The Effect Of Technology In Society For Online Shopping

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The Effect of Technology in Society for Online Shopping

In this modern era of technology, life is quite unimaginable without internet. Most of man’s work is now done through internet surfing. In the global market, internet now acts as an excellent medium to start business, sale goods, and promote services and products. Starting from the establishment of online store, business follows a gradual transition towards webpage generation. In 1995 and 1996, Amazon and eBay initiated groundbreaking online shopping services which conjoined the technology and shopping in the most sophisticated manner (Morabito, 2016). A systematic estimation indicates that in the United States up to 7% of the sales within a year encapsulate online means (Henry, 2016).

Each picture is having two sides however it is quite laborious to determine which side of the picture is comparatively more jaundiced. As far as combination of internet and shopping is concerned, its merits and demerits are largely reliant on the consumer behavior. Starting from its merits, the most striking advantage of online shopping is time saving. Yes! We are bombarded by desired stuff and we are just one click away to get our shopping done—without leaving the comfort of home.

It not only saves time, but also money and other valuable resources. For example, it is less convenient for us to go shopping when there is no one to drive us market, when we have to use public transportation, when it is an extremely hot day and when it is too cold and immense public flux outside (Jiang, Yang, and Jun, 2013). Increasing online shopping trend has caused shopping mall exposure to dwindle (Peterson, 2014).

Proceeding towards negative aspect of online shopping, again, it is highly consumer and service specific in nature. While availing online shopping services, providing transactional details e.g., that of credit card, might be dangerous if we fall prey to fraudulency. In other words, such websites have questionable security assurance. Approximately 20% of the individuals who demonstrate preference for online shopping fell prey to fraudulent activities and end up being victims (Thomas, Clergue, and Schaad, 2004)

In addition to the identity scams, another issue associated with the online shopping is “expectation” VS “reality” shock. I hereby would like to share an example that can stand strong in this case; I ordered a pair of leather shoes last week and I was too excited to receive my parcel. When I received it and opened the box, the “pair of shoes” fell like a thunder clap on my head. It was not leather, it was an ordinary cotton stuff that I never imagined to wear. This shock takes a serious toll on your anger management skills particularly when you spend a lot of money to buy these goods.

Online shopping involves delivery via courier which gives rise to the environment destructions making use of plastic bags, cardboard, and papers that is later put into city waste stream (Johnson et. al., 2013). The pervasive use of non-recyclable materials such as bubble wrap, used in packing online delivery products has also negative impacts on the environment. These non-recyclable products also involve foam rubber and expanded polystyrene (Argyridou, 2009).

As mentioned above, the use of technology depends on the individual who is using it because it can be utilized both in positive and negative ways. Technology itself is not harmful to society (Blackwell et. al., 2004). Society is harming itself with the help of technology due to its negative usage. Society should utilize technology in a positive way and take full advantage of it in their daily lives.

Online shopping is advantageous and makes the utmost utilization of technological advancements however we must pick our online stores after deliberate contemplation about their terms and conditions, success rate and reliability. On the other hand, businessmen must also draw their attention towards environment friendly services. In this way, effectiveness of online shopping can never be subjected to unreliability.

Works cited

BIBLIOGRAPHY Argyridou, Anna. "The Environmental Impact of Online Shopping: Essential Answer." 3 October 2009. Standford Magazine. 9 April 2019. <https://stanfordmag.org/contents/the-environmental-impact-of-online-shopping-essential-answer>.

Henry, Sarkodie Amankwaah. "Analyses of How Effective and Efficient Logistics Activities Impact Online Retailing: A case of online retailing in Accra." International Journal of Novel Research in Marketing Management and Economics 3.3 (2016): 30-47.

Jiang, Ling, Zhilin Yang, and Minjoon Jun. "Measuring consumer perceptions of online shopping convenience." Journal of Service Management 24.2 (2013): 191-214.

Morabito, Vincenzo. The Future of Digital Business Innovation : Trends and Practices. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2016.

Peterson, Hayley. "America's Shopping Malls Are Dying A Slow, Ugly Death." 31 January 2014. Business Insider. 9 April 2019. <https://www.businessinsider.com/shopping-malls-are-going-extinct-2014-1>.

Thomas, B., et al. "A Comparison of Conventional and Online Fraud." Securing Critical Infrastructures. Grenoble, 2004. 1-12.

"Technology And Society - Impact Of Technology On Society - Use Of Technology." Use of Technology. N. p., 2012.

Blackwell, R., Miniard, P., & Engel, J. “Consumer behavior (10th edition).” 2004. Thomson South-Western.

Johnson, C., Forrester, Mulpuru, S., & Roberge, D. “US Online Retail forecast, 2012 to 2017.” 2013, Forrester. Forrester research.