Band 6.5 essay samples: Online shopping has become more popular than in-store shopping
This essay is written by our student and may contain spelling and grammar mistakes. All band score predictions are approximate.
IELTS essay prompt
Nowadays online shopping has become more popular than in-store shopping. Is it a positive or a negative development? Give your reasons and examples.
Student’s response
During the last five years the world has observed a revolutionary trend in the way consumers buy products. Online shopping has caught the fancy of consumers. The trend shows that internet based online shopping is going to surpass traditional shopping by the end of this financial year. Though there are many advantages of online shopping, observers feel that traditional way of shopping also has its advantages and it cannot be replaced by online shopping.
Online shopping started at the end of nineties. But the premature bubble of dotcom boom burst in 1999. Industry learned from its mistakes and the new generation was more equipped with new ideas which led to success. Flipkart and Snapdeal in India, Alibaba in China and Amzon in the USA have become biggest wealth creators in this space.
Very easy to shop from even the confines of an office or a bedroom, no need to go to market and spend time and no need to bother about traffic or parking are some of the primary reasons for the consumers to go online for shopping. Many a time large discounts are also given on online portals. Mainly the lower overhead cost enables the online stores to sell products cheap. Online sites have become a boon during the inflationary era. All these lead to massive boom in the sector and it has attracted lots of investments resulting in greater opportunities of employment.
Though online shopping seems to be the future, many people believe that it cannot be a replacement to in-store shopping. Though youngsters like to shop online, those who are still not comfortable to use internet, like to shop from shops. Apart from this, wearable products like cloths, sunglasses or shoes require to be checked for their look and feel before buying and the online store cannot provide them. Besides this, there is a large population that derives its living from these brick and mortar shops. So it is also required to support in-store shopping.
It is clear that the world has decisively moved to online shopping, but it will not kill the traditional way of shopping. Both types of shopping have their advantages. However to be relevant in the market, the traditional retailers have to learn to do business online.
