# What do you think of first for shopping: online or bricks and mortar? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 14, 2019, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-first-for-shopping-online-or-bricks-and-mortar/844871 "2019-12-14T23:00:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2019, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-first-for-shopping-online-or-bricks-and-mortar/844871/61 "2019-12-19T01:17:49Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I just got given a zappo’s gift card. > > Never heard of them before; but, OK, the giver mentioned shoes, the site’s got a lot of shoes. I could use a pair of semi-dressy flats or low heels with a wide toe box: there’s something fairly specific for you. > > There does not appear to be any way to search the site for flats, for low heels, for wide toe box, or for casual versus dressy. Some fifteen minutes poking around left me entirely unable to tell whether they carry no such thing, or whether I just hadn’t looked at enough pictures on enough pages to find it. I’d expect to have been able to answer that question in considerably less than 15 minutes at any brick-and-mortar store, whether by finding someone to ask or by looking at the displays. (Admittedly, it would take me at least 15 minutes to get to any brick-and-mortar store.) > > I may wind up spending the gift card on socks. I don’t know about searching for a wide toe box, but if you click on “women’s” on the top row, it brings up a menu where you can choose from flats, heels, boots etc. Click on “heels” and it brings up a menu where you can choose casual r dressy, heel height, heel style ( block, wedge etc) color, brand . toe style( open, closed,pointed,round and so on) price. There’s got to be at least ten different ways to narrow the search. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2019, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-first-for-shopping-online-or-bricks-and-mortar/844871/62 "2019-12-19T02:05:19Z")
> [@JcWoman](#): > > For my online sales, I’ve found that reputation matters a HUGE amount. As I’m becoming known, my sales are rising. It’s a slow haul, though, given that my competition is the Big Box stores and Amazon. I’ve also discovered that being a small online business means people don’t consider me to be a local business (even though I am of course) and they tend to lump me in with the “online store” category, directly putting me in competition with Amazon, Petco and Petsmart for their business. Convincing potential customers that I am a small, local business that needs support (and that happens to be entirely online) is a challenge. I’m not sure that convincing your customers that you’re a small local business is your problem. I suspect that many of the reasons people support local stores simply don’t apply to entirely online businesses and that once they’ve decided to shop online, it doesn’t matter to them whether they shop at your small, local online business or at Petco or Petsmart or at a small online business located halfway across the country. When people talk about “supporting local, independent businesses” , it’s often because they feel the community gains by the local business remaining open - one less vacant storefront on Main Street, or the local fabric store provides more service in the form of answering questions and giving advice than Jo Ann’s, or because the local business supports the community in some way such as sponsoring a youth activity or providing refreshments at some community event or donating to local organizations. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2019, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-first-for-shopping-online-or-bricks-and-mortar/844871/63 "2019-12-19T03:11:36Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I don’t know about searching for a wide toe box, but if you click on “women’s” on the top row, it brings up a menu where you can choose from flats, heels, boots etc. Click on “heels” and it brings up a menu where you can choose casual r dressy, heel height, heel style ( block, wedge etc) color, brand . toe style( open, closed,pointed,round and so on) price. There’s got to be at least ten different ways to narrow the search. That’s odd. I looked again, and a lot of that is there; but I’d swear it wasn’t when I looked before. Maybe I’m in a different browser? ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2019, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-first-for-shopping-online-or-bricks-and-mortar/844871/64 "2019-12-19T14:56:53Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I’m not sure that convincing your customers that you’re a small local business is your problem. I suspect that many of the reasons people support local stores simply don’t apply to entirely online businesses and that once they’ve decided to shop online, it doesn’t matter to them whether they shop at your small, local online business or at Petco or Petsmart or at a small online business located halfway across the country. I don’t necessarily disagree with this. What I posted was the impression I got at some of the local in-person vending events I’ve done. Specifically, people will walk up and browse some of my merchandise and then ask me where my store is located. When I tell them I’m just online, a bit of a shadow crosses their face like they’re disappointed to hear that. I’m not sure why they would be, though. But I agree with you that once they go online, they’re more likely to hit the sites that are well-known, like Chewy, instead of trying to find my shop. > [@doreen](#): > > When people talk about “supporting local, independent businesses” , it’s often because they feel the community gains by the local business remaining open - one less vacant storefront on Main Street, or the local fabric store provides more service in the form of answering questions and giving advice than Jo Ann’s, or because the local business supports the community in some way such as sponsoring a youth activity or providing refreshments at some community event or donating to local organizations. While true, all of this can also apply to a small, locally owned and operated online business (except for the empty brick and mortar shop-front of course). It’s not the customer’s responsibility to know all the behind-the-business concerns of course, but one of the reasons my shop is only online is that I can’t afford a lease on even the smallest store. I do want to grow the business so it can afford a lease and move it out of my house, but at the same time I’ve been advised by experienced retail owners to stay online. So I may just move into a warehouse instead of a retail space, and then my answer to people is likely to be the same. I do have dreams of having a portion of the warehouse space designed to be a “showroom” so I can have customers walk in to shop, though. At any rate, I do support the local community. You don’t need to hold a lease for that. 🙂 I think the average person just hasn’t thought this through to the extent that I have. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2019, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-first-for-shopping-online-or-bricks-and-mortar/844871/65 "2019-12-19T22:14:59Z")
