[NoLurkerForLong]

All the evidence we have point to increasing sales online. Its not just the number of players have increased but the existing players have also increased their sales volume.

To be fair, online doesn't work for all the products and people need to be aware of it. If you see a deep discount on lets say a grocery/food item make sure you check the expiry date on the product listing. Many times this has saved me from grief. I know its not 100% coverage and there are still lot of listings without a best buy/expiry date but make sure you look for one and avoid the rest.

As for the big and bulk items, it makes sense to compare with the local store. Unless its a big volume mover you might likely see the price at higher end online.

Phones are the best things you can buy online. There is not much after sales service/support required and no other factors come into picture like installation etc. Once you do your research and finalize a model more often than not you will find a better price online than B&M store.

[kadanaJ]

No!

If I can find something for sale online, I'll buy it online. It's quick and convenient. Most products get delivered in 3-5 days.

Some obscure items (such as a costume for a Halloween party) are difficult to find offline. And in a city like Mumbai, do I really want to deal with all the traffic and stress, when I can sit in my air conditioned house and order with one click?

Big ticket appliances I'd prefer to go to Vijay Sales or Croma. But anything under ₹10,000/- I'll order online.

[Lobogris]

Originally Posted by amol4184

I wish someone brought fuel to my doorstep too so that I could avoid petrol pumps.

Get an EV and you can fuel it at home.

[matchvan]

Voted No.

Ever since my First Purchase way back in 2011, my online shopping has grown exponentially.

Thanks to soaring fuel prices and to busy streets which don't have a designated parking spots resulting in parking tickets, I prefer staying at home and ordering the cheapest to the most expensive product.

The last big purchase was a French door refrigerator!

Stay safe.

[Tucker48]

Online shopping is convenient and more importantly for places other than metros, they provide a wide range of products which aren't available locally.

Regarding discounts on online portals, partner payment discounts give them an edge which is unfair and should be probed. Exchange also gives online retailers an added bonus which most offline retailers don't provide.

On price parity, there is not much difference in online and offline sales. Although some products can be found quite cheap online and vice versa. Most electronic products(except phones) which we perceive as quite cheap online as compared to offline is because of different serial number, even though the product is almost same (probably a generational change). Older stock will sell cheap as compared to new one even though the product is mostly the same.

It really depends upon what I want. For connected electronics, I want the latest model and for others, I go for the cheapest model(not outdated). For clothes and shoes, if I buy online, I only buy directly from retailers website and not from third party websites.

So, yes online Shopping has increased for me and it will never go down because of online presence of most retailers in addition to ecommerce websites.

[kavensri]

Compared to most of my friend and relatives, I was always an ‘online’ person. This was even before covid. Now, it is close to 99% I buy stuff online. This includes, daily milk/curds, vegetable and groceries. And I used to buy most of my groceries from big stores (like METRO CASH & CARRY, BIG BAZAAR, etc). But later I realized that out of total bill value, around 20-25% of the stuff would be those items which I did not plan to buy. Just because we saw those in the stores and liked it, we ended up buying those stuff. Then I switched to online (Big Basket, Jiomart, Flipkart and Amazon) for most of my groceries needs. But I was still buying some stuffs like fruits, vegetables, sweets, dairy products, dry coconut, rava, poha, etc from the local stores. But, since covid started, I started buying these stuffs also from Big Basket Daily or FTH Daily apps.
So, in my case, in may not increase as it may have already reached the saturation level. But it is definitely not going to come down any time in the future.

[adisan]

No, it has not reduced.
After a cautious start by ordering only low-priced products, I slowly moved to trust the major e-com channels. Main reasons are that in case of any issues the returns or refunds are mostly hassle-free. I always prefer COD orders except in exceptional cases. As of now, groceries, clothes, even tyres are purchased from online channels.

[dipdawiz]

It has increased and increased to a great extent; compared to 2013-14 when flipkart was only reliable online store. And to get great experience of online shopping you need to be disciplined. Need to do some basic research before buying. And as OP told if it is too good to be true, it may not be true. Always make sure of a reliable seller, return policy, review, specs etc. And it's true for electronics or grocery. All my big ticket items (ranging from 10k to 80k) from 2016 onwards are from Amazon and in some cases the item was not meeting my expectations it was returned, no question asked.
Secondly I do not buy online just because its discounted, it helps avoid trips to shop(/shops).
Finally I do research online before going out for shopping and only case I go offline shopping is when I am not sure of the subjective matters like - looks or say how it would match with something I already have or a more detailed feel of the item that I cannot figure out online.

