Online Vs. Offline Shopping War

With the growing popularity of online shopping, traditional brick and mortar shops are getting worried. Since online shops offer better deals and drastic price drops on even the latest gadgets, offline shops are finding it hard to compete. Another advantage offered by online shopping is the fact that customers can compare the prices of the same product across different websites and pick one that is the most competitive. The comfort of shopping from one’s own home at any time of the day that is offered by online shopping is very difficult for offline retailers to beat at the moment. This is one of the reasons why the Retailers Association of India has reached out to the Prime Minister’s Office with complaints against major e-commerce sites like Amazon and Flipkart.

According to the offline retailers, the online retailers are not sticking to the guidelines presented by the association. This is affecting all traditional brick and mortar retailers, from big to small. The exponential growth of online shopping is also making offline retailers nervous, as they fear that they will soon be pushed out of the competition by major e-commerce sites in the future. Since e-commerce sites are using foreign capital to offer steep discounts, the retail stores are not able to match these prices. Some online shopping sites also have close links with companies, thereby being able to procure major discounts for their clients which are not available in retail stores. Hence, the government has decided to enforce the rule that a maximum of 25% of sales only can be allotted to one vendor. This way, the companies have to enable offline retailers to sell their products as well.