Discursive Writing
The Internet: magnificent or menace?
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the internet.
Homework for Friday 04/12/09
Prepare a plan to allow you to write up a draft discursive essay in class time. You must find
appropriate facts, statistics, and quotations to support your chosen arguments on the topic.
You must record the source of your information so that it can be included in a bibliography.
Be sure to use appropriate sources of information – books, journals, credible internet sites.
You should find evidence to support all of your arguments. The more evidence you gather, the
more options you will have for what to include in your essay.
Your plan should be in the format below:
Introduction
Evidence (Fact or Opinion)
Establish that the internet plays a significant part
in the world today.
Introduce your view on whether or not you think
the internet is good or bad.
Strongest Argument
Advantage
1. Cheaper.
2. Vital to our economy, helping to pull us out
of recession.
3. More convenient.
Weakest Argument
Strongest Argument
Disadvantage
1. Details could get stolen.
2. Affect on high street – small family
businesses closing and social element of
shopping destroyed
Evidence (Fact or Opinion)
“Despite the recession, the e-retail market is still
growing as cash strapped consumers look to the
internet to find the best deals,” IMRG director of
information, Tina Spooner.
“There can no longer be any doubt that the
internet is a major part of the retail landscape, and
that it will dominate the retail agenda for the next
several years,” IMRG spokes women, Ms Tucker.
Like mail order, people appreciate the
convenience of not having to traipse around the
shops, and can browse among a huge choice of
goods in their own time. (BBC Consumer Affairs
Guide to Safer Online Shopping)
Evidence (Fact or Opinion)
73% of spending will be done remotely by 2013.
Senior analyst at Verdict, Malcolm Pinkerton.
HMV and fellow music retailer MVC both report
that online shopping has had a negative effect on
in store sales.
3. Item does not arrive/ as advertised/is
damaged and problems contacting dealer.
Weakest Argument
‘...in some sectors more spending has made its
way on to the internet – a fact borne out by this
week’s demise of high street bookseller Borders,
and last year’s collapse of Zavvi’ Huma Qureshi
and Hilary Osborne, Guardian.co.uk 30/11/09
‘...remember that if you have problems like faulty
goods or non-delivery, it might be very difficult to
get your complaint dealt with.’ (BBC Consumer
Affairs Guide to Safer Online Shopping)
Daniel Gess 4D3
Discursive Essay – Internet Shopping: magnificent or menace?
Internet shopping is fast becoming the most popular way to obtain not just the daily
necessities, but also the ideal gift, the ideal car and everything else we feel we need. The
last few years has seen an explosion in the use of the internet for shopping, to the extent
that lots of people look there before anywhere else. By using the internet the consumer can
buy almost anything without even leaving the house, but is there a point where this new
convenience is beginning to destroy the social element of shopping and even sounding the
death knell for the high street?
Firstly, the most obvious advantages to shopping on line is that, through greater choice of
retailers and special online deals, the consumer can have the advantage of much cheaper
prices. While high street shops have overheads such as rental, staff costs, utility bills, the
internet shop has none of these and can therefore offer goods at a cheaper price. Even
though we are in a recession, we are still a society where shopping is part of our culture. As
Tina Spooner, IMRG director of information, comments:
Despite the recession, the e-retail market is still growing as cash strapped consumers look
to the internet to find the best deals.
Even though post and packaging and insurance can add to the price, the internet is still
cheaper than many smaller retailers, and lots of larger retailers offer special internet offers.
Some airlines now only allow online purchasing for their flights and insurance companies
offer online discounts, enabling them to be much cheaper than their high street rivals. So
maybe we should embrace this cheaper way of purchasing.
In addition, increased sales online are now are having a positive effect on the economy.
We do live in a society which relies heavily on purchasing to keep the financial system
afloat and the internet, by providing cheaper prices and more choice, is stopping the
market becoming stagnant in very difficult economic times:
“There can no longer be any doubt that the internet is a major part of the retail landscape,
and that it will dominate the retail agenda for the next several years,” IMRG spokes
women, Ms Tucker.
As the internet is the only growth area in the retail sector, we should be grateful for the
positive impact this is having on the financial system and on pulling us out of a serious and
ongoing recession.
Another advantage of online shopping is the convenience factor. Not everyone wants to
‘traipse around the shops’ and many like the convenience of being able to ‘browse among
a huge choice of goods in their own time.’ (BBC Consumer Affairs Guide to Safer Online
Shopping) There is nothing more frustrating than having to slog around the labyrinth of
shopping centres and retail parks, looking for the cheapest deal, only to find it was cheaper
in the first shop you went to. Using the internet you can compare hundreds of prices in a
fraction of the time, without leaving the comfort of your own home.
On the other hand, there are risks involved in purchasing goods over the internet, as you
have less control over your financial details. Financial Fraud Action UK, the voice of the
industry for financial fraud matters, reported recently that card fraud losses were down
23% in first half of 2009. Although this seems like a positive result, card fraud still totalled
£232.8 million. This is a massive amount of money which has been stolen from online
shoppers. While some shoppers may get their money back though card protection plans,
these frauds still cost shoppers money as the banks pass on their losses through increased
insurances. Shoppers can also fall victim to identity fraud as all your details are exposed
and fraudsters are getting increasingly better at circumventing security facilities and
firewalls.
Online shopping also has risks for our High Streets and the social structure of our society.
As internet retail sees an enormous increase in popularity, high street based shops are
feeling the pinch as the recession and the increasing preference for internet shopping take
there toll on the traditional ways. From the broader view, internet shopping is not only
changing our consumer habits, but also changing the way we live. With discouraging
reports from senior analyst at Verdict, Malcolm Pinkerton stating that 73% of spending
will be done remotely by 2013 this spells bad news for the well known music retailer HMV
and fellow vendor MVC who are already stating that online shopping has had a negative
effect on in store sales. While these stores are still open, the same cannot be said for all
high street retailers, with recent victims including Woolworths, ‘high street bookseller
Borders, and last year’s collapse of Zavvi’ (Huma Qureshi and Hilary Osborne,
Guardian.co.uk 30/11/09). Although most big brand businesses and super markets have
adapted to this new way of life by opening up online shopping sites, small family owned
businesses are being left behind as more and more consumers head online for almost all
aspects of shopping.
Finally, unlike purchasing goods over the counter, the consumer has limited control over
the delivery and condition of good, as well as contacting the seller.
‘...remember that if you have problems like faulty goods or non-delivery, it might be very
difficult to get your complaint dealt with.’ (BBC Consumer Affairs Guide to Safer Online
Shopping)
In conclusion, I believe internet shopping