Nowadays, we have the luxury of choosing between shopping in a store or online. With furniture, this opens up a world of possibilities. Let’s look at some of the pros and cons of shopping both online and in-store.
Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash
Online – Pros
If you choose to shop online, you can obviously do so at any time of day! Stores and furniture outlets will have opening times that might not line up with your personal schedule. If the only time you have to browse for a new sofa is midnight, an online store will be open for business.
Online stores also allow you to shop from anywhere in the world. So long as the company you want to buy from offers shipping – and you are willing to pay the stated shipping costs – you have a global marketplace to browse through.
Online – Cons
There are several cons that can arise with shopping online. The main one is that you obviously won’t be able to test anything yourself. If you are shopping for something like a mattress or a sofa, you won’t be able to tell how comfortable it is as you won’t be able to test it yourself.
This can also make it difficult to judge things like size and capacity. If you want to buy a new dresser for your home, you need to look at its dimensions carefully. Firstly, you need to know what size it is so that you don’t purchase something too big or too small. Secondly, you need to know how big the drawers and other compartments so that you know how much space you will have for storage.
In-Store – Pros
Obviously, visiting a physical furniture store means that you can see the piece you are interested in and can fully test it out. There will also be staff on hand to advise you if you need some help or if you want to find out about other options.
You can also pick up a few extra deals if you visit in-store. There are some shops that will offer special discounts if you choose to buy in-store versus online. If there are savings like this, it can always be worth heading in.
In-Store – Cons
You do need to have a store near you to be able to take advantage of services. Having a search for “furniture stores near me” will quickly reveal if there is one that you could head to. However, if you have a specific brand in mind, you need to be prepared for there to not be one nearby.
Visiting in-store also means that you are limited to the stock that they have, and their opening times. You might have to take time out of your day to visit the store within its hours of operations which could leave you with just a short window to shop depending on when you can get there.
Both shopping in-store and online will come with pros and cons. It is up to you to decide what works best for you!
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