Online shopping is the method whereby people can directly buy goods and services from a seller in real-time, without the help of an intermediary service, over the internet. It is a form of electronic commerce.
There are a number of benefits which the customer can get while shopping online:
- You can do it 24/7: You can shop at whatever time you want. If you want to buy a school bag or school shoes for your child at mid-night, you can buy that easily sitting at your home.
- You can shop from the comfort of your own home or office: If sun is shining hot outside, you need not go out in the heat, if it’s raining heavily outside you need not put on your rain coat and take umbrella and stroll through the rain flooded streets. If there is quite cool outside and you don’t want to go out to buy anything, you can still shop. Also, if you are not well and lying home to take rest, this is definitely the best way to shop.
- Wide variety of stores within a few clicks: This is the most important factor for shopping online. As if you are living in an area where there are a very few stores, or even if you are living in a metropolitan city you can’t get everything and every brand’s product near your home. But when you are shopping online you can search over a wide range of products from different brands and prices. Another factor is that it’s not necessary that the store in your city would have the product available with them you are looking for. But when you are shopping online you can get your required brand’s product from one or other website. Even you can buy products which are not manufactured in your own country. On many occasions it also happens that the product reaches your local store after weeks or months of its release, and you have to wait for that, but you can get them right with their release through online shopping.
- Comparison shopping is simplified: Let's say your five years old daughter has told you that she would like the Barbie Puzzle set for her birthday. Comparing the prices of this puzzle set is much easier online than by running to a variety of stores selling the Barbie Puzzle Set. The easiest way is to search online and get the discount on your product which the websites offer you.
- Discounts on products are more readily available online. For instance, if you want to buy a book at a local bookstore, you are unlikely to find discount to reduce the cost of the book. Whereas, many online bookstores offer handsome discounts on the products and books. This way you can get your book or any other product cheaper than the market and save your money.
- No lines to wait in, nor irritable people to deal with: A number of people find this to be very great, mostly during the festival seasons or holiday when crowd in the stores and tempers can both blaze up. While shopping online you need not face such people and save your time lining up in the stores to get the product you want to buy.
- You don't have to drag kids all over the place. To buy school supplies, books, bags, lunch boxes, stationery, uniforms, shoes, etc., for your child you need not drag them to the stores to make them select what color or brand they want. You just can do that sitting at your place along with them.
- Greet and Cheer your relatives sending them gifts online: If you have to send a gift to your relative or friend residing far away from you on any occasion, you can do this easily with the online shopping. You can choose a product from the website and buy it, and give the shipping details of your friend or relative and the online company will deliver your gift to your friend without any hassle. Buying and sending gifts online is quite convenient since you don't have to wrap the gift, properly package it, and then run to the post office to send it. Most of the online companies will wrap your gift on your behalf. Company even informs you when your gift is delivered.
