The Future of Shopping

I am visiting the UK at the moment and an article in the local paper mentioned that parking charges are about to be increased in Warwick and the local traders fear there will be a loss of business, and they are probably right. I for one hate not being able to find parking spaces and will always try to find a place to park for free. I do know that in Warwick Sainsbury have a large car park and now no longer check that it is used by their own customers. Naturally if I am parked there I am more likely to purchase items in the shop.

Going shopping is a weekly chore or though some people love it, the fact is that it costs both time and money. You usually have to drive a car, putting up with traffic jams and then waste time and energy search for a place to park. So what are the alternatives?

Most cities and towns in the have copied the USA idea and have out of town shopping malls, with superstores, shops and restaurants combined with large car parks to help alleviate the parking problems. These shopping malls become a magnet for shoppers, with the result that you are bustled and hustled as you shop. Yes there are wide ranges of products and commodities on sale but you will often spend more that expect taking up special offers.

The alternative that I prefer is to shop online. Online you can find shopping malls such as Clubshop, providing access to hundreds of shop where you can get discounts and earn reward points. Items will be delivered to your home, often for free. Shopping can be completed in minutes, saving you time and driving costs. Shopping online for items such as clothing can be a little challenging but once you know what size you are it strait forward.

You will find quite often that shopping online brings you extra benefits such as qualify for extra discounts by ordering items from your Clubshop portal where your earn reward and pay points, then perhaps quoting or using the stores own card and finally paying by credit card which can earn points on your credit account.

The choice of course rest with each individual shopper, but if you care for the environment and which to reduce the use of fossil fuels, ware and tare on your car and save time and money the place to shop must be on the internet.

Internet fraud is often mentioned as reasons not to purchase online but in reality provided you shop at a secured site, you are probably at less risk than shopping in the high street, where you could be at additional risk from muggers and pickpockets.

An Informal study in 2003 took place with two twins shopping for Christmas items, one online and the other in a local high street. Onine shopping took just 36 minutes compared with 4 hours and heart rate levels were compared 67 for online shopping rising to 176 for shopping in the high street. So its seems that online shopping is also good for your health. http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=10847

Past studies by Yahoo have indicated that the internet is used more for research when considering purchasing large items and then the transaction is finalised offline. This is borne out by Google during a study in the USA where 37% of the internet users Purchased online.

Online Shopping is continuing to grow at 25% per year and this level has been maintained for the past 5 years.

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About the Author

David Ogden lives in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia where he has set up an Internet marketing business providing Free Marketing Tools to help build business and a home shopping business The world Shop He has loves Adventure Racing and sells ebooks at International Adventurers