1. Convenience
2. Endless choice of products
When you walk into a super market like capital shoppers in Naalya, you are limited to the number of items that the store is able to display on their shelves. If the store doesn’t have the right color for your Jeans or the right shoe size for you, then you might be pressured to buy what you might really not want. That’s the bummer about brick-and-mortar shopping.
3. Compare prices
Walking into any super market in town is like blind shopping. You simply don’t have the opportunity to compare prices of items across different super markets. So chances are that you will just buy the product displayed on the shelves regardless of whether the price is fair or not.
4. Can be cheaper
5. Consumer reviews
6. Better return policies
Whenever I buy a product from down town Kampala, my receipt always reads “goods once sold can never be returned”. Yeah, for better, for once, the product remains with you — forever. That’s really unfair — and here’s why. In some cases when you purchase a product, there might be a good honest reason to return it. For instance — and especially with fashion products — the size might not be fitting, the color might not be right one you wanted or for electronics, product might be faulty. Nobody wants to be ripped off and ultimately the goal of trade is for the buyer and seller to be both happy at the end of a transaction. Fortunately, unlike most offline stores in Uganda, most online stores have “return policies” on their websites — usually in the footer. The return policy lists the terms and conditions under which an item might be returned to the store. This gives you a piece of mind while shopping because you know you can always return the item if it doesn’t satisfy your needs.
7. More privacy
Online shopping also has more privacy compared to brick-and-mortar stores where all items have to be displayed on the encounter/till while checking out. Most people might not be really comfortable shopping things like underwear or lingerie while other people are closely watching. Online stores help you avoid those awkward moments. Make sure you read their privacy policy first to ensure that the store keeps your personal data and shopping history private. Do you find shopping online really cool, let us know in the comments below.
