Online shopping is becoming increasingly popular
Christmas is approaching, so it's time for presents. I had planned to do some serious shopping in the city of Groningen on Saturday. Once I arrived in the city, it turned out I was far from the only one with the idea of going for a nice shopping spree. No, because it seemed as if half of the Netherlands was walking around on Herestraat. Nevertheless, I started my search for the perfect gifts for my family in good spirits. Finally, after half an hour of pushing and shoving, I arrived at the right department in V&D. After searching for a while, I held the right book in my hands: the latest book by Stephen King. 'Yes, thankfully not sold out,' I thought, and I walked cheerfully towards the checkout. When I arrived at the checkout, there were 10 people waiting in front of me. 'Typical,' I thought to myself. After waiting for fifteen minutes, it was finally my turn. To my utter amazement, they were also too busy to wrap it for me. 'The wrapping paper is over there; you can wrap it yourself. We don't have time for this right now,' said the cashier.
This is one of the reasons why I much prefer ordering certain things online. You go to the website, place an order, and with a bit of luck, you have it delivered the next day. No queues, crowded shopping streets, or grumpy cashiers.
I am not the only one who invented 'online shopping'. A study by the trade association Thuiswinkel.org has shown that more and more people are shopping on the internet. The turnover of online stores rose to 3,85 billion euros in the first year of 2010. That is 10 percent more than was spent in the first half of 2009. The number of people shopping online also increased by 7 percent to 7,8 million. Together, they accounted for over 32 million orders in the first six months of 2010.
Personally, I don't find it strange that people are making more and more purchases online. Consumers are increasingly using discussion forums, user reviews, and social media to find the right product. The influence of in-store advertising and commercials is declining, and consumers will therefore rely less and less on the advice of store staff. Nowadays, consumers conduct their own product research via their mobile phones.
Another reason why people are shopping online more and more is that the fear of internet payments has disappeared. This is mainly due to the new options that allow people to pay securely, such as PayPal and iDeal. More and more people are recognizing the convenience of online shopping.
Online shopping can also be more economical, as some products are cheaper abroad. If you pay €350 for a pair of designer pumps here in the Netherlands, you pay only $220 for the same pumps in America. The ultimate solution for women who have been saving for ages for their first Christian Louboutins!
In my opinion, due to technological developments on the internet, online purchases will continue to rise in the future.