Stores Are a Thing of the Past
As far as I am concerned the store is a thing of the past. I, like many other people, do all my shopping online. It seems like no matter how hard the retailers try they just can compete with online shopping deals. Some people mourn the death of retail outlet, but I for one consider a store to be an archaic institution that is being kept on life support by a few committed, old fashioned shoppers.
Now that I started doing all my shopping online, I am surprised I ever went to stores in the first place. They are veritable mad houses: children running through the aisles unattended, long lines of slow decrypted people, spending ton of time and energy trying to track down the right item. It was a hassle every time, even something as simple as grocery shopping was an ordeal.
Comparison shopping for a deal was even worse: driving all around town to check different stores prices, trying to factor in coupons, sales, and hidden expenses. I hated having to devote an entire Saturday to buying a new TV, or picking jewelry for my wife. People say you get the human touch when you shop in person, but frankly I don’t need some 16 year old girl with 3 weeks of training telling me what jewelry my wife would like. The blurbs, descriptions, and reviews available online are more effective than any store clerk, no matter how well-intentioned and educated they may be. The jewelry deals out there are mind boggling.
Now I do all my shopping from the comfort of my laptop. Some of the deal websites have incredible online shopping deals and comparing prices is just matter of Googling the product. Who wouldn’t want to shop this way? Since most places offer overnight shipping at a slightly increased rate it even works for emergency and last minute shoppers.
Deal websites offer much lower prices than brick and mortar stores. The overhead for maintaining a website is significantly less than that of maintaining a store and that does not factor in the incredible online shopping deals many websites offer. I routinely see items available for as low as 75% off of the retail price.
With the economy the way it is and the holiday season fast approaching, I feel it is my duty to share with the world the joy of online shopping. Don’t be lured into the retail outlets with their fancy window displays and salaciously dressed mannequins; it is smoke and mirrors designed to trap you and rob you blind.