The internet is sweeping up the world of technological innovations. These internet connections allow shoppers to shift gears from bricks to “bricks and clicks,” giving rise to the term “omni-channel marketing,” Huffington Post writer Abby Rosenbaum said.
These figurative “bricks” represent the hassle that follows from shopping in stores, compared to online shopping. Wouldn’t one rather click on the keyboard instead of going out of their way to find the perfect pair of shoes at a chaotic shopping mall?
Everything is online in today’s era. It varies from educational videos, to popular stores, to ordering food from a desired location in apps created for smartphones. Major online shopping sites such as Amazon.com, Wayfair.com, Zappos.com, AliExpress.com, Etsy.com and many other online shopping destinations are available. These are just a few selected online destinations available to all online shoppers as they search for the hottest trends on the market.
“You can see the entire selection [of products], and a lot of the clothes online are not in stores,” junior Caroline Martin said.
Online shopping gives shoppers the opportunity to find select styles that they could not find in stores to keep up with the hottest trends.
Considering this, online shopping has become the hot new trend. Whether it be a middle aged man or woman, or a teenager looking for a new pair of shoes, purchasing items online has turned into a simple, yet advanced trend nationwide. In result of this, online businesses decided to select a date on the calendar in November to call “Cyber Monday”.
“Say hello to Cyber Monday, this year officially on Monday, Nov. 30 2015. But as you can imagine, Cyber Monday sales are available to all before and after the official date, thanks to the rise of omni-channel marketing,” Huffington Post writer Abby Rosenbaum said.
This special day is a crucial time to scavenge for the best available deals around, as many may already know. Some business owners rely on the success of their online business on Cyber Monday: the higher the sales, the more people purchase those items, the more the business successfully profits.
“I like shopping at little boutiques online or Jane.com because they have fashionable clothing and they are pretty good about their size chart,” junior Maggie Brick said.
These are examples of the variation of online destinations fashionable products. Brick finds it effortless to find cute clothing and accessories from her selected boutiques, as do many others.
As Brick explained how she favored online shopping over shopping in stores, her fellow classmate felt differently.
“I would rather go to the store so I could try clothes on and see how they fit right away,” junior Hannah Gronberg said.
As it may be convenient for Gronberg to try clothing on right away, others may prefer purchasing clothes online so they could feel comfortable trying their selected items on right in their home.
Benefits: Online shopping is the simplest form of shopping. No one has to roll out of bed at the break of dawn on Black Friday, no one has to wait in lines, and they sure do not have to deal with the trip to the mall or desired shop. One could simply wake up, grab their device, and order items without changing out of their pajamas.
There may also be more of a variety of merchandise online, compared to a specific store in a mall.
“It’s much more efficient; you can see what sizes and colors they have instead of searching through all of the the piles [of clothes] and asking people at the store for help finding a size in the store,” junior Madeline Carlson said.
Online shopping also has more efficient comparability: this allows the customer to use the internet to research products or services thoroughly, then they compare products and pricing details in order to get the best deal.
Risks: As many may know, when it comes to online shopping, people have to pay for their desired products by typing their credit card information into their website they are visiting. If one is not on a credible website, that information could get into the hands of someone who is not trustworthy with your information.
A “lack of full cost disclosure” is also a common risk that follows from online shopping, according to Forbes. Additional fees, like shipping, may be tucked away until late in the checkout process. Identity theft is yet another prominent risk that comes along with online shopping, as well as the possibility of having counterfeited goods.
Also, a shopper could also come face to face with temptation when shopping online. As there are many options available to the shopper, they could spend more than they were targeting for initially.
Below are a few links to various online destinations that may be of your interest: