A year ago, I was an occasional “web shopper”. Most of what I bought was purchased through my favorite “computer stuff” store, NCIX [1]. But that isn’t “really” web shopping: I’d order stuff through their website, sure, but I’d go pick it up at their nearest location here in Langley. Real webshopping is when the thing you ordered arrives at the door courtesy the friendly post/UPS/FedEx/Purolator person.
Fast forward to today…
Now I am probably receiving one or two items via the “real” online purchasing every week. It started, I think, when I first ordered some coffee online via Timothy’s [2]. That worked out well, so I bought a few things through Costco’s online store, then a couple of antique clocks through eBay… which led to my clock addiction and repair hobby, including all the tools and materials that entails.
In the last month, I’ve received:
- A nanotech swimsuit for Irene
- a clock (last of my five “fixer” clocks)- boy was that a mess, but I wanted a fixer…
- a work bench and bench accessories from Sears
- a pair of Vibram five fingers shoe [3] things
- three shipments of various clock tools and parts
In addition to this, I have sitting on my counter two “we missed you” tags from the post office for deliveries on Friday: I think both of those are for clock parts and more tools. And I just placed another order for an ultrasonic cleaner, and a week or so ago placed orders for a (manual) lathe and a few more bits and bobs. For the first time in my life, I actually recognize my postal worker, and we chat about stuff while I sign for deliveries.
It is getting the point where there is almost a delivery every other day, and I’m starting to forget exactly what I have on order. I have to look back through my saved emails and such to be sure. I realized a couple of days ago that I have to be careful not to order anything with a lengthy delivery time for the next few weeks as we have plans for a vacation in September.
I’m expecting this whirlwind of shipments to wind down a bit as I get my tool collection for clock repair built up. I’ll still have to order parts, but I won’t (hopefully) need quite so many tools. The interesting thing is that I’m not really that fond of receiving stuff: I don’t like the piles of packing materials, and constantly missing deliveries can get to be a pain. But the convenience of finding pretty much exactly I want and having it “appear” a few weeks later instead of wandering around from store to store is beguiling.
One thing I should take a moment to explain. I like finding the “thing I want” and getting it. I hate shopping: the process of wandering from store to store, looking for something and hoping to find it, often ending up with something else entirely or settling for something “similar” but not quite what I wanted. In this regard, web shopping eliminates (for the most part) the frustrating aspect of shopping. I have access to hundreds of thousands of stores, and can focus down to the specific thing I want, coupled with near-immediate research to confirm my choice, with laser-like precision. It is close to perfect for someone like me.
I don’t think I’ll ever go back to “three or four shipments a year”. Heck, even just counting my automatic coffee delivery, there will be one shipment every sixty days to our address. I can see why this might be worrisome to retailers, but for a person like myself who hates shopping, it is a godsend. I wonder how common my experience is?