Has Online shopping had its day?

[webfact]

 

by Michael Bridge

During the pandemic perhaps the two companies that seemed to do really well were Netflix and Amazon.

Their profits went through the roof and many of us used their services for the first time.

As people were stuck indoors during the lockdown, ordering online seemed to be the way to survive, whether ordering books, equipment, or even food.

Also, many use online to buy from the public selling new or secondhand. A great way to save money!

However, the future maybe not be so rosy as manufacturers are starting to run short of stock due to their suppliers running low on component parts.

Then we must expect a large jump in delivery charges as fuel prices soar too.

Take buying a paper pack on Amazon if you order from Thailand.

 

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If I were to order Ken Follett’s latest novel Never in paperback, it would cost GBP10 however the delivery charge from the UK is GBP8 and it could take 20 days to arrive.

Might as well wait until they publish it at Asia Books and pay THB350 or GBP8.

Seems as we must tighten our belts buying secondhand will be the way forward.

But can we rely on the seller to be reliable and to send what we ordered?

I still prefer to go shopping and check out the items before parting with my money.

Have you had any bad experiences lately when ordering online?

 

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[blackcab]

Or buy it on Kindle for £9.99

[Meat Pie 47]

No, online shopping just started

[Meat Pie 47]

I buy every thing on line apart from fresh food never ever had a problem

[Meat Pie 47]

today people getting stuff delivered by drones

[CharlieH]

Its a natural way of life now.People will use their zombie appliance (phone/tablet) first and foremost, in most circumstances.

 

Its way to easy and convenient to let a little thing like a few extra bucks get in the way.Especially in a foreign country where it eliminates the communication issues that buying locally may have.

 

[wombat]

With supermarket shelves having the selection of what's available shrinking I've found items of brands unavailable are available on Lazada.

I've had no problems and I only use COD.

[FolkGuitar]

At any given time I have 2-3 different items in the delivery cycle from various companies. I do almost all my shopping, other than fresh foods, using online services. In the past several years I've only had one or two small problems in several hundred orders.

[Kwasaki]

I started on-line shopping with Lazada,  Shoppee & Ali-express because of pandemic and will continue to do so. 

[Crossy]

Yeah, Mr Covid triggered my online shopping experiences and I will continue to do so.

 

Almost everything that's not available or 'kin expensive (anything labelled "solar" for example) in one of the DIY places comes from Lazada, many things arriving the day after the order was placed (even weekends).

 

I've had a few things go wrong, but the Lazada returns system is simple and effective.

[mtls2005]

People buy online for product availability, ease of use, cheaper, simpler, next day delivery, free returns.

 

Not seeing a return to the buggy whip, or anything to disrupt the trend?

 

Obviously some people can't take advantage, those without internet access/devices/credit. Oh, and the Amish.

 

 

 

 

[Henryford]

Apart from food and clothes i buy almost everything on line in Thailand. Very limited choice in the shops and more expensive.

[sungod]

I was amazed how little stock huge stores like Homepro  carry. LED down lights- needed 35 to go through out the house but Homepro had 9 of the size I wanted.

 

Wardrobe/furniture handles, needed 50 to replace in 2 bedrooms. Homepro had little choice, nor the quantity I needed and double the price.

 

If you cant get it locally, online is the way to go.

[Will B Good]

6 hours ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

I buy every thing on line apart from fresh food never ever had a problem

same here.....plus clothing and shoes.

[phetphet]

I have been buying off Amazon for over twenty years. Very smooth experience with fast delivery (often next day) in the UK.

The only thing that stops me buying from them here a lot more, are the high import and postage costs.

Both from UK and US sites.

 

Lazada is OK. obviously not so many UK or US products, and if they are, they are expensive. mainly Chinese or Thai. But fairly fast.

 

Not had a great experience with Shopee. Not a great English version of the website, and out of maybe ten orders I have made there, at least half have been cancelled by the seller. One I could not get m money back.

 

It's not just covid, but people leading busy lives that has caused the increase in online shopping. Amazon now does food delivery, and have smart devices to remind you when certain household products are running low so they can be re-ordered.

So cheap prices and convenience with orders delivered quickly to the front door. Orders made from home or mobile phone from anywhere. Time saved, and far less driving to the mall or supermarket and dragging a trolley around.

Even the supermarkets themselves have got in on the act.

 

In face the Thais themselves have embraced this down to ordering their lunch. I was in the food court at Centralworld last week and was amazed at the amount of Grab, Food Panda, and Line men collecting orders for customers.

 

I think online shopping isn't going anywhere for now.

 

 

[bbko]

Online shopping is the wave of the future.  If I'm looking for a specific item, it's much easier and often times cheaper to find it online instead of running all over town.

Sometimes I'll go find items in the stores, take a photo or mental note of the model/price and then find the exact same item online at a cheaper price. 

[OneMoreFarang]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

But can we rely on the seller to be reliable and to send what we ordered?

I still prefer to go shopping and check out the items before parting with my money.

Look for reputable sellers and the problem is solved.

I do more and more online shopping because it is convenient. I.e. some time ago I visited Ban Moo to buy electronic parts. Sometimes I asked in several shops and maybe they had the item behind them but they didn't know or care. Now I look at online pages, see products and alternatives often with multiple suppliers. I can weed out the shops who overcharge and I can ignore the shops which offer something for an unreasonable cheap price.

Then I order it and get it delivered maybe for 20 or 50 THB delivery charge 2 or 3 days later.

All that takes maybe 10 minutes instead of getting to the place with the shops, run around in the shops and looking for shops, maybe waiting in the shop and getting back.

Online shopping is a wonderful invention.

 

P.S.: And I still order and drink my coffee in a coffee shop. Because there it is fresh and I can sit and relax with my fresh coffee.

[vandeventer]

7 hours ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

I buy every thing on line apart from fresh food never ever had a problem

It cost more with shipping but at least you can get want you want.

[khunPer]

Online shopping had a peak during the pandemic, but it's not at all dying.

[khunjeff]

Is it just me, or does "Michael Bridge" sound an awful lot like Dan About Thailand? ????

[phetphet]

The sites that I have used most frequently for online buying here in Thailand are:

 

Amazon (UK and US)

Lazada

Aliexpress

Shopee ????

Invadeit

 

Plus a few lesser known more specialised sites. Mainly a good experience.

 

Now with the supply chain issues hitting the supermarkets, I can still often find some tinned foodstuffs on Lazada that are no longer on the supermarket shelves.

 

 

[OneMoreFarang]

2 hours ago, vandeventer said:

It cost more with shipping but at least you can get want you want.

In Thailand shipping is often very cheap - a lot cheaper than driving to a shop, maybe parking, driving back, etc..

 

[Tom H]

No. Just has started.

 

[peterpaintpot]

3 hours ago, phetphet said:

I have been buying off Amazon for over twenty years. Very smooth experience with fast delivery (often next day) in the UK.

The only thing that stops me buying from them here a lot more, are the high import and postage costs.

Both from UK and US sites.

 

Lazada is OK. obviously not so many UK or US products, and if they are, they are expensive. mainly Chinese or Thai. But fairly fast.

 

Not had a great experience with Shopee. Not a great English version of the website, and out of maybe ten orders I have made there, at least half have been cancelled by the seller. One I could not get m money back.

 

It's not just covid, but people leading busy lives that has caused the increase in online shopping. Amazon now does food delivery, and have smart devices to remind you when certain household products are running low so they can be re-ordered.

So cheap prices and convenience with orders delivered quickly to the front door. Orders made from home or mobile phone from anywhere. Time saved, and far less driving to the mall or supermarket and dragging a trolley around.

Even the supermarkets themselves have got in on the act.

 

In face the Thais themselves have embraced this down to ordering their lunch. I was in the food court at Centralworld last week and was amazed at the amount of Grab, Food Panda, and Line men collecting orders for customers.

 

I think online shopping isn't going anywhere for now.

 

 

There are other benefits from buying books etc from Amazon.c.uk as these products are exported from the UK and imported to the LoS they do not have UK Vat applied but Thai Vat should be applied instead, I know this is difficult to believe but the Thai Customs officers apply Vat to the imports less than 1% of the time! Therefore I save money as the delivery charge is less than UK Vat. The procedure should be: Customs forward the parcel + customs invoice to your local Post Office and then they don't hand over the parcel until you have paid them the Vat. Smart Thailand leading the WORLD!!

[vandeventer]

23 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

In Thailand shipping is often very cheap - a lot cheaper than driving to a shop, maybe parking, driving back, etc..

 

Where I live you can't drive to a shop to get what you want, so online buying is my only choice for things I may want. So if you are buying 5 to 10 items a week and there is freight on each one, the freight adds up.

[Peterphuket]

2 minutes ago, vandeventer said:

Where I live you can't drive to a shop to get what you want, so online buying is my only choice for things I may want. So if you are buying 5 to 10 items a week and there is freight on each one, the freight adds up.

Even that, mijnheer vandeventer, if I order 10 times something with an average transport costs of 45 thb, it is only 450 thb in total, in the Netherlands you'll get only 1 product at home, for 450 thb.

[vandeventer]

17 minutes ago, Peterphuket said:

Even that, mijnheer vandeventer, if I order 10 times something with an average transport costs of 45 thb, it is only 450 thb in total, in the Netherlands you'll get only 1 product at home, for 450 thb.

This could be the reason why I don't live in the Netherlands.

[Burma Bill]

I have never bought anything on line, even during Covid-19 restrictions. I believe in going out shopping to select what product I require. Sometimes one can get a "discount for cash", not offered by online companies. My personal choice.

[Peterphuket]

40 minutes ago, vandeventer said:

This could be the reason why I don't live in the Netherlands.

Here another one!

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, vandeventer said:

Where I live you can't drive to a shop to get what you want, so online buying is my only choice for things I may want. So if you are buying 5 to 10 items a week and there is freight on each one, the freight adds up.

Sorry, I don't understand what you are complaining about.

If online order is the only or cheapest possible way to get anything then the only alternative is not to order anything, or not?