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E-shopping - advantages and drawbacks
Posted by: barrmar on Apr 01, 2010
Buying on-line has become much more common place over the last few years. Paypal has been available for this purpose from South Africa for a long time. The limit on Paypal in South Africa until now was that it was possible to shop internationally using Paypal but a South African trader could not use it to earn money.
A south African business trading around the world had to have an offshore account to use this much accepted facility. That aspect has now changed. The limitation now is that it is tied to only one of South Africa's banks.
Online shopping has some advantages. It is quick and easy and there is no need to go schlepping off to shopping malls to find what you need. Goods are available online and can generally be ordered fairly simply.
The drawbacks are that there isn't a sales person to talk to. I bought a variety of books and CDs recently through Kalahari.net. The ordering process is a little long-winded but even so, it is probably a much quicker option than having to get to the shops and find what you want. Of course there is a delay. One item had to be sourced from oversees so delivery time was determined by that one item. It took about two weeks.
The service is quite good, but the prices just do not compare to what is available internationally. Sites like Amazon.com offer much better value. The other problem is that unlike a bookshop, you only get to see the product once it has been delivered. The mini edition of the Seven Habits was a major disappointment. I did not realise that the mini edition would be totally worthless and so overpriced! A visit to the bookshop would have avoided that problem. I could have returned the book, but would have had to cover courier costs.
I bought my Laptop online after also calling the supplier to find out more about the product. The phone-call made a huge difference. Many online shopping sites do not offer the ability to communicate easily to find out more. The computer was couriered to me. I later received the Windows 7 upgrade. This was excellent service.
Buying from the Discovery Mall using my Discovery Miles was great! The best part was that the miles just accumulate by themselves. They can be used for useful products that do not fall into my usual spending pattern. Luxury and fun items that don't cost me a cent. Delivery is also super fast.
Online shopping is a great way to avoid the crowds and the trip to the mall. All too often it is necessary to take a trip to the local shops first to get a first hand peek at the product you want, unless you really want a surprise!
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