Offline Shopping is Nice, Too.

I was out Christmas shopping this afternoon with all the people and the traffic and the hustle and bustle, and it wasn’t all bad.

I do nearly all of my shopping online, and I generally much prefer it.  The selection way later, you don’t have to worry about crowds of people, the ambience is as comfortable as my couch (since it often IS my couch).  You also have access to tons of reviews and other information so you can be pretty sure you’re getting what you want.

There’s another side to that too, though.  Having access to SO MUCH information can make me take so much longer to make my purchase decision that it probably wasn’t actually worth the effort.  It’s sometimes nice to just walk into a store and then walk out 20 minutes later with a working product.  It may not be perfect, but it’ll probably work well enough.  Nothing ever works perfectly no matter how much research you put into it anyway, and I may actually enjoy the thing more when I don’t know everything about it and all of its competitors.  Sometimes, ignorance really is bliss!

When you’re doing Christmas shopping specifically, it’s also really nice to know what gifts you have and which ones you don’t yet have.  There’s no anxious waiting for last minute deliveries and no fear of receiving something other than what you were expecting.  I’m not organized enough to do all of my shopping early enough to avoid those situations altogether, unfortunately.  Also, when I’m out in the crowds of Christmas shoppers is most when I feel that holiday spirit.  The hustle and bustle and the tired enthusiasm and cheer are just a part of the holiday for me.  I’m just a sucker like that!

I’ll still be doing most of my shopping online in the future, but today I was reminded that offline shopping can be nice, too.