Shopping has changed over the years - Information and questions for kids - Social Studies

Your mom decided you needed some new clothes and you are off to the mall.  There is a wide variety of shops under one roof and you can pick and choose to your heart's content.  

Shopping these days are so easy.

Sometimes you do not even have to leave your house, you can do your shopping 'online' and have it delivered right to your door.

• Have a talk with your parents or grandparents and find out how shopping was different when they were your age.  Did they have Malls?  Were there a huge variety of shops?  How did they order something if there were no internet? (Find out as much as you can by asking them questions)

Shops have changed a lot since long ago and in the olden day there were a lot of 'convenient stores' that sold a selection of different items.  It was close to where the people lived so that they could walk there since a lot of people did not have cars.

If they stayed on the farm, they were far away from town and they would visit town once a month for their supplies.  They would usually go with the horse cart and buy enough flour to bake bread and other items they needed for the rest of the month.  They did not really buy clothes or shoes and would make it themselves with the material they bought, as well as get meat and eggs and milk from the animals they kept on the farm.  

There was not a lot of shops in town and one shop would sell different articles,  A chemist was important if they needed medicine.

Nowadays there are many shops and people travel by car, bus or train there once a week or every day after work to buy what they need.

Many changes has taken place with shopping that makes it more convenient and easy, but the two most prominent ones are Malls outside the city center and online shopping.

If you want to open an 'out of town' shopping center, you need to make sure that there will be enough people around that will be interested in coming to the shops and buy the goods and it must also be in an area that is easily accessible and in an area where people will feel safe.

There need to be enough customers buying at the shops in order for them to make a profit.

There are a few advantages of a shopping center like this, but also a few disadvantages.

The advantages are that it is easier to get to the Mall than go into the city and there are large parking areas.  You will also find a wide variety of shops under one roof, so you do not have to drive from one shop to another and can do your shopping no matter what the weather is like.  There are also restaurants and coffee shops available when you take a break from shopping.

Disadvantages are that there can be a lot of people and traffic over weekends and the small independent shops are struggling or closing down and the city centers will also loose a lot of money, because the people will rather go to the malls.

What can be easier than to sit at home and order what you need and want on the internet?  Internet shopping is getting easier and easier but even if there are a lot of advantages, there are also some disadvantages.

Good things about internet shopping are that it saves time and petrol and you have a wide variety to choose from and you can even compare prices between different retailers very easily.  The goods will be delivered to where you want it and you can go online any time and from any place.

The down side of internet shopping is that you can only use it if you have access to the internet and you cannot try on any of the clothes, so you can order the wrong size and it is not that easy to return to get a refund.  You also do not know if the retailers are trustworthy and you have to pay when you order your goods and then just hope you receive it.  They can also charge a lot for delivery and the goods can get lost.

• Do you like shopping?
• What are your favourite type of shops and why?
• Do you prefer Malls or online shopping and why?
• If you could open a shop, what kind would you open and why?