It’s just so convenient

Online shopping has got to be the best thing ever! I can’t imagine my life without it anymore.

Instead of stressing around Christmas last year and waiting in line for hours I simply ordered all my presents online. I did not have to go to the store several times because the things I was looking for were already sold out. I could concentrate on my final exams and yet did not have to worry about getting gifts in time. In fact, I even made better deals and came up with better ideas due to my online research. It was simple, stressless and just so convenient.

When I arrived in Winston-Salem, online shopping got me through the first few weeks. Since I do not have a car while I am here, amazon.com provided me with everything I needed. I was able to get everything for my room, everything from an iron board to a hairdryer to posters. The best thing for me was that I did not have to bother anyone and was still able to buy everything that I wanted. It was perfect!

But what I really go into rhapsodies about is shopping online for cloth. This has captured me for years and is even more important to me than going to a retail store for several reasons: First I like the fact that I have the opportunity to figure out if the cloth I order matches cloth I already have. For my cousins wedding, I ordered shoes online and was able to see if they fit my dress immediately. If I had not been able to do so, I would have been forced to remember the color of the dress to match the shoes and risk buying the wrong color.

The other thing that I really like is that I can make sure that I don’t buy the cloth, just because I am in the mood for “a completely new look”. Maybe this is just me, but I don’t know how many things I bought in stores and never ever wore in my life. However, it never happened to me when I ordered things. I think it’s because of the fact that I usually have the cloth at home for a few days before I return those that I don’t want to keep.  I am not really familiar with the way it works in the States, but in Germany I can order the cloth on account and first pay after I returned those things that I don’t want to buy. There is a longer time frame between seeing the cloth for the first time and making the actual purchase decision. That’s why the “I am just in the mood for this kind of dress right now” factor is eliminated, at least for me.  Further, I realized that I am willing to buy more expensive cloth online than I do in stores. This might be due to the fact that I am more confident that I am actually going to wear them. The other factor that influences this is that, in general, consumers value things more that they own:

“The lowest price at which consumers agree to part from a good (selling price) is often considerably higher than the highest price at which they agree to acquire the same item (buying price).”¹

Although consumers are still the buyers in this case, the products are in their house and it kind of feels like owning them already. Therefore they are willing to pay a higher price, because it feels more like parting from a product, which is obviously nice for the online retailer.

I could go on and on about the advantages of shopping for cloth online. Other benefits are not having to wait for an empty fitting room, not having to deal with intrusive sale stuff, rewarding oneself during tough studying periods without feeling bad for losing a lot of time by going to a mall and so on. But I think you already got my point. I am huge fan of online shopping because it’s just so convenient! What about you? Do you feel the same way? Do you prefer shopping cloth online instead of going to a store as well?

Fabienne Schattner

¹ http://en.scientificcommons.org/42706051