Which mode are you betting on: online or offline shopping?

We all love online shopping. It's simple, fast, and convenient. But we bet you didn’t know that Electronic shopping was invented by an English inventor called Michael Aldrich. In 1979, he invented the earliest form of e-commerce which allowed online transaction processing between business and customers, as well as between business and business.?

Fast forward to 1995, online shopping saw its biggest transformation when Jeff Bezos, founder of 亚马逊 , launched its biggest marketplace.?

In 2004, Shopify, a prominent online storefront service made it possible for low-capital sellers to set up online stores to conduct business operations.?

However,?in 2020, online shopping took a 360-degree turn as sellers strategized new ways to ease the shopping experience. The pandemic had changed the way people shop. Although it may seem like offline shopping has seen its days, retailers are now willing to invest in connecting online and offline shopping. With options like buy online pickup in-store, reserve at store, and others, offline shopping has become easier when tied hands with online shopping.

“Digital shopping continues to grow, but it’s no longer a competition between online and offline,” said Robert Hetu, VC & Research Analyst at Gartner. In fact, 82% of Millennials still prefer in-store shopping. That’s a number we simply can't ignore. But the question still remains is offline shopping dead now that online shopping has become the “rising star”? Or is it a wise idea to make it work together?

We ran a poll on LinkedIn, and here’s what people had to say -

79% of responders believe that online and offline can work as complementary channels while 21% believe them to be competitive channels. What do you think?

Learn more about which mode of shopping is winning: