December 3, 2007

• The new meaning of “Window” shopping.

  I’m not a big shopper. I don’t hate it or anything – but shopping is definitely not on my list of “Things I Do To Unwind”.  It kinda all boils down to the fact that I’m really not big on inconvenience. Of any kind. I think this attitude has grown stronger since living with Jeff. We are the kind of couple that would rather get back in the car and drive to Sonic for supper than to put our name on a list for 20 minutes at a restaurant. Anything that is a potential “hassle” is simply eliminated from our routine. I’m sure those of you with children are laughing.

  So this year I decided to forego the “hassle” of traditional Christmas shopping. Altogether. I have finished my shopping. That’s right. Done. AND! I was finished several days ago. My secret…. the internet. I can hardly believe it has taken me this long to embrace online shopping.

  Step 1. Google the name of the item.

  Step 2. You do a little price comparison to choose from among the dozen or more retailers that come up in Google.

  Step 3. You Google ["Name of Retailer" AND "coupon code"] to take advantage of Free Shipping specials and other %off coupons. (This is my latest trick. I LOVE it!)

  Step 4. Credit Card #. Shipping address.

  Done!

  It’s beautiful.

  So I got an email from Wal-Mart today with the following information. This will blow your mind.

  “While shoppers will camp out all night for stores to open the day after Thanksgiving, the average online shopper abandons a Web page if it doesn’t load after eight seconds… In a seven-day period that ended with Cyber Monday, JCP.com ranked No. 1 among 13 apparel retailers for its success rate, even though it was the 12th-busiest Web site on Cyber Monday, according to comScore Inc. Under book and music sellers, Wal-Mart.com ranked No. 1 for speed, and BarnesandNoble.com was No. 1 for success rate.”

  There are obviously two kinds of shoppers in this world. Those who will get to a store the night before and wait in the freezing cold for a big screen TV – in the name of Christmas. And those who are not able to spare 8 SECONDS for a web page to load so that they can shop from home (or work…) with hassle-free selection and shipping.

  What is this world coming to?

  • 1:08 pm
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