10 Reasons why online shopping is better than offline shopping

Online shopping has become a part of our lives, more than you realize. Traditional shopping becomes harder due to the magnetization of people towards online shopping as it is easier, faster, convenient, and cheaper. In short, online shopping isn’t an alternative for offline shopping, it is indeed more of advancement or evolution if not soon to say. 

Whether you are not still convinced or want to explore why online shopping is better than offline shopping, here are 10 reasons to break it down. 

Advantages Of Online Shopping

1. You are getting all the variety under one roof 

Have you ever left a clothing brand store because your favorite colors or required sizes are not available? Sure, you have! We’ve all been there. Variety is the first blessing comes with online shopping. In fact, the variety of all sorts, in brands, colors, sizes, price range, cloth material, design, and even more. 

Even when you can find a variety of options in offline shopping, you don’t get it under one roof. You have to travel or try different showrooms or stores in your locality. It is hassling, time-consuming, and costly yet you don’t get the extensive variety and options as in online shopping. So, that’s the big fat reason on its own to address why online shopping is better than offline shopping. 

You have this uncountable catalog of online stores at your disposal to choose from. Even specific online stores are there to just sell cosmetics or just the handbags, that is a specific item or niche. On the other side, there are online megastores like Amazon or Walmart selling almost everything in one place.  

Can you expect this bandwidth of variety in goods available to buy under one place, in case of offline shopping? 

2. You can save money more than you have realized 

Online shopping saves money. That’s an understatement! If you really dig into it, you will realize how online shopping saves your money from all the corners. Here are those corners for you.

Online products are cheaper

 For most of the products, buying online is cheaper than buying offline. From groceries to furniture, prices are reduced to a certain percentage as compared to offline costs. E-commerce websites do not need to own shops, so no infrastructure costs involved for them. Goods are directly imported to retailers, so no middleman. Hence, there are no transportation and commission costs as compared to traditional retailing. Not to forget, advertising and marketing switched to digital, now with the least investment and greater returns. So, the products are cheaper. 

Coupons, offers & discount

 When was the last time you went online shopping and NOT seen some kind of coupon, discount or offers on the website? Everyone loves to save money on their purchase and online retailers use that as leverage for marketing. This is a win-win for sellers and buyers both, something you hardly see in offline shopping. 

With the help of coupons or offers, one can even save upto 25% of the product cost in best-case scenarios. The competition amongst online retailers to get more customer eyeballs to get tougher benefits the end-users only. So every brand coming up with more and more offers, discounts, coupons, and other perks for customers. So in online shopping, the ball is always in your court! 

No extra expenditure 

Whether you want to buy a shoe or get a refill for groceries, that’s not the only expense that goes in with conventional shopping. You might take a cab or public transport, it does add up to the expenditure. 

You may eat out for that time of the meal or just try some street food. Also, there are impulsive buying of things that you don’t want. Once you out, you will find a way to spend your money. So, buying shoes is never actually buying shoes!  

Price comparisons

Just because the price is more, you can’t leave a shop as you don’t know the price at other shops. You are not well-informed as that is something store owner will use it as leverage against you. You might end up buying expensive stuff!. 

In online shopping, you can just compare the prices on every platform, from any or every country. You can just see where you can buy the same product at the least price. The differences can be huge or little but it does save a lot of money in retrospect. 

3. Shop everywhere from anywhere at any time

Offline shopping is never as convenient as you wish it to be. It is restricted to time and rituals. You always have to prepare at some level to go out for shopping. Also, do the rituals, dress properly, lock the house or tell someone, arrange for conveyance and you know! 

With online shopping, you can literally buy anything in your pajamas. You can shop from anywhere and get a good to deliver at your doorstep. You can buy from any country and any retailer, anytime. Not just convenience but that with exclusive availability and access is the beauty of virtual shopping. 

4. Online shopping promotes smart shopping 

You go out to buy a coffee table and instead or with buy new curtains or some fancy stuff! If you feel guilty afterward, it is impulsive buying. That right there is not smart shopping! Offline shopping often leads you to buy things that you don’t really need or at least at that time. Either you do excessive shopping or buy things that you even don’t like much. And well, that is because there wasn’t much variety. 

In conventional shopping, compulsive buying is a very common thing. Sometimes you just buy things on the pressure of the shopkeeper or your peers. Sometimes you just confuse or always have this unsettling eagerness to get it done, especially if you are not getting what you want. 

