Do you shop more online of offline these days?

[lorraineb]

I was noticing that I do a lot more of my shopping these days online rather than going to to the mall to shop. I even tried the Safeway deliver food option they have to get my groceries delivered one week which turned out better than I thought it would. I would estimate that I now do more than 50% of my shopping online these days? Is it the same with you? Are there things you will only buy online and others that you will only buy offline?

[feh]

Our grocery shopping is done at brick & mortar stores. The vast majority of all other purchases are online.

I really dislike shopping; it's very, very difficult to get me to step foot in a mall. Unless the item I want is at a store on my way home from work, and it costs the same or less than what I can get online, I'll use the web.

[disneysteve]

Groceries are bought in stores. Clothing is mostly bought in stores (some shoes are bought online). Pretty much anything else is bought online whenever possible. I just placed an Amazon order a few minutes ago. Just to give you an idea of the variety of stuff, this order included BandAids, a book, a DVD, a CD, sewing machine needles, fish tank filters, and a corkscrew.

Why do we shop online? Several reasons. 1) Price. Things are the same price or less, usually less, online and shipping is generally free. 2) Selection. Most stores have just a few options where online the options are endless. 3) Convenience. Look at the Amazon order I just placed. We would need to go to at least 3, maybe 4 stores to get all of those items. And one of those items is only available online as it is a foreign pressed CD not available in the US (unless we could find some specialty store that imports it). So rather than running all over the place wasting time and gas hoping to find everything we needed, we spent a few minutes and put everything into our shopping cart.

[Gailete]

Yesterday, I had to go to a Joann fabric store a 40+ mile round trip. I was at the store for maybe 20 minutes, sitting looking at the pattern books for maybe 10 minutes, got what I needed, checked out a couple interesting things, got in line for check out that had been halted by a woman that everything she had rung up if it didn't have a sale price on it had to be voided out. By the time I got to the cashier she looked at me and said I looked like I was in a little bit of pain. I had to correct her, I was in agony. I had to go to the grocery store and had to surrender and use one of the electric carts which I hate to use but lately shopping is an experience in total agony that usually takes me a day or two to recover from.

Do I shop on line? You bet I do and the more shopping on line I can do the better! I will be shopping even more on line in the future as well.

[marvholly]

I do almost ALL my shopping offline:

groceries-while we do have Peapod NO WAY will I let some unknowlegable teen or no caring adult pick my produce & meat/fish

clothes - I MUST try on

shoes - same

HBA - deals are too GREAT at CVS, WAg or the dollar stores to bother

I DO buy the grandkid gifts online - toys for bdays & magazines for Chrismas. I have also bought the rare piece of CHEAP jewelry/watches or stocking stuffers shipped from China online. 7-10 items in the last 18 months.

[ua_guy]

It's a mix for me.

I buy things online that would be otherwise agonizing to try to find at a brick and mortar shop, even if online prices are probably more expensive. It saves me time and possibly several false trips to stores that may not stock what I need. An example is a latch mechanism for a very old sling door. Generic hardware won't fit and I know the local Ace or Home Depot would have to order it from Milgard.

Shoes and clothes I buy in-store, for the first time. If I like the stuff and want to replace it with the same thing, I order online. An example is Carhartt t-shirts. Good quality, known sizing. Or a particular brand and model of shoe. If I'm looking for a completely different shoe that I've never had before, I always try in-person first.

Groceries come from the store. We did Amazon Fresh for a while but I just didn't like the service. Going to the grocery store and hand-selecting produce and people-watching is a ritual in its own right.

Gadgets come from online. Most brick and mortar stores by us are chains, and their inventory strategy leaves much to be desired-- usually lots of low-priced options, and a few overpriced mid-grade options. I wanted a really specific high-powered tactical flashlight and it's not something a Dick's or Fred Meyer would ever stock, so that came via Amazon through a specialty shop.

