Sample Paper Essay: Cause and Effect of Online Shopping

Online retailing is a type of e-commerce that facilitates or gives a platform for buyers to purchase services and goods online. Recently, online shopping has gained fame, and more people are turning to online shopping. There are particular reasons which lead people to shop; however, online shopping norm has an impact not only on the businesses but also the economy.

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Causes

The need for a wider selection of goods and to have a comparison of goods. This is one of the major reasons why most buyers prefer to purchase goods from an online store. A majority of buyers rarely know what they are looking for when going shopping. Therefore, turning to online shopping, they can have access to various products that are in stock (Lim et al. 403). For instance, by using Amazon only, a buyer can access items from different categories, e.g., books, electronics, furniture, detergents, among others. The need to access a variety of goods goes hand in hand with the need to have a better comparison of commodities. Buyers do not have time to move from one physical location to another to compare commodities. They choose to from online stores since they can compare the quality, quantity, and price of products. Some products are counterfeit and may have different pricing on different platforms. Going through the review section of the item helps one understand the quality and durability of the product. Likewise, one can determine which platform has the best rates for a particular product. The customer requires a wider range of products to choose from.

Other causes of online shopping are convenience and the need to save on time. Shoppers enjoy the freedom of purchasing commodities conveniently from home (Bucko et al.). All they need is to have access to the internet, choose the products you wish to buy, make an order, and they will be delivered at your doorstep. Buyers do not have to travel to the physical location of the retailer to buy what they need. Also, they do not struggle to get a product of their choice; it is easier to identify which store is selling a particular product. It’s different from offline stores where one must move from one retailer to the other in the search for the desired products. Most people usually look for easier ways to shop without wasting much of their time. Through online shopping, buyers will not waste their time by visiting supermarkets and other retailers to buy goods. Also, they save on time that is wasted by shoppers making long queues in supermarkets. Online shopping saves buyers the hustle of looking for a car park and the time wasted switching products that are not necessary from the shopping trolley. Technological inventions help businesses improve their business and serve clients better, and therefore, buyers are looking for a retailer that is convenient. 

Effects

Online shopping has affected offline retail shops in several ways. One, they have decreased the loyalty of customers towards a certain brand. Shoppers don’t keep on buying items from one store since they have a variety to choose the best, depending on what fits them best. Using online reviews, buyers are able to make a clear decision of what they want to buy before visiting the stores, unlike when people used to depend on shop attendants for advice. Organizations have been forced to create websites where they update relevant information regularly. They inform customers of new products, discounts and also customers are allowed to make a review of particular products. This has affected engagement between the company and its customers. The company is able to create a direct connection with its clients.

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Online shopping may be convenient, but what most people do not realize is that it affects our health. The habit of online buying could be making our body weaker day by day without people’s knowledge. It is convenient since it does not involve carrying shopping bags, among other items, from shop to home, but this ruins the body muscles. Body muscles wear out more so as people grow older; however, this may be reduced through body exercise. Therefore, online shopping accelerates wearing out of body muscles. People are at the risk of becoming obese or adding weight extraordinarily since all they do is just sitting at home without body exercises. Offline shopping facilitates some form of body exercise by walking to shops and back home. People are bound to lose weight through body exercise but at the same time add weight if they spend more time sited. 

People who are addicted to online shopping have a high probability of developing agitation, depression, isolation, and boredom. People who spend their time shopping online may develop depression due to a lack of enough money to purchase needed products. Online buyers behave like they are in isolation since they spend most of their time on phones and laptops searching for what to buy (Hsu and Pham). Most of their time is spent online, and they rarely interact with other people. They have a poor social life compared to that of other people. Agitation is a type of mood disorder that develops from stress. In this case, agitation can be caused by a lack of money when order is not delivered on time, among others. Online buyer’s minds are occupied by activities of online shopping and rarely involve themselves with other activities.

Too much of anything is poisonous, and so is online shopping. Most online buyers spend a larger percentage of their time, which results in addiction (Bhargava and Kiran). It develops some odd or weird behaviors to the affected persons to the extent that they may not realize it. It forms some kind of irresistible shopping habit that is beyond limits or excessive purchase of products. Such habits can be termed as compulsive buying and might result in the abuse of resources or regrets. Compulsive buying is a disorder that develops a kind of cycle similar to that of drug addiction. At this time, shopping becomes a routine or rather habit; it is done in order to alter our mood. Such people are forced to shop more and more despite having enough shopping in order to achieve some kind of satisfaction.

In conclusion, there are particular reasons which lead people to shop; however, online shopping norm has an impact not only on the businesses but also the economy. People opt for online shopping due to several reasons. One is the need to have a wider selection and comparison of goods. Convenience and the need to save time has also caused people to turn to online shopping. The norm of online buying has not only reduced the loyalty of customers to particular brands but also made it harder for companies to compete with each other.  In addition to the lack of privacy and increased fraud cases, online shopping has led to a reduced collection of sales taxes by the local state.

Work Cited

Bhargava, Neha Ramnani, and Kiran Gehani Hasija. “Effect of Online Shopping Addiction on Mental Illness among Youth.” Gnited Minds Journals, 2019, ignited.in/p/89567.

Bucko, Jozef, Lukáš Kakalejčík, and Martina Ferencová. “Online shopping: Factors that affect consumer purchasing behavior.” Cogent Business & Management 5.1 (2018): 1535751.

Hsu, Shu-Hung, and Pham Minh Luan. “The Perception Risk of Online Shopping Impacted on the Consumer’s Attitude and Purchase Intention in Hanoi, Vietnam.” Journal of Business & Economic Policy 4.4 (2017): 19-29.

Lim, Yi Jin, et al. “Factors influencing online shopping behavior: the mediating role of purchase intention.” Procedia Economics and Finance 35.5 (2016): 401-410.