I've been reading Call of the Mall by Paco Underhill and thinking about shopping, and last night I came up with this list of reasons why I usually shop online rather than in real-life stores, whether they be chain stores or locally-owned businesses:
(In no particular order)
- They are where I am
I don't need to get in the car, deal with traffic, and park to get to the store. I just open a browser window and I can be there. This also means I can shop in stolen bits of time, when I'm working on something else and need a quick break. There's no way I could leave in the middle of the day, go to the mall, find four shirts, and get back to work, but online? No problem. - I don't have to deal with salespeople
I may be in a minority, but in my opinion, a shopping experience where you don't need to deal with salespeople is a good shopping experience indeed....who think they know what I want better than I do
This only seems to happen with salesmen, and it really offends me. First of all, it doesn't take a whole lot of self-control to treat every customer as if they know what they're talking about even if they appear not to. This is especially true in areas where there's a lot of leeway for right or wrong, like art supplies. If I want hot press paper, I do not want a lecture about how cold press paper has a superior grain for watercolour, because I'm not buying it for watercolour....who assume I'm stupid (or just aren't listening)
Here's a scenario: I am looking for twine for cooking. I ask a salesperson if the store sells it. I tell him I have looked in X, Y, and Z aisles, and he tells me it's in aisle X. I tell him it is not there, and he walks with me to aisle X, where he is, naturally, unable to find the twine. He then wants me to accompany him around the store to aisles Y and Z, so we can go through this same charade....who talk to my husband instead of me
Let's just say that this offends me like nothing else and there is never an excuse for it....who just don't care
OK, I get that it sucks to work at a discount store. I worked at one when I was in college, and yeah, it sucked. But I don't need to deal with attitude about how your job sucks when your job is waiting on me. If the job sucks, get an education and get yourself out of there....who clearly indulge too heavily in their off-hours
We all know this guy. He's sitting there behind the counter staring at you for three, now four minutes. You have put your purchases in front of him. He is doing nothing. Is he going to start ringing things up? Is this line closed? No, he's just really stupid from the aftereffects of smoking too much dope with too little brain to spare. Look, people, if you barely function on the brain you're born with, maybe you shouldn't be wantonly destroying it in your free time. - I don't have to deal with other customers who have had a bad day and are taking it out on everybody around them
If your day was so bad that the only way you can deal with it is to ram your grocery cart into somebody, then you need therapy. - They stock what I want to buy
This is especially true of books. I rarely find exactly what I'm looking for at a mainstream real-life book store. Oh, I find books there, but only new releases, or cookbooks, or the occasional technical book. For almost everything else I go online if I need it reasonably fast. OK, I have some odd preferences, but when my local drugstore stopped carrying my preferred shampoo, I had to start buying that online, too. - It's easy to find things with text search
Do you know where mustard is stocked in your grocery store? In mine, it's in at least three places: deli, ethnic foods, and condiments. And not the same mustard, but different ones. So if I want to compare mustards, I have to walk all over the store (literally, because the deli is on the opposite side of the store from condiments). Yes, shelf space is limited, but why spread something all over the store, making it less likely that people will be able to find it? - They don't actively make it harder to shop
Speaking of finding things, stores do this thing where they make it hard to get out, so you'll spend more time there and spend more money there. Not only do I find that offensive to my intelligence, but it works against them. My local drugstore only has baskets in the front, outside of the security gates. So when I go there I never buy more than I can carry in my hands. Online, I can put as much stuff in my shopping cart as I want and not have to have known how much I wanted to buy when I opened up the browser. - I can shop at five stores at once, if I want to
It's easy to do price comparisons (and service comparisions) online. I don't always buy the cheapest item -- sometimes it makes more sense to buy it for a bit more from a place that has other things I need and offers free shipping for orders over a certain price. I just don't have the time to make detailed price comparisons for shampoo in real-life stores. - Somebody else shleps it all home for me
I'm not totally lazy, but mall shopping would be a lot easier if, when you were done at a particular store, you could put your bags somewhere safe where you could pick them up right before you leave, instead of carrying them around with you. Especially if you've been shopping at places like Crate and Barrel, or for breakable things. This is the sort of stuff I find it easier to order online. - The store is open 24/7
I'd love to shop at local businesses. But they all seem to be open only between 10am and 6pm. Those hours are prime time for me, and while I could go on Saturday, those hours are also prime time for everybody else, and Saturday is also their only possible day for shopping at that store. See comments above about other customers....and the shopping experience is the same
In real-life 24/7 stores, after 11pm the aisles are crowded with things being stocked. Which is an inconvenience you put up with, for the privilege of shopping outside of "normal" hours.
