The two most popular ways of shopping is online and in store. However, both options come with pros and cons.

People nowadays turn more towards shopping online. This is because of all the technology improvements that has happened within the past few years. Let´s go through the different ways  shopping online can both benefit and come as a disadvantage to anyone’s shopping experience.

Pros of Shopping Online Rather Than in Store: 

1. No Pressure to Make a Purchase

When shopping online, the person doing the shopping is in complete control. There is no salesperson walking around trying to push a product on anyone. Without the pressure from salespeople or other shoppers getting in the way, the person shopping is able to make a clear minded decision on whether they should make the purchase or not.

2. Better Prices

Shopping online allows for more sales and discounts. Most online businesses offer free shipping and a percentage off of the total cost when a certain amount of money is spent. Not only are there more discounts available when shopping online, it is also an easier way to compare prices. Instead of having to go through every product in the store to find out which price is better, all someone has to do when online shopping is click a few buttons.

3. No Store Hours 

What better way to go shopping than not actually going out to go shopping. Shopping online means no movement required. It means no one has to worry about getting up and making it to the store before it closes. This is because there are no store hours when it comes to online shopping. Anyone can shop and make as many purchases as they want even after the store itself closes.

Cons of Shopping Online Rather than in Store:

1. More Likely to be Scammed

A lot of websites are set up so that as soon as someone clicks on it, a virus is sent to their device. Most of the time this happens without the person even knowing. Another scam that is commonly used is websites requiring the user to create an account with their store. Once the account is created, the owners of the website could sell the users information for money.

2. Shipping Delays

Even though the receipt says a package will arrive on a certain date, that does not guarantee the arrival. A lot of the times the lack of arrival is not even the companies fault. It is due to how busy the postal delivery services are. If the delivery service shipping the product has an overwhelmingly amount of orders to get out by a certain date and time, most likely all those packages will be a few days late.

3. Detrimental to the Environment

While having packages delivered straight to someone’s doorstep is convenient, it is also hurting the environment. With every online purchase comes a new cardboard box filled with plastic. Even if the person who ordered the package attempts to recycle, it is sill more waste that the environment cannot afford.