Trending: Online shopping

Black Friday is the busiest shopping day of the year — stores with crazy sales open early, commencing the annual stampede of shoppers and the resultant fight for what they want. Although in-store shopping immediately satiates a consumer’s desire, oftentimes, the excitement following impulse purchases may be short-lived as consumers realize that the product fails to meet their expectations. To address this problem, many shoppers have turned to online shopping for everything from clothing to keyboards to expensive foods. While many enjoy the advantages of online shopping, the rise in online shopping has prompted many to question whether online shopping has altered the way we consume goods.

A leading reason for the rise in online shopping is its convenience. Sophomore Alexa Pilgrim says, “[Online shopping for clothing] is a more convenient way to shop, because a lot of the time, my sizes weren’t in stores and also, there are sometimes cuter options for clothes online.”
Many students also enjoy the larger variety of options offered. Senior Daniel Ho, who shops online for tech products like computer parts and camera gears, says, “The prices online are always going to be lower, and it’s easier to browse through products online. Buying online also opens up the option of buying something used, like a camera, which can also save a lot of money if you’re fine with buying used products.”

The allure of online shopping is partly derived from exclusivity of online merchandise, which in the case of small companies, can result from a limitation in resources. Sophomore Claire Thorneycroft says, “I started online shopping recently because I couldn’t find [what I wanted] anywhere else … I buy a lot of stuff from brands that might not have store fronts yet.”

Aragonians also enjoy the constant supply of items available on online catalogs. Ho says, “Shopping in store means that you might not find the right size or color you’re looking for, whereas warehouses for online websites can usually keep more stock than a retail store can.”

However, the convenience does introduce some downfalls in enjoyment or instant satisfaction. “[Online shopping] is not quite as fun because I can look at all the options with friends and choose what I want when [window] shopping.”

Traditional shopping involves browsing, trying different subjects of interest, and like Pilgrim says, teenagers use shopping as a social experience, which cannot be replicated virtually as of now.
However, the online trend has done nothing to deter the trend of physically shopping for entertainment. Pilgrim says, “I still go shopping with my friends a lot.”

As such, consumers continue to spend money during window shopping experiences. Compounded with online expenditure, the modern consumer spends more overall than they had before the age of technological reliance.

Regarding the limitations of online shopping, senior Vivian Ngo says, “The cons [of shopping online] are you don’t really know how it fits or if it looks good on you because you can’t really try it on.”

Like Ngo says, because customers cannot try the clothes on over the internet and because most Aragon students do not have the exact stature of the models on the front pages of Urban Outfitters or American Eagle, a shirt that may look amazing on a model may look different on the individual, and the outcome may not be what a customer had expected.

Taken as a whole, online shopping is yet another technological development for the convenience of the people. Although technology will continue to drive growth, the consumer, with the power of the purse, remains empowered to guide the outlook of shopping, one purchase at a time.