ONLINE SHOPPING: What makes it convenient and less convenient?

By Megs S. Lunn

Shopping on line has become more popular since more and more people have found a way to sell their products directly to their friends and the general market. One of the logic in selling goods online is that you catch the people where their attention already is. Since then, the shopping sites have improved interfaces and face book profiles have become online shops.

For anyone who shops online, the convenience is in the fact that online shops and products are available for anytime at anytime because basically, online shops don’t close. Buying and selling has become easier and less stressful because there’s no need to wait in line to check out and you don’t have to walk all around the mall to find the perfect pair or cheaper pair of jeans when you can easily compare things side by side when your online. Online shopping has also enabled us to buy anything from any part of world. The less convenient part in online shopping is paying for the shipping fee, and finding that clothes you buy don’t fit you right or that the product doesn’t have the good quality you expected.

Three products that I will have no hesitation in buying would be vouchers for restaurants and other services, art bought directly from blogs of artistic and books. Vouchers are quite simple, you pay for them because you want to eat at a great restaurant for cheaper or go to the gym and pay less. You have to use the vouchers you buy before their expiration date just like anything actually. These vouchers help companies or business promote themselves by giving the consumers a chance to sample their products and services.

Art bought from blogs are the same as buying directly from an artist because they handle it the same way. These art pieces aren’t the big oil paintings but available online are mostly small water colors or prints of digital illustrations. I have a friend who sells paintings online for a good cause. Books and their quality also pose little risk when you buy them online. I get books through a friend who shops online for me. Thanks for good friends around the world.

Products that make me hesitate before buying could be clothes, shoes and bags. The threat is always in if they’re not the right size, are in good condition and if their original or counterfeit. People who buy shoes online usually have to resell them because they’re too big or too small. Some shopping websites offer free shipment and return so that’s when it’s more convenient or less risky.

Products that should probably be never bought online include gadgets, children’s toys and jewelry. Gadgets usually solid in bulks or sold by a person who gets many orders usually get their supplies from China. The wires could be faulty and they may not be durable all together. Children’s toys think should always be bought with caution because the materials or paint used in manufacturing could be really harmful. Jewelry or watches are safer bought personally. The photos of the product could easily be manipulated and with great risk in the cost, it’s safer not to buy expensive gems online. I would rather consider buying jewelry, gadgets and children’s toys personally, but for gifts only.

Online shopping when you look at it seems quite easy and convenient when you go to the right websites. It may also be addictive for some because you use your credit card and online shops are always open with ads popping up everywhere. But this trend is only a result of how the world is shrunk by your access to the internet. Other online places that people put their money in are online start ups that need crowd funding and fundraising of different organizations. Everything becomes easier as time goes by and earning money or spending money just follows that.

The above is only my personal opinion as the way I see it from others who are fond of online shopping. But if given the chance to do it, the above are the things I will and will not do.

The questions of ‘What makes online shopping convenient and less convenient?” is a bit hard to answer. For someone who is not really and literally into shopping, online or not. For one, again, I am not fond of shopping. My sister and daughter shops for me ha ha….they are the ‘shopaholic’ partners  (someone who greatly enjoys going shopping and buying things or who can’t stop themselves doing this). I hate the lights inside the shopping mall and the long walk around. I can walk for exercise, but I don’t consider walking in a shopping mall the right exercise. Secondly, I don’t use credit cards because I don’t have one. I am better off paying cash and not worry about tomorrow’s bill and other unnecessary charges. Lastly, I am better off splurging on food (treat family and friends for lunch, dinner or snacks), travel and my advocacy for the handicapped children, never on shopping material things primarily because, I don’t feel like I am left out or disadvantaged, anyway. I feel like saving the money for other things that are more important in my bucket list and that give me inner joy, contentment and peace. It’s just me.