Who doesn’t love shopping? I do, you do, everyone does, whether you admit it or not! Be it clothing, accessories, home decor or groceries, everyone loves to ‘shop till they drop’ whether they are down to the last penny or not! Shopping has been an obsession and a craze since its inception in the ancient era of Greece and Rome, when they made use of marketplaces, which were called, Agora and Forum respectively. Further, Shopping can give credit for its existence to the emergence of the consumer society in the 18th century in Great Britain when the purchasing power of the British started to increase. So this passion, and this rage and desire for shopping within us,have been carried down from our old folks from generations to generations.
WANT OR NEED?
There was a time when people bought goodies for their basic needs and requirements. Well, they still do but not really. Most of us nowadays, don’t buy products for our necessity rather for our pleasure. Our wants overpower our needs! But, is it really that bad? To some extent, yes. But again it’s all on you, it’s your choice and you own it.
INCEPTION OF ONLINE SHOPPING
Times have changed and so have people, the society, their ethics and morals and, technology is making remarkable progress and advancement day by day. Technology has also aided in the development of shopping methods. The time when people made efforts to go to a specific shopping destination physically and purchase their items, has now been replaced by a virtual system of shopping through the internet, namely, an online market. This revolutionary invention was pioneered by Michael Aldrich, a British, who is also known as the ‘Father of Online Shopping’, in the year 1979 when he invented the Videotex , which is a technology that basically includes a TV with a computer-like format with a menu and it also included a transaction process via the telephone line. Now don’t complain! You need to brush up on some history, alright? History, of something you love and something you can live for or die for. You ought to thank the pioneer!
ITS BENEFITS
- Online shopping or Online market, has provided to all of us a platform which makes available for us abundance of goods and services. We need no longer go all the way to a mall/shop when we’d rather purchase things with a click of a button.
- It’s made life for us so easy! You can buy things anytime and anywhere!You save time. A lot of time. Whether it’s on your phone or laptop, the online market is easily accessible.
- You also have a variety of choices and categories to choose from. Which further makes it easier for you to compare the price and qualityof different website. The quality is not always guaranteed once you received the product, but, that depends on whether you bought it off a genuine website or not. It also depends on the third-party supplier, whether they compromise on the quality or not. But that doesn’t stop us in anyway, because majority of times people are satisfied and contented with their purchase.
- No worries about being exhausted, physically- We have all taken advantage of shopping via the online market, and I believe it has become more or less a habit for us all. A part of our daily chores, in fact! Shopping in general, be it for a woman or a man, is a time-consuming process which can be tiresome too. But as for shopping online, there is absolutely and thoroughly no reason to worry about all of that, you could go as far as being lethargic or sleepy, but no, you won’t be heavy-breathing and no, you won’t be wiping off sweat from your forehead or over your upper lips!
- The facility of online market is available to you 24x7 but that doesn’t mean you have to sit infront of the screen and tire your eyes for the same. I know people go hours and hours looking for that special something(s) and they end up buying just one or two of them. We are so used to shopping online, that we buy even the smallest of things, and if there are shipping/delivery charges pertaining to it, it doesn’t really matter to us, we buy it anyway! Probably because you may get a better choice and quality of products.
- Look at the brighter side! Somebody once quoted ‘I am a shopaholic, I am helping the economy’. Well, Yes you are! According to a research, India ranks no.3 when it comes to the numbers of internet users- 354 million as of June 2015. More internet users meaning a higher advantage for companies to showcase their products and sell them via the online market. Bingo! It has raised a bar for them and in turn is a huge benefit for the burgeoning Indian Economy.
- Another aspect of e-shopping that attracts us is the offers and discounts, and how we can avail gift vouchers and coupon codes easily and how the ‘Buy one, get one free’ tactics, catches our attention.
Plan it out well: There are times when we don’t have anything specific in mind to buy, or even if we do, the varieties, lists and numbers of products and websites available to us, confuses us further. There are times when your shopping cart is overloaded but…This is the bitter truth…*goes online shopping* *puts everything they want in a cart* *checks subtotal* *laughs and closes tab* Yep, that’s pretty much it. This is the‘Story of our lives’. I’d suggest you plan it out well before-hand.
Sort & Filter-But, online market/shopping websites, provide to their customer a facility wherein they can sort the number of products according to their cost (Low to High/High to Low), discount or popularity. You can also filter the products according to your choice, supposedly, you want to buy a black dress, you can filter the color you want, the size, the style etc. and the changes will be made accordingly. Or, you could even use the search engine of the website. Easy-P easy! Don’t be too hard on yourselves!
Most of the online market websites now a days have a reliable and well-grounded customer care service available for their customers/consumers 24x7 or at particular timings. So, keep shopping! But, shop wise!
Kudos Shopaholics!
