The internet has taken the world by storm. Its ease of access has made it extremely resourceful. Nowadays, all you need is a few clicks and keystrokes to get your groceries delivered at your doorstep. Online grocery shopping has come as a relief for homemakers who spend endless hours standing in lengthy lines at billing counters in various grocery stores. Sunday’s have become more relaxed without having to worry about not having groceries for the upcoming weeks. In 2016, India became the fifth largest online grocery retailer in Asia Pacific. Although, the kinara stores have a strong foothold and “beta (son), run to the neighbouring store and buy *insert any random item*” will probably never grow old, online store have made a cemented place for themselves.
Various online retailers like Grofers Online Grocery Store and Big Basket Coupons & Offers on Online Grocery have emerged as prominent e-commerce sites delivering groceries in many Indian cities. They have saved a lot of time and money and host a variety of products for day to day use. People, especially those working in the IT or corporate sectors, are using these applications to buy groceries. These online retailing shops have made life extremely simple and easy. But every coin has two sides.
When we compare traditional grocery shopping to online grocery shopping we come across various advantages and disadvantages on both sides. Let’s break them down.
Advantages of Traditional Grocery Shopping
- Personally, assess every single product –
You get to examine the contents and the ingredients of the product carefully and see if it fits your taste. You get to know if the product’s content might be harmful to you and your well-being.
- Trusting shopkeepers –
Many families in India have bought their groceries from a shop in their locality before the existence of these e-commerce websites and a mutual trust has been established between the shopkeeper and the consumer.
- Bargaining –
No shopping in India is complete without bargaining. This medium of shopping does promote a certain amount of bargaining with the shopkeepers to attain discounts at an informal level.
- Interaction with people –
Traditional grocery shopping promotes a healthy social life and you get to meet people with different backgrounds. Grocery shopping can also be treated as a fun group activity.
Disadvantages of Traditional Grocery Shopping
- Payment method –
Recent economic conditions have made cashless transactions a necessity and many local shops don’t promote this at a convenient level. Also, the stores may have the prices at a higher rate than the market retail price.
- Stores feel like an obstacle course –
Navigating your way through different aisles and dodging the crowd to get to your groceries is nothing short of a marathon and extremely time consuming. It requires a lot of effort and the different variety of a specific product is bemusing. This makes the entire process overwhelmingly exhausting.
- Time consuming –
In-store grocery shopping requires you to spend hours in stores. You can also be lured into the temptations of buying various exuberant products you don’t actually require. Thus, traditional grocery shopping is extremely time consuming.
- Carrying grocery bags –
You realize your physical strength when you have to carry all the seven grocery bags together because making a second round is just an outrageous idea. When you compare this to online grocery shopping, you prefer the latter option because it delivers right to your doorstep.
Advantages of Online Grocery Shopping
- Extremely convenient –
Online grocery shopping has come as a relief for everyone as it saves times and is incredibly easy to use. All one needs is an internet connection or the application on their phone. Companies like Big Basket and Grofers online store have services like time slot booking where you can schedule when your groceries are to be delivered at a time convenient to you.
- Limited luxury spending –
It’s easy to get sucked into the vortex of products you don’t need at a traditional grocery store and you end up spending more than you actually intended to. But during online shopping you can have a specific list and limit useless purchase. Which is helpful if you’re on a strict budget and you always end of buying things you have no actual use for.
- Various offers and coupons –
One strong plus point to online grocery shopping is the infinite offers, discounts and coupons you get. There are some or another offer always going on especially if you consider Big Basket latest Coupons and Grofers. They have various coupons codes you can find online.
Recently India’s biggest giant Flipkart & Amazon has also launched their online groceries stores Amazon Groceries & Flipkart Supermart. If you are planning to buy your groceries online than you should definitely check Amazon Groceries Offers & Flipkart Offers on Supermart before completing your order.
Disadvantages of Online Grocery Shopping
- No social interaction –
The advancement in technology has limited one’s world to a screen. Mundane tasks like grocery shopping is being done online and although it saves time, it also lacks social interaction.
- Cannot personally examine the product –
Fruits and vegetables need to be examined and there is no certain assurance of how fresh they are in online grocery shopping. And if you’re a picky person and require a specific softness to your loaf of bread then online shopping may not suit your requirements.
- Expensive Delivery Charges –
Delivery charges are usually based on your location and because they are delivered to your house can make it slightly expensive. And when compared to traditional grocery shopping, online grocery shopping is relatively on the pricey side. Different type of paymant option is avalible at BigBasket and Grofers, you can pay with Paytm Offers on BigBasket by bank card.
Online grocery shopping has expanded at a tremendous rate and will continue to do so, with time. Its positive aspects drown the miniscule negative aspects making it easily accessible and user friendly.
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