School of Information Systems

THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF ONLINE STORE/SHOP

In today’s era, online shops have become something that is very widely used and utilized by all types of people, from youngster to adults. Various kinds of online stores have started to appear in the digital world. Online stores such as Amazon, Ebay, and Tokopedia are visited daily by internet users to just browse or buy the things they want. Of course, these shops have their advantages and disadvantages that can be detrimental. Therefore, let’s discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using online stores. 

 

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ONLINE SHOP/STORE 

Online Stores or Shop are stores/shop that show and sell items that can be purchased online or don’t have to be seen. Those items can be anything such as clothes, shoes, electronics, and so on. Electronic shopping was invented by a British inventor named Michael Aldrich. In 1979, he invented the earliest form of e-commerce that allowed online processing of transactions between businesses and customers, as well as between businesses and businesses. 1995 saw the biggest transformation of online shopping. The first online marketplace was founded. First comes Amazon.com, arguably the largest online marketplace launched by Jeff Bezos (The world’s richest man in 2019 with an estimated net worth of $ 115 billion). In 2020, it becomes clear that the entire internet is now a virtual shopping mall. With people choosing to trade on Instagram, Whatsapp and Facebook, it can be said that we are in the era of online shopping. That’s a glimpse of the understanding and history of the beginning of online shopping.  

 

THE ADVANTAGES OF ONLINE SHOP/STORE 

The existence of an online shop certainly provides many benefits to the community. Online shops make it easy for people to buy and sell goods. By using an online shop, the person or party selling goods can show their goods with pictures or videos. That way, buyers will find it easier to see goods without having to leave the house just by using internet access. The existence of an online shop also saves several things such as saving time, saving energy and effort, and saving thoughts. Online stores allow customers to save time with interactions that can be done indirectly. In other words, customers do not need to come to the seller’s shop to interact with the seller. Simply by using smart devices such as cell phones and internet access, customers can open an online shop, browse merchants, and ask questions to the seller. Online shop also has a feature to show the price of goods. That way, customers can easily find out the price of goods being sold and can compare the prices of items being sold in the online store that is being viewed with the prices of items being sold elsewhere that are selling the same goods. Those are some of the advantages of using an online store. 

 

THE DISADVANTAGES OF ONLINE SHOP/STORE 

Not only advantages, online stores also have several disadvantages. These disadvantages can have a devastating effect on customer relationships with online sellers and online shops. Online shops can show and show how the physical appearance of goods by using photos or videos to potential customers. However, that kind of displays only show the appearance, not the condition of goods directly. This can be detrimental to the customer because it does not rule out that the goods that the customer wants to buy can be counterfeit goods. Not only that, the items wanted to be purchased may not match what is shown to the customer. Both of these conditions indicate that the buyer will be deceived by the seller and the seller will benefit from the buyer. Those are the disadvantages of using an online store. 

The explanation above shows that online shops / stores make it easy for buyers and sellers to carry out buying and selling activities. However, security and certainty are needed so that customers do not feel cheated and dissatisfied with online shops and online sellers. 

 

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Galuh Rhaka Wiratama