Online shopping is a continuously growing multibillion industry. People like this way of shopping because of convenience. For people working long hours it is difficult to go out for shopping during normal business hours. Online shopping can be done twenty four hours a day and shoppers are able to shop from their own place at their own free time. Also by internet shopping, the shoppers are able to compare prices of items easily. By this way, the unwanted hassle of visiting several stores and remembering the details and price of items can be avoided. Online shopping is of great help for the physically challenged sector of the people.
Some items may only be available in certain locations of the country and this makes comparing the prices difficult for traditional high street shoppers. By online shopping, products from around the world can be purchased, by comparing details and price of the items. An item which is a regional speciality can be bought online without going in person to that location. In most occasions, the prices are cheaper online than in the high street stores. Online shoppers can send gifts to family members or friends as a surprise. It also saves the time of buying the gifts in high street, packing it carefully and shipping the gift.
There are few set backs and concerns as well regarding online shopping. Identity theft is one of the most important concerns of on-line shopping. But with a secure website, the risk of identity theft is minimal. Most of the reputable online retailers provide secure website for shopping. If the shoppers are not certain about the security, they could call the customer service to place an order. The other important concern is dealing with returns. Usually the return process is quite simple like returning items to a store. Only in a few cases, the shopper will have to spend for shipping the item back to the online retailer. This can be expensive if the weight and size of the item is big. Also, some items cannot be returned unless they have any technical problem. So it is safer to read the return policy and small prints before purchasing online.
One other problem of online shopping is the shoppers buying a wrong item by misinterpretation or misunderstanding. An easy way to solve this problem is to contact the customer service in case of any doubt, regarding that particular item and to verify whether that item will suit your needs. The small print should be read carefully before any purchase. They include price of the item, tax, shipping charge and returns policy. Sometimes the loading of a website can take long time and more patience is needed.
But the above problems are almost fully avoided if you shop in reputed online retailers These retailers have secure web sites and concern about identity theft is almost nil. In addition they have dedicated servers and make every effort to load the web pages within ten seconds. In addition the prices are much cheaper, as they sell products directly from the warehouses. Online shopping in reputable sites will not only safe and secure, they also give the pleasure of high street shopping at your home comfort.
参考资料：http://www.articleclick.com/Article/Advantages-And-Disadvantages-Of-Online-Shopping./993787
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