What is a Mall?
A conventional shopping mall is usually a huge building located in a central area where merchants of all types rent premises to trade to the general public. It is generally owned by some company who invests in its construction and reaps rewards from rentals charged for individual shops and space within the walls. The company advertises to drive customers into it and more often than not there is a river of people flowing through it at all hours to purchase goods or for other things. An online shopping mall is somewhat different.

An Online Shopping Mall
Unlike its physical counterpart this is a cyberspace construction of two dimensions. It comprises pages of information and advertising links that lead to a merchants website or goods. It may be built around a central plan with indicators to individual offers or it may be a home page with a list of merchants arranged in a column, usually on the left. Clicking any of the links will lead you to a new page which is then set up either as a general store housing many merchants who offer the same type of products from which you can select, or to an individual merchants who display his wares in picture form.

Pros and Cons of Shopping in a Conventional Mall

The conventional mall is big and car parking is usually at a premium. This can cause a hassle on busy days or at times when it becomes hard to find a spot. As the owners try to keep a large crowd flowing through the doors the building may house a lot more than shops. It will have service providers such as dentists, opticians, doctors, and so forth, to ensure regular visitors. It will usually also have picture theaters, food halls, and restaurants to bring people in when shopping times are slack. Its the crowds and the passing trade that encourages people through the doors and they tend to put up with the long queues, distances walked to shops, etc. and the parking problems.

The more people there are the more popular the center and the higher the rents that merchants pay. They also pay loading for service bays, insurance, staff, electricity, and all the bits and pieces that go with running an enterprise. The cost of these things is then added to the price of goods purchased. If the balance is upset by something the merchant may find that running such a business is not worth his time and effort.

Advantages of An Online Shopping Mall

Trading online has drawbacks in that one cannot see things in 3 dimensional form, although items can now be turned, thanks to new technology developed for the purpose, to show the goods from several directions. There is also the problem of trying on fashion products to ensure a proper fit and suitability. But this too is being overcome as images of yourself can be uploaded to the computer and an item placed over it in the browser as though you are looking at yourself in a mirror.

The online shopping mall has some distinct advantages in that there is no parking, no crowds, no extra costs to merchants for rent, etc. and certainly no parcels to lug around. With all things weighed up and on going improvements enhancing the experience shopping online is certainly coming into its own and may soon take over from the physical mall altogether. Although that may be some time down the track.