We all love to shop. In the good old days, those shopping sojourns with friends or moms was an activity full of excitement and fun. The lunch or snacks during the shopping was an additional attraction The Covid19 has shifted most of us to E-shopping as physical stores are not opening.
My first encounter with E-shopping was way back in the late nineties or early twenties. My son was a budding teenager then and ready to explore new territories. I was looking for some exercise tools for my core muscles. He selected one and showed me. I do not remember if he had ordered it from one of those shopping channels on TV or through some website. It was good and the price was okay, the only hitch I found was that the order will be confirmed only after payment is made. The trust deficit was too much and I was not ready to make payments online through a card. The idea of sharing my card’s details was scary at that time. Moreover making payment without having the delivery was not at all convincing. But he convinced me, (you know how children bully their moms), and finally, we booked our first online order. It took almost a fortnight for delivery and it was a long nervous period of wait. Finally, when it arrived, we all were so excited to open and check if the product has reached us without any breakage. Besides receiving the product we were happy about the trust-building in E-shopping.
It was almost twenty years ago. Flipkart started in 2007, Snapdeal in 2010, and Amazon came to India in 2013. This has opened a plethora of choices to customers. I am a people person, so going out and shopping is a fun activity for me. Human interaction is important to me. But slowly as I get busier with life, I started looking for ways that can save my time. Getting orders delivered at home was a convenience I was looking for. Moreover, one can make a selection while resting in bed or just when one remembers. Slowly , I got more dependent on E-shopping. The best part of E-shopping is the reviews by the users. Coming directly from the users appears to be honest opinions.
Under the changed scenario by the Covid19 strike, for people like me ( read senior citizens 🙂 ) E-shopping has become a boon. I do not want to carry big bags and I find it convenient when things are delivered at the door step. Secondly, I find shopping from these websites better than the local vendor as the product details are true and complete. There is enough transparency. Whenever I order from my nearby vegetable shop, it will invariably send much more quantity than ordered and there is no reliability about quality.
A few years ago, when I did some shopping for my 86 years old father, he was so excited when he received his parcels. When he found that the shoe which he had ordered had perfectly fit, he was convinced that E-shopping is a great convenience. Check out my father’s tryst with E-shopping here.
To an ordinary shopper, E-shopping offers –
- A vast variety.
- Complete details about the products which are mostly true.
- Transparency in the system.
- Immediate refund.
- The review by the users.
- Doorstep service.
- Hasselfree returns.
- Competitive pricing.
The only thing which an E shopper miss is the feel and touch of the product and off course the human interaction.