Benefits and Hazards of Online Shopping - Essay Example

The internet has created new opportunities for trading through electronic commerce platforms. Electronic commerce has revolutionized the way business is conducted and with the click of the mouse, one can get the products they require anytime regardless of their location. Online shopping provides businesses with the opportunity to grow, as it enables the business to have a wide market base as it will expand globally to meet the international market. Online shopping has been highly recognized because it provides various benefits even though it also has disadvantages.

The benefits of online shopping are numerous one of them being one can shop from home and does not need to go to the mall as one will shop online and the product is delivered to the doorstep. Online shopping saves time and resources as one will be able to shop in the comfort of their homes and one can shop whenever they want hence making it convenient (Rajaraman, 2000). Online shopping will provide variety for the buyer to choose from various shops as there are many providers and this allows the buyer to compare products and choose the one that best meets their requirements.

Online shopping also has hazards or drawbacks that make people sceptical about using it. There exists a time lag between payment of the products required and delivery, unlike buying from a store where one exchanges money for the product. Online shopping also does not allow the customer the chance to test the product before using it and if it is defective when delivered it may inconvenience the buyer (Rajaraman, 2000). There are high shipping costs for [products and this makes products sell at a higher price than usual when using online shopping. Online shopping is also faced with security issues as payment methods over the internet through credit cards may not be secure and it may lead to insecure transactions. However, with proper implementation of security measures, online shopping provides an easy and convenient means of trading that saves the customer time and offers a wide variety of products to choose from.

I chose online shopping—benefits and hazards as it has become a topic of discussion today because globalization has prompted the need for businesses to initiate electronic commerce to be competitive in the market. This topic will help me learn how the advantages and drawbacks of electronic commerce hence it could help me when I start my own business.

I used the Google search engine and determined if the source was reliable by checking the organization that developed the website, the date and whether the publisher is a reputable one.

Searching on the internet was easier than on the online library as I only needed to type in the keywords and the search engine displayed various choices from which I chose the topic I decided to write about.

“Due to electronic commerce, there is no need to go to the commercial places or the shop next to the corner. Everybody may place orders from home sitting in front of the PC and thoroughly analyzing and comparing different products” (Liliana, 2011).

Electronic commerce offers customers the ability to shop at any time because the sites are always open thus offering customers the chance to shop for a variety of products available whenever they want.

“The most important reason for which some persons hesitate to use the internet for purchases-as resulted from most of the opinion polls – is that of being afraid to supply online information regarding the credit card” (Liliana, 2011).

Online shopping is also faced with security issues as consumers are concerned that payment methods over the Internet through credit cards may not be secure and may lead to insecure transactions.

I had problems in using synonyms for some words such as ‘customers’ but I realized that forming a completely new sentence by reading and understanding the content and then writing it using my own words helps in eliminating plagiarism.