Buying goods online is no novel concept. It has been around for almost over a decade and has taken the world by storm. Consumers love purchasing goods online as well because it saves them a lot of time as well as money.
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Yet, not everything that glitters is gold and there are some drawbacks, as there are with any other thing, when it comes to the online book buying experience.
Yet, it is not just one book. This comes down to the back-end logistics of the online retailer you purchase from and how efficient it is in dealing with orders that come in. Sometimes, if there are too many orders and the backend system is not strong enough, errors occur and the wrong book ends up being delivered to the wrong address.
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4 Shortcomings of the Online Book Buying Experience
In a way, books were the ones to start the online revolution with Amazon.com. Amazon, since then has become the third largest corporation in the United States of America and is worth more than a trillion dollars. This is not by accident. People love reading and they love buying books online because of all its ease and convenience. Even the online bookstores in Pakistan have taken off in recent times because of the popularity of the trend of purchasing books online.Also Read: 8 Websites to Publish and Sell your Ebooks Online
Yet, not everything that glitters is gold and there are some drawbacks, as there are with any other thing, when it comes to the online book buying experience.
Flaws in the Online Book Buying Experience
Let us look at some of the shortcomings while purchasing books online in Pakistan.
1. When the wrong book is delivered
This is perhaps the most common flaw in the online book buying experience. People who shop online are all too aware of this one. It happens, though not very often, that the wrong book turns up at your doorstep. It is annoying and frustrating since you do not expect this mistake to happen, after all, how hard is it to deliver one book that was ordered from the site?Yet, it is not just one book. This comes down to the back-end logistics of the online retailer you purchase from and how efficient it is in dealing with orders that come in. Sometimes, if there are too many orders and the backend system is not strong enough, errors occur and the wrong book ends up being delivered to the wrong address.
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Moreover, sometimes, it is a just good old-fashioned human error. Where the courier might make a mistake and deliver the wrong book. This might be fine for some customers but for others, it’s a deal breaker and they may spread bad word of mouth publicity about the online retailer who made the mistake. This is detrimental to the business itself since a bad rapport with customers is the last thing that you need as a business.
Moreover, if this happens in case of academic books, it might cause more inconvenience for the customer since academic books are needed for university classes and for preparing exams. The wrong book delivered costs the customer precious time, which as students will tell you, they do not have. This will not sit well with consumers and they may never buy from that particular online book retailer again.
2. Complicated User Interface
Some online bookstores have a complicated user interface on their website. This makes it difficult for the consumer to find the book they are looking for and they end up going to another website. This, in turn, costs the business itself because they just lost a customer who was willing to buy but due to poor user interface was forced to leave the site. From the customer’s point of view, it is not only annoying but also wastes time.That is why, it is essential to make online retail websites simple, and easy to use for consumers. This helps so that they can find the book they are looking for easily and quickly.
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3. Lack of Discounts or Promotions
A significant drawback in the online book buying experience is that there are not as many discounts and promotions available as there are in the conventional brick and mortar bookshops. These are extremely important to consumers since everyone wants to save as much money as possible and even though online book retail stores offer cost efficiency to a certain extent, it is always nice when there are extra promotions and discounts available.4. Lack of touch and feel of the books
This is important for many customers since we tend to trust our own selves more than anyone else’s and if we are able to touch and feel the book in our own hands then we are able to be satisfied with its condition.Even though many online book retailers describe the condition of the book to consumers, yet the lack of touch and feel of the item itself is a serious drawback while purchasing online books in Pakistan. This is, in fact,, an inherent need in all consumers looking to buy books, perhaps passed down from the older generation to the next to be able to touch and feel the book in their hands before purchasing it.
These were just some of the drawbacks while purchasing online books in Pakistan. Though they may exist now, yet in time hopefully they will be weeded out.
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