So far all is well for my online shopping experience. And I feel, with increasing number of items available online reliably, its going to increase.

[rejeen]

On the border of being a shopaholic and sometimes slipping down the border too!
The reasons being; so many "irrestible" offers on credit cards, excellent prices during the first few hours of shopping festivals, clearing of stocks by big sellers of online platforms at never before prices due to nearing expiry dates of the product(s) and many others.

But, of late I feel this shopping doesn't have a "soul" even though I don't know how to describe exactly what it means or feels like. I used to roam around big shopping clubs like Costco/BJs, malls during ThanksGiving while in the US and those were happy times in retrospect. During Pre-Corona, the shopping/movie/food mall visits felt more lively and interesting, but still there was online shopping too. The cost savings now is hard to resist even though it has come at the cost of feeling happy about everything else that's is associated with the brick & mortar shopping "experience".

Looks like there is no immediate respite from online shopping because of the huge cost advantage there. I hope a balance will come sometime soon which will make the old way of shopping more rewarding as a whole. Sooner or later it should!

[Sheel]

No.

I stay at a small place, few things are not available in brick and mortar stores, especially merchandise, shoes, toiletries (basic ones are available) and few food items (very few of them are purchased online). So, dependence on online shopping, but, I have never faced any hassle with product / returns since some 6 years now (99% Prime & Myntra) or the brand’s own online shop.

95% of them give COD and I prefer that especially if shipping is via BlueDart or a dedicated courier as they want you to collect instead of coming to your door if pre-paid order is placed.

Electronics, I wait post placing an order and get it from Reliance or Aditya Vision. Apple products at iMagine iStore is almost default.

[condor]

Yes and No. My shopping on Amazon and other online retailers has reduced. However, I am buying stuff from Big-basket etc.

Overall, reduced a bit is what I can say

[DevilzzzzOwn]

Answered Yes.

Initially, during the first lockdown, the local shops were open and online deliveries were not allowed. That taught me a couple of things.
A. Supporting your local businesses is giving back to the society instead of a giant conglomerate. They were open and serving us when the rest of the world was in quarantine.
B. Platforms like Amazon and Flipkart make you buy all kinds of rubbish you don't need.
C. The same Platforms abuse their employees and pocket huge profits from it. The same profits used to finance space trips and super yachts.
D. Online shopping makes you lazy. To be able to order TP while sitting on the actual throne is a convenience, no doubt. But it steals an opportunity to spend time with your vehicle and from having to visit a shop.
E. Due to this Silo living approach, the social fabric is changing. People are losing the skills of communicating with each other in public situations.

Nowadays, I take every opportunity to head out and visit actual shops. Nothing beats the excitement of wanting something and getting it in hand immediately and not have to wait for the delivery.
And the pleasure of writing something on a piece of paper and then putting a tick against it on getting it is so oldschool. When was the last time you picked up a pencil and wrote something down?

[Ritz2010]

The over smart algorithms are just making it more tough. I guess we are heading to pseudo peaks as of today due to lockdowns.

Otherwise the online portals are reaching a saturation, that's the reason for these portals starting to sell groceries and daily needs.

The whole saga of ordering, waiting for it deliver and return it for not being good is just a pain. So more preference for physical stores. Online stores when something is just not available in physical stores.

[aniyo]

Depends on urgency and convenience.

For things I need soon and I know the shops I prefer to buy off line

For all other things it's online only. Infact I don't remember the last electronic item I got offline.

In general I am a stingy human, so shopping has not gone up either ways

[INJAXN]

No. In fact it has increased over the years.
Earlier I only use to buy electronic items. But during pandemic, I ordered grocery, milk and even medicines online and looks like I will continue to do so because of ease of it and it helps in avoiding crowded places.

I also use to think that I will never buy any clothing online, but with wife's continues push, I bought couple of tees online and it was ok experience.