Question

Q1: Write a paragraph about the advantages and disadvantages of online shopping write 500 words.

Answer 1

Advantages

• The major advantage of online shopping is that you can order products from abroad. You just have to open the website or app of a particular vendor and after following certain instructions you can order the product from anywhere. While sitting in India you can order your favorite jacket from a reputed brand in US.
• You can buy anything at home and ask for home delivery. No need of going to the store by physical visit. Just order online and product will be delivered at your home.
• You can read other people's opinion about products. If you are not sure about the quality of product you can read the reviews of customers who have already brought the product and then accordingly make a decision.
• Search for special offers quickly. Most of online shopping websites provide lot of offers. This may include purchase discounts bulk discounts, free offers etc.
• The online shopping stores operate 24/7. You can buy all-the-time because there isn't opening time. Unlike traditional stores online stores remain open all the time.
• You can pay by credit card so you don't have to have a lot of cash on you. No doubt cash on delivery option is available but you can pay by credit card.

Disadvantages

• High delivery costs is one of the major disadvantages of online shopping. Sometimes the cost of product is less but delivery charges are high.
• Delivery time can be long, usually min.3 days. Long duration and lack of proper inventory management result in delays in shipment. Though the duration of selecting, buying and paying for an online product may not take more than 15 minutes; the delivery of the product to customer’ s doorstep takes about 1-3 weeks.
• Guarantee is risky because of changing faulty products. You cannot be sure that the product delivered would be of same quality and standards as advertised in the site. There is always risk of low quality or defective product being delivered.
• You can't touch, try on, taste or smell the products. You cannot experience the joy of traditional shopping while shopping online. You can only have a virtual feel of the product at the time of ordering. While in case of traditional shopping you can check the physical features of product. So online shopping is not suitable for clothes as you cannot try them.
• You have to pay in advance so it can be risky because of cheaters or faulty products. Most of the products require payment in advance. This is a risky affair. The product may not reach your doorstep either due to address problem or due to some fraud. In that case your hard earned money is lost. Sometimes, there is disappearance of shopping site itself. The online payments are not much secured. Customer credit card information and other personal information may be misused.
• Lack of interactivity in online shopping is another problem. Physical stores allow price negotiations between buyers and the seller. The show room sales attendant representatives provide personal attention to customers and help them in purchasing goods. Certain online shopping mart offers service to talk to a sales representative.

To conclude online shopping is the need of hour. In present times of Covid 19 online shopping is a great relief. The hindrances will not hamper the growth of online shopping. Both merchants and customers should take necessary steps to make online shopping a wonderful shopping experience.