Introduction
In the last few years, the Internet has played a significant role in disseminating information in the United States and other parts of the world. The use of Internet nowadays is so rife that it has become the number one source of not just information, but also communication and many other purposes like social networking and gaming.
One of the greatest and most popular features that it particularly provides is online shopping, which is defined as the process whereby consumers purchaser goods directly a seller in real-time, without a brokering service. Actually, online shopping is a form of e-commerce. With the advent of the internet and introduction of security, online shopping has today reached unimaginable magnitudes.
However, this form of trade has penetrated some areas more than others. Studies have also shown that demographics play a huge role in either promoting or stifling online shopping, for instance, areas with high literacy levels, income and occupation of the family head have been found to be more active in online shopping.
Online shoppers generally use credit card to pay for their purchases, however, improvements in internet security has led to the creation of online money transfer websites such as Paypal. Other common payment options include debit cards, wire transfer, postal money order, gift cards, and so on. After a payment has been accepted, purchases can be delivered through the following steps: downloading, drop shipping, in-store pick-up, and shipping, among others.
We chose this topic because many people have been shopping from the cyber world and online shopping is a controversial issue, which has been widely discussed. In this paper, we will be focusing on how and why online shopping has gained much fame and become a great phenomenon in the United States.
Conclusion
Online shopping was set up by the invention of Internet, computers ad technologies to accompany these systems. The world’s most popular online shopping sites: eBay and Amazon, were very influential in the growth of this commerce. Today, online shopping has become a great phenomenon thanks to the rapid development of internet security technologies and a similar pace in the penetration of the World Wide Web.
The growth of online has been dramatic in the recent years due to several factors which include convenience as a shopper is bale to purchase goods at the comfort of his home, 24-hour availability, and the ability to compare prices of similar or related products all at one place.
Customers also access free product reviews and are able to make informed decisions before making a decision. And if a customer is not satisfied with a specific product, he/she can easily choose another related product offered by the same online shop, or elsewhere based on these expert reviews, rather than depend on salesmen who are known to trick customers into buying their products.
Online shopping also offers a number of benefits to sellers. First, it reduces their operational costs, saves them a lot of time which they can divert to other business demanding tasks, the online stores are available on 24-hour basis and this makes them more accessible than conventional stores. Finally, online stores can have a global market access through the internet.
Despite these benefits of online shopping to both buyers and sellers, there are still some risks that need to be addressed so that the system can be adopted by more people. These include identity theft, untrustworthiness of the online sellers, and so on. Most of these risks are currently being addressed by online shops, security experts and authorities.
In general, many people have turned and changed their mind to use online shopping rather than the typical shopping, therefore, online shopping has become a great phenomenon in the United States. With all the experiences, consumers are more able prevent and become more careful of the dangers that online shopping possesses. While online shopping is still a controversial issue, it is, after all, more of a boon than a bane.