Innovictor
New Member
E-Commerce is fast becoming a major driver for economic growth in Nigeria as Internet penetration continues to rise in the country. Many Nigerians are already embracing the convenience that e-commerce offers and this is evident in the number of organizations that offers you a chance to pay their fees online. Interestingly, this fact is not lost on Nigerian entrepreneurs and it is evident in the rate at which e-commerce platforms such as Konga, Jumia and Kaymu among others are springing up.
I love shopping online and one of the many reasons I am passionate about shopping online is that the experience helps me to save money. Below are some three ways by which you can also save money by shopping online.
Online Stores Can Afford to Quote Cheaper Prices
The first way by which shopping online can save you money is that online stores can afford to sell products at a cheaper price than what is obtainable in brick and mortal stores. It might interest you to know that online stores have lesser overhead costs associated with the running of a business. For instance, online stores do not usually need to hold inventory, pay store attendants, security, and cleaners and incur bills for electricity and water in the stores.
Hence, online stores do not have large operating costs and they can afford to add a 'little" markup price to the cost of a product to sustain a cheaper pricing model in comparison to brick and mortal stores that have a large number of overhead costs. Therefore, shopping online allows you to purchase items a cheaper cost and your Naira can easily go further on purchases.
Online Stores Makes Comparison Shopping Easy
Most of the time when you go to the market to buy an item, the likelihood that you will buy from the first or second store that you visit is very high. The reason for this is that you not might to have the time and energy to move around different stores to check out the different prices in order to find the store that offers you the best value for your money. Secondly, many of these traders have an uncanny ability to make you feel guilty about not buying from them inasmuch as you've entered their shop.
However, when you shop online, you can easily compare the prices of the same or similar products in different stores. The best part of online comparison-shopping is that you can easily check out the different prices right there on your computer or mobile device.
Online comparison-shopping from the comfort of your home ensures that you do not have to overpay for any item when you make a purchase- not overpaying for an item is one of the smartest ways to save money. From experience, I know that few things could be as emotionally draining as thinking that you've bought an item at a bargain only to find out that it could have been five thousand Naira cheaper at the next shop.
Shopping Online Helps You Minimize Impulsive Spending Decisions
If you sit down to do some serious introspection, I am sure you'll be remember the number of times you've whipped out your wallet/purse in the market to make a purchase that wasn’t in your plans that day. Some of the reasons behind those impulsive purchases include the item being rare, unusually cheap, you are feeling particularly happy and that some free money came your way.
However, impulse purchases are one of the biggest drains holes that could keep your finances perpetually anemic. Thankfully, shopping online often means that you would have made a list of the things you want to buy, set money aside for the purchase and create time to compare prices from different stores before you place an order. Hence, shopping online ensures that you reduce impulsive purchases so that you can plug drain holes in your finance and save more money.
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