I loved reading Gregg Field's column today on E-shopping: E-shopping isn't easy.
Although I love how online shopping outlets help me do research on what I may want to buy (like window shopping), I just like doing the real shopping in person better. That's easy for me to say since I live in the suburbs where every store I'll ever need is a 10-minute drive away. I can imagine that people in metro areas who have to drive far to shop would much rather shop online.
I'm not afraid to shop on the web. In fact, I'm pretty trusting (maybe too trusting sometimes). I bought used textbooks from college students all the time from Amazon Marketplace shoppers, so I even trusted buying from individual sellers.
Greg talks about how shopping online can become a hassle when you have to fill out surveys to tell the online retailer about what demographic you fit into, and how it will recommend you other things to buy that aren't exactly your taste.
But I find that it's so much easier for me to talk myself out of buying something if I'm shopping online, rather than in a store. I love seeing an item in person, how it feels, how it fits. I have to have it now when it's love-at-first sight. And not to mention the rush of digging through sale bins to find a bargan. When online, if I can't touch it, the chemistry just isn't there. (And neither is the impulse.) But I think I might just be one of the few who feel that way these days.
