Online shopping is replacing shopping in stores. Do you think this is a positive or negative development?

With the advent of the Internet and communications technology, more and more individuals are resorting to Internet shopping than physical shopping.
While
this
practice offers extreme convenience, I opine that it adversely impacts local entrepreneurs. On the one hand, I am certain that
stores
being replaced by online shops benefit the public in many ways. Specifically, it is quicker and cheaper to shop online than in physical
stores
. Shopping at home, people no longer need to drive for hours and spend on parking, toll tickets, and gas just to get to the nearest malls. By shopping online, people can just stay at home and avoid
such
unnecessary expenses. In fact, most shopping applications
such
as Amazon and AliExpress offer not only highly discounted items but
also
free shipping, which helps consumers save greater costs.
On the other hand
, I do not deny that online shopping can be absolutely detrimental to local businesses.
In particular
, with the surge in online buyers, physical
stores
lose their hard-earned customers and,
thereafter
, go bankrupt. We have actually seen
this
trend during
this
time of pandemic when all business establishments had to shut down and all people must stay at home and shop electronically. The COVID-19 pandemic has truly accelerated the fall of a large group of retailers, who have been fighting for dwindling sales and growing debt over the years. Sadly, individuals have gotten so used to shopping online that they much prefer it now to physical buying even when malls have started to re-open. In conclusion, I concur that online buying replacing shopping in physical
stores
is both a positive and negative development considering convenience and business bankruptcy, respectively.
Submitted by xiaoruoling7 on

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Topic Vocabulary:
  • online shopping
  • shopping in stores
  • convenience
  • accessibility
  • wide variety
  • comparative pricing
  • crowds
  • queues
  • price comparison
  • returning and exchanging items
  • local businesses
  • personal interaction
  • sensory experience
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