Likeness of Problems between Purchasing Online and in

Physical Store: Which is more Convenient and Practical?

Patricia F. Nadal

patriciaanadal@gmail.com

Bachelor of Science in Accountancy, 1st Semester

December 2019
Likeness of Problems between Purchasing Online and in Physical Store: Which is more
Convenient and Practical?

Topic:

This paper discusses the likeness of problems between purchasing products online and in

physical stores. It will determine which store is to be expected to have problems frequently in

terms of the quality, and accuracy of the item being purchased. Seeing that online shopping is now

growing, this paper will identify which store is more convenient and practical to buy an item and

service. In addition, this paper will make certain of whether online or in physical store provides

better satisfaction to the consumers owing to the fact that these two ways of shopping, both

encountered problems.

Introduction:

The purpose of this paper is to enlighten those consumers who usually purchase goods and

services in both online and physical stores. Also, it will be given them knowledge about the

likeness of consequences that both online and physical store has as well as identify which has

convenience and reasonable to shop. According to Ganiron, et al. (2018) consumers merely love

to shop and shopping becomes a habit of the people. Moreover, it was known to provide fulfillment

and satisfaction to the consumers but since technologies have been improving every now and then,

e-commerce or also known as online shopping have been introduced to the community which is

growing at the present time. Online shopping provides efficiency that makes it easier to the

purchaser to find the item he/she is looking for. Customers can also choose how they can place

their payment such as cash on delivery, debit/credit card payment, and mobile payment.

Initially, getting to a brick-and-mortar or physical store is the only course of action and

traditional way to purchase goods and services. As a result of enormous development of online

shopping in the economy, the amount of people who rely on purchasing goods and services online

Bachelor of Science in Accountancy

Likeness of Problems between Purchasing Online and in Physical Store: Which is more
Convenient and Practical?

have continuously grown. Whether or not online and in-store shopping have encountering

different problems, consumers should be knowledgeable about which store is more

convenient and practical.

What are the possible problems encountered by online shopping?

Shopping online can be as easy as people think because shoppers only need a phone and

an internet connection for them to purchase products that they want. This advancement of

technology gives shoppers a new method and easiest way of purchasing but this does not mean

shopping online only offers you benefits. Online shopping also has disadvantages or problems that

may encounter by people who prefer to shop online.

According to Inks and Mayo (2002) shopping online cause disquiet to some consumers

first is the safety and security of their credit card since most e-commerce requires consumers to

provide credit card number for payment and in order to process the item being purchased. Second

is unable to check the quality and accuracy of the size of the product in view of the fact that

customers can only check the item in different angles through a photo, and not able to check for

fit, feel, and appearance. Third is that consumer has to wait for a longer time in order to obtain the

item purchased, shoppers are concerned with this because they do not like the idea of waiting for

the item they already purchased. And lastly is the risk of the purchased product to be picked by

someone else, most customers are concerned with this because they believe that the product might

get damaged or somehow have damaged. In addition, “Disadvantages Of In Store Shopping”

(2018) claims that customers are also concerned about the accuracy of the product in view of the

fact that the product may not appear to be as good as it is viewed online.

Bachelor of Science in Accountancy

Likeness of Problems between Purchasing Online and in Physical Store: Which is more
Convenient and Practical?

What are the possible problems encountered by in-store shopping?

In-store shopping according to Inks and Mayo (2002) can make the consumer inspect face-

to-face and check the quality of the product as well as return the product if it is defective or

damaged. Also, in-store shopping does not provide shipping fee in order to obtain the product

purchased.

According to Gupta (2015) there are factors that affect shopping in physical stores. First is

the limitation of choices seeing that most consumers are usually unaware if the stock of the product

their looking for is still available in the store. Retailers these days are being dependent on the

inventory they have are enough and expecting that more will arrive right when it be supposed to.

With that, shoppers get less number of choices of their desired product. Second, offline shopping

is consuming a lot of time owing to the fact that it takes time in order to arrive at a store, fitting

and going to another store for finding the exact product the consumer wanted is also time

consuming. Lastly is the information of the product shoppers get from the employee, productivity

of employees has become a challenge to physical stores because nowadays employees are required

to have broader roles and are expected to provide more competence in order to satisfy the needs

of consumers.

Which store is more convenient and practical in terms of likeness of problems?

