Shopping Online???

In the world we live in today where people expect everything on the 'right now', it is in my opinion that we experience a lack of patience. This can be as simple as getting aggravated by dialup internet speeds when we are used to broadband or cable. Many years ago we would have never known the difference and were somewhat content with what we could get. This is also similar to the topic of Online Shopping. The internet world has been flooded with online shops and online auction sites such as eBay. Years ago we were happy to go down the the local shopping centre to make our purchases, but today we need something else... but why?

There is a book written by Richard Seltzer titled "Shop Online the Lazy Way" which examines online shopping and attempts to rationalise it. He (1999) says "what could be easier than hopping in your car and driving to the mall ... and fighting for a parking space, and walking from store to store and aisle to aisle looking for the items you want, and waiting in the check-out line, and carrying those bags out to the car through a drenching rain storm, and driving home through the traffic as the rain turns to ice beneath your wheels?". The effort it takes to go shopping these days with overcrowded shopping centres with too little parking, too many shops, and too many screaming children, is not worth the product that you are after. If there was a way where everybody could stay at home and get their shopping chores done, why isn't everybody doing it?

Seltzer also says that there are other advantages to online shopping other than not having to leave your home. He says that if you are a bargain hunter, you are able to shop around for the cheapest price without having to go from store to store. There are also various sites that help you compare prices for your seeked items. Another positive attribute of online shopping is that you are able to find rare items that aren't sold everywhere. For example, if you have an older and not a run of the mill car and you are looking for parts for it, you may try searching on eBay because you might be able to find the item. Without this access to people or stores that have the things you want, you could be looking for a long time and still never find it.

The main thing about online shopping is that it is only really great if you know exactly what you want. Many people look online for hours to find a great product, but if you know what you want, the internet is a great place to just get it without having to have the hassle of the shopping centres.

References

Seltzer, R. 1999. why shop online? http://www.samizdat.com/shopintro.html (accessed April 19, 2008)