Question

Please remember that this assignment must be posted in APA format with at least two scholarly references. Responses should be 500-700 words in length.

What do you think about shopping over the internet, or your T.V. set (not Home Shopping Network, but rather through Net T.V.) Will these channels ever replace traditional retail shopping?

Answer 1

After almost two and a half decades of Amazon's launch as an online bookstore (later it became a place where you could buy just about everything you can think about), the world and not just US, has become online shopping centric. More than third of the people in US now shop mostly online, as compared to less than third buying more through traditional mediums. Well this open up for an interesting debate, would online channels ever replace traditional retail?

The answer in my view is a resounding NO. But to begin with let's see why online shopping has become and still continue to become such an appealing channel to the people.

The first and possibly the biggest reason is the prices (deals) that we get online. One can never get the same deals in retail stores as they get in the online stores. A macbook pro that costs about $1200 online can cost up to about $1450 in retail stores. That's a straight loss of $250 without really getting anything extra. And this is not just about one thing, this is the case with pretty much everything. The online shopping providers don't have to build their stores and don't have to spend in inventory building, which saves them a lot of money. 90% of this benefit is transferred to the customers in online stores making things a lot cheaper than at their retail counterparts.

The second really big reason that makes online shopping so much more appealing than a retail store is its comfort. One doesn't have to move away from his/her couch to purchase something and everything is just a click away. This comfort along with money saved because of no travelling adds to the sheen of online shopping.

The third reason is its flexibility. One doesn't have to wait for the stores to open to buy their products of choice and can buy even at 3 am. They might be delivered later, but human mind neglects this aspect when you have so many benefits other than that.

All these things makes online shopping all the more fascinating for the shoppers. But what it lacks is the emotional connect with your products. When you shop in retail stores, you would find a lot of things that you consider as a suitable option, but don't end up buying. You buy something that you like the best. The process that goes into shopping becomes a part of your memory, and you cherish the same for a long time. This is never the case with online shopping where you can't attach an emotional value to your products as there's almost no process involved.

The second reason that would stop online shopping completely take over is delivery constraints. There are somethings (like car) that really can't be delivered online, and even if they can be, the customers won't have the same level of faith as they have in things they buy on retail stores in front of their eyes.

All these reasons I believe would stop online shopping from completely taking over. What I think is that somethings would become completely obsolete in retail stores and somethings would remain retail only. So, in future, we might be left with best of the both worlds.