Online Shopping by Grace Roeder

Online shopping, otherwise known as ecommerce, is on its way to being one of the most popular ways to shop. According to Disruptive Advertising, about half of purchases are made on the internet rather than in stores. This number is only expected to grow as younger generations are the most common users of ecommerce. Shopping is often a common pastime among students, whether it be in-store or online.

Ecommerce is a convenient way to shop and is available 24 hours a day. It is increasingly easy to browse a wide range of products with the click of a button from one’s own home. On Black Friday in 2017, American shoppers spent a record of five billion dollars online, as reported by CNN.

The growing rate of technology is inescapable, especially among students when all they have ever known is a world infiltrated with it. A 2015 survey showed customers spend almost 60% of their online shopping time on their mobile devices, which isn’t surprising considering Influence Central found that the average age for getting a first smartphone is 10.3 years old. With 78% of teenagers aged 12-17 having cellphones, more high school students have constant internet access than adults. This contributes to the wide range of apps and marketing techniques targeted towards young users of social media like Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat.

Most students at Technical High School do their holiday season shopping whenever they are free, which is often at night or on the weekends. Retail stores are often not open during the later hours of the evening, so online shopping creates a space to browse free of hassle and offers options like live chat and customer service through phone or e-mail if any questions arise.

Ecommerce is quickly taking over as one of the easiest ways available to shop and is only increasing with time.