By Udit Garg:
Internet shopping is the fastest and easiest way to buy things online with websites like ebay.com, ncarry.com, or snapdeal.com selling various items like clothes, electronics, health care products etc. to their consumers. And customers buy these products because these products are imperishable, sealed, do not change with time, and they will be same in whichever part of world it sells. For example: an Acer laptop will be an Acer laptop even if I go to United States or Hawaii or Egypt- the shape, the specifications and the basic features will be same in all.
There are hundreds of types of spices in India and each type has another hundred varieties and the even more complicated part is that each variety has its own different qualities and features. Even if one catalogues all the types and species, it’ll be nearly impossible for person to lookout for the particular spice s/he needs.
Alright, let’s say if a person got the exact product s/he needs by looking at the picture and reading its features online, there is still a huge possibility that the product delivered will be not satisfactory because there are many spices like heeng, kali mirch etc. which has a short life in terms of their smell and taste, and can only be judged once the packet is opened. What if the product is old and has lost its qualities? But one gets to know that when s/he have already opened the packet, after which it’ll be nearly impossible to return the goods to the seller because the seal of the package has been opened.
I personally believe that the real fun of buying spices is when you pick up the spice in hand, inhale the powerful fragrance of it and just forget every other taste when you put a pinch of it into the mouth! Online Spice shopping can never facilitate consumers with these most important features. Same is with online Indian spice selling website: ishopindian.com, an American-based website which sells Indian spices.
Is there any solution to rectify the concept? Yes there is! But it will drastically delay the delivery time of the spices. The solution is, first let consumer select the spices s/he wants to buy, or more accurately check if its same spice or not, the website will then send a representative or will post the samples of chosen spices to consumer. And if the consumer finds the sample satisfactory, s/he can choose the same products from her/his wish list to be sent to her/his address in the selected quantity. This will ensure that consumer gets what they want.