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In the last decade, the revolutionary wave of online shopping has swayed the world significantly. At the beginning of online shopping, people were afraid of this new thing, which was ready to change their lifestyle. They were afraid to take the risk on online payments too.
Gradually, people understood what online shopping is and how convenient it is for them in their day-to-day life.
2020 is the year as we all know when the covid-19 pandemic struck the world and till now in the middle of 2021, we are facing the kickback of the pandemic again and again.
It was the time when the Government announced lockdown, people became desperate to gather essential commodities, often they faced shortages too. Then online shopping came to the rescue. Even during the lockdown period, whenever people needed something online shopping was the best option than offline.
Why is it? Let’s go through the following points and know-how online shopping plays an important role in the current situation.
Why are people shifting to online shopping rather than offline?
What is online shopping, we know that well. Online shopping is when we buy something through the internet from e-commerce websites. And we call Offline shopping to those shopping which are not totally maintained through the internet. We go and purchase what we need. For instance, the markets of your town or village, shopping malls, etc.
But in this decade people are leaning more towards online shopping than offline. Let’s understand the basic differences between them.
- In Online shopping, you are getting what you want without moving anywhere. But in the case of offline shopping, you have to go to the market or mall and face the hustle and bustle of the crowd.
- Pay online through cards or UPI or internet banking or whatnot in online shopping but carrying cash in the marketplace is not only haphazard but also there remains the fear of being pickpocketed by someone.
- Online shopping provides you more than one option in one place. Even you can switch to different e-commerce sites for comparison. Choosing your favorite products offline is such a painful job because you have to go to every store and see their products and it is not so easy to do.
- Offline stores cannot give you the best deals and offer that an online store provides.
- Another important plus point of online shopping is returning or cancellation is easier than offline shopping.
- There are many more plus points why people are choosing online shopping over offline.
Why online shopping is the best option in the current situation
We all know this is an emergency situation of covid 19 pandemics. When it is mandatory to follow the guidelines of the world health organization and local governing bodies. Wearing masks, using sanitizers, again and again, maintaining social distance, etc. have now been habituated.
We don’t know when will this world go back to the normal situation again. We don’t know whether it will be normal or not. So, we need to adapt to these new norms and abstain from being a cause for anyone else’s suffering.
To avoid social gatherings we must switch as much as possible to online shopping and make ourselves and others to be safe and secure.
Some points why online shopping is the best option in the current situation.
❖ You are not leaving your house, which means you are away from gatherings.
❖ Paying online, which provides the opportunity not to touch any money from the sellers.
❖ Keeping social distancing from other people etc.
What people are buying in the current situation
In the time of the pandemic, people are buying most of the products online. What they are buying mostly are…
➢ They are buying health-related products like sanitizers, masks, disinfectants, etc.
➢ Substitutes for milk etc.
➢ Grocery items, daily need products for cooking.
➢ Internet streaming services are on the hot list of popularity.
What safety measures you should take while shop online
Shopping online is fine until you are aware of what you are doing there. This means when you are shopping online, some important points you should keep in mind, or you can fall into danger.
A. Choose your shopping site wisely:
You should always research shopping sites before reaching the payment option on that site. Choose the most secured and trusted site with an SSL certificate, that shows the ‘HTTPS’ sign not ‘HTTP’ only. Which provides a secure payment and browsing option to the customers. And try to buy from reputed sellers and stores.
B. Payment:
Though pay on delivery is the best option to pay for online shopping. But in this time of covid, you cannot take the risk of paying on the time of delivery. So then, try to pay with cards and UPI options, these are other secured options for online payments.
C. Avoid those offers which are hard to be true:
Some offers or discounts the sites provide are too good to be true. Keep away from these types of frauds.
D. Information security:
Do not put more information about yourself which is unnecessary for making a purchase.
E. No public Wi-Fi:
Abstain from using public Wi-Fi while your connection can be hacked.
F. Report scam:
If you feel something is not right, you are getting continuous suspicious messages or emails or your Info’s are in danger, immediately contact the cybersecurity station.
Conclusion
Covid-19 has changed us and our behavior a lot. New rules and regulations are driving our life now. We cannot freely go or roam anywhere. All these are for us obviously, we have to live like this now.
In this situation, online shopping is a great invention for mankind. If it happened just 15 years ago, we might have to suffer more without this online shopping thing. It is like bliss for us now.
Humans have a great capacity to adapt to any situation quickly. I hope we will adapt these too until we breathe in the new dawn without wearing the mask.
