Online Shopping With Traditional Shopping

Online Shopping vs. Traditional Shopping: A Comparison

Online shopping has become very popular, but there are still a lot of people who will only shop the traditional way (Hong, Thong, & Tam, 2005). There are pros and cons to both types of shopping. For traditional shopping, one of the big pros is that a person can actually touch and examine the merchandise being purchased. Some people also enjoy just getting out and around, visiting with other people in the stores and browsing. They find it peaceful and relaxing and fun. Another benefit is that it is usually easy to return or exchange things if you have a receipt, and it can be done quickly (Hong, Thong, & Tam, 2005). On the downside, there are cons as well. Gasoline is one of them, as well as the time that it takes to drive to and from and between stores. There is the chance of getting in a traffic accident any time a person drives around, and the store might not have what is needed, meaning the person will have to drive around to more places and use more gasoline and time to find what he or she is looking for.

When it comes to online shopping, there are pros when it comes to time and cost. There is no gasoline expense and no chance of an accident. Online shopping can also be done just about any time, day or night, and it does not matter whether a brick-and-mortar store is open (Hong, Thong, & Tam, 2005). This makes it much more convenient than traditional shopping for a lot of people. The problems with online shopping include a danger of credit card information being stolen, a possibility of merchandise being damaged in shipping, and the fact that a person cannot touch and carefully examine the merchandise before he or she agrees to buy it (Hong, Thong, & Tam, 2005). Of course, it can be returned, but waiting for it to come in, sending it back, and waiting for it to come in again can take a very long time and be frustrating. Some places also will not pay for the return shipping, so it might end up costing money even if the person decides that he or she does not want it. Overall, online shopping or traditional shopping is a matter of taste.

Bibliography

Hong, W., Thong, J.Y.L., & Tam, K.Y. (2005, Winter). The effects of information format and shopping task on consumers’ online shopping behavior: a cognitive fit perspective. Journal of Management Information Systems, 21(3).