Question

Is it unethical to go to a store to examine a product, and then order it on the Internet for a lower price? Give arguments for a yes answer and for a no answer. Then take a position and explain why you think it is the correct one.

Answer atleast 300 words

Answer 1

No it is not unethical to examine a product at a store and then buy because the online shopping does not guarantee the quality of product and many consumers especially the older ones prefer to touch, feel and see the quality of a product before buying it. In order to ensure that customer doesn't follow rhe practise e-commerce needs to ensure on the genuine reviews, 3-D animation for fittings and quality checks.

The older generation prefers traditional shopping experience of visiting stores to ensure on quality becausecof risk aversion ahainst online shopping. Studies have shown that the ability to see, touch and feel products is the reason for preference towards store visit.

If e-commerce wants to ensure that practise of store visit is reduced, some technical improvements like detailed product descriptions, ensuring the authenticity of quality check, double checks on reviews, customer service interaction, advanced 3-D imaging and virtual reality can be introduced and enjanced to make online shopping experience smooth and secured for both younger and older consumer base. This suggests that there’s some room for improvement across e-commerce sites, including the way items are displayed, product descriptions and even customer service interaction. Some popular e-commerce websites have already kicked in these gamechangers to improve online shopping experience like "flipkart assured" is a quality guarantee of the product, "Amazon's choice" ensures fair reviewed products, lenskart provides 3-D imaging to improve consumers shopping experience by allowing them to try frames through virtual reality. Also, after sale service of bad product is another resson why customers prefer store walk-in before online purchase because they don't want to go through the hassle of return and replacements. E-commerce companies should ensure a hassle free after sale service to promote online shopping. Time is the essence. Returns and replacements should be timely.

If a customer is paying for a product, they have all the ethical rights to ensure they get good quality product. If e-commerce can't ensure that, then the customer has all the right to go for a walk-in to ensure quality and then buy it online.