Hello there,
I believe this is the longest gap I've ever had in-between
two blogs of mine. Needless to say – I’m no more in South Africa, but back to
India! I
had to wait for some good topic to write something, and I believe I've got the
content – the order of the day – Online shopping.
To start, what are the Benefits?
The primary objective of buying things online, for me, is
the time & energy that is saved.
Assume you need to buy a water purifer –
you visit shops like Pai, VGP,
Vivek’s, Girias, E-zone etc., to understand different models, offers, price
difference etc., This consumes around 3 hours easily, and includes the commute,
roaming around, finding a parking (if in Car, on weekend) etc., If you stay
farther, 25 % of your weekend is gone!
In online, It's just the matter of entering the preferred model name or item name
in Google and you get the list of models, offers, cash back offers, etc., For high value items, most shippers offer
transit insurance as well.
Next, convenience
In the same case of buying a water purifier, in online, you
can buy it during any time of the day – even at midnight or even from remote location.
This helps those who are in night shift or arrive home late.
Things that you miss?
By buying a stuff like water purifier through online, you
miss the demonstrations they do in stores. You cannot see in person how big or
small the item looks.
-
So, what we can do is – to visit one shop, get
the demo, note the model number and look for it online. Even if you are not
getting the same price online, you can always go back to the same shop.
Some blame that this online thing makes people lazy. The
point is, if you need to do shopping over the weekend, you have a schedule – to
get ready in the morning, to plan the day with items to shop, shops to visit
etc.,
- But then, If we manage to get that done within an hour,
under the fan, and use the rest of time well – like to play with kids or go for
a walk or to a movie, what’s wrong ?
I wouldn't list cheating as a dis-advantage in online
shopping, because it is mostly due to the carelessness of the buyer than the
bad intention of the seller.
Now then, shopping effectively -
?? Well, below are some points that I've noted -
What to buy?
First, in my view, you need to draw a line on the items that
you can buy online. You just cannot click on every item you see in the site. For
ex: I’m don’t like to buy clothes or shoes online, because the touch and feel
of the material, the size (each brand has different sizes for same person)
etc., are missing online.
In case of groceries, like Dal or rice or other Flours, you
cannot see the quality of the items.
And also fragile
items like glass, lampshades can get damaged no matter how good they are
packed. It’s just unwanted time & energy wasted in dealing with customer
service, ordering refund or replacement etc.,
Deal or No deal ?
Secondly, i.e., once you have decided what to buy , the
question is the price. Major cheating happens at this point. You MUST know what the M.R.P of the item is in
the market. If not, then do not take a chance. A website posts Rs. 999, then
slashes it and says Rs.499, offering 50% discount, whereas the actual MRP of
the item will be Rs.399. You would feel you could have bought it in a local
fancy store.
A major contribution to this is the brand name. For ex: if you are buying a lunchbox, famous names
are Tupperware, Cello, Milton etc., and have prices in the range of Rs.700 –
Rs.1000. Now, you see a brand called “John utensils, since 1895” offered at Rs.
400, without discounts. As the difference is upto 60%, it makes you think that ,
perhaps you need not spend a lot for these items, and go for it. But it might end-up to be a local product, made in some
corner of the city with poor plastic and sold in K.R market for Rs.250.
Good seller?
For online shopping, there are two types of websites. One
where the website sells the items, ex - Firstcry, Babyoye and the other where various
sellers list their items on a website, ex - Snapdeal, Flipkart.
The difference is that – in case of former, there is one
uniform set of rules for the website company, but for latter, rules like
replacement, refund, insurance all depends on the seller of that item.
In this case, most websites have a customer feedback like
points or % of satisfaction tagged to the seller. So, when you note the seller, a figure in the brackets is displayed, like 87%, meaning 87% of
the customers who have purchased from them have expressed satisfaction.
Don’t go by the photo:
Marketing of the product is at its peak when it comes to
online shopping. The picture of the item will be very colorful, big and
tempting. But make sure to read the features and specifications.
For ex –
Kitchen storage boxes. In the picture, it looks very big and great. But it
might just be having 1 Ltr capacity & made of some thin plastic (which can
be found under features tab).
Where does this all end-up?
A common question. I've heard a lot of them complain that
this online shopping has become a habit or even more an addiction. There are
people who've spent a lot of money online for unnecessary & unwanted things.
What about that ?
Well – This one’s easier answered than done.
The mantra is – Don’t look for discounts, then items and
shop. But Look for item, then discount.
People tend to get carried away seeing 80% discount, and
end-up buying an item totally use-less for them.
Also, try to identify the items that you
might require in a short term, and to start searching for deals say 2 months in
advance. For ex: A gift for kid’s
birthday, a water heater for winters etc.,
Regular customer?
Known shop keeper?
This is one valid point. But it all depends upon how well,
and for how long you know the shop-keeper. That defines the percentage of
margin that he is ready to fore-go or compromise for you. You must take this into consideration as well, when
evaluating the online deal. If you've established a good relation with a
shopkeeper (most women have one with a nearby stainless steel shop), then you
must utilize that to get good offer. Some websites also do issue loyalty points every time you shop with them..
Now, when our very own government has started implementing online-based activities like R.T.O, PF etc., why don't we try this world ? Come Online :-)
But end of day, there is one MAJOR & IMPORTANT benefit that
most of my friends would agree with me:
This online shopping option is sure to ease the life of
several husbands who spend time waiting outside the shops, mostly with the kid
in hand, while the lady browses through the variety inside, patiently!
Hope this helped you in some way..!
Shubh Shopping !! ;-)
