchase almost anything anytime.
Online markets are open 24/7/365 unless the webshop is under construction or experiencing some issues. This gives you extra time on your hand to analyze the product/service you want to buy and avoid making mistakes. Plus, shopping online means that the package can be delivered straight to your front door, which is definitely a great benefit.
If you are experiencing social anxiety or you simply don’t want to bother changing clothes or brushing your hair simply to go shopping, doing it online will do the work.
There are those days when you don’t want to go out of your comfort zone and you don’t want to think about where you can park your car or any other social situation.
Avoiding impulse shopping is another great thing you can avoid if you decide to shop online. This way you can go straight to the product or service you wanted initially without buying a bunch of unnecessary things. This will help you stay on your budget, and control the shopaholic living inside almost any of us.
Cons of Online Shopping
On the other side, shopping online also has its dark side. One of them is definitely the condition of the product you are planning to buy. Being able to see, feel, and analyze the quality of any product is almost impossible online – and not to mention trying out clothes for example, and choosing the right size. You often need to rely on reviews, which can be fake or you simply need to play that guessing game.
Another disadvantage is definitely the inability to ask the merchant about the product, warranty, or anything that might be bothering you.
Sure, if a webshop is well-organized you will be able to reach their customer support in no time, but that doesn’t mean that you will get the answer to your question that fast.
The worst of them all is not knowing whether the site is legit and if you can trust it enough to provide your payment information. This might not bother you if you are trying out a new website and you want to buy something cheap using a disposable card.