‘Tis the Season For Online Shopping: How E-commerce Has Taken Over the Holidays

Listen in! Pick up some expert advice to a reader's question that we selected from CyberSchmooz.

‘Tis the Season For Online Shopping: How E-commerce Has Taken Over the Holidays

We are fast approaching gift-giving season once more. Although this year has some added strain with the Covid-19 pandemic, the entire gift-buying experience will remain largely the same. The big difference is that the marketplace for gifts has transitioned from brick and mortar store purchases to primarily online retail.

According to recent research, 22 percent of the world’s shopping now occurs online, and the share of e-commerce purchases during the holidays skyrockets as we all search for that perfect gift for our loved ones. Online shopping is easy and convenient, and often you can find lower prices on the things you routinely buy as well as those special one-off purchases for friends and family during the holidays.

Electronics

Digital gadgets are a favorite for gift-giving. Whether it’s the new Xbox or PlayStation, a phone, iPad, or wireless speakers, buying tech gifts over the internet feels far more natural than browsing through the mall windows. The benefit here is that you can read reviews, compare prices, and capture great discounts and deals while browsing for these items from the comfort of your home.

Any last-minute buying is also greatly enabled through this medium. Physical stores in your area may quickly run out of stock of those statement pieces that you hoped to get your brother or sister, but the digital marketplace is humming 24/7 and you can nearly always find what you are looking for. With speedy delivery options, you can get the gift in your hands just in time to wrap and hand-deliver it. The benefits of online shopping are undeniable!

Personal care items make great gifts, too.

Another fantastic area for gift-giving is in the skincare and wellbeing space. Products like scruff balm for beards and Trust Biologic skincare items for women make for thoughtful, and more importantly useful, gift options that your family and friends are sure to love.

An online store specializing in skincare products has a distinct advantage over their more traditional retail competitors. Online shops are able to cut out overheads and rent costs, and they often are optimized for saving you money. Like shopping for electronics, online stores offer customer reviews, product details, and discount options so that you can make the right choice for your loved one’s needs and know that you are getting the best deal available.

Clothing purchases to round out your shopping day.

Making clothing purchases online can seem like a much harder task online, but the online shopping space has a solution for tricky fits as well. Stores know that trying on items of clothing is important for most of us because no two people are the same shape, height, weight, or proportion. Whether you are hunting for the perfect vanishing bra or a stylish outerwear piece to complement your friend’s favorite outfit this winter, online stores have made it increasingly easy to decipher sizing and fit.

With helpful images of models wearing the items, specific sizing guides, and product descriptions are all available online, making your job of finding the perfect items and the perfect fit far less daunting.

Online shopping has truly taken over the holiday season of gift-giving, as well as our usual buying routine during the rest of the year. This time around, online shopping will be far more important as we attempt to maintain our distance from one another in order to reduce the impact of the coronavirus. Take advantage of the discounted prices, favorable free shipping offered by many retailers, and increased selection with online stores this year.

Small Business Tax Center • Idea Cafe Home • Sign Up • Biz Grant Center • CyberSchmooz •Coffee Talk with Experts • People in Biz Profiles • Starting Your Biz • Biz Planning • Running Your Biz • FREE Trade Publications • Marketing • Financing Your Biz • Human Resources • Legal & Biz Forms • Managing Your Biz • eCommerce • You and Your Biz • Gen X • Work@Home • The Fridge • De-Stress • Send an Award • Send an eGreeting • Yoga @ Your Desk • Web Guide • Idea Cafe in the News • About Idea Cafe • Advertise on Idea Cafe • Contact Us • Privacy Policy • Site Map • Small Biz News

DISCLAIMER: We hope whatever you find on this site is helpful, but be cautioned that it may not apply to your own situation, or be totally current at any given time. Idea Cafe Inc. and all of its current and past experts, sponsors, advertisers, agents, contractors and advisors disclaim all warranties with regard to anything found anywhere on this family of websites, quoted from, or sent from Idea Cafe. and its related sites, publications and companies. We also take no responsibility for comments published by others on these pages.

TRADEMARKS: The following are Registered Trademarks or Servicemarks of DevStart, Inc.: Idea Cafe®, Online Coffee Break®, The Small Business Gathering Place®, Take out Info®, Biz Bar & Grill®, Complaint-O-Meter®, A Fun Approach to Serious Business™, CyberSchmooz™, and BizCafe™.