I was looking for some lace material (preferably African lace) a couple of weeks ago and had no idea where to find it online. I checked google, visited plenty of fabric shops but couldn’t find what I was looking for. It was actually stymieing me. So, I sent out a message to my sewing group on Facebook asking if anyone knew where I could get some lace material in Nigeria.
Though it may be convenient and fast in purchasing clothing materials like lace online, there are some disadvantages about this medium. One of such is that you only see these products on the screen, and you might not be able to feel and touch them. This is a very essential process in making a decision on buying lace materials. In this article, we will encapsulate the pros and cons of buying lace materials online in Nigeria. At the end of this write-up, we believe it will give you a guide on which medium to use in purchasing lace fabrics.
Normally, there are varying views by people about buying fabrics online. While some of these people, which mostly includes buyers will want to see and feel their fabric choice before paying for it. In the other way, a good number will see nothing wrong in purchasing their lace fabrics on the internet. A lot of textile users like fashion designers, home decorators, interior designers, dressmakers, students, craft enthusiasts, furniture makers, tailors, etc… now utilize the e-commerce websites in buying their needs online. The enormousness and foreign brands are what intrigue a good number of these professionals to use the online stores. Also, it’s because of the fact that they know what they are looking for, and this makes them comfortable with online fabric purchases. However, the big question is ‘how comfortable are you with online purchases?’, this will surely help you to get the best especially when buying products like textile and lace materials?Undoubtedly, you may prefer to see these fabric materials with your naked eyes and feel them in your hands. All of these being considered, we will now highlight the pros and cons of buying lace materials online.
Advantages of Buying Lace Materials Online
Buying lace materials online involves using various e-commerce websites and online stores. There are a lot of advantages of utilizing these online stores to buy your fabrics. The following are the benefits of buying lace materials online in Nigeria;
Convenience
One of the main reasons people often settle for the online means of buying lace materials is because of the satisfaction it gives. This is very helpful as the best part of having to buy these fabrics from an online store will be that it is far easier to choose what you want. Buying the lace fabrics online in Nigeria, there are many other alternative fabrics you can choose unlike for the case of shops here when it’s out of stock. Then through it, you would have to purchase other fabrics which are either inferior or expensive. The online stores are preferred because with just a bit of shipping fee, you can now purchase many different lace fabrics which you originally intended to purchase. This little bit of shipping fee is just a small cost for you to get the fabric that you really want.
Collection of Products
Purchasing of any products using the online stores is like buying from a one-stop shop with thousands of products to view. This is due to the fact that online stores give their potential buyers a broad collection of these products, so they can easily select and make a decision.
Cheapness and Affordability
Another advantage of using online stores to buy your lace fabrics is that it’s a cheaper way to shop. This is due to the fact that online fabric retailers operate with lower margins and next to none-overheads. This results in the buyers getting their savings passed on to themselves. Also, the cost of lace fabrics is relatively cheap because there is a competition and the prices are lowered to meet the standards.
Disadvantages of Buying Lace Materials Online
Just as there are many advantages of buying lace materials online in Nigeria, there are also some downsides about this medium. The following will be a highlight of the disadvantages of buying lace materials online;
No Room for Physical Examination
All that is involved in the online stores is just to see the products being displayed on your screen for you to buy. With this, you can’t touch or feel these fabrics through your device’s screen. In a bid to get it done, you will have to order for physical samples, which may take a couple of days or so.
Not Trusting Online Transactions
Nowadays, transacting business using the online stores is getting safer and more secure. But the only issue of concern is by going to the right place for this transaction. It’s pertinent to always look out for the secure site sign before doing anything transactions.
No ‘Shopping’
Of course, a good number of shopping fanatics may not want to miss going out to the shops. This is because they love physical window-shopping and the hustle and bustle of shopping malls as well as the markets. Typically, in Nigeria, a lot of people are still having knowledge of the old way of shopping which is by going shopping. With the new and modern e-commerce marketing, the patronage of people to physical shopping may be less or probably into extinction.
Inspections
Another problem associated with buying lace materials online in Nigeria is the issue of inspections. This is a problem with online shops in which you could not inspect the product in person. Physical inspection is very important for lace fabrics before you buy them in the market. Even though some e-commerce websites will provide some visuals on their products, you can’t check the items you are going to purchase in this live action. Therefore, all you could do is to stare at the pictures hard and try to come up with something that piques your interest. In fabrics, this is very essential especially because a tailor or seamstress sometimes needs to feel the fabric materials for themselves before anything else. They need to touch if it has the right texture for their next masterpiece. Since the online may offer a bit of limited functions, the only thing you could do for this to go well, is to fully research the manufacturer of the fabrics; their background and their reputation. This will surely help to settle for the best buy of lace materials online.
Conclusion
Of course, anything that has an advantage must surely have some disadvantages. In this article, we highlighted the pros and cons of buying lace materials online in the country. We believe this will give a lot of lace fabrics fanatics the knowledge of what the web-based marketing is meant for lace fabrics.
WhatsApp 