Shopping, especially around the holidays, should be fun. I’m especially notorious for my over enthusiasm when it comes to purchasing gifts for others. For the most part, this year has been no different. I’ve been running around, buying or making gifts like my usual crazy self. But one thing seems to have changed this year and it’s making me feel a bit like The Grinch.
See, I’m also notorious for in-person, in-store shopping. I’m well aware of the power of the Internet, and thanks to my badass father-in-law I’m even an Amazon Prime member. But if I can get something in a store, actually purchase it with a card out of my wallet and then carry it away in my own two hands, I’m a happy camper. Call me old fashioned or out of touch, I really don’t care. Remember that I am a Filofax-wielding crochet nut, after all.
There is something different about buying something from a person instead of clicking “add to cart.” It’s human interaction. Around the holidays, it is the quick exchange of a “Merry Christmas” or a “Happy Holidays.” You don’t get that moment when buying online.
So why am I cranky this year?
Because twice, TWICE this season I’ve been pushed to online ordering while standing IN the store that I intended to purchase from.
Let me explain.
The first wasn’t a Christmas present – it was something we needed for Frankie (the dog). I looked up the item on the website for a chain pet store in my area, saw the price was $24.99, and headed over to buy it. (Now, if the item had been drastically cheaper online, I certainly would have bought it via Amazon. but it was comparable with their prices, so I’d much rather buy in person). Anyway, I got to the store and saw the price on the shelf was $52.99. What?! I brought the item up front and asked the cashier why the same item was listed at drastically different prices and if they would match prices to their own website. I was told no. “Oh you know,” she said. “The prices are different because in store we have to pay employees and electric bills and stuff.”
And we wonder why our brick and mortar stores are closing left and right.
A few days later, I went into a bookstore chain to grab a book as a gift which I saw listed on their own website for $11.87. Got to the checkout and was told my total was over $25. Already knowing what was coming, I asked why their website had a drastically lower price. “Oh you know…” the cashier said.
Yes, I know. Salaries and electricity and stuff.
I get it. I really do. I understand that it costs more to power a building, pay your staff, and purchase inventory. I also know that people are constantly devastated when their favorite stores go out of business.
Do we not see the connection? Do these cashiers and store employees not realize that they are quite literally eliminating their own job every time they suggest we buy online?
Or am I just an old fashioned sentimentalist who needs to get with the times?
Either way, I can’t help but see our future as streets lined with car dealerships, mega stores, and restaurants while everything else is ordered online and delivered to our doorsteps. And it makes me sad.
Am I alone here? I know most of my friends and family are online ordering fanatics. I get the appeal – I don’t have to leave my house, I can order in my pajamas (which you can also wear while writing blog posts, coincidentally), and a few days later, all I have to do is open my front door and unwrap a box. I get it. I really do.
But surely there are a few other people out there like me. The ones who would much rather go to a store and see, feel, and touch what they are about to buy. Would rather pull cash out of a wallet instead of entering credit card numbers onto a screen. Would rather exchange a few words with a cashier instead of just clicking “submit order.”
Am I alone here?
I'm with you! I would prefer to shop "in person" but if I have to choose between shopping online with a two year old and shopping in a store with a two year old, the online shopping wins every time. 🙂
High Streets of the future will not have shops, just coffee shops and the odd opticians, and a big Amazon pick up point…
You are completely right about the correlation between online sales and stores closing. The sad part is that the people you actually speak to in stores (the cashiers) have no control over that kind of marketing. They are told to direct people to the website from the higher-ups. The point is still there though, and it's very sad.
With that said, I love online shopping. Don't get me wrong, I like human interaction. I am in the business of chatting with people all day long, after all. But maybe that's why I like online shopping — I can get what I need, pay for it, and be done. Even my grocery store allows me to scan my items as I go and scan a barcode when I'm done. I use the self-checkout, and if all goes well, I don't have to talk to a single person. I think it has more to do with just wanting to get my chores done quickly than not wanting to speak with employees though.
I do find that some items need to be held and actually seen before purchasing. That's when I'll head to the store over ordering online.
In any event, don't let it get you grinch-ish. Enjoy the holiday! 🙂
I can't believe the prices were different. I've never seen that before. Every time I've looked on-line, the price was the same at the store. The only problem is that you can't always get the on-line item at the store.
I like buying some things on-line and some in person. I actually intended to do all my Christmas shopping on-line but I waited too long and had to go in person. It's done now but I would have preferred on-line.
The thing I've been noticing is that the selection at the stores is AWFUL. The shelves aren't fully stocked and there's not much selection. Even if I want to buy things at the store, they don't have what I want. It's frustrating. But I know it's the way things are now. Stores don't have as much money to have as much inventory. The economy is tough on us all.
That is crazy – I've never seen that before… it is so sad 🙁
What really annoys me is that the retailers moan the high street is dying yet they shoot themselves in the foot by selling cheaper online…. Comet used to do this not on all lines but a few of them and people wonder why they went bust last year….. Sometimes I do feel some companies treat their stores as showrooms and to be fair some customers do too…Once upon a time you could go in a shop and pick white goods up and take them home same day now it's all it's got to be delivered…. and it's novelty you can take it same day…it's just nuts