Do you even shop online, bro?

It’s 10:30pm, you kick off your comfy slippers, rest your night robe on the hanger and slip into your warm cozy bed. You nestle in, rest your head on your pillow, close your eyes and get set to drift off to the land of dancing gummy bears and edible cotton candy clouds. Just then, you’re met with a sensation of pure terror. It’s your sister’s birthday tomorrow, you’re meeting for breakfast and you forgot to get her a gift. Then, a sense a calm. You grab your phone off the nightstand, pull up your target app and confidently place an order for a card and cute sweater that will be ready for morning pick up. You lay back down, rest your head on your pillow and drift off on a sweet cotton candy cloud like a boss!

The World at our Finger Tips

There has never been a time when access to products have been easier. We live in a time when the world is at our fingertips. I know that I take full advantage of this when I need a good or service. And apparently, I’m not alone. A reported

“82% of smartphone users consult their phones on purchases they are about to make in-store and 45% read reviews before making a purchase.”

Recently I made a couple purchase, but each of those took different paths from when I started my research to ultimately making the purchase.

Purchase using mobile phone

My purchase began when with my son begging me to get him this item on a video game he plays. I had to ask him, how the heck can I buy you something that is in this video game? He said, “Well dad, you can go on ebay and do a search for people selling it.” And I was like, “How do you get it then?” And he explained to me that if we buy it he will meet the seller in the game and they will give him the item. My mind was blown. I had to see this in action. 

So, with great skepticism, I open up the ebay app and search for this item. And lo and behold, there it is, the item he wanted for sale. You’ve got to be kidding me. I make the purchase, the seller messages me the details, we log into the game and he now owns this much wanted item. 

Purchase using laptop

My second purchase was one that was completely unplanned. A few weeks back I’m at work while my wife is home with my son who wasn’t feeling well. In the middle of a meeting I keep getting notifications that my wife is calling me. Finally, thinking something might be wrong I call back. Luckily, all was well health wise, however my wife proceeds to tell me that the gutter on the back on our house ripped off due to the weight of ice buildup after melting from the roof and refreezing. Well, I had some research to do and fast. This time though, I didn’t reach for my phone. This issue seemed to me like I needed to sit down, pull out my laptop and really start digging into whether or not I could fix this myself or I needed to call someone. After about 20 – 30 mins of research and reading reviews I decided it was best to give a local roofing company a call to make the needed repairs.

Which is the right choice for me?

Well the honest answer here is that there really isn’t a right or wrong answer. For me, my tendency is when I’m looking for a quick review of information, or I’m in the moment and want to see if I can find a better price for a product on ebay or Amazon, I’ll use my phone. If I need to do a lot of research on a produce or service and I want to check multiple sources for reviews, I would rather take time, sit down with my laptop and a cup of coffee and really hammer out all the details before making my decision.