JcWoman, are you or somebody else local making what you sell? If so, I’d stress that point: ‘the sales are all done online, but this item and that one (etc; or ‘everything I sell’ if accurate) is made by me/right here in X county’. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2019, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-first-for-shopping-online-or-bricks-and-mortar/844871/66 "2019-12-20T02:36:26Z")
> [@JcWoman](#): > > While true, all of this can also apply to a small, locally owned and operated online business (except for the empty brick and mortar shop-front of course). It’s not the customer’s responsibility to know all the behind-the-business concerns of course, but one of the reasons my shop is only online is that I can’t afford a lease on even the smallest store. I do want to grow the business so it can afford a lease and move it out of my house, but at the same time I’ve been advised by experienced retail owners to stay online. So I may just move into a warehouse instead of a retail space, and then my answer to people is likely to be the same. I do have dreams of having a portion of the warehouse space designed to be a “showroom” so I can have customers walk in to shop, though. > > At any rate, I do support the local community. You don’t need to hold a lease for that. 🙂 I think the average person just hasn’t thought this through to the extent that I have. But do your potential customers know that ? What do you mean exactly when you say you support the local community? There are a lot of things that can’t be done by online store because of practicalities but is there a baseball team with “JcWoman’s online store” printed on the back of their shirts , a table at the Santa parade for “refreshments provided by JcWoman’s online store”, do you donate prizes to be raffled off at the local rescue’s “person of the year” dinner dance? And by “you”, I mean “your business” - it’s great if you personally donate to organizations , but to be seen as a local business that should be supported, it has to be your business donating a gift certificate to be raffled off at that dinner-dance, not you making a $50 donation to the rescue organization. (I’m not looking for an answer, just things for you to think about) ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2019, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-first-for-shopping-online-or-bricks-and-mortar/844871/67 "2019-12-20T03:26:04Z")
Brick and mortar, for anything even remotely large (anything Blu-Ray player size or larger); usually online for smaller things, but anything I can get from the factory outlet stores about 30 miles from where I live, I get there. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2019, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-first-for-shopping-online-or-bricks-and-mortar/844871/68 "2019-12-20T12:05:53Z")
For those of you who go B&M for large items, may I ask why? I recently purchased a lawnmower and a chainsaw from Amazon, easy-peasy. Maybe it’s because I have Prime, and shipping was free, but I’m actually _more_ inclined to have big things shipped. OK, things like refrigerators, cars, and washing machines I buy locally. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2019, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-first-for-shopping-online-or-bricks-and-mortar/844871/69 "2019-12-20T12:55:41Z")
I cheat i look up online if a store carries it and if they dont have it i look it up on amazon and if they do I buy it online for store pick up …although I’m into legally dodgy video game emulation boxes and those only can be bought in Asia… now last year we shopped online mostly because we have a sears store card and Kmart left here years ago so we used [Kmart.com](http://Kmart.com) Does QVC tv shopping count as online or no ? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2019, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-first-for-shopping-online-or-bricks-and-mortar/844871/70 "2019-12-20T20:32:21Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’m 61. I shop online 99% of the time. Normally I would say thanks but this time of year … **CURSE YOU RED BARON!** > [@kayaker](#): > > For those of you who go B&M for large items, may I ask why? > > I recently purchased a lawnmower and a chainsaw from Amazon, easy-peasy. Maybe it’s because I have Prime, and shipping was free, but I’m actually _more_ inclined to have big things shipped. > > OK, things like refrigerators, cars, and washing machines I buy locally. Cars I can’t say but we do have a new XL (large crap) facility open around us. I know several of the folks there. You can buy and they deliver and install. Don’t know details (will soon - a beer and bitch session is scheduled) but -------- PS – I “moved” in October – now the stuff in the vans are my fault and not the USPS stuff. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2019, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-first-for-shopping-online-or-bricks-and-mortar/844871/71 "2019-12-20T20:38:22Z")
What I picture in my head is going to the mall. What I actually do is go to amazon. I actually miss the mall - I remember walking around and around, windowshopping, spending endless time in B Dalton shopping for books and walking the food court pretending not to look at boys. It’s a bummer that malls are dying like nobody’s business. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-first-for-shopping-online-or-bricks-and-mortar/844871.md?page=3)