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Should You Shop Online?

December 21, 2020

Holiday shopping season is here! For millions of Americans, that means buying gifts online. Many people love being able to order just about anything without having to leave home. These days, people rely on online retailers like Amazon more than ever. In a recent survey, about three-quarters of people reported shopping online more now than they did before the Covid-19 pandemic.

But many people say online shopping has downsides. Even before Covid-19, many traditional stores were struggling to survive as they lost customers to online sites. In 2019, more than 77,000 retail jobs in the U.S. disappeared, mainly because stores went out of business.

Online shopping can also hurt the environment. About 3 million tons of cardboard boxes end up in the trash each year. A lot of them were used to ship the packages that people ordered online.

Here’s what two of our readers think.

Shopping online makes our lives easier. Anyone with internet access and a smart device can easily compare products on different sites. They can find the best prices and then have the items delivered directly to their home.

That’s also a lot safer than going to a crowded store. Online shopping is a type of social distancing. It can prevent us from catching or spreading Covid-19 and other illnesses.

Sites like Amazon are hurting small stores and big retail chains. For example, Toys “R” Us and Kmart have closed nearly all their stores.

Also, shopping online can lead to theft. In a survey last year, 36 percent of people said they’ve had a package stolen from outside their homes. Online shoppers also face identity theft. Millions of Americans have had their personal information stolen by hackers.