We knew these holiday shopping days
were going to be different and they were.
The usual big sales started on Thursday
or earlier. Maybe as early as August. Stores that normally were closed
early on pre-Thanksgiving Wednesday or Thursday weren’t. Some stores that
weren’t usually open at all on Thanksgiving Day, were.
But it’s hard to find anyone who camped
out early in a Costco or Best Buy or Walmart parking lot ready to bust doors at
first light.
In the online world, time and days do
not exist. So it really doesn’t matter to the customer. Some of the online
and TV channel sales began in September. This follows the format of a
recently minted “tradition,” “Christmas in July.” That’s when they start
selling winter wear, stocking stuffers and last year’s left over holiday
decorations.
(And then they ask you to buy “storage
solutions” so you have somewhere to put the stuff you bought five months too
early.)
There’s an advantage to early starts
for sales events. A retailer can spread its gains over a long stretch
instead of the usual waiting for the day after Thanksgiving to start turning a
profit. Easier bookkeeping, stock ordering and temp-hiring. Keeps the
lights on.
Paste-on floor signs marking safe
distancing length probably are tax deductions. This brings down the bill.
Especially if they place them, then take them away only to put down new ones
when virus figures increase, as they inevitably seem to.
Electronic merchants have no such
deductions.
You can’t simultaneously use and
socially distance from your computer or smartphone.
The people who track retail traffic and
cash register activity say business was slower this year.
Meantime, cyberworld was booming.
But now on “Giving Tuesday,” you’d
never notice. There has been no reduction in the Niagara of internet
ads. They are mainly from internet sellers, but not exclusively.
Department stores, cosmetic stores, home goods stores are all aboard the
barrels going over Niagara and landing in your inbox.
Here’s a handy tip to reduce the
clutter. Mark all those ads as spam and then once a day, skim the entries
in the folder. It’s unlikely, but someone may have sent you something
worthy of your attention or interest.
If such an oddity takes place, move it
to your inbox and delete the rest.
Here’s a question for someone else to
study and maybe answer: Did we buy either less frivolous or more useful
stuff than usual?
And some other questions:
--Ladies, do you spend less on makeup
because your face is almost always covered?
--Gentlemen, do you spend less on
shaving gear now that your face is almost always covered?
--Ladies and Gentlemen, do you either
like or dislike the appearance of your hair now that you haven’t cut it since
who knows when?
--Class clowns, are you okay with doing
your act on Zoom or are you getting rusty because there’s no live audience?
--Teachers, how do you guard against
open-screen tests and other forms of cheating on quizzes and exams you give via
Zoom?
I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my
own but you’re welcome to them. ®
Any Questions? wesrichards@gmail.com
© WIR 2020
No comments:
Post a Comment