The major advantage of online shopping is considered as convenience; this benefit includes

the consuming of time and effort used in shopping. Since that in online shopping, consumers only

use their mobile phones or computers in order to purchase products. Online shopping has a lot to

offer to consumers which includes the advantage of accessing different stores without putting

much effort, and ability to search for the specific product that possesses the desired characteristics

Bachelor of Science in Accountancy

Likeness of Problems between Purchasing Online and in Physical Store: Which is more
Convenient and Practical?

within seconds. In contrast, the major advantage of in-store shopping is that consumers have the

ability to actually scan the product and the payment for it is immediately done, there is no need to

wait for the product purchased to be shipped at your door. Since in-store shopping is negation of

online shopping, consumers do not have to be anxious about the safety of their privacy relating to

bank details or debit/credit card numbers. (“Disadvantages Of In Store Shopping,” 2018)

Moreover, Gupta (2015) argues that the demand of online shopping is rising due to the fact

that it offers consumers a lesser price than in the market as well as having different options to

choose from. Shoppers such as the young generation prefers to buy products online seeing that the

advancement of technology arises simultaneously as the younger generation gets older. Shoppers

in earlier generations and people who are unaware of several shopping sites prefers to shop

traditionally which is shopping in a physical store. In addition, Cho et al. (2002) claims that

although people who purchase online are dissatisfied, they are less likely to complain. However,

they are more sensitive with the benefit and cost of the product compared to offline shoppers, also

online customers are expressed higher tendency to complain whenever the product they merely

purchased has not arrived yet. (Cho et al., 2002)

Conclusion:

The two ways of purchasing does not often offers purchaser benefits, shopping online and

in physical stores encounters a list of disadvantages for consumers to be able to identify which is

more convenient and practical. Online shoppers come in contact with circumstances in purchasing

items including the safety of their privacy, in contrast in-store shoppers experience problems such

as product sold out. However, most shoppers prefer to shop online seeing that it is more convenient

and offers a reasonable price compared to shopping in a physical store. While not every shopper

Bachelor of Science in Accountancy

Likeness of Problems between Purchasing Online and in Physical Store: Which is more
Convenient and Practical?

agrees with that, some prefers to shop in a physical store owing to the fact that they have the

assurance of the quality and appearance of the product. The new method of purchasing which is

online shopping is more convenient and practical for the reason that it only requires the consumer

to have a mobile phone and an internet connection however shopping in physical stores offers

authenticity. With the amount of demand that the online shops have, purchasers are in favor of

purchasing products online, but they should be aware of the risk that they might face with online

shopping.

No. of Words: 1,328

Bachelor of Science in Accountancy

Likeness of Problems between Purchasing Online and in Physical Store: Which is more
Convenient and Practical?

REFERENCES:

Anonymous. (2018, November). Disadvantages Of In Store Shopping Marketing Essay. Retrieved

from https://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/disadvantages-of-in-store-shopping-

marketing-essay.php?vref=1

Cho, Y., Im, I., Hiltz, R., & Fjermestad, J. (2002). The Effects of Post-Purchase Evaluation

Factors on Online vs. Offline Customer Complaining Behavior: Implications for Customer

Loyalty. Advances in Consumer Research, 29(1), 318–326. Retrieved from

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=7705763&site=ehost-

live

Ganiron, F. D. A., Capua, J. D. G., Conquilla, A. N. D. Z., Dela Cruz, R. L. S., Domingo, C. J.

E., Nadal, P. F., … Tumaru, M. M. L. (2018, September). Statistical Analysis on the Effect

of Proliferation of Purchasing Online in comparison to Physical Stores.

Gupta, P. (2015, May). Comparative Study of Online and Offline Shopping: A Case Study of

Rourkela in Odisha. Retrieved from

http://ethesis.nitrkl.ac.in/6738/1/Comparative__Gupta_2015.pdf.

Bachelor of Science in Accountancy

Likeness of Problems between Purchasing Online and in Physical Store: Which is more
Convenient and Practical?

Inks, S. A., & Mayo, D. T. (2002). Consumer Attitudes and Preferences Concerning Shopping

On-Line. Journal of Internet Commerce, 1(4), 89. Retrieved from

https://doi.org/10.1300/J179v01n04_06

Bachelor of Science in Accountancy