Let’s say you are currently overseas for business or pleasure, and you are missing all of the goodies back home in the U.S. You’ve just got to have them, right? We don’t blame you, which is why we dug deep to find the five most common reasons people shop online from U.S stores!

These reasons may just surprise you, or even inspire you. Either way, happy shopping!

• Convenience. How many times have you had a day where you just had too much to do? We’re talking not even a moment to breathe? Well, shopping online can alleviate that stress. You do not have to worry about long lines, grabbing the same item as someone else at the same time, or even navigating through crowds. You might be a busy professional, student or business person. When you finally finish your day’s work or study, often you’ll find that most of the shops have already shut. On top of that, you don’t want to have to spend time at the weekend walking around crowded shops, feeling stressed and overwhelmed. If this sounds like you then online shopping is your best friend. You can log on to your computer or smartphone and make your purchase quickly and easily during your lunch break or after work or class. Shopping in the comfort of your own home never felt so good!

• Time to Decide. A lot of people like to take their time in deciding what they want to buy. If you go shopping, it takes so much time to get there and search for what you want. There are only so many hours in the day and when a shopper finally finds what they are looking for, sometimes it feels like you’re rushed into a decision to buy! You think “I’ve already come this far and made the effort to go shopping, so I must make a decision on whether to buy this now or not”.

When you shop online, there’s generally no pressure on you to decide there and then. You can browse at your leisure, simply bookmark the items you like and come back and make the decision later.

• Reading Reviews Online. Online shopping is great because you get to read other people’s reviews before you make a decision about whether or not to purchase an item. Online reviews and social proof are one of the most important factors that people take into consideration when shopping online. Instead of taking a chance, a buyer can take their time to carefully read and find out about other people’s experiences with a product.

There are tons of sites online where people can provide honest feedback regarding products they’ve bought. Sites like reviews.io, Sitejabber and Trustpilot allow shoppers to make informed decisions before purchasing. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are also useful places to gauge the quality of a product before buying online. For example, you can log on to Twitter to see if a company has received a lot of complaints regarding their products. In addition, Facebook has a review mechanism, where customers can leave feedback about their experience with a company or product.

When you find an item at the store, you’re taking a chance buying it. Unless you know exactly what you want to buy and you’ve researched it in detail prior to going to the store, there’s always a chance that the item might be very good quality. There’s also a chance that you may be overpaying for the item, as a store down the road might have the same item at a cheaper price. You might have even got a much better deal if you purchased the item online. This is one of the main reasons why people prefer to shop online as opposed to in store.

• Avoiding Pushy Sales People. In a recent survey by KPMG about why people still like to go to the store to do their shopping, respondents said that they liked to be able to speak to a salesperson. However, a lot of times when we encounter salespeople in stores, they tend to be overly pushy. Obviously this is because they are sometimes paid a big chunk of commission if they can get you to buy. Coming into contact with a pushy salesperson is never a pleasant experience for a shopper. It’s not a nice feeling to be cajoled into buying something we don’t really want or that isn’t in our best interests. On top of this, a salesperson who is on a commission will sometimes trick you into buying the most expensive item or other expensive addons, in an effort to increase their paycheck at the end of the month.For shoppers who feel like they need to or would like to speak to a salesperson, keep in mind that you can still get basically the same experience online. In fact, you might even have a better experience online. A lot of online retailers have 24/7 online support where customer service representatives can answer your questions. Many online retailers also offer live chat services which means that you can talk to a customer service representative in real time. This means that they’ll be able to answer your questions in the blink of an eye. Better still, you’ll have the answer to your question in writing, so you’ll be able to refer back to it later if you don’t want to make a decision on whether to purchase right away. How many times have you asked a salesperson something about a product only to forget what they told you only a couple of minutes later? 

  In addition to having 24/7 customer support, online stores often have a very useful FAQ section on their website. On the FAQ section of a website, shoppers can find answers to commonly asked questions from customers. There may even be answers to important questions that you might even not have thought about yet!

  

   

  If all else fails, most larger online stores will also provide a customer support number. So if you feel like speaking to a customer service rep in person, you can simply pick up the phone.

