Online Shopping: A Blessing Or A Curse?

Once upon a time, there was a virus named COVID-19, and it decided to turn the world upside down. It made use of its black magic and sucked the joy out of life by becoming the cause of multiple lockdowns worldwide, especially here in Canada. Now, how did these lockdowns take away people’s joy? By taking away sources of happiness, one of which (of course) is shopping malls and stores. But businesses were able to outsmart the cruel COVID-19 virusand found a solution: online shopping.

Luckily, COVID-19 soon started losing hope and gave up on the fight. Today, it isn’t much of a concern to us: restrictions have been lifted, case counts (although suggested to be pretty high) have dropped and are no longer broadcasted nightly, mask mandates are no longer imposed, and social distancing has said its goodbyes. My family still uses many of the resources we discovered during the pandemic. Personally, I make use of them monthly, and have significantly benefited from them. The one I have benefited the most from however, is online shopping.

At first, I feared shopping online because of the general online safety issues.

I was worried about online scams because some of my family members had many tragic stories of web-based scams and poor online shopping experiences. But once I got over my fears and started online shopping, I embraced it, and I realized so many benefits. However, the people I follow on Instagram have greatly influenced my habits, so much that I tend to overspend, which isn’t great. So, online shopping has been good and bad, and personally, I feel pretty comme-ci comme ça about it.

My first purchase was from Amazon. For my parents’ sake, I didn’t buy anything too expensive (a keychain). Unfortunately, I received the package a week later than its expected delivery date. Yet all that mattered was that I got the keychain and that Amazon did not scam me.

After that experience, I (and my family) put more trust in Amazon, and now use Amazon quite often for purchases. I find that it is very useful, (especially for products from companies based in Canada). However, I do sometimes shop from other websites, but not often. When I shop online from other brands, I make sure I check if the website is safe to shop from, as scams are always possible. Some of things I do is research the online vendor, read through people’s reviews, and ask people I know whether they know of the website.

Social media apps also play a huge role in encouraging my shopping choices. I am the type of person that always seeks other’s opinions before I take actions, and online influencers tend to impact some of my actions.

Influencers advertising certain products, brands, and websites can highly influence where I shop and what I buy. For example, influencers nowadays highly preach buying second-hand products. This example had a big impact on how I began to shop for clothes online. I saw influencers, like Linda Sun, promoting thrifting sites, like ThredUp. After purchasing a sweater, I fell in love! The prices weren’t too expensive, and the products looked like they haven’t even been touched!

I have found online shopping to be a game changer and a life saver. Now that I’ve been online shopping for over two years, I’ve discovered some pros:

• Shopping online can be convenient and can help me save lots of time and energy because I don’t have to get dressed in outside clothes and leave the house.
• There is a large variety of products available. Many unique e-commerce brands and many websites have lots of options, which have added so much to my shopping experience and overall satisfaction. Some venders even have special products that they offer online only.
• I can compare prices easily. Shopping online gives me a central way to compare prices among other sites so that I can find the best deal.
• There are lots of discounts. One thing that I am very fond of is the many promos that online retailers offer. These promos include discounts and cashback and rewards programs. Also, I find that these promos are one of the main reasons why I feel more inclined to shop online than in physical stores.
• I rely on customer ratings and reviews. The thing I find the most helpful about online shopping is how I can read other people’s reviews on a product or brand. I find that other customers’ opinions and reviews can have a big influence on my decisions.

However, like all things in life, online shopping has its drawbacks. On the odd occasions, some deliveries have arrived in poor condition. But the biggest drawback is that I have become a bit addicted to online shopping, to the point that it has led me to develop the habit of overspending.

Because I’m still growing up, I do have some urges to impulse buy, and following the online influencers doesn’t help. However, as someone with a part time job, it is crucial to build good spending habits. I did have a short period of impulse online shopping (to be 100% honest), and that is mainly because I would often be busy with homework during the day and wouldn’t have the chance to go to the mall. Let’s just say it got a bit out of hand.

To curb my overspending habit, and in order to be responsible with my money, I have been setting money management goals for myself.

For example, I now have a budget. If I stick to my budget, I can keep my spending in check and ensure that I have some savings for emergencies and longer-term goals. For my budget, I use the 50/20/30 rule. This rule divides my after-tax income into three categories: 50% for needs (such as, bus fares), 30% for wants (such as, movie tickets), and 20% for savings. This rule is very helpful, because it helps me become more responsible when deciding how to use my money. It makes me think whether something is a necessity or a desire.

I hopped onto the trend of online shopping about halfway through the pandemic. Despite my initial fears, the first positive experience truly opened the door to a world that mesmerized 13-year-old me: less walking, more shopping. I’ve had a few negative experiences, but overall, I find online shopping to be very rewarding. I love the endless options for products and promos and how easy it is to get customer ratings. And now that I have a plan to keep my spending in check, I think that I will use online shopping more and use the saved time and energy to focus on the other things I enjoy.