Shopping Online For Discounts And Coupons

By Author: Vidhi Jobanputra
Total Articles: 4
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A few years ago, it would be hard to imagine that revenue through online shopping would touch a whopping Rs. 1,180 crore annually. Online shopping offers great discounts, gifts and a wide variety of the latest goods. And the best part of it all is that you can shop everything within the confines of your home.

Online shopping allows customers the privilege of choice and flexibility. Besides, you don’t have to deal with sales persons pestering you to buy goods. Another advantage of shopping through an online shopping website is that these websites often source products directly from the seller, thus cutting the middleman out, thus allowing for better bargains.

Festive shopping is a great opportunity for web portals to establish their presence. In fact there are websites that surface only on occasions like Valentine’s Day, Rakshabandhan and Diwali when people prefer to buy gifts online rather than having to spend time navigating the busy traffic. Corporate India too has taken a liking for online shopping websites as gifts are neatly wrapped and delivered to customers directly than having to worry about buying ...
... these offline. NRI’s too are major patrons of these online shopping websites as these allow them to send gifts across to their friends and families in India.

However, a major hurdle that stops online shopping websites from making inroads is the Indian psyche to distrust anything that cannot be felt and seen. Indians being value conscious are extremely cautious about online shopping. Most websites have tried to ‘Indianize’ the shopping experience, by proving live online support, meticulous product descriptions, high-end photographic catalogues with 360 degree zoom features and convenient refund policies.

While web portals have come up with great features to attract online shoppers, they have also come up with increased security for online transactions.

But not every online shopping experience is pleasant. Stories of people being fleeced on the internet with duplicate goods aren’t uncommon. There lacks a forum for the online shopping community to discuss and share their experiences about online shopping.

A few web portals aim to bridge the gap by creating online shopping communities that provide a platform for users to share information and help them make the best shopping choice. Users from these communities get to share information about daily deals, promotions and coupons available across online shopping websites in India.

As earlier said, convincing the Indian shopper about transactional security and genuineness of products isn’t easy and websites are trying their best to woo customers with great discounts and deals, marketing campaigns and advertising through social networking sites, emails and audio visual and print campaigns.

The writer has authored several articles on online shopping and has helped the shopping community find the best deals in India.