The internet has revolutionized the way people shop.

Unlike during ancient times when you had to visit a physical store to buy stuff, it is now possible to shop online – from the comfort of your home or office.

This article discusses the 7 major advantages of online shopping.

e shopping advantages

e shopping comes with many advantages – from convenience and time-saving potential to ease of price comparison among others.

Here are the seven main advantages of shopping online.

1. Convenience

Convenience is one of the major advantages of shopping online.

Unlike traditional brick and mortar shops that operate during specific hours of the day, online shops allow you to shop 24/7 from the comfort of your home.

Besides, there are no queues to follow as you only need to add items to your shopping cart and then add your card to complete the transaction.

2. Wide variety of products

Online shops do not have limitation of space, which allows them to stock numerous categories of merchandise.

This gives shoppers a huge pool of products to choose from.

A wide variety of products helps you to find your preferred color, shape, and size of a desired item with ease – which is often not the case in physical shops.

3. Great bargains

Online shop owners do not have to cover overheads such as rents, cleaning services, private security, garbage collection, etc.

This helps to keep the cost of running e-commerce shops very low – which enables the owners to sell products at lower prices compared to physical shops.

Online shopping is therefore a great idea for individuals looking for deals.

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4. Fast and easy price comparison

The ability to make quick and easy price comparison when shopping online is also one of the major advantages of e-commerce.

At a click of a button, you can find customer reviews and product price comparisons for all the various options available in the marketplace.

This is not the case when shopping in a traditional store.

5. Huge potential time saving

Shopping in a retail store can be a time-consuming affair especially during weekends and holidays that attract huge crowds of shoppers.

This problem can be avoided by embracing e-commerce.

Shopping online can be done within a minute especially when your internet is fast and you already know what you are looking for.

6. No pressure from sellers

This is one of the major advantages of online shopping.

Quite often, sellers hover around shoppers trying to convince them to buy products that they don’t need in the first place – which is quite annoying.

To avoid this problem, many people shift to online shopping where they can easily abandon their shopping cart – if they want to – without being pressured.

7. Discreet shopping experience

One of the major e shopping advantages is the ability to shop for uncomfortable items such as lingerie and adult items without being watched.

Disadvantages of online shopping

Despite the many advantages of online shopping, e-commerce has a dark side.

Here are three major disadvantages of online shopping.

1. High risk of fraud

As more people adopt e-commerce, criminals are increasingly staging fraudulent schemes to separate people with their money.

Some of the common schemes targeting online shoppers include credit card fraud, identity theft, fake products, hacking, and phishing.

These can be avoided by using secure internet connections when transacting online. It is also advisable to take extra-care when opening links sent to you via email even when the mail appears to originate from your bank.

2. Time wastage

Although we mentioned earlier that online shopping saves time, it can also waste time especially when a shopper keeps browsing sites scouting for deals.

3. Logistical hitches and delays

Unlike traditional shopping where you leave a store holding your newly acquired item, you do not have control over the delivery of your product.

Items bought online get lost, damaged or delivered to the wrong people more often than you can imagine – even when shipped by top shipping companies.

Do you shop online? Comment below to share your experiences.