Wednesday, August 11, 2004
They suck you in with their freebies!
Y'know, I love Amazon. I've used the service for a few years now, even before they launched Amazon.ca (which I now faithfully use for most of my online ordering -- hell, I even bought D&D books from the site). In all the time I've used Amazon, they've been very prompt. In some cases, it feels like its personnel have a sixth sense that tells them to start bundling my package before I even place the order. My last order arrived within three days after me placing it; and I placed it on a Sunday.
So since the ALF DVD distributor that serves at least HMV, if not all stores in Pickering, Ajax and maybe the rest of Durham Region, couldn't be bothered to get the first season of ALF on DVD to stores on the day it was supposed to come out, five stores lost my business in turn. If just one of them had had it, I would've jumped on it like a cat on a mouse. However, now Amazon.ca has my business, and I can just kick back and wait for the shipment to arrive. I don't know if I can reasonably expect to get it this week, but next week more than likely. It's a little later than I would've preferred, but at least I don't have to run around wasting gas visiting stores any more.
And it's this reason I love online shopping. A lot of people tell me that they like to "browse," and for that reason only, online shopping just isn't the same. When the e-commerce sector first started off, I would've been inclined to agree with them, but I'm a tech geek and I spend a good chunk of my time on the Internet. Using the Net to place orders for things has many benefits, and now I prefer to take advantage of them. I don't have to deal with pushy or ignorant salespeople. I can do price comparisons quickly and easily, and if I find out the first online store I visited had the best price of them all, it's a quick two seconds to get back there. I get to avoid malls -- a top reason for me, while others might like walking through malls. Once I decide what to order, I click a few buttons and then someone else does the job of finding what I ordered, putting it in a box and shipping it to me -- and it comes straight to my front door.
Yeah, I can browse quicker and more efficiently online, and then also quickly and efficiently place that order and wait for my products to arrive. Eventually the majority will start to see things my way, and then all those brick-and-mortar stores out there will slowly start to fade away. That is my dream. :)
However, there's one thing that gets me each and every time I visit Amazon. It's that whole free shipping if you spend $39 or more. Well, do you have any idea how often my order comes to more than $30 but less than $39? All the frickin' time! And there's just no way I'm paying for shipping if I don't have to. I don't have to pay shipping at brick-and-mortar stores, so I'm not paying shipping online. So I sift through my extensive Amazon wish list to find something else that I wouldn't mind having right now. Last night, I decided on a Canadian film that I haven't seen in a few years. Cube is a great movie. If you haven't seen it, correct that oversight.
Unfortunately, instead of spending the $35 (plus tax) I had intended to spend, now I've charged a total of $55 to my credit card. Heheh. Gotta love that Amazon. It really knows how to push my buttons. But I'm not really complaining. ;)
So since the ALF DVD distributor that serves at least HMV, if not all stores in Pickering, Ajax and maybe the rest of Durham Region, couldn't be bothered to get the first season of ALF on DVD to stores on the day it was supposed to come out, five stores lost my business in turn. If just one of them had had it, I would've jumped on it like a cat on a mouse. However, now Amazon.ca has my business, and I can just kick back and wait for the shipment to arrive. I don't know if I can reasonably expect to get it this week, but next week more than likely. It's a little later than I would've preferred, but at least I don't have to run around wasting gas visiting stores any more.
And it's this reason I love online shopping. A lot of people tell me that they like to "browse," and for that reason only, online shopping just isn't the same. When the e-commerce sector first started off, I would've been inclined to agree with them, but I'm a tech geek and I spend a good chunk of my time on the Internet. Using the Net to place orders for things has many benefits, and now I prefer to take advantage of them. I don't have to deal with pushy or ignorant salespeople. I can do price comparisons quickly and easily, and if I find out the first online store I visited had the best price of them all, it's a quick two seconds to get back there. I get to avoid malls -- a top reason for me, while others might like walking through malls. Once I decide what to order, I click a few buttons and then someone else does the job of finding what I ordered, putting it in a box and shipping it to me -- and it comes straight to my front door.
Yeah, I can browse quicker and more efficiently online, and then also quickly and efficiently place that order and wait for my products to arrive. Eventually the majority will start to see things my way, and then all those brick-and-mortar stores out there will slowly start to fade away. That is my dream. :)
However, there's one thing that gets me each and every time I visit Amazon. It's that whole free shipping if you spend $39 or more. Well, do you have any idea how often my order comes to more than $30 but less than $39? All the frickin' time! And there's just no way I'm paying for shipping if I don't have to. I don't have to pay shipping at brick-and-mortar stores, so I'm not paying shipping online. So I sift through my extensive Amazon wish list to find something else that I wouldn't mind having right now. Last night, I decided on a Canadian film that I haven't seen in a few years. Cube is a great movie. If you haven't seen it, correct that oversight.
Unfortunately, instead of spending the $35 (plus tax) I had intended to spend, now I've charged a total of $55 to my credit card. Heheh. Gotta love that Amazon. It really knows how to push my buttons. But I'm not really complaining. ;)
// posted by Chris @ 8:19 AM 
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