The Internet is a marvelous thing. Its search engines allow us to find the answers to our burning curiosities and questions. Its social media outlets allow us to connect with just about anyone in the world. And with the swish of a touch pad or the tap of a screen, we can purchase anything from used cars to luxury coats in seconds flat.

From Amazon to Zappos, there are hundreds of thousands of online retailers.

For years, many people asserted that online shopping would never become popular and that it was just a passing fad, a cultural phenomenon sure to die out when the .com bubble burst. Some argued that people would not be comfortable with purchasing items they hadn’t actually seen or using a credit card or PayPal account that could be compromised by hackers.

Despite such fears and protestations, online shopping has survived. In fact, it is projected to thrive in the near future. This past week, Women’s Wear Daily held its annual CEO Summit. Nathalie Remy, partner of McKinsey & Company, delivered a speech in which she spoke about the effects online shopping has had on traditional forms of retail and the fashion industry as a whole.

In her speech, Remy stated that the “digital market share is still below 10 percent in most countries,” but is  “gaining ground rapidly.” She then said, “digital sales will continue to increase and may reach 20 percent market share.”

There are a myriad of fiscal reasons why online shopping will continue to grow as Remy predicted, but I am certainly not an economist and could not do them justice by enumerating them. I am, however, an avid online shopper, and can therefore support Remy’s claims.

I cannot tell you the number of times I have placed orders through Zappos. I just can’t seem to stop. They have literally thousands upon thousands of pairs of shoes, not to mention an extensive selection of clothing and accessories. And they make the process oh so easy.

You can search for any style of shoe in any size, add your finds to your cart and get free shipping on all orders. Then, within a few short business days, your purchases arrive and you have your own shoe store in your living room. The best part is that if you’re unsatisfied with your purchases, you can send them back for a full refund, sans shipping and handling charges.

The process is perfect. Perhaps even a little too perfect.

There are a multitude of perks to shopping online. You don’t have to drive anywhere, you don’t have to find a place to park in those perpetually packed lots. You don’t have to fight your way through the crowds, wait in lines or contend with the disappointment that results when an item is out of stock, not the right color or has too big of a price tag.

Shopping online remedies all of these fashion ills. Of course, it also deprives shoppers of the authentic, in-person shopping experience of doing laps around the mall while toting heavy bags and fighting off fatigue. And sometimes, that is the exact brand of exercise and retail therapy you need to get your mind off of whatever might be troubling you.

Jenna Belmonte is a magazine, newspaper and online journalism graduate student. Her fashion column appears every Monday in Pulp. She can be reached at jmbelmon@syr.edu.

Published on November 4, 2013 at 12:59 am