Some of you may remember when shopping meant going to an "actual" store, and now we don't go often or at all.
In large department stores, it was better to avoid the cosmetics area, because undoubtedly, some lady would come at you much like a Kamikaze warrior. Target? You. Since, it's been long established that I only wear one perfume (long live Chloe!), I really don't want to leave a store "stinking" for lack of a better word, with an overpowering spritz of perfume.
Back-to-school shopping with the boys was the stuff of nightmares. Trying on new jeans, which are very stiff, is a lot like trying to cram your foot into a shoe that's just a "tad" too small. By the time we carried our bags out to the car, none of us were talking.
But over time, with the advent of on-line shopping, a lot of retailers have folded up their tents and left the malls. Who can blame them? It's just so much easier to sit in your chair, and with a couple of clicks, all of the world's products are available to you. No hassle with parking, crowds, or unbearable hot stores.
Looking for history about on-line shopping, I discovered that the first on-line shopping was "invented" in 1979 by Michael Aldrich. I have no idea who he is/was, but he started it all.
Ebay and Amazon both introduced themselves to the public in 1995. And, they have both become household names. One of the differences is how much both sites made in 2017. Amazon reported in 2017, sales of $177.87 BILLION, and 306 items per SECOND were sold. Whereas, Ebay sales for the same year was a measly $36.28 BILLION. Neither of these numbers are "chump change". What they do show is how eager we are to avoid getting dressed (when you shop on-line, you could be in pajamas, or for that matter wear nothing at all (ick) drive to the mall, park and wind your way through various stores. To be sure, if you go to a department store, you get to feel as well as try on things before you buy. If you shop on-line, which is my preference, since I don't get around very well, is to hope that whatever piece of clothing or shoe, for example, fit and look exactly as advertised.
But, buyer beware when it comes to Amazon. You could have a prime membership, order any number of things from them. Trouble is, if your purchase and return ratio is out of balance, they'll ban your account. And, apparently it doesn't matter how much you SPEND with them, it's how many things you have RETURNED. I don't know how Amazon makes this decision, and I also don't know if you can check your account, and see some kind of ratio between buying and returning, to avoid the ban on your account.
One man spent $30,000 a year, but he was banned for returning too many items. So, buyer beware.
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