In the Internet era, we all love the convenience of shopping online. Most anything you could imagine is available at the click of a mouse, without ever having to leave your home.
And as the number of people using the Internet around the world has increased almost 10 times faster than the world’s population growth, there are more and more people buying necessities and getting their shopping fixes online.
It’s not just about the convenience; often, online stores can offer lower prices due to their lower overhead costs. Unlike your traditional bricks-and-mortar retailers, there’s no need to maintain a storefront, so big online retailers often have much lower prices than the corner store that has to charge more to stay in business.
Now that everyone’s going online to find the cheapest goods from around the world instead of patronizing their local stores, how does that affect the economy?
Well, small local stores aren’t all going out of business just yet. While online stores can offer convenience and lower costs, there are advantages to shopping in person that online stores can’t compete with. Trying on clothes and getting face-to-face customer service are impossible online, and the experience of browsing and window shopping in person just can’t be replicated in the same way. The future of shopping isn’t necessarily all online, and when it comes to Mom-and-Pop versus Amazon, one isn’t always better than the other.
And while many claim that the rise of of online shopping may be destroying local retail, the opposite may be true when it comes to the bigger picture: the global economy.
E-commerce makes it easier than ever for retailers to upsell, and for customers to impulse buy. Online businesses are selling more than ever, and its effects are showing in the world economy. Global online sales are in the trillions, and growing at astounding rates each year. And with mobile commerce - or “m-commerce” - on the rise, the numbers are expected to grow exponentially in the following years.
Is e-commerce ushering in a new era of global wealth? The jury’s still out, but you can check out the facts for yourself below.
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