Compare shopping online with traditional shopping - Essay Example

Comparison of Traditional and Online Shopping Comparison of Traditional and Online Shopping Introduction Technology has revolutionized the modern society to such a great extent that the world has become a global village. Accessibility and quick access to things that might be present at the other end of the globe have changed the mode of businesses. The technology that has been able to facilitate such instant access is internet. Internet technology has led the way for online shopping websites that enable the customers to shop from the vicinity of their choice without physically going to the stores to make the purchase.

Online shopping has brought about access to wider range of customers, convenience and pace in the experience of shopping at the cost of lack of physical touch of the products being purchased, alongside the incremental rates of credit card frauds and identity thefts.2. Comparison of Traditional and Online Shopping Traditional shopping compelled the customers to make endless trips to the stores to choose their most preferred products; such trips usually involved wastage of time in terms of commuting, waiting in lines etc.

On the contrary, online shopping does not involve any commuting since the customer has the facility of making the desired purchase from the vicinity of his choice. This results in lesser wastage of any time and enables the user to choose a product from a wide range of categories under one platform. E-commerce Marketing and Optimization (2006) stated that the selection of the products can be done by means of a methodical approach of browsing in different categories; however the lack of touch and physical viewing of the objects by the customer might become an unpleasant surprise at delivery time.

The trip to the retail stores makes the customer see the texture, different features of the objects in a more detailed manner rather than merely reading such information at a website. Retail stores only provide service to a certain range of customers that might be limited to a specific region and location, whereas online stores provide products and services to customer on a global level; such global access enables developing countries to attain the same quality of products that might be utilized by developed countries.

One of the major issues in the increasing acceptance of online shopping is the rising rate of the credit card frauds and identity thefts. Srivastava, Kundu, Sural and Majumdar (2008) quoted research findings regarding the increasing losses to customers and organizations due to the occurrence of credit card frauds; $2.7 billion were recorded for the year 2005 while $3.0 billion in the year 2006. Credit card frauds and identity thefts have never been witnessed at such an incremental rate in the traditional modes of shopping.3. Conclusion After analyzing the pros and cons of online and traditional modes of shopping, it can be stated that both of the platforms have their advantages and drawbacks.

Online shopping provides convenience and quick shopping experience at the vicinity of their choice whereas the tedious trips to the retail stores can cause severe wastage of time. The traditional shopping experience provides the opportunity to touch and view the objects at a direct level and avoids the possibility of discovering undesired features at the delivery time. However, the increasing inclination towards online shopping has caused an increment in credit card frauds and identity frauds.

BibliographyE-commerce Marketing and Optimization, (2006), Differences Between Online Retail & Traditional Retail Businesses, Retrieved from http://www.ecommerceoptimization.com/articles/differences-between-online-retail- traditional-retail-businesses/Srivastava, A., Kundu, A., Sural, S., Majumdar, A.K., (2008), Credit Card Fraud Detection Using Hidden Markov Model, IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing, Vol. 5, No. 1.