   

• Have Kids? For people who have kids, online shopping is a godsend! Dragging your kids to the store can be super stressful. First of all it takes about ten times longer to shop when you’ve got your little ones in tow. Most kids won’t be able to keep their hands off all the things they see on the shelves. They want to grab and touch everything in the shop, even breakable items! If you’re bringing babies or toddlers shopping, you have to plan ahead like the military. You’re usually also loaded down with a big bag of supplies, including nappies, bottles, bibs and snacks!And we won’t even get into the tantrums, which parents know can happen at any time without prior warning. Yes, shopping with children is not easy. Many times parents will return home from their shopping trip with the kids, only to realize that they’ve forgotten something important. 

  That’s why so many parents are now deciding to shop online instead of venturing out the stores with the kids. The beauty of online shopping for parents is that they can easily do the shopping when the kids are down for a nap or even when they’re eating their lunch. You can even do your shopping in the middle of the night, if that’s your thing! One thing’s for sure, online shopping saves so much time for parents!

   

•  Variety. You may find that when you go to a shop, they may not offer the same types of products as they do online. Or even the same quantity, colors, etc. Stores have a limited amount of space, so they are only able to stock a limited number of items at any one time. This is not a problem for online retailers. Usually large online retailers will be able to ship to you from any of their warehouses. This means that you’ll have the advantage of having a larger selection to choose from. This might be particularly important for people who are a bit bigger, smaller, or taller than the average person. Many of these people feel frustrated when they go to a clothing store. When they find a style they love, often it may not be available in their size. However, because of the bigger selection online they have less chance of disappointment.

• Specific Sales. Most stores will advertise ‘online only’ discounts or promotions that you cannot take advantage of in store. If you go to the store in person, it’s likely you’ll miss out on these deals. Sometimes browsing with your mouse can also get you a larger quantity of your size in clothing or shoes in comparison to the physical store.
  

• Saving Items. No one likes to hear ‘Your card has declined.’ Well, with shopping from your computer, phone, or tablet, you do not have to worry about the embarrassment. Not to mention, you can save your cart right there to come back to later with your funds. 

In fact, a lot of online retailers allow you to create an account. With your account you can hold items in your cart for a reasonable amount of time, or even add items that catch your eye to a “wishlist”. You can add items to your wishlist while you’re waiting for you paycheck to clear. This is obviously something you couldn’t take advantage of in a bricks and mortar retail store.

• Comparing Different Stores. Nowadays many online retailers stock the same items, just like department stores. The advantage of shopping online is that you can compare prices across different retailers without having to step foot outside your door. Traditionally, “shopping around” would have involved going around from store to store by foot, which would have taken a considerable amount of time. Today, however, shoppers can compare deals with just a few clicks of the mouse. There are even comparison sites which aggregate many different sites selling the same item and show consumers where they can get the best deal online.

• Easy Refunds and Returns. Lots of people are comfortable shopping online because many online retailers offer simple and free returns if it turns out the customer is unhappy with what they’ve bought. In the early days of e-commerce, shoppers were unsure whether they should shop online because returns were difficult and usually cost the customer money to return via the mail.

Online retailers have now made it much easier for customers to return items they do not want to keep. For example, a lot of clothes stores will send a return package that you can simply pop your unwanted purchases into and send in the mail. Postage is paid by the retailer, so the customer doesn’t incur any additional charges.

In addition, online retailers have found genius new ways for customers to better understand exactly what they are buying. When ecommerce was in its infancy, all customers had to go by was a couple pictures. Now retailers provide multimedia shopping experiences for customers. For example, some retailers provide detailed video descriptions and 360 degree views of products.

• Buying “Embarrassing” Items. Some shoppers feel embarrassed about buying certain items in store. For example, some people may feel uncomfortable buying their undergarments in public. Shopping online provides a sense of relief for these people. They can just go online and order whatever they want without facing an embarrassing situation.

• Shopping for large or heavy items. Sometimes we’re just feeling a little lazy and don’t want to have to haul something back from the store. This might apply to heavier or larger items, which may be cumbersome to carry or place into the car. Shopping online makes the task of purchasing heavy items much easier. The delivery guys do all the work while you just sit back and wait for the doorbell to ring!

• Easy for Travel. You may be planning a lengthy getaway this year. So how will you have the moment to stop by your favorite store and pick up the necessary supplies? Since the majority of the retailers who have joined the web system are offered to many different countries, this is perfect for someone on the go!

Shop U.S retailers online and if they don’t ship to your country no worries, you can use a package forwarding service that we heard is among the best out there!