Want to skip the Christmas crowds, or nab a once in a lifetime bargain? Online shopping could be the answer. Tim Dean looks at the glory and the pitfalls.
Christmas is a few weeks away and you've still got half a dozen gaps in your gift shopping list. It's starting to get serious. You decide to brave the local shopping centre on a Saturday morning. It takes a substantial amount of physical and psychological preparation if you're to survive the onslaught of tinsel-ridden reindeer and Christmas trees laden with seasonal marketing paraphernalia. Then there's the throngs of other frantic shoppers, shiftily eyeing out the best bargains, all the while herding a mob of excited, screaming children.
Does this picture seem familiar to you? Some love the buzz of Christmas shopping, while many dread the inevitable crowds, parking problems, and the ever present potential that the product you want is out of stock by the time you get there.
Thankfully, there is an alternative: online shopping. And the best thing is, this alternative means you don't even need to get up from your seat, let alone brave crazed crowds, in order to find the best bargains from all around the world.
Online shopping has increased dramatically in popularity over the last few years. Industry figures indicate the numbers of people shopping online has been doubling every year for the last few years, and whilst we're still a little behind the US in terms of people who are confident to shop regularly online, Christmas is the one big exception. Christmas is the ideal time to make your way through cybermalls, and retailers are expecting this year to be the biggest ever in terms of online sales.
Price crawlers like Froogle let you search across multiple outlets at once. |
There are plenty of advantages to shopping online. Not only can you do it all from your home, meaning you don't have to worry about store opening hours, parking, stock availability or crowds, but you can also pick up some incredible bargains. Many online arms of conventional retailers offer discounts for their online goods as they don't have to worry about the usual shop overheads, like rent, staffing and display costs. There are also many online-only retailers, and these can often offer close to wholesale prices for similar reasons. If you want to buy second hand, the internet is the ideal platform for bringing a wide range of buyers and sellers together, helping you hunt down the exact product you're looking for. You can also broaden your reach from local shops to stores around the world, giving you vastly greater options - and it's still no harder than ordering from a local outlet.
However, there are a few pitfalls to watch out for. Online scams are on the increase, and there's a greater chance of encountering a dodgy dealer, as they're better able to hide behind the apparent anonymity of the internet. As such, there are a few precautions to take before forking over your hard earned cash online.
Even with the pitfalls, there are plenty of advantages to shopping on the internet. And with Christmas coming up, there's never been a better time to jump online and snatch up a bargain or two.