Jaya Kumar Patchala asked:
The first thing that comes to mind when we think of online shopping is convenience and timesaving. There is no doubt that we miss the fun of moving around different shopping malls and enjoying food outside. That is the best option if we have leisure time. Probably it is good on weekends to go out for shopping and family dinner. India has the second largest population in the world and everyone thinks about spending their weekends in shopping. Sure, we have crowds everywhere. When many people gather around a few sales assistants, you do not get the information or service that you require. You have to wait for long periods and it is no longer fun. Discount stores are often over-crowded, but you have to buy there and you want to know a few things before you buy.
More often than not, you find sales people cannot explain features or functions. Product literature is often missing. If you want to know which one is better for you in a given product range, it is hard to get honest answers. Get on to the web and type in your product keywords or go to any online shopping site such as foostor.com in India, you can get a lot of product information. There are sites that offer product comparison as well. You can read reviews and how to guides online. You are fully informed before you buy a thing.
Another thing you can do is to find if you are getting an item with all benefits (warranty etc) at the best (lowest price) price or not. I find it annoying to learn that an item I bought is available at 20% discount in another part of the town. I am supposed to know about such discounts, but how do I know? Again, Internet is much faster than going through old newspapers or picking up the phone and calling every shop. To get an unannounced discount, you have to do haggling on price or talk about other brands or shops and you really get to the nerves of the seller. Embarrassing sometimes, but you have to get the item for a price less than your neighbor paid for it.
Else, it is even more embarrassing to bear with your bargain-hunting neighbor. However, you do not need to worry anymore. Just use Internet, go to any price comparison-shopping site, and note down prices at various stores. Carefully read about entire offers made, some sites may be offering extended warranty or freebies or free shipping. You can easily figure out the actual price of the product and why is it costing you more? Sometimes you can find the suggested retail price at manufacturer’s site or the price at which the product is launched. So, you know if it is a true discount or not, if there is one. All this information is readily available on the internet for all popular products.
So you have product information, reviews and pricing information, where do you buy. It is your choice, now that you are empowered with some information, you can go around shops and send sales assistants into a state of nervousness. Most stores keep what sells fast. Shelf-space is at a premium at many stores. You are lucky if you can find your item in the nearby store. Else, you have to do a lot of driving around and calling people. On the internet, there are no such hassles. You can get it from the online store, delivered straight to your home.
It is OK if you can carry your purchased items on the back of your car or bike. Not many Indians have cars and not all items can fit into the back of a car. If it is a big one, you need to find an auto-rickshaw or a cart to transport your item to your home and some workers to carry it around before installation. When you buy online, products are shipped directly to your home. They take care of packing and delivery and what’s more, most of the shopping websites in India offer free shipping on most products. Just place an order and wait for a few days.
It is far more convenient to do shopping online in India than you can think of. You can save yourself from a lot of stress and misinformation.
Terry
The first thing that comes to mind when we think of online shopping is convenience and timesaving. There is no doubt that we miss the fun of moving around different shopping malls and enjoying food outside. That is the best option if we have leisure time. Probably it is good on weekends to go out for shopping and family dinner. India has the second largest population in the world and everyone thinks about spending their weekends in shopping. Sure, we have crowds everywhere. When many people gather around a few sales assistants, you do not get the information or service that you require. You have to wait for long periods and it is no longer fun. Discount stores are often over-crowded, but you have to buy there and you want to know a few things before you buy.
More often than not, you find sales people cannot explain features or functions. Product literature is often missing. If you want to know which one is better for you in a given product range, it is hard to get honest answers. Get on to the web and type in your product keywords or go to any online shopping site such as foostor.com in India, you can get a lot of product information. There are sites that offer product comparison as well. You can read reviews and how to guides online. You are fully informed before you buy a thing.
Another thing you can do is to find if you are getting an item with all benefits (warranty etc) at the best (lowest price) price or not. I find it annoying to learn that an item I bought is available at 20% discount in another part of the town. I am supposed to know about such discounts, but how do I know? Again, Internet is much faster than going through old newspapers or picking up the phone and calling every shop. To get an unannounced discount, you have to do haggling on price or talk about other brands or shops and you really get to the nerves of the seller. Embarrassing sometimes, but you have to get the item for a price less than your neighbor paid for it.
Else, it is even more embarrassing to bear with your bargain-hunting neighbor. However, you do not need to worry anymore. Just use Internet, go to any price comparison-shopping site, and note down prices at various stores. Carefully read about entire offers made, some sites may be offering extended warranty or freebies or free shipping. You can easily figure out the actual price of the product and why is it costing you more? Sometimes you can find the suggested retail price at manufacturer’s site or the price at which the product is launched. So, you know if it is a true discount or not, if there is one. All this information is readily available on the internet for all popular products.
So you have product information, reviews and pricing information, where do you buy. It is your choice, now that you are empowered with some information, you can go around shops and send sales assistants into a state of nervousness. Most stores keep what sells fast. Shelf-space is at a premium at many stores. You are lucky if you can find your item in the nearby store. Else, you have to do a lot of driving around and calling people. On the internet, there are no such hassles. You can get it from the online store, delivered straight to your home.
It is OK if you can carry your purchased items on the back of your car or bike. Not many Indians have cars and not all items can fit into the back of a car. If it is a big one, you need to find an auto-rickshaw or a cart to transport your item to your home and some workers to carry it around before installation. When you buy online, products are shipped directly to your home. They take care of packing and delivery and what’s more, most of the shopping websites in India offer free shipping on most products. Just place an order and wait for a few days.
It is far more convenient to do shopping online in India than you can think of. You can save yourself from a lot of stress and misinformation.
Terry
