Shopping online but buying local
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Amazing isn't it, how the internet has changed the way we live our lives in the last 15 years? If you are old enough to remember back to the days when we relied on the library and the yellow pages for our information, you will know how the world wide web has put life into fifth gear, enabling us to get a window on the world at the click of a mouse.
As a nation of shoppers, the internet was sure to have a profound effect on the way we source and buy the objects we need, but in those early days, who could have predicted how far it was to take us? As shops and stores began to set up websites and present us with images of their products, we could never have envisaged how progress in internet technologies would eventually enable us to order and pay for goods online, relying on them to turn up the next day on our doorsteps. Then so it was that independent retailers, high-street stores, internet auction sites and supermarket giants all jumped on the bandwagon. Now even the agoraphobics could possibly get by for weeks without leaving the front door.
However as much as we will admit that it is fun to buy online, thankfully our love of the high street is an enduring one. More than just a way of getting the objects we want, going out to shop is more a part and parcel of our way of life, with thousands of women listing it as their favourite hobby. Nothing beats whiling away an afternoon among the bright lights of a chic shopping arcade, or rummaging through the sale rails of our favourite boutiques. Who would want to trade the euphoria of snaffling that purchase that we have had our eye on for months when it is finally been reduced in the end of season sale? Then there is the banter, those treasured moments with friends, trying on clothes together then making your all-important decisions over a cosy coffee.
So has online shopping really become the scourge of the bricks and mortar store? How much of an effect is the rising popularity of internet purchasing really having on the high street? Well if we are to be pragmatic, it is probably having very little effect. Research shows that a large proportion of internet shopping searches happen on an aspirational basis, in other words, people are simply fantasising about items that they would buy if only they had the money. It also turns out that a growing number of savvy online shoppers, far from shunning the shops in favour of the virtual shopping cart, are largely using the net for research and price comparison. After reading the customer reviews, scouring the ranges for their preferred item, comparing prices and searching for the best offers, these bargain hunters are venturing out to hand over the money in store, where they can get a better feel for the item. Finding online offers even gives shoppers a bargaining edge, allowing them to barter with retailers to get the best deal at the right price.
Using the power of search engines, online reviews and voucher codes, shoppers willing to do a little delving are realising just what a useful tool they have at their fingertips. Whatever the future holds, there is no doubt online shopping will continue to prosper.
As a nation of shoppers, the internet was sure to have a profound effect on the way we source and buy the objects we need, but in those early days, who could have predicted how far it was to take us? As shops and stores began to set up websites and present us with images of their products, we could never have envisaged how progress in internet technologies would eventually enable us to order and pay for goods online, relying on them to turn up the next day on our doorsteps. Then so it was that independent retailers, high-street stores, internet auction sites and supermarket giants all jumped on the bandwagon. Now even the agoraphobics could possibly get by for weeks without leaving the front door.
However as much as we will admit that it is fun to buy online, thankfully our love of the high street is an enduring one. More than just a way of getting the objects we want, going out to shop is more a part and parcel of our way of life, with thousands of women listing it as their favourite hobby. Nothing beats whiling away an afternoon among the bright lights of a chic shopping arcade, or rummaging through the sale rails of our favourite boutiques. Who would want to trade the euphoria of snaffling that purchase that we have had our eye on for months when it is finally been reduced in the end of season sale? Then there is the banter, those treasured moments with friends, trying on clothes together then making your all-important decisions over a cosy coffee.
So has online shopping really become the scourge of the bricks and mortar store? How much of an effect is the rising popularity of internet purchasing really having on the high street? Well if we are to be pragmatic, it is probably having very little effect. Research shows that a large proportion of internet shopping searches happen on an aspirational basis, in other words, people are simply fantasising about items that they would buy if only they had the money. It also turns out that a growing number of savvy online shoppers, far from shunning the shops in favour of the virtual shopping cart, are largely using the net for research and price comparison. After reading the customer reviews, scouring the ranges for their preferred item, comparing prices and searching for the best offers, these bargain hunters are venturing out to hand over the money in store, where they can get a better feel for the item. Finding online offers even gives shoppers a bargaining edge, allowing them to barter with retailers to get the best deal at the right price.
Using the power of search engines, online reviews and voucher codes, shoppers willing to do a little delving are realising just what a useful tool they have at their fingertips. Whatever the future holds, there is no doubt online shopping will continue to prosper.
