Better Living Through Shopping
I’m not one of nature’s shoppers. I mean, obviously I shop. I obtain goods in exchange for cash both in real shops and online. But I don’t browse. I don’t take an afternoon to drift from shop to shop looking for things on the offchance I might see something I like or want. I like to know what I need ahead of time, find out the best place to get it, go there, buy it and leave.
This, I know, is radically at odds with many people’s approach. It seems it’s also at odds with the entire shopping ethic of the country in which I’m now domiciled, where much of the promotion of the shopping experience seems predicated on just turning up and seeing what takes your fancy.
This coming weekend for instance, Old Navy are promoting Best Friends’ Weekend, where you turn up with a friend and you both get a discount. Obviously I can see what’s in it for them - more people in the store means more shopping done overall, hopefully negating the discount. But as a reluctant shopper at best this idea fills me with horror. You mean I have to wait until someone else has chosen what they want before I can get the hell out? Noooooooo!
But here’s something that if I wasn’t going to be otherwise occupied I actually might go and browse (shudder) at. Macy’s, who appear to have One Day Sales so frequently that they may as well add a “pick your day, it’s up to you” disclaimer, are currently promoting Shop For A Cause day in their stores tomorrow. It’s a painfully simple idea. Make a donation of $5 to local charities and get 20% off everything you buy across the entire store. As a marketing ploy it’s genius - it gets people like me, who’ve been putting off running into some random shop to buy a few new shirts/underwear/t-shirts/whatever to think “oh well if I can do a bit of good *and* save some money that’s fair enough”.
Yes, I’d go and browse shirts if I thought I was helping charity and getting a discount.
Yes, I am indeed that shallow.
Wouldn’t you be?