In the past few years online shopping has begun to grow in popularity. People are now relying on online shopping for the majority of their purchases. E-commerce has shown phenomenal growth in the last decade. Being a service sector, it influences the economy in developing countries. With the help of innovations in technology online shopping shows tremendous growth.

History of online shopping

Online shopping was invented by English entrepreneur Michael Aldrich 1979. He used videotext, a computer like device connected with landline, to create the first online store. Later on he launched Redifon’s office revolution. Through this design he connected consumer, supplier, agents and distributor in one online store. This was the first model of modern day online shopping. After the invention of internet it has undergone many evolutions. eBay and amazon.com are the pioneers in online shopping.

Why do consumers prefer online shopping to retail stores?

Online shopping sites offer excellent service to consumers in many ways. Online is more convenient and comfortable for shoppers. People now have the ability to shop at anytime and anywhere around the world. Usually, there are more brands and varieties for one product. This makes it much easier to compare prices and features of products they purchase online. Online shopping also offers a great deal of discounts through coupons and coupon codes. For instance, Sears coupon is promo code used to get discounts for products from Sears stores. The price of the products is usually significantly cheaper online then when in-store prices. These points make the consumers to choose online shopping over retail centers.

Another advantage of online shopping is that there are many products under one roof. Dresses, groceries, medicines, electronics, kitchen wares and hard wares are often sold through a single online store. It has reduced the time people spend standing in queues for check out. They need not worry about the stocks in online stores as it will be updated at reasonable time.

Efforts taken by online shopping stores.

With the help of technological innovations online shopping sites are working to change the approach of consumers. They launched mobile applications, now shopping becomes even easier than ever. They are taking efforts to prevent online fraud and piracy. They are trying to make payments more secure. Online shopping stores are more environment friendly, orders are taken through digital mode, payments through online transactions, and the invoice is sent to the consumer’s mail. They are advertising through social media like Facebook, Twitter etc.

Disadvantages of online shopping

Online shopping has made people fat and lazy. People are missing the fun of hanging out with friends and families while shopping. Most of the time people are only partly satisfied by their online purchases. Going into shops touching the product to check the quality and finding out whether it is fit to them or not, it is not at all possible in online shopping. Going to shops directly and buying the products allows you to have that item instantly. Alternately, with online shopping you often have to waiting for day for the order to be delivered. Sometimes the delivered product will not be exactly the same product, which was ordered. It may ruin the occasion. Most important drawback is online fraud. People should find out the site’s legitimacy before ordering any products.