The number of sites that offer online shopping has grown exponentially in the past decade. This is due, primarily to pricing and variety. Both of these factors drive competition and, ultimately, benefit the consumer.

As more sources of online goods are available the supply-side of the economic equation can become heavier than the demand-side. With potentially more supply available than demand, sellers are forced to keep their prices at or below market values. Online stores can often sell the same goods as a brick and mortar shop for lower prices due to decreased overhead in the online environment. Internet merchants do not have to provide storefronts with parking and air conditioning to move their inventory. Some operations use third parties to manufacture, store and ship their goods. These factors keep expenses down and the savings can be passed on to the consumer.

The vairety available through the internet is staggering. This is driven by the ease of entry into the online marketplace and the global nature of internet sales. Companies from across the globe can form alliances to sell their goods in many countries. Advertising can be far less expensive in the internet market compared to brick and mortar stores. The cost of an ad run on the web compared to producing a television commercial is minuscule. For example, a consumer can download an app from http://www.direct.tv and watch their favorite tv shows and movies on their smartphone and or tablet computer. This allows vendors to carry a wide variety of products and sell them through online advertising and marketing.

Consumers are considered as the real winners as more vendors enter the online marketplace. More competition drives sellers to offer better pricing and variety in their products. Often the buyer can get a better deal on their purchases than fancy showrooms by not leaving their home and shopping “virtually”.