Angelica Perez Essay 1

Running head: THE MODERN SHOPPER’S DILEMMA 1
The Modern Shopper’s Dilemma: Online Shopping vs Traditional Shopping
Angélica Pérez Ortiz
Sullivan University
ENG 101
April 26th, 2020

THE MODERN SHOPPER’S DILEMMA 2
Commerce has always been an important and defining factor in the development of
human societies. In today’s world, customers have more options than ever before by being able
to shop in person and through online stores. Online shopping provides a better and more efficient
shopping experience than traditional shopping does because products are cheaper, online stores
are more accessible, and there is a wider variety of products to choose from.
Everyone knows that the merchant selling the best products for the cheapest price will
make the most sales. Online stores offer their products cheaper because online merchants save
money in ways a traditional merchant is unable to. All stores incur in costs to be able to present
their products to their potential customers but an online merchant simply needs to upload good
quality photos of their items paired with a good description of the item and what is included in
the sale. This allows for the sale of products online at a lower cost while still making a profit.
Another reason online shopping maybe be the cheaper option is because of websites such as
eBay where there’s auctions for items. Customers can continuously attempt to get an item for a
lower value through these auctions rather than pay full price elsewhere.
On the other hand, traditional stores are often unable to compete with the cheaper prices
offered online. Traditional stores need to rely on several employees to receive their items,
prepare the item to go on the sales floor and make sure it’s presented in areas of the store where
customers are going to come looking for it. This requires hours and money invested solely on the
presentation of the item. Ultimately, traditional stores need to make sure they charge a higher
price for items so they can make a profit, pay their employees, and purchase more merchandise
in the future.
Accessibility is another important aspect that all merchants need to keep in mind. The
more accessible the product, the more it sells. Online stores are not anchored to one city, state or
even country which makes them more accessible than traditional stores. An online store’s
availability is limited by the places the merchant is willing to ship their items to. Some online
stores may only ship to the United States or to a handful of countries while other stores are
willing to ship world-wide. Therefore, anyone with internet access will be able to purchase items
on these online stores. Another reason online stores are more accessible is because they provide
shopping options for people that have a harder time physically visiting a store or simply going
outside. Customers with physical disabilities, bed-ridden or without a car are still able to
purchase a lot of essential products online without needing to leave their home. Even certain
groceries and food products can be purchased online through services such as Amazon Pantry.
Traditional stores can only be accessed in person and therefore their number of potential
customers is limited to those that live near the store or in the same city/state the store is located
in. Several store-chains have expanded their accessibility by having both, a website for their
store as well as traditional stores allowing them to sell products to as many customers as
possible. A good example of this practice is Walmart, a multinational retail sales corporation
with stores all over the United States and an online store website that ships to the USA, Guam,
Military addresses, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. This way Walmart has managed to
expand the accessibility of their products.
A smart shopper makes sure that they have reviewed all their options and attempts to buy
the best quality product within their budget. Shopping online makes this easier because there is a
wider variety of stores and products to choose from. In one online session, a customer can visit
Amazon, eBay, Alibaba, Walmart, BestBuy, Etsy, and many other independent online merchants
that could be selling the products they are looking for. Another reason online stores offer more
variety is because one single online merchant can offer you several brands of products within the
same website. For example, if a customer visits Amazon.com, they can search for several
smartphone models from several brands and manufacturers, all sold and shipped from Amazon.
When compared to online shopping, traditional shopping offers less variety. Traditional
stores are limited to selling a smaller quantity of products because a traditional store owner is
limited by space and costs. A store’s building has a store-front/sales area and a storage area. The
amount and variety of products available to sell will depend on how big the store’s building is
and that depends on how successful the merchant is. When a customer is trying to purchase an
item for the first time, the store that offers more options of the same product type is likely to be
the one that makes the sale. However, not all stores sell the same items or sell everything a
customer is looking for which forces customers to make several shopping trips in a day and visit
several stores to be able to purchase everything they were looking for or worse, settle for an item
of lesser quality.
I hope my examples and reasoning have helped prove and explain why online stores offer
a better and more effective shopping experience. When it comes to costs, online stores can offer
their merchandise for less than their traditional competitors because they are spending less
money on presenting the same item. When it comes to accessibility, online stores can reach
customers in larger distances as well as those that are physically impaired. The only threat to an
online store’s accessibility is access to the internet, something that can be easily remedied by
visiting a café with a hotspot, a public library or borrowing some else’s Wi-Fi. Lastly, online
stores can provide more variety of the same product type, giving costumers more options to
chose from without having to compromise quality or their budget. However, I’d like to point out
that humans are social beings and sometimes we do not go out to shop because of what we’re
buying but because of the social aspect of the experience and online shopping will never be able
to compete with traditional shopping on this singular aspect.

Angelica Perez Essay 1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Angelica Perez Essay 1

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Angelica Perez Essay 1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Running head: THE MODERN SHOPPER’S DILEMMA 1

The Modern Shopper’s Dilemma: Online Shopping vs Traditional Shopping

Angélica Pérez Ortiz

April 26th, 2020

expand the accessibility of their products.

to compete with traditional shopping on this singular aspect.

You might also like