Hello bloggers of the world! My name is Scott Gorski. I am currently a sophomore communications major in CALS. Throughout high school, I was extremely involved in newspaper, hence my decision to be a comm. major. Currently, I am not sure what I will do after graduating. I am from Long Island, NY and went to The Wheatley School in Old Westbury. I run (actually I jump) track for Cornell. My event is the high jump. Being on the team has been one of the best experiences of my life. This will be my first exposure to (as far as I know) blogging and the blogosphere.
Recently, I have been perplexed by the “online shopping phenomenon.” I can think of many distinct pluses and minuses to shopping online. This phenomenon has given birth to a new type of addiction, an outlet for compulsive shoppers, and a channel to pass time and be lazy. According to an article by Heather Green called “Where did All the Surfers Go,” the online shopping industry will be worth nearly 255 billion dollars by 2007. Today, you can purchase almost anything online—from clothing and electronics to cars, kidneys, and discontinued goods. Furthermore, there is a branch of online shopping that has grown so popular and vast that it could be considered its own Internet-related phenomenon. This branch of online shopping is online auction sites, such as eBay.
So what are some of the draws to such an activity? I would say the two most compelling aspects of online shopping are its convenience and vast product availability. The slight online shopping I have done has been a result of solely these two factors. For example, I needed a very specific cable for my computer in a timely fashion. Most stores don’t stock this cable, and certainly no stores which are in close proximity to me. Online shopping worked out to be my best option. Other attractions to the activity are its user interface. A shopper can view tons of different items in a relatively quick manor with just a click of a button. I know many friends who browse as a result of boredom or procrastination. These are only a few pluses to online shopping.
Onto the minuses, and I can think of many! Credit card fraud and the many issues which occur with shipping are two of the most drastic and scary minuses. In addition, there is always the issue of what if what you bought doesn’t fit/doesn’t work? In my mind, there is nothing like face to face costumer service, which is impossible with online shopping.
Online shopping was surely before the time of Patricia Wallace and her book, “The Psychology of the Internet,” thus there is no defined online space for this recent phenomenon. I believe she would create a new online space, along the lines of buyer/seller exchange or more simply an online shopping space. I have been somewhat of a laggard in the online shopping lifecycle. Though the market was quick to accept/adopt online shopping, I still prefer the old-fashioned shopping experience--walking in and browsing.
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Hi Scott,
You bring up good points about the increasing numbers of online shoppers. Not only can we purchase clothes and electronics online like you mentioned, but also we can order groceries. Last year when I spoke with my sister who lives in NYC, she told me she orders her groceries online, which I found astonishing. How can you purchase vegetables online and trust that it’s fresh? I saw a website that sold refrigerated foods where the products were packaged with ice packs and requires the consumer to have the fastest shipping method.
Although I do purchase groceries online, I also like to shop online. I am especially fond of Amazon.com which sells books, electronics, furniture, clothes and much more. I tend to like it because it sells many books cheaper than prices you find at Borders and Barnes & Noble. In addition, half.com and the Amazon.com Marketplace is my stop for textbooks. I no longer have to wait the long lines to purchase overpriced books from the Cornell store but I type in the book I need at amazon.com or half.com, see if the seller is reliable, and I send the payment to receive my textbook. I find online shopping to be more convenient like you said. If something you need is not in stock at one website, you are bound to find another site that does have what you need available.
I find that I like online shopping versus shopping in stores. Websites like Amazon frequently provide consumers with other customers' reviews that I find more advantageous than shopping in person. I find those customer reviews to be very useful for me to figure out the quality of the item and other information I am looking for.
Hey Scott,
I also wrote about online shopping in particular ebay, so I decided to respond to your post. Although, as I stated in my post, I have never used eBay, I am definatly a big online shopper. My addiction is amazon.com; where I buys CDs, DVDs, and books. And hey, why shouldnt I shop there; they already have all my billing and shipping information ready to go, and a purchase is only a click away. Which brings me to another point you made in your blog; credit card fraud. It is becoming a bigger problem in our society and I think a lot of it is due to the growing internet community. My sister was a victim of identity theft this past summer from online banking with Bank of America!
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