Online shopping isn’t killing offline businesses, they’re are killing there business themselves!

If you scroll Instagram these days, you’ll constantly see small business owners saying things like, “Online shopping is eating our business. How are offline businesses supposed to survive? People should support local shops instead of buying everything online.”

Honestly, I used to believe that too. If I know a local business, why not give them the business instead of ordering online? At least I know whom I’m dealing with. But a recent experience has honestly made me question that.

I had to purchase some furniture for my parents’ hospital. There was someone I knew personally who supplied this kind of furniture, so instead of ordering online, I paid the advance and placed the order with him. He promised that the furniture would be dispatched by a particular date.

The promised date came. Nothing was dispatched.

I called. “Sir, one or two days more.”

Okay. Things get delayed.

One or two days became another one or two days. Then it became a week. Somewhere along the way, the calls also stopped getting answered. I was now stuck in the middle because this was my parents’ hospital, and I was the one who had recommended this person in the first place.

Eventually, I had to physically go to his office just to get some movement on an order that had already been paid for. After enough pressure, the furniture finally arrived about a week late.

And then I noticed that the furniture was roughly 25% lighter than the weight that had been committed.

I asked about it. The answer was that the weight commitment apparently included the packaging.

Now imagine my situation. My parents are already after me saying, “You were the one who recommended him. He committed to the furniture of a specific weight, and now the furniture is lighter as well.”

And honestly, what am I supposed to do? If this was some random online seller, I would have no hesitation in raising a complaint, asking for a replacement, disputing the specification or returning the product. But this is someone I know personally. I can’t exactly sit there and have a full-blown argument with him over every little thing.

And this is where I started thinking: Online shopping isn’t eating offline businesses. Maybe offline businesses are losing customers because online businesses have made the buying experience more reliable.

Curious to know what others think about this? Have you had better experiences buying from local/offline businesses, or has online shopping generally given you a more reliable experience? Would love to hear what your experience has been.