[Redraidernurse]

Almost everything besides groceries comes from online. Having 3 small children (ages 4, 2, & 3 months) I would NEVER get to actually try on clothes if I went to a store with them. I just placed an order last night for some new summer clothes. Sure, I'd prefer to try them on in person but it's just never going to happen. Any time I do go to a store in person it's a mad dash to grab whatever I can accomplish on my list before A) The baby needs to nurse again or B)The 2 & 4 year old have a meltdown.

[Gailete]

I have always had trouble finding shoes to fit, especially since I was tall and had big feet. During my last baby that was 10# 7 oz, my feet went up to size 11W after months of being swollen and they never went down. I am too tired physically to make the rounds of shoe shops and the ones I can access don't have either my size or the style I wanted or they didn't fit right. I have enough pain, I wasn't going to buy shoes that would make my feet hurt worse. Last spring I was reading the newspaper and came across a coupon insert that was advertising size 11WW shoes! I had tried buying shoes by mail earlier that winter and all I got out of it was a return postage fee. But I knew I either had to bite the bullet on these shoes or start going barefoot as the pair of shoes I had been wearing for 11 years were completely shot. I bought 4 pairs hoping at least one pair would fit and to my surprise they ALL did, although it took all summer before the sandals shoed up. I will always order shoes on line from them now. the only downside of that shoe buying was I'm now inundated with catalogs for clothes and all sorts of other things.

A few years ago I would have never expected to buy shoes on line, but now I have. Once you know your brand and size of clothes and shoes, it is so much easier than shopping at a brick and mortar store. As others have said, there is a bigger selection on line than a store could carry. It is why I have a business selling uncut sewing patterns. Between two venues I have over 10,000 patterns listed with many more to go. Regular fabric stores can't carry that many patterns and so people find at my store the patterns no one else carries.

[snafu]

I don't go to the mall much but I've noticed the women there treat it as entertainment. They are there more to visit with friends and worry more about where to go for lunch. Waiting to pay while the ladies who do lunch argue with the cashier about what's on sale is annoying. I'm a novice at on-line shopping but it's been successful. I was reluctant because I wondered if I would buy more than planned. Would I turn into a shopaholic?

[disneysteve]

A few years ago I would have never expected to buy shoes on line, but now I have.

Companies like Zappos really revolutionized the market, particularly by offering free shipping BOTH ways. So there is no risk. You order a pair of shoes. It is shipped to your door for free. If you don't like them or they don't fit, you ship them back for free. I know people who will order 3 pairs of the same style in 3 sizes (6, 6.5, 7), keep the pair that fits, and ship back the other two. Or sometimes they end up returning all 3 because they just didn't like them or they weren't comfortable.

[Gailete]

or they weren't comfortable.

comfort is key for me. I don't have a clue why some women cram their feet into shoes that will most likely one day cause them to need a knee replacement (not what I did though).

[disneysteve]

comfort is key for me. I don't have a clue why some women cram their feet into shoes that will most likely one day cause them to need a knee replacement (not what I did though).

I once heard a statistic that 85% of foot surgery on women is for problems caused by their footwear. I don't recall the exact number for men but it was far, far lower, like 10-15%. Men are generally more concerned with fit and comfort while women are typically more concerned with appearance.

[lorraineb]

For those who buy groceries at stores, do you think that new AmazonFresh gadget thing would get you to switch if it becomes available in your area?

[elessar78]

Lately, we are starting to buy more and more household stuff on amazon. With two kids and our extra activities something invariably runs out and getting to the store with kids in tow is hassle. But we're pretty good at monitoring our levels and as soon as we're low, I go on amazon and hit buy.

I paid for Amazon prime so the kids could have Dora and Diego, $90 for the year, and we cut our cable TV. The side benefit of Amazon Prime is that we get free two-day shipping!

Recently, I have bought garbage bags, toilet paper, paper towels, dishwasher tabs from Amazon.

[Tabs]

Except for groceries, I shop everything online now. Much bigger selection, no waiting in lines or finding parking spots, can shop anytime I need to, and do it in my jammies too haha.