Shopping has become an integral and inevitable part of our lives. The saying “happiness is not money but shopping” has become a daily mantra.
We might find dealing with stress and being relaxed after spending a few bucks on our favorite clothes or pieces of jewelry.
Today, it is not just our daily needs but our emotions also play a crucial role in our shopping experience and influence our decisions.
In this article, we will look into how shopping has changed over time and its effects on individual lives. Mostly, we will look at how online shopping has influenced our lives and changed the way we shop.
Overview of the Evolution of Shopping
When we talk about the evolution of shopping, we know it started with brick-and-mortar establishments. These are street-side businesses that offer various products or services.
A face-to-face interaction takes place between the customers and sellers. Before the brick-and-mortar shopping establishments, the bazaar system was prevalent, where merchants from different regions brought numerous items and sold them in crucial trade hubs.
These bazaars also played an important role in the economic development of small communities and small-scale businesses.
From the 19th century onwards, shopping centers came into existence. Department stores were opened where people could get various items under a single roof.
As part of industrialization and urbanization, the 20th century witnessed the growth of small shipping malls or retail spaces that had multiple stores, restaurants, and even entertainment facilities.
It was not places just meant for shopping people spend their leisure time in these spaces, enjoying a cup of coffee and purchasing necessities.
This period witnessed the rise of consumerism and changed the way people shopped. People started to enjoy shopping and view the activity as more of a happy activity than a necessity.
When we enter the late 20th century, we can see the emergence of the internet and how slowly but steadily everything became a part of this. Amazon and eBay launched their e-commerce stores quickly.
When smartphones became an integral part of our lives, these e-commerce systems also became intrinsic. Shopping became easy and quick. It became convenient for people to place an order and receive the item within two to three days.
These virtual marketplaces made it easier for sellers to connect with their customers and vice versa. Social media has also played an important role in changing how we look at shopping. In the upcoming sections, we will look at more about the evolution of shopping.
What Is Traditional Shopping?
Traditional shopping is when a person goes to the desired shopping outlet, like a mall or a store to purchase the thing(s) they want. The person is exposed to a wide variety of products and options at the outlet.
He/she can choose any one or more of them according to their choice. After selecting the products, they can go to the checkout counter and pay for the items.
As you can see, in traditional shopping, consumers can engage with the product while purchasing it. They can feel the product and pick out the best ones, for example, clothes, toys, etc.
People can also get a personalized shopping experience and also an immediate gratification. It is said to be more of a social experience where people can go out with their family and friends, which is usually clubbed with other entertainment activities.
Pros and cons of traditional shopping
Let’s look at some of the pros and cons of traditional shopping.
Pros:
- Personalized shopping experience, where the staff will provide assistance as well as answer all the questions related to a specific product.
- Traditional shopping is a type of social activity, where you get to spend time with family and friends and interact with others.
- People can physically and directly inspect the things they want to purchase, like furniture or clothing.
- People also get immediate gratification and get to take the product immediately and take it home.
- Consumers don’t have to pay shipping fees.
Cons:
- Traditional shopping is time-consuming because users have to go to multiple stores and products to find the right product.
- During the holiday season, there might be a shortage of products of significant demand.
- Sometimes people must go through queues and crowded markets to purchase what they want.
- When compared to online shopping, traditional shopping might be expensive.
What Is Online Shopping?
Online shopping has revolutionized the overall shopping experience. It is a form of shopping that is done from an electronic device. Only a few clicks and taps are required to purchase any item.
Consumers can open any e-commerce website or application to purchase the item(s) they want. Today, a wide array of online shopping platforms are available. A variety of options for a single item is available. The pictures, prices, features, and specifications are mentioned for consumers to decide whether it is worth a shot.
Michael Aldrich invented electronic shopping in 1979. With the advent of the World Wide Web in 1990, e-commerce became accessible to millions of people.
In 1995, the first online shopping store, Amazon.com was established. Sooner, eBay, another online store joined the biggest marketplaces. Consumers can select the products and add them to a virtual cart.
After adding the desired items, they can go to the checkout page and pay digitally using their bank credit card or debit card, UPI, or others.
Pros and cons of online shopping
Noted below are the pros and cons of online shopping.
Pros:
- Online shopping is way more convenient than traditional shopping. Consumers can shop from anywhere in the world at any time. It offers more flexibility, especially for people who have busy schedules.
- Access to a wide range of products from one single location. Consumers can compare prices and produce features and then select the best ones.
- Online shopping is cost-effective because different offers are available. Moreover, it can be bought at lower prices than the items at physical stores.
- Online shopping is quite time-saving. Consumers shouldn’t have to stand in crowds or traffic to purchase the products. All they need to do is to search for the item and select the best one.
Cons:
- Consumers do not get to interact and inspect each product they want to purchase. So, there is no way to ensure that it meets their expectations and desired quality.
- The risk of scams in online shopping is very high. There might be websites or sellers, who pose to sell high-quality products, only for users to get the low-quality ones. It could result in a loss of money.
- Sometimes the shipping time could take longer. Usually, the shipping time could take 3 to 7 business days, depending on the seller’s location. This can be a deal breaker for consumers who want to get the product immediately.
- If a consumer is unsatisfied with the product and wants to return it, he/she has to go through many processes to get a refund. In most cases, the process can be expensive and tiring.
Online Shopping: Impact on Consumer Behaviour
Online shopping has provided flexibility and convenience for consumers across the globe. Research has found that psychological aspects of online shopping shape individual choices.
The ease of use is what makes online shopping stand out from conservation shopping. However, since numerous websites and online stores are available, users have to browse through each one of them to find the right product at affordable prices.
A broader inspection of items is not available in online shopping and an availability of hundreds of choices can lead to decision paralysis. Consumers can get indecisive when purchasing a product.
They have to compare different features of two or more products to pick the right one and in most cases makes them even more confused.
Social media is now dominating the online shopping spree. We can see celebrities, influencers, and content creators turn into brand advocates. Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube are the few popular social media options where brands can connect with consumers.
Social media influencers improve product visibility and brand impression. They also play a crucial role in the online reach of a particular product and conversion rates. With the help of influencers, brands can instill trust in their consumers and influence their decisions.
A sense of scarcity is a psychological trigger used to attract consumers. It creates a sense of urgency that motivates consumers to purchase the product. For example, limited-time offers, holiday sales, flash sales, countdown timers, etc, are some that trigger the consumer to get a product that he/she hasn’t planned to purchase.
Personalization is another factor in online shopping. Social media and e-commerce sites use algorithms, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to identify customer needs and preferences and provide exactly what they want.
They personalize stuff in the form of advertisements or content. Customization and personalization create a sense of individuality and consumers also feel that their needs and preferences are understood and catered to exactly how they want.
Conclusion
In this article, we have tracked the evolution of shopping from traditional to online. We have seen that shopping has undergone immense changes and how technologies have revolutionized the shopping experience.
As we can see, online shopping provides wider options for consumers from a single device. Consumers can also purchase them at reasonable prices with discounts. The convenience of shopping online has made people switch to it.
Customers can also get personalized and customized shopping experiences. According to recent studies, instant shipping is the future of online shopping. Consumers can purchase the outfits of their favorite movie stars in a single click.
With the help of advanced analytics, drawing data from historical and real-time sellers can get to know user behavior and prove personalized preferences.
However, when shopping becomes wholly digitalized, consumers will miss out on shopping as a social and pleasant experience.
