E-Shopping, the shopping of the future?

It is very modern and more and more people are using it: shopping via the internet. Still, the question is whether this form of purchasing will completely replace the old-fashioned way in the future, because it does have some disadvantages. Some people find it extremely useful, but another part of society is completely dissatisfied with the phenomenon of E-shopping.

What does electronic shopping actually encompass? The point that I find most useful is the amount of shops where you can go. Normally you don’t buy something so quickly from a store on the other side of the country, but if you do order via the internet, this is no longer a problem; after all, the PTT will deliver anyway. This gives you the choice of all stores throughout the country that offer the product you are looking for on the internet. In this way, you can save a lot of money, especially with expensive items, due to the large selection. Through the ‘perfect competition’ principle, the pricing mechanism ensures that the price remains as low as possible, since people would otherwise simply choose another store. Supply enough.

Another advantage especially applies to lazy people, namely that you hardly have to leave your chair to buy something. A few clicks with the mouse and all you have to do is open the door for the postman. Extremely handy. But here is also the first disadvantage for another group of people. Not everyone likes just sitting on their lazy ass. Some like to look around in a number of stores before buying something. Particularly older people will find some resistance to buying from a distance. See first, then buy.

A few days ago, however, a major step was taken in the development of electronic shopping. The government then decided that from the beginning of next month web shops will be obliged to give customers a week to think about it. If you do not like the product purchased via the internet, it can be returned within 7 days. This makes it a bit easier to take the ‘risk’ of buying something remotely.

Another point, however, remains a problem for some distrustful people: the reliability of the e-shop. What to do if a product does not work properly or does not meet expectations, but the supplier does not cooperate? That is of course quite inconvenient, since the case in question is practically never around. Calling remains the only solution, but this is not really useful in the event of a difference of opinion. In such a case it is very easy if you can drive past it.

For example, a friend of mine recently had problems with a case where he had bought an Athlon 700. The processor worked well for the first few weeks, but after a few happy hours, the computer suddenly wouldn’t boot anymore. After some back and forth calls between him and the company in question, the CPU could be returned, but this turned out to be less fun than expected. The store casually called that my neighbor had overclocked the processor and was therefore not getting his money back. While this was not the case at all!

In the end, the Athlon was sent to an AMD factory for inspection, which showed that the thing was not overclocked after all. Meanwhile, the processor had been gone for about eight weeks and the temporary replacement processor was weeks away. A time of many calls and emails, very impractical. It all turned out well, but this experience showed that an order via the internet also has annoying sides.

Despite the disadvantages (which will only rarely arise) I think that over time more and more people will make their purchases via the Internet. For those who do want to buy something via the internet, there is certainly enough to find in the computer field. With our price watch at hand, the cheapest store can be found in no time. But, I think everyone will still go to the supermarket for normal shopping. Electronic store may be useful, but it is missing something. As I wrote in my previous column : it will be a strange world if no one leaves the house anymore.