meerut the college session is about to start in a month and it is time to overhaul your summer wardrobe to be collegeready like every year the fashionistas of meerut are stocking up on cute tops kurtis and dresses for the season while the street markets at lal kurti and central market are supposed to be heaven for those who love a good bargain over the last two years smart shoppers have been logging on to shop online with the same good deals that hours of bargaining and haggling will get them in fact last years assocham findings say that online shopping sees a sharp jump in the summer the survey for 2014 says the shopping trends of indian consumers have witnessed a significant change this summer season a whopping 155 rise in online trends over the regular shopping compared to last year 85 with more traffic on online retail websites shopping on ground has taken a back seat due to rising heat crowds have thinned street sellers sellers in the popular street market of lal kurti say that even though the market still looks crowded at first glance this summer they have witnessed a significant reduction in footfall here nk singh owner of a shop here says the heat does affect the sales to an extent we are seeing a 2025 dip in the number of people coming here that is one of the biggest drawbacks of shopping at a street market pradeep kumar who sells womens wear says the rise of online shopping has also affected the sales in these summer months this is the time when students have summer breaks and are waiting for colleges to reopen they used to buy items for their summer wardrobe during junejuly but now as more youngsters are opting for the comfort and ease of online shopping they are turning away from street markets no more rubbing shoulders with aunties who push you street shopping is something that is quite popular among not only the college girls but also the older women that is one of the biggest reasons why meerut girls are avoiding street shopping ritu singh an 18yearold college student says i begin college next month and so i wanted to shop for my summer wardrobe but the thought of going to lal kurti and bargaining with the shopkeepers there while surrounded by sweaty aunties made me decide against it i chose to order stuff online from where i have bought five tops three pairs of jeans and several skirts already the price is right buyers say that all the summer bonanza discounts on most online sellers ensure that the clothes are available for affordable prices malvika singh a student says the biggest reason why street markets are popular among youngsters is the affordability you can get decent quality stuff for a great bargain but now even online sellers are offering great discounts which means that the price difference in online stores and street markets is not that much