You visit a shopping mall to get a table but you just get lost in so many exciting stuff out there. You can physically touch it and feel how it will feel to have it. That’s the whole agenda about putting things in the rack to give you that implied access. You can’t just buy one thing! Then it also becomes about your self-respect to at least get some things.  

Don’t say, you haven’t felt that in conventional shopping, mostly in shopping malls. 

Online shopping gives you a short window to just buy the thing you want and get out of it. You can even just buy a toothbrush. ( maybe with delivery charges! But you can.) You can be more focussed on what you exactly want. 

Even if you’re ready to get spoiled, there are so many tools or applications to control your expenses or threshold what you spend in a month. If you want, online shopping can be the smart shopping for you.  

5. You don’t have to deal with people

Don’t like the crowd? Or even people in general! With virtual shopping, you can just buy anything from the comfort of being at your house. 

So many people don’t like to go out shopping because of long queues at counters or crowd in your way. And also how much time and energy-consuming it can be. Waiting is the worst part of billing counters, and then you feel stuck! 

Online shopping gets it done without stepping your feet out from your doorstep. Well, only one person you will see, and that is the delivery guy! 

6. Gifting becomes so much easy & fun  

You just can’t make an excuse about not having time to get a gift for your loved ones. Online shopping makes gifting so much easy. You can send gifts to your loved ones irrespective of where they live. 

There are specialized gifting services as well to do all those gift wrappings and adding flowers or greeting cards. Other than that, you can just order items and deliver them to their address. This also makes gifting more fun as you have so many options at your disposal to surprise them. You can make these gestures without losing your time out there in the market finding the right gift. 

Also, due to the extensive variety and retailers from all around the world, it opens up more options for gifting. 

7. Online shopping can be more private & discreet

There is a lot of shopping that you do in private and really not want to put it in display in whatever means. Or even in general, you just don’t want people to judge you. 

It can be anything like buying sexy lingerie, pills, or anything related to your private life. You can spare yourself from the embarrassment or paranoia of people watching you buying these things in a store. A lot of people buy lingerie or undergarments online as they don’t feel comfortable finding the best while at the store. 

8. You can easily find what you are looking for! 

Offline shopping is more vague, not targetted to fulfill what you want. Instead, it pushes you to buy what they have. You don’t even get many options, let alone accustoming to your requirements or preferences.  

Online shopping allows you to find exactly what you are looking for cutting through all the alternatives. It helps you to not do compromise on what you really want or need. This is something you see in conventional shopping a lot. You often go to buy something specific but had to buy other degraded alternatives due to lack of options, pressure, manipulations, and other factors. 

9. Online shopping offer buying used items or secondhand

Another fruit from e-commerce evolution is this new ecosystem of ‘used’ or ‘second-hand’ items. Buying used, nearly-new, second-hand, or refurbished items came to the scene after the boom of online retailing. Platforms like eBay, Craiglist, OLX, and Quikr are great examples of the success of the resale market. 

Now you can buy used items from anyone or from multiple reputed platforms in half of its cost. Resale online shopping is even more fun as you don’t have to pay a fortune for the products you really need. You can buy a MacBook in half or less of its price. Refurbished items are more trusted products for that matter sold by e-commerce giants like Amazon. 

This never could have been possible with offline shopping due to lack of communication, transparency, access, and other factors. 

10. You don’t have to worry about transportation 

One of the most common reasons why online shopping is better than offline shopping is transportation. And even it isn’t just about money but the burden of getting what you bought at your house. With offline shopping, you just not have to put some money on transportation but also have to arrange and manage it. Depending upon the size, quantity, and type of item(s), you have arranged relevant conveyance. Not to forget, to sacrifice your whole day for it. 

That might be too much to ask just after spending good money. With online shopping, transportation, whether it is cost or responsibility, lies with the retailer and e-commerce website. It might not seem a big reason until you try buying something offline and get it home.   

Final Words

Online shopping is more of an evolution, than just a trend or an alternative of conventional shopping. The significance of online shopping in a person’s lifestyle is more than one might care to admit. It is not just better than offline shopping but also keeps getting better and better as we move forward. In foundation, it is faster, cheaper, easier and better than traditional shopping. It offers extensive variety, exclusive availability and greater possibilities for customer benefit. It invites innovation and creative ways to make things more interesting in future. That’s not happening anytime soon with offline shopping!