When I read last weekend that Point Cook is Melbourne’s top suburb for online shopping, I was not in the least surprised. Let’s face it – the poor residents of Point Cook can’t get out of their suburb to go shopping anywhere. It’s a suburban traffic nightmare.
Interesting to note Hoppers Crossing came in second. Why is online shopping so popular in the west? Is it price, convenience, service (or lack of it), a reflection of modern times – or, as I suspect, a combination of all of these?
I have always been a shopper who knows what I want and goes and gets it. I have never been a browser or window shopper. I do a bit of shopping online but not for the majority of my purchases. I do my shopping homework online – to see what’s out there and who has the best prices. I suppose that is the modern equivalent of window shopping. There are some items I would never buy online. Food would be at the top of my list, along with most clothing items.
A trap with online shopping is judging size. I recently bought some coffee cups and when they arrived they were much smaller than I expected.
We have certainly overcome the security fears that used to surround internet transactions. The internet has certainly changed the way we shop and it has also changed the role of the in-store sales person.
I am still a believer that there is no substitute for good service and no excuse for bad service. We walked out of a restaurant recently because the staff ignored us once we were seated. A few years ago I might have stayed, but not now.
A follow-up to last week’s piece on keeping our streets cleaner: Readers have informed me that you can buy a dog bag holder and connect it to your dog lead, and then you have small plastic bags always available to scoop up the poop. They are freely available, so there is no excuse.
Why do some cat owners let their animals roam the streets at night? I have a couple of cats that are using my backyard as a thoroughfare and I’m not happy about it.
