i detest “shopping”, that is browsing in stores looking for some impulse purchase to make ... the only “shopping” i ever do is at Harbor Freight ...
otherwise, i go to stores to buy what i need ... and mostly those stores are grocery stores, discount warehouse grocery stores like Costco and Sam’s, pharmacies, hardware stores, farm supply stores, and building supply stores ...
everything else for me is online purchasing because ALL the retail stores carry EXACTLY the same items and exactly the same colors and exactly the same fads ... merchandise selection is skimpy, uniform and mediocre ...
with online purchasing, i can browse a nearly infinite set of stores, looking for exactly the right item at the best price ... and online reviews can be very useful, once you manage to discount the obvious lies and fraud ...
most of what i need isn’t available locally anyway ... for example, i’m replacing the head gasket on my old JD lawn tractor ... good luck in finding that locally (ha ha) along with the other necessary gaskets ... plus the old muffler on it that i tried to weld back together a few years ago finally bit the dust, so that needed to be replaced as well ...
i’m picky too .... picky about healthy and tasty food items that can’t be bought locally, and picky about repair items ... for example, there are marvelous adhesives that can’t be bought locally ...
and then there’s the issue of driving in wretched traffic, and parking and standing in line to pay or return something, and even worse, driving and parking and NOT finding what you need ... for small items, i won’t hardly go to a local building supply store unless i find it in their online inventory, pre-order and pre-pay, and then pickup it up from an auto-locker or service desk ...
and with gift-giving, all of the above holds as well, PLUS online stores can ship the gift directly to the giftee (usually for free), thus avoiding having to package/repackage the gift, drive it to USPS or a shipping store, again waiting in line, and paying full retail shipping price ...
for me, online buying has immeasurably improved my life, saving invaluable time, avoiding hassle, saving money, and buying better stuff ...
“i detest ‘shopping’”
Me, too. My husband loves that about me.