Reasons Consumers Prefer Shopping in Stores over Online (Essay Sample)

Consumer Behavior
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Introduction
Shopping activity involves buyers visiting stores either physically or online to make purchases for items that meet their needs. It has currently been affected by dynamic changes taking place in the markets, businesses and their environs. Section of buyers have their choices on shopping from physical stores or place their orders at the online shopping platforms such as Amazon. All these forms of shopping are faced with consumer preferences based on specific reasons.
Question 1
* Reasons Consumers prefer shopping in stores over online
Customers would want to have a tactile experience with the goods they intend to purchase from the providers in the market. This experience can only be gained through a physical touch and a feel of that particular good or service before a customer commits to willingly make a purchase. Touching and feeling any item before buying confirms assurance to customers that it is authentic and would fully offer satisfaction to them. Buying from online may not give an opportunity to have a direct experience with an item as you only see but never tries until a purchase order is placed and the item delivered (Singh, 2019, Pg.137). It therefore occurs that there is primacy when a customer physically interacts with a good rather than viewing it from online platforms hence preference of stores.
Purchasing from online is perceived to be hectic and procedural. A customer has to place orders with the online sellers and wait for the item to be delivered. The period between ordering and delivery ranges from hours to few days depending on the proximity of the transacting parties. This limits customers from taking their goods home immediately after making a purchase. It is due to this reason where customers would highly prefer stores as they will be able to go home with their purchases
* Relationship between customer preferences and demographic factors
The demographic factors addressed by the case study in relation to shopping entail gender and age. Female shoppers have their preferences on shopping from stores than online as they would want to see, touch and feel any products before committing to buy (Lim, 2016, Pg.407). Male shoppers on the other hand attach their preference on store shopping due to the immediate satisfaction it offers. This is so as they would be able to take their goods home once purchased. Young and older shoppers prefer seeing and trying compared to middle-aged counterparts.
Question 2
* The differences between online and traditional shopping
Online shopping involves the placement of purchases order with the online selling platforms. A customer will need to visit a platform be it a facebook or website to view various items offered. On spotting their items of need, they would proceed to place an order, make payment and wait for delivery. In other cases, payments can be made once the goods have been delivered. On the other hand, traditional shopping require that customers move to the real stores, see and try products, make purchase and carry their purchased items with them (Shanthi & Desti, 2015, Pg.17).
Both forms of shopping are good but based on various reasons; customers will always attach their preferences on each. Online shopping is characterized by merits of convenience as an individual can place orders anytime anywhere without making a movement. Traditional shopping is a time consuming activity and people will need to visit a real store which may be located far from them. Another difference between the two forms of shopping is the customer direct interaction with a product. Online shopping does not offer an immediate interaction between a customer and a product. In traditional shopping, people can see, touch and feel a product. This brings the authenticity advantage traditional shopping conveys compared to online (Sambargi & Gopal, 2016, Pg.35). Online products therefore may not meet authentic criterion due to exaggeration of product features.
Another difference between the two forms lies on the basis of safety matters. Online shopping requires disclosure of almost all information pertaining to a customer. This data will include location, contact data and credit card numbers making it possible for cybercrime to be perpetrated over one’s accounts. Traditional shopping never exposes any customer to any data disclosure as they pay direct using cash or credit cards. This difference limits growth of online shopping as no one would be willing to lose their wealth to fraud transactions (Müller, 2019, Pg.152). It therefore confirms that the brick-mortar shopping will last for decades.
* Personally preferred form of shopping
I would prefer the traditional form of shopping. Traditional shopping offer an opportunity to have a first-hand experience with a product and enables one to try out and confirm its authenticity. With the growing technology, crimes in the internet are advancing and chances of losing to the cyber bullies in the name of online shopping are equally high. Data concerning identification, financial and address is quite enough to enable perpetrators a way through which they can pilfer one’s belongings without cognizance. Traditional shopping will safeguard a customer from all these nightmares and offer unlimited desired comfort.
Question 3
* Marketing strategies to influence customer behavior using technological advancements through segmentation
Customer behavior will be determined by the nature of a market’s provision. Technology has enhanced availability of information and its ease of access making it possible to pursue and understand customer preferences. Platforms such as twitter and facebook have formed an easy channel through which a business may conveniently get feedback from their customers. This available customer information helps in decision making and consequently manipulates consumer behavior (Al Badi, 2015, Pg.139). Such manipulated consumer behavior will also assist in improving the customer attention towards a firm’s products.
Through market segmentation, a firm can apply differentiation strategy to meet needs of a particular market segment through personalization. The firm can use technological means to subdivide its market and from the relevant feedback it gets from each division offer goods tailored accordingly. This would also ensure that changes occurring are easily addressed and create a niche in every segment (Kumar, Sharma & Gupta, 2017, Pg.171). Segmentation strategy will address issues of customer experience and contact, promote brand trust and likability and further meet the increasing trend in customer expectations. Such a strategy will go in line with product differentiation as technological growth will make it easy to collect customer data, analyze it and present an equitably befitting service to each segment.
* Marketing strategies to influence customer behavior using technological advancements through use marketing mix
The 4Ps in the marketing mix include price, product, promotion and place. They all incline towards customer decision making. Use of social media for instance may provide a quick ear in establishing the normal prices in the market. This would help in devising pricing strategies such as psychological selling to persuade and ob