I vastly prefer online shopping. I am a very happy Amazon Prime member and probably 80% of our discretionary spending is done online.
The only exception I find for Bricks & Mortar vs. Online is with grocery shopping, and clothing.
For a time we did get our groceries via an online (delivery) grocery. I never ran into quality problems – and their produce was always as good or better than I myself would pick out in the store.. but the selection overall was a bit constrained and ultimately the cost was too high. (However, once the delivery fee is = to my gas/time spent, we have a valid reason to go back.. As gas reaches $5/gallon in our part of the country IF they don’t raise the fee..the cost would be lower to have delivery groceries again.)
Clothing/Shoes – I do buy some online (mainly shoes), but only for those things where I am already certain of fit (e.g. I tried on the same brand/size/style in the store and later purchased online)—and moreover our family tends to get nearly all our clothing from thrift stores (e.g. Goodwill) ..so we do the bulk of our clothing purchases in the actual store as opposed to online.
Our reasons for buying online are:
– tend to be less expensive than buying in department stores/bricks & mortar retailers
– I’m a tactical shopper—I know what brands I like and I’ve researched them, I do my research online..so online shopping suits my shopping behavior.
– I shop when it’s convenient to me – which may be when the stores are closed late at night or when I’m in my PJs and not fit for going out in public
– I really like getting items delivered to me.
– Many of the items my family uses are not readily available at local stores (e.g. our Japanese bath salts which we use for our ofuro)
– Maybe I’m anti-social..but anytime I don’t have to get in my car and deal with John Q. Public—it’s worth something to me. Not having to leave the comfort of my home and having an item come to me is certainly worth paying a bit more (even though it tends to be that I pay less when I buy online).
As for security—I’ve had my credit card information stolen 2X in my lifetime. Once Amex, once Discover Card. In BOTH cases it happened in a physical store/location – not due to online transactions.
Once was actually a dishonest Macy’s store employee who kept my Discover card number and used it to ring transactions for herself at a store she moved to (easy to catch her because she rang them at a store in Ohio that I’d never shopped in and I don’t live in Ohio), the other was during international travel and Amex said the thief jotted down the card numbers as the card was being handed to a clerk at the hotel check-in desk.
I have never (after many many years and thousands upon thousands of varied online transactions) had any worries about online security..nor have I ever had a negative experience (yet).
I’m careful to only submit payment details to legitimate businesses online with secure payment sites (e.g. https) – beyond taking that one common sense step I’ve never had a worry or concern.
On a side note – yesterday I was in a shopping mall helping my daughter sell Girl Scout cookies when an elderly man sat down with a sandwich and proceeded to have a VERY loud cell phone conversation where he repeatedly gave his full credit card number and the PIN number (security number) – not just once, but several times. It was far too easy for me to overhear his card number and I looked around and there were several other people within earshot, too. I almost said something to him..because that just struck me as reckless…but he looked really crabby so I avoided him.