Give the the Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Shopping- IELTS Writing Task 2

The Essay Writing section of the IELTS Writing Module can be a difficult task for many IELTS Aspirants. Thus, it is vital that you polish your essay writing skills before attempting the IELTS.

Below is a sample IELTS Essay for the IELTS Essay topic:

Give the advantages and disadvantages of online shopping.

Outline

Essay Type

Advantages/Disadvantages essay

Introduction

Paraphrase the topic of the essay and mention that the essay will discuss both the advantages and disadvantages.

Paragraph 1 – Talk about the advantages of how online shopping can be beneficial for people.

Paragraph 2 – Implore the disadvantage of online shopping as the cause of concern.

Conclusion

Restate your opinions.

Sample Essay

Despite knowing what time it is on the clock or what the weather is outside or there is a pandemic, we can conveniently buy things that we want from online stores. Very few people feel the need to venture into the stores. There is no denying that online shopping has become more popular and less tiring than in-store shopping. This trend has positive and negative aspects, which are discussed in the following essay.

On the one hand, the online shopping brings in more benefits than in-store shopping. Firstly, it saves time for both buyers and sellers as buyers do not have to travel and sellers need not show their goods one by one to every consumer. Further, they can get a perfect knock-off on the prices and easily compare the products before hitting the purchase button, leading to significant cost benefits for shoppers. In this manner, people can make more sensible decisions after evaluating and considering the price, size, and models. Moreover, it enables them to shop easily from any part of the world.

On the other hand, shopping online does not enable to touch or see the product, in reality, making it hard to examine the quality of the product resulting in purchasing the product of poor quality and sometimes impossible to return or exchange the product, which in turn leads to squandering the money. Another concerning thing is that shopping online has made people compulsive shoppers. Furthermore, there is always a risk of getting financial information to be exploited by hackers for security reasons as there is always news of data breaches even from renowned brands and sites.

On a final note, I would say that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages of online shopping. Still, one must be careful of fraud and misrepresentation while buying from different websites.

Band 9 Vocabulary

• Pandemic

Meaning – (of a disease) prevalent over a whole country or the world.
Example – An influenza pandemic may have skewed the results

•  Venture

Meaning – a business enterprise, typically one that involves risk.
Example – There was a recent joint venture between two aircraft manufacturers.

• Significant 

Meaning – sufficiently great or important to be worthy of attention; noteworthy.
Example – There was a significant increase in sales after they advertised a heavy discount.

• Sensible

Meaning – done or chosen in accordance with wisdom or prudence or likely to be of benefit.
Example – I do not think it is sensible to spend so much on a particular project.

• Squandering 

Meaning – wasting (something, especially money or time) recklessly and foolishly.
Example – She squandered her allowance without any thought.

• Compulsive

Meaning – irresistibly interesting or exciting or compelling.
Example – Anna was becoming a compulsive viewer of the play.

• Exploited

Meaning – selfishly take advantage of someone in order to profit from them or otherwise benefit oneself.
Example – 500 companies sprang up and exploited this new technology.

• Breaches

Meaning – an act of breaking or failing to observe a law, agreement, or code of conduct.
Example – He sued the company for breach of the agreement.

• Fraud

Meaning – wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain.
Example – He claimed he was a licensed psychologist, but he turned out to be a fraud.

• Misrepresentation

Meaning – the action or offence of giving a false or misleading account of the nature of something.
Example – She is seeking damages on allegations of misrepresentation.