In the era of e-retailing and online shopping, customers avoid purchasing gadgets and electronic items from local shops. The main reason behind this is that they get the same product comparatively in much lesser price on the net. Festive season being round the corner, with discounts and online sales, local retailers are losing customers at a fast pace.
“People prefer shopping online because nowadays the number of people using internet has increased widely. This is mainly because of the fact that laptop and hand-held devices are becoming cheaper nowadays. Also the rent for internet usage that sim card service providers give is very cheap. Hence, the enormous growth of people using internet. They mainly surf the internet to check the latest updates and to learn about the discounts available. Online shopping has become a fad and a way of life,” explains Suresh Arora, one of the local gadget shop owners.
There has been a sheer distress amongst local mobile sellers because of the trend gaining momentum. While the customers benefit from reduced pricing and increased convenience, local shopkeepers selling mobiles and the like are deeply worried about how to increase their sales against the backdrop of the formidable challenge haunting them.
“People bargain about the price when they come to the shops. Customers are not concerned about quality. Due to discount on online shopping sites, we now work for 1-2% profit, which earlier used to be 5-10%, which was huge. The sales dropped by 50% in the past years. The competition has also increased drastically,” said Dinesh Panwar when asked about the situation, who owns a shop on Chakrata Road.
“life has become very fast nowadays. I personally don’t like visiting the shops, search for products and roam about the city to get the product of my choice. It’s a waste of fuel, time and energy. On the other hand, online shopping sites provide an easy way of browsing the product which we require with just a tap on the screen,” said Surbhi Gaur, resident of Kalidas Road and an avid online shopper.
These online stores provide facilities like cash on delivery, discount on certain products if paid via credit card and discounts. The only bad thing is that the customers have to wait for days to get the product. Also if the piece is defective it takes another 15 days for replacement or cash back. The entire process is a bit hectic. However, the people are still preferring it.
Another distressed shop owner Sandeep Hurla, whose shop is located at Dharampur, said, “People come to the shop with one point agenda, that is, price. They do their research about the product online, are fully aware about its features. They come, see and touch the gadget they are interested to buy, either phone or camera, enquire about the product, and bargain about the rate at last. Because of shopping websites, the volume of our business has plummeted by 60 per cent.”
The retailers are taking initiatives to assist the customers from start to end to advise him/her on the product. Also some of them have taken up to the internet and created their own websites and others are still on it. “I am still considering it,” says Sandeep. “These are the steps we are following to help the volume of sale go up a bit against the bleak scenario,” he added.