From greeting cards, deal coupons, furniture and groceries to laptops and makeup, almost anything can be purchased online. An increasing number of people now opt to ditch the regular store to buy products over the internet. There has been a tremendous rise in the number of online shoppers, globally. What is impressive is that not only can you buy products online, but also avail a wide range of services like hiring job consultants, call-home dry cleaners, etc. Undoubtedly, online shopping is here to stay. It has very efficiently begun to bridge the gap between a customer's in-store experience and the digital way of doing it.
Smart retailers are now stepping into the online shopping world in an effort to extend their regular store service/sale. Adapting to the cut-throat innovative trends helps boost a retailer's products, while also giving the consumer unending choices to explore from. People are always looking for information about products, exciting deals, availability and pocket pleasing discounts online. A retailer whose online presence is nil will ultimately end up losing out, when their products are not even listed among the tons of existing choices. It is only a clever move to make product information readily available at the click of a mouse.
One of the biggest draws for consumers to shop online is the huge relief they get from maddening traffic, long queues at parking lots, bill counters and more queues at trial rooms. Shopping online has a great edge when it comes to convenience and saving time. It lets you browse through infinite options you never knew existed. Every product has a description attached to it that makes the consumer more decisive about buying it. And, the number of times online purchases will impress you is a 1000 raised to the power n!
Buying air tickets, train tickets, applying for passports, registering for visas and other ID documents is a piece of cake. Gone are the days when working professionals had to manage work and get these jobs done on a strict timeline. With the internet at hand, you can start any of these processes by just filling up some basic information and clicking a button. That's all it takes!
Agreed that online shopping doesn't let you "really" know what the product is, how it feels, the exact colour, etc. But a great solution to this is the luxury of consulting opinions. There are several interactive videos, other customers' reviews, etc that are accessible with product information. Shopping portals also provide multiple images of a product from different angles stating every detail about it. Some even offer to send selected products home for making the final choice and returning them if none suits a customer's needs. Google Shopping recently introduced 360 degree imagery that helps a customer get a better sense of the product (its texture, quality, etc). Sitting in the comfort of your home, what more can you ask for?
When retailers use the internet as a platform to exhibit their products/service online, they create more alternatives for a consumer to connect with their products at a personal level. And that is where it is difficult to go wrong. So, once a consumer feels emotionally inclined towards a product, that incessant need to purchase it becomes inevitable. Presently what we see is only the tip of the iceberg. There are so many more perspectives that are yet to be realized.
