…..at a bricks and mortar store.
Call it an epiphany or just a harsh realization that physically shopping for Christmas/holiday presents is for suckers. It’s a mind-numbing, frustrating and painful experience at the best of times as you frantically search for the “perfect” gift at the exact time as everyone else is looking for the perfect gift.
Case in point: I ruined a stress-free holiday season by visiting the Chapters book store near my office. After wandering around for 30 minutes, I finally find a CD for my wife (aka el jeffa) – perhaps not the perfect gift but definitely solid. But when I go to pay for it, there are 25 other people trying to do business with two cashiers.
Boom. CD hits the nearest display, and I’m outta there. If I ever shop again at Chapters, it will be online.
The bizarre part about Christmas shopping is lots of people enjoy it. Although it’s a lot of work, it must be the thrill of the hunt or perhaps the notion that you’re showing someone how much you care by buying them a great gift. In theory, it’s a nice, romantic idea but you can accomplish the same thing by going online.
Update: According to comScore, holiday e-commerce spending in the U.S. from Nov. 1 to Dec. 18 was $25-billion, 19% higher than the entire holiday spend last year. Here’s an interesting chart showing spending overall and on particular days.
More: David Utter has some thoughts on the market’s growth.
Technorati Tags: E-commerce
5 Comments
I would much prefer to Christmas shop online. For the thrill of the hunt, I like eBay gifts (Christmas is pretty much the only time of year I shop at eBay). My problem this year is that it’s T minus four days until Christmas and I’ve yet to begin Christmas shopping for my wife. I’ve pretty much run out of runway for online delivery, which means I’ll be the sucker in the 90-minute lineups this weekend.
Yeah, last minute shopping isn’t really e-commerce friendly yet but it looks like Amazon is doing its best to address this obvious need.
Gift cards online. Still time. Trust me
Theatre and Concert Bookings online…some great weekend in Toronto deals…very romantic
I hear you Mark – the lines, the people meandering, the smell of wet winter coats. Ahhh – chasos.
On line is the only way to go.
Happy Holidays!
-jules