STRAIGHT TALK

Why online buying is changing the society  and the way we buy it ?

Gone ,are those days when we used to go to a mall or a retailer and haggle prices with them .E-commerce has changed the way we shop or buy things.You may call it the golden age of shopping . I am not exaggerating the fact believe me. India's e-commerce market was worth about $2.5 billion in 2009, it went up to $6.3 billion in 2011 and to $14 billion in 2012*(source-the Hindu).

Forrester Research’s projections for Asia-Pacific e-commerce sales by country (in billions, in U.S. dollars), in 2012 and 2016.

Now, enough of those mumbo jumbo data that i have presented now lets look at the positives and negatives of online buying.

POSITIVES

• Infinite choice: Yes we have infinite choices we can compare prices , compare products and go to numerous sites .If we don't like one thing there are many others .Yes technology has given us Freedom of Choice.
• Time :What took hours to search for and energy takes minutes now . Nowadays we don't have time so it makes sense to buy.We even get our groceries at a click of a mouse.
• Psychological Pressure: There is no salesman nagging you to buy or influencing your choice everything is clearly depicted .So as a buyer there is no pressure if you don't like it you don't buy it .  
• Cost factor: The travelling charges are zero for online shopping you just have to have internet and that's it .
• Authenticity :Yes nowadays the products sold are authentic . The websites guarantee you that.

 NEGATIVES

• It may make you a couch potato .You may become so lazy you don't even bother to go out since everything is just a click away.
• You may go on to spend much more than you really intended to spend.

So, No matter whatever the economic climate is spending on online shopping is never going to stop rather increase annually, though independently owned shops ,retailers,malls  may be its first casualty though worth mentioning most big retailers have started to sell online nowadays.

Lastly , online shopping wont stop its physical counterpart.There are still areas where we prefer to go and buy.