Are You Mad? Not Buying Online?
The world of online shopping is an amazing place. As such, the way that we source our products has changed dramatically over recent years. The reasons behind this are manifold. Perhaps chief amongst them has been the evolution of high-quality broadband in the UK.
In this piece will take a look at how good broadband has got, and then we will look at why you would be mad to omit the online shopping environment from your shopping habits.
New Broadband Age
Broadband hasn’t only improved the lot for online shopping, it has revolutionised the way we work, the way we play and the away we are entertained. You only have to look at the new online TV options to see that we are spoilt by content from the online environment these days.
UK broadband now averages around 17 Mb per second. In city areas this level is even higher, at around 30 Mb per second. Speeds are around three times higher than they were five years ago.
We also have a new standard in mobile broadband. LTE (Long term evolution) 4G mobile broadband has potential top speeds upwards of 100 Mb per second. We have already seen in trials that speeds above 60 Mb per second are attainable. Of course, you need to be close to a telephone mast, in order to achieve the best Internet speeds on mobile broadband. 4G is going to roll around to 99% of the UK population by the end of 2014.
Mobile Shopping
The improvements in mobile broadband mean that we are more able to shop on the go. We can pop in our iPad SIM card and browse an online store through our tablet. Many of the stores also have applications to make the shopping process easier. Checkout is simple and secure; things really have come a long way.
Best Value Deals
The best value deals for most products are available on the Internet. It really isn’t hard to understand why. The difference in business models between a specialist online retailer, and a high street shop, are marked. The online retailer will have far fewer overheads, particularly in terms of cost of premises and the cost of staff. Online sales are just more efficient as a means of selling products than having a physical location that customers have to visit.
Distance Selling Regulations
Buying online also means that you benefit from the distance selling regulations. Essentially, these mean that you can return a product unused within 21 days and receive your money back. This cooling off period is not available with all bricks and mortar stores, and really will help you to have peace of mind in the purchasing process.
Vouchers and Coupons
It is possible to search through forums and deal sites and pick up some really good online offers through coupons. In addition you can search social media and check company newsletters in order to benefit from special discounts for online purchases. Often companies will have special offers that are only available online. It makes sense for them to use this model, as it is definitely cheaper.
A Shift towards Free Shipping
Many retailers online these days offer you free shipping. Even where they don’t, shipping costs are generally very competitive. Indeed, if you had to go out and buy your products, you would be paying for parking, petrol and probably investing quite a good deal of legwork. Online the legwork is a swipe of the screen and click of a button.
Trusted Retailers
These days we can get online and shop from many of the High Street retailers. We can search through literally millions of products in no time at all. We can also search by deals and discounts, by size and by colour. The options for filtering results on online stores really are endless.
There are also several very large online retailers that bring together thousands of different vendors. EBay and Amazon spring to mind. On eBay you can tap into offers from high-street retailers, or you can access businesses that sell purely through eBay. Alternatively, you can tap into literally millions of individuals who are selling new and second-hand products. There are very few places online that you can pick up a bargain quite like you can on eBay.
Amazon is another terrific online option. Their product pricing seems to be competitive almost across the board. They are a great option for shopping for birthdays and Christmas, as delivery times are extremely good, and they are trusted retailer for getting the products to you.
The Facts
In the region of 80% of consumers in the UK will use coupons in order to get discounts during 2013. Somewhere approaching 37 million UK adults will shop online at some point during the year. Payment gateways, such as PayPal, offer a secure mode of checkout across a plethora of online websites. You can find just about anything you want online, no matter the niche.
Final Word
if you haven’t tried shopping online yet then why not try one of the big online retailers, or try the websites of high-street shops. When you are confident with the online process you will have a world of opportunity at your fingertips.
When you have your trusted shops do be careful. There is a growing phenomenon whereby people are online shopping when they are drunk. They wake up in the morning and they have hundreds of pounds of purchases on the way, and are left scratching their heads as to why they made the decisions that they did.
It’s probably good to limit yourself to a glass or two of vino when you are doing your shopping.
It’s also worth looking into getting your weekly grocery shop delivered. Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose, Asda and all the rest, have their own online shopping sites. You really can save a lot of time, and you needn’t go through the finger ripping exercise of trying to get the bags from the car to your door in one go. You can also set up favourites so you don’t have to source them next time you go in to make an online shop.
Broadband has changed the way we shop. As time goes by the products we can view online will have more and more rich media to demonstrate their characteristics. We are already seeing cars on sale with video footage of every detail. It’s only a matter of time before new innovations arrive on the markets to make our online shopping experience even more fulfilling.
