Online vs. Brick and Mortar Shopping Essay

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Online vs. Brick-and-mortar shopping Briana Naves
COM/170
06/30/2014
Cheryl Hancock
University of Phoenix

Does the convenience of online shopping spell the doom for commercial retail? Although in-store shoppers find it difficult to sleep online, after taking a crack at it, and realizing how uncomplicated it is, the online shopper eventually becomes obsessed. Being that there are many differences between online and brick-and-mortar shopping, the most important result is that the shopper is completely satisfied with their purchase. Every person lives a different lifestyle, and their shopping needs may vary, depending on availability, security, customer service, and prices.

In the more recent years, brick-and-mortar shopping has not been the most consistent way to shop for many items such as vehicles, shoes, or even clothing. Many customers on occasion, walk into a store with the greatest anticipation just to be let down because they do not have their size, or the item they are looking for. There are also many times that the store runs out of particular items, especially on holidays. With that being said, there is one upside to that madness. If that company has another store close in vicinity, they may have the item the customer is looking for, and the customer can either drive there or wait a few days for it to arrive at the nearest store. Another advantage of availability with in-store shopping is the wide selection (depending on the store). Stores such as, JC Penny and Macy’s always have a great selection and more than what is for sale, than online. On the other hand, there is online shopping, which does well in the category of availability. Most of the time, there are no worries about size, or that particular item not being available. Online shopping can narrow hours of shopping down to minutes. If research is done, the shopper may be able to find a different site with that same item, at the same or cheaper price, or it might be something the shopper likes even better. As for mothers, online shopping is better because we do not have to drag the children along with us. With online shopping choices are far from limited, and availability of a particular item does not stop at one site.

Conversely, people today live in a very unsecure and desperate time where credit, social security, and identity is at risk every day. Unless you are paying for identity protection, then you are at an even greater risk. A lot of shoppers are still very adamant on brick-and-mortar shopping. Some companies still accept personal checks as well. Most shoppers feel a bit more comfortable shopping in-store because cash can be used instead of credit or debit cards, and not having to worry about information being leaked.
Concerning this, no purchase with a debit or credit card is one hundred percent secure, but it is much more secure than online shopping. There are some high-risk dangers when purchasing online, such as the security of your credit information, and not getting the quality of the product you expected. There are ways to be a little more secure when purchasing online. One is to not make purchases over a WIFI or public connection, and another is to use a secured website with the link beginning with, “http:” Although purchasing online does involve high risks, they have been more secure in recent years when purchasing through companies, such as Paypal and Google Wallet.

Shoppers everywhere have experienced the agony of purchasing a bad item and having to return it, or just getting bad customer service. Customer Service can either go two ways, good or bad. Brick-and-mortar has great advantages in this area. If purchasing in-store, there is usually a thirty-day return for a full refund. Some stores even have sixty and ninety-day refund policies. After that, there is the option of exchanging for a different item, or receiving store credit. Simple right? If there is a need to speak
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