Online vs. Brick-and-Mortar Shopping
Online Vs. Brick-and-mortar shopping
In today’s economic society people are more cost conscious and look for sales and deals when they make purchases. As people are becoming more frugal in their spending, there are still millions of dollars spent annually on purchases. Today’s technology has helped with finding the best deals and although the basic concept of shopping has not changed, the way people shop has changed from brick-and-mortar shopping to logging online and shopping.
When thinking about going Christmas shopping or Back-to-School shopping, what is the first comes to mind? Crowded stores, sales, specials, and the traffic? What about the time spent going from store to store, to see what you are buying, to touch and try on, see the “true” color and know what you are buying firsthand? These things plus the ease of pulling out your wallet and either handing cash, a credit card or a check to the sales clerk that people both dread and look forward to when going on shopping trips. People like the personal touch that comes from going to a brick-and-mortar store, dealing with the salesperson, the cashiers and if necessary the management of the stores. “There are still many products and services—food, apparel, home decoration, and so forth—with significant "nondigital" attributes that some shoppers believe need sensory inspection (touch, feel, taste, smell), making them relatively difficult to sell online. Creative online sellers can overcome these impediments in part, but not entirely, and certainly not for all segments of shoppers. "Try before you buy" still holds.” (David Bell, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania 2011) They like the personal interaction involved in the shopping trip. This has been the way of shopping for as long as there have been stores and people needing to purchase things from stores.
Today people are given an alternative to the brick-and-mortar shopping trip that has been the norm for so long. The
In today’s economic society people are more cost conscious and look for sales and deals when they make purchases. As people are becoming more frugal in their spending, there are still millions of dollars spent annually on purchases. Today’s technology has helped with finding the best deals and although the basic concept of shopping has not changed, the way people shop has changed from brick-and-mortar shopping to logging online and shopping.
When thinking about going Christmas shopping or Back-to-School shopping, what is the first comes to mind? Crowded stores, sales, specials, and the traffic? What about the time spent going from store to store, to see what you are buying, to touch and try on, see the “true” color and know what you are buying firsthand? These things plus the ease of pulling out your wallet and either handing cash, a credit card or a check to the sales clerk that people both dread and look forward to when going on shopping trips. People like the personal touch that comes from going to a brick-and-mortar store, dealing with the salesperson, the cashiers and if necessary the management of the stores. “There are still many products and services—food, apparel, home decoration, and so forth—with significant "nondigital" attributes that some shoppers believe need sensory inspection (touch, feel, taste, smell), making them relatively difficult to sell online. Creative online sellers can overcome these impediments in part, but not entirely, and certainly not for all segments of shoppers. "Try before you buy" still holds.” (David Bell, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania 2011) They like the personal interaction involved in the shopping trip. This has been the way of shopping for as long as there have been stores and people needing to purchase things from stores.
Today people are given an alternative to the brick-and-mortar shopping trip that has been the norm for so long. The
References: Luedtke, P. (2011). The Debate Room. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/debateroom/archives/2010/07/shopping_as_we_know_it_will_disappear.html Bell, D. (2011). The Debate Room. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/debateroom/archives/2010/07/shopping_as_we_know_it_will_disappear.html Beauchamp, M.B., & Ponder, N. (2010, Spring). Perceptions of retail convenience for in-store and online shoppers. Marketing Management Journal, 20(1), 49-65. Mignogna, A. (2006). Cute little store: Between the entrepreneurial dream and business reality. : Outskirts Press.