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i honestly hate the way online shopping has completely changed the shopping industry (i have no clue what else to call it). like yes its convenient and easy but it will never beat in person shopping for me, plus shipping costs are a pain in the ass. dont know about anyone else but i personally love to wander around aimlessly past rows upon rows of shops, stopping to look round anywhere that even slightly catches my eye, even if i dont intend on buying from them. i love walking up and down rows of clothes, digging inbetween pieces to find where the small slither of fabric that initially caught my eye came from, what clothing item it belonged to and whether that item tickled my fancy. i liked how my options were limited to what was available in store that day, it saved me from having to make the hard choice of picking one thing out of like 50 so i could still have some money left over by the end of the day.
the popularity of online shopping has surpassed traditional shopping in recent years, causing many stores to move online as its cheaper and more popular, or shut down entirely. and this was only made worse in 2020 during the lockdown. many brands were forced to move online as no one was allowed to go out and buy from them as they were non essential, a lot of them chose to stay online as it was cheaper for them to not have to pay for the space and all its extra costs and there was enough demand to make it worthwhile.
now theres a couple reasons i dont really like online shopping that much, from scammers to brands being able to lie about their products to shipping costs and just not finding it as fun. i think scammers was a very obvious one i dont need to talk about, but one i think a lot of people dont think about much is brands lying to them. now theres not much for me to say about it as its very self explanatory, but i dont like how sellers online can (and will) just straight up lie to you about things like the materials of the product and its size as they know theres no way for us as consumers to verify that what theyre saying is true. and theres not really much we can do about it, except for leaving reviews warning others about it. but even then, sellers can just leave their own reviews to drown this out to be able to get more peole to trust them and make more sales. also side rant kinda but i hate how a lot of brands nowadays are essentially just glorified dropshippers. usually you get these unheard of brands that spring up out of absolutely nowhere and seemingly have a decent size consumer base and rely solely on white labeling/private labeling instead of creating their own stuff. they also always every time without fail have ATLEAST 7 different clones and half their products look suspiciously similar to shein products. ANYWAYS, shipping costs.. why are they so egregious. paying like 30 entire great british pounds sterling is outrageous for something that comes from about a 10 hour plane ride away, mind you all this was for 2.5 grams of eyeshadow that cost about 3 pounds. and i get that they have like holding and processing times and the storage facilities, mode of transport, fuel and workers wages all have to be paid for but COME ON NOW i might aswell go pick it up myself at that point.
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xxRebellious_Emmaxx
I only shop online if it's for something I can't find in a physical store (such as rare/discontinued items). Otherwise, I definitely prefer going inside of a physical store/mall.
same! and when i do shop online its mainly through second hand or auction sites.
by chiyuuusss; ; Report
_freaxx_
my biggest problem with shopping online is how unaware of money i become. physically going out to by stuff, i can see the money in me pocket and i know exactly how much i have to spend - but online that just doesnt happen, hence i'd end up spending so much more because i feel like i dont have monatery limits
capitalism ladies and gents
this is exactly why i also like paying by cash rather than card, because i can physically see the limit.
by chiyuuusss; ; Report
weirdhouseplant
You're so right. The push to shop online is aful and makes people less considerate of what they're buying, it just fuels rampant consumerism
i honestly feel like its a big part of the reason why almost everything looks so cheap right now but thats a whole other rant i could go on.
by chiyuuusss; ; Report
Yeah exactly, when it's online the can make the quality cheaper
by weirdhouseplant; ; Report
z0mbiie
sorry im like totally stalking your page rn i love and agree with everything u say :sob:
but yes! online shopping is totally taken the fun out of driving to stores and finding things you wouldnt even think to look for in the first place. i ADORE in person shopping so much!
IKR like sure i have more options from other countries too which is nice but the most fun part of shopping is walking round with a friend or family member and picking out stupid things you know they wont like and excitedly showing them saying 'you totally need this, this is so you' and waiting for the look on their face when they see what your showing them.
by chiyuuusss; ; Report
Same here, just reading all your blogs and I just HATE shopping for clothes online. My parents raised me on the mall and I just can't help but feel skeptical when it comes to clothes shopping online.
I live in Cali so a lot of malls here are still in business (THANK GOD) but other places aren't so lucky and it really sucks because not only is in-person shopping the greatest, but malls also served as the #1 hangout spot at some point! And the fact that a lot for stores make their online selections cheaper than in person is so scummy :(
by PolarisPolanski; ; Report
one of the 2 shopping centres near me is pretty much closed and being turned into a science park. they still have the top floor but its just restaurants and a cinema all the clothes shops are gone. ive been going there since i can remember and now its gone :(. the other one is also wayy more expensive. i do still have all the outdoor shopping streets which i really like but still. also i didnt even know they did that omg thats so shitty wtf.
by chiyuuusss; ; Report
I'm also from California, and there's this dying mall that's like a 30 minute drive or 1 hour bus ride away from me that I visit occasionally (though not as often as the one closer to home that's still doing quite well).
The ongoing retail apocalypse seems to be hitting that mall pretty hard, with many vacant retail spaces that have been abandoned for years at this point. I distinctly remember going there sometimes as a kid in elementary school and it was doing much better back then. Nowadays, there's barely anyone walking around inside of there anymore. They also removed the water fountains that used to be by the glass elevators at one point as well. I fear that one day the mall may even shut down if this decline (which has gone on since the late 2010s or so) keeps continuing. :(
I've taken my digital camera and captured quite a few photos and videos of that place to keep as a time capsule for if/when the mall does finally go completely under.
by xxRebellious_Emmaxx; ; Report