Online Shopping vs High Street Shopping

Great changes have altered the face of our high streets over the last few years, some loud and obvious, such as the demise of Woolworth and Comet, others quieter and more subtle, like the click of a computer’s mouse.

The move toward digital has allowed us to order virtually anything online and have delivered to our door, but does this mean it replaces the High street? It would seem not.

Online shopping certainly has much going for it, for instance, you can peruse a much greater range of stock available from the warehousing, which you can trawl through sitting on your sofa dressed in pyjamas, should you so wish.

No driving, car parking, walking, and no queueing. We can view and compare a full range styles, models availabilities and prices fairly effortlessly, whatever the weather.

We can read previous customer’s reviews and see their take on things rather than going in blind or being swayed by brand advertising. The catalogue of goods and services offered online is virtually without limit. There is another little bonus for shopping online, and that is the little pleasures we get when buying somethings are repeated when the somethings arrive on the doorstep.

High street shopping still carries some of the enjoyments that it has given for generations, for instance, when you make a purchase, you pick it up there and then, it’s yours and in your hand.

A trip into the high street can mean more than buying, it can be an experience or, indeed, a collection of experiences.

The smell of baking bread or coffee can tempt you into a café or coffee shop, where it tastes a world different from home.

Meeting friends, having lunch out, in between shopping, making shopping a social event, comparing items with a second opinion on hand could make it fun.

Assistants can be on hand if required. This can be helpful when buying white goods or other state of the art electrical products.

Little can beat the high street scene building up to Christmas. With shop window displays trying to out-shine each other and glittering decorations making the whole street sparkle.

There are some notable gaps in the high street, where some stores just couldn’t take new technology on board, and there are others, particularly some department type stores who have embraced online shopping and married it to their high street operations to great success.

What we are seeing is not one way of shopping becoming superior to the other, but an adjustment in our expectations of what we want. Online shopping is here to stay, and so is high street shopping, each to their strengths, and as wonderful as the world of online is becoming, sometimes it feels right to grab your coat and head for the shops.

Some products such as solar lighting just aren’t stocked on the high street in large enough ranges to give shoppers the choices that they demand. This is where online retailers can take the advantage. With lower overheads, greater variety can be provided, giving the choice many shoppers want to see.