We just went through a similar experience this week. We needed a carpet cleaner and picked one based on online reviews. Costco, Home Depot, and Walmart all sold the machine online and said it may be available in the store. We started at Costco and hit the other two stores plus Lowes with no luck; spent about an hour and a half searching through the box stores.
Went home empty handed. Spent 10 minutes on Amazon, got the machine delivered to our door in 36 hours and saved $30. The managers wonder why sales are slipping...
Not to mention you would have saved, let say 25 cents a mile in gas and wear and tear, plus your personal time of driving around. That might have been $10 or much more in savings plus the time.
I didn’t shop a single store for Christmas this year and saved at least $150 in gas and probably 32 hours in time. I had zero frustrations with traffic, everything was in stock online, I had product choices well beyond anything in retail inventory, and I even got some pretty nifty suggestive selling for things I never thought of (sometimes advertising works when it is not invasive and appropriate).
I have a few small items I do need to shop for, but a few hours time and a quick trips ill take care of it all. I could go online, but it just feels more Christmassy if I get out and do some small shopping.