Do you shop online? well, if you are reading this, 90% chances are there your answer will be YES.
Brief Idea about Online Shopping in India
More & more people are buying products online, thanks to fast adaption of internet services by people of India. You can buy almost everything with just click of mouse sitting on your desk or from mobile. There are number of websites offering variety of products from Grocery to even Apartments. What all you need to buy online is, internet connection, PC / Mobile & credit/debit card. In some case “cash on delivery” is also an option. Why to buy online instead of buying from Retail store / Mall near you? There are advantages as well as disadvantages of Online Shopping.
Advantages
Save Time & Energy : If you have a list of products you want to buy, you can order it online by just sitting at home via PC / Mobile app. It saves your time (going to retail store and coming back) & energy both. Sometime it happens that the product you want to buy is not available at store and you need to search for another store. In Online shopping you just have to visit another website while sitting on chair.
Variety / compare prices : Shopping online gives you more variety than retail store. You can search for same product by another brand online while in retail stores you may not find variety of products. There are often policies affecting availability of some products in stores. You can compare prices with different websites / sellers for the same product which is bit difficult while shopping from retail stores.
Detail Information & Reviews : Online websites describe product in detail so that you get better idea about product, while in physical store you will find manufacturer’s packaging and information printed on it. On some online stores you will find additional product information such as safety precautions, manufacturer’s specifications etc. Some online websites allow users to comment or rate their products and sellers. You get better idea about product and seller from reviews which helps in making quick decision.
Availability : Online shopping is available 24 X 7. You will rarely find physical store open 24 X 7 except some chemists. Anytime availability of Online stores gives you freedom to buy at your convenience.
Disadvantages
Delivery Time : This is the main disadvantage of online shopping. You have to wait for product to get it delivered to your doorstep. When delivery time is longer, it is preferable to shop from physical store. Now some websites are offering “In-a-Day delivery” but it is restricted to some geographic locations only.
Shipping Charges : Generally you will get products cheaper from online store, but adding shipping charge makes that product almost similar priced compare to physical store.
Try before you Buy : Clothing products are better to be bought from physical store as you get option to try before you buy. While in online shopping of clothes you have to rely on “Size” of the product you choose. Same case is with Footwear.
Waste of Time in Returning : In some cases where you receive damaged / different product, you need to return it to seller. Seller might not accept return if it is not within short period of time. After sending product back to seller, you need to wait for replacement / refund according to their policy. Thus time is wasted if you return the product.
Warranty : As everything is available via online shopping, you MUST check warranty of electronic products. Some products are sold without warranty or with seller’s warranty. Make sure you contact seller and confirm warranty before placing order.
Security & Privacy : As e-commerce is growing so is cyber crime. Better to avoid shopping from unknown websites. Always shop through reputed shopping websites to avoid misuse of personal data including banking details. Ensure that while making online payment, web address is secured with SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). Always use strong passwords for online shopping websites. DO NOT save your Credit / Debit card information on website.
There are many online shopping websites, here are few well known names for shopping in India.
Amazon, Flipkart, Ebay, Snapdeal, HomeShop18, FashionandYou, InfiBeam
If you are socially active on Twitter, these are some of the twitter handles you should follow for best deals online. They provide best deals and share them on twitter.
These are the websites where you can compare products before buying.
And last but not least these websites can find you Discount Coupons for Online Shopping in India.
And if you still can not convince yourself to buy online, this website will find you nearest physical retail store where you can buy at best price.
Happy Shopping 🙂
Very nice information