You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
An increasing number of larger shopping areas, malls and department stores are leading to the decline of smaller corner shops. What are the advantages and disadvantages of shopping in larger shopping centres rather than smaller, more traditional shops?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
You should write at least 250 words.
Sample Answer
There are arguments to suggest that a rising number of commercial establishments such as malls and supermarket have resulted in a decrease in the number of small-scale business stores. There are several positive outcomes behind this trend and a considerable number of potential drawbacks.
Primarily, it could be argued that in some large scale commercial establishments, there are a variety of selections about personal commodities such as clothing, shoes, and bags. There is a view that well-developed shops have to increase the supply of their products because some small commercial establishment cannot provide the entire goods to the public. Taking into consideration the local store which has a limited supply of personal goods in a remote area, it seems apparent that some store owners have paucity in the investment of commercial goods, thus they cannot maximise the supply and demand of their business. Furthermore, it is often claimed that there is an amenable price in some more affluent shopping centres that some developing merchandises. Many people consider that there is an additional cost for some products available in the local store due to some owners who procure the supply of their shop to other large distributors of goods. For instance, the store keeper will gain a higher profitable income if they obtain some products to some higher commercial distributors, which sell cheap consumer goods. As a result, there will be an advantage for local store keepers.
In contrast, it can never be denied that there are negative effects of opting to large shops. Firstly, there is a strong argument that the location of these establishments is often located at the city centre thereby it would be a burden for those people who live in a rural place to purchase their personal goods. Secondly, it is often claimed that in some local stores, there are reasons to suggest that there are residents who have developed relationship with some store keeper, therefore it might be the case that the customer could ask a favorable grant to some small stores such as lending a market good and paying it at a definite time.
In my opinion, a variety of selection in large shops could make the customers confused on which items will be the best. Moreover, it is debatable that those products with low price are the ones which are outdated and leftover of the previous peak sale.
To conclude, there are favourable outcomes of choosing large commercial centre. However, it is indubitable that the positives are outweighed by the negative outcomes.
[ Written by – Chino ]