Transitioning from summer into fall, Americans are starting to buy new clothes, appliances, and decor for the season. With all the shopping, one would expect to find clusters of people at the mall, but there aren’t. People are still shopping but they’re using the Internet to do so.
Forrester Research predicts that online shoppers in the U.S. will spend “$327 billion in 2016.” That’s a “45% [increase] from $226 billion in [2012] and 62% [increase] from $202 billion in 2011” (internetretailer.com). As the rate of online shopping is increasing, Americans are becoming more comfortable with buying items online as opposed to going to the store to make their purchases. In a 2012 study, 71% of customers said that they prefer making purchases online, while 59% prefer in-store shopping (pymnts.com).
So are Americans getting lazier? Yes, online shopping is definitely a quicker process compared to in-store shopping, but people are using time as an excuse to stay at home. Shoppers dismiss the interaction with others that comes with shopping. The action of actually going out to buy something is lost when Americans sit behind their computers and click on buttons (as I sit here blogging behind my laptop). Americans want everything to be fast, easy, and comfortable.
What Americans want is for their own self, but shouldn't we be creating relationships and expanding our horizons in the world outside of our own comfort zone? What do these statistics say about American shoppers? Is it better to shop online, in stores, or are they equal? How does the way people shop affect their connection with society? As fall progresses, think about these questions and the interactions you have with others in society.
I agree with you that Americans are getting lazier, and people should go out to the mall to buy things - maybe not everything, but they should not spend all their time shopping in front of a small screen. When you go out somewhere to buy something, you interact with people. Whether that interaction means something or not is debatable, but physically going out in the world is how you meet people and form connections. That can be lost if you buy everything and do everything at home in front of a screen.
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