That shopping (online or not) is such hard work these days

[wanderings]

Once upon a time, if you needed something, you went to the shop, you handed over your money, you got the goods, you stored your receipt: job done. Nowadays, whether online or on the high street, it's all so damn complicated, the amount of stuff you're expected to do before and after is endless, even if you're not doing it online:

1. Sort out vouchers and discount codes.
2. In supermarkets especially, you often end up buying more than you intended because of discounts; you feel ripped off if you don't.
3. The till worker tries to sell you more stuff: sweets, loyalty card, extended guarantees and so on. I know it's in their script, but it's annoying.
4. You have to hand over lots of personal details.
5. When you get home, you're sometimes expected to register your purchase (especially for electrical items).
6. You're then expected to review your purchase, and your "customer experience".
7. For a while, you're then clicking "unsubscribe" because of all the emails coming in, no matter how carefully you ticked the boxes saying you don't want to receive them.
8. If it's online, you often have to create an account - my heart sinks every time I have to do this, and create a password. I find online shopping stressful because of this alone.

All these "duties" actually make me hesitate to buy things. I know that they're not all compulsory; more fool whoever is not savvy with vouchers, and I know that refusing to hand over personal details has been discussed at length.

Also buying car insurance, and choosing an energy supplier. It enrages me that as the paying customer, I have to do all the extra work: comparing prices, looking up details of car accidents which weren't my fault but still cost me, telling my existing insurer that when I put my details in online, it came out cheaper than their renewal quote, etc. Also that when you use a price comparison website, the prices they give you look much less than they really are, because they don't include legal cover, etc.

Was shopping always like this, with or without being able to do it online?

This is like saying 'washing clothes is so much harder nowadays with these big fancy washing machines with so many different programmes to choose from. It was so much easier in the old days when we did our washing by hand'.

I'd have loved online shopping to be a thing when I was younger, having grown up in a place where there were not really any clothes shops. We had to get on a ferry to buy clothes, my mum would take us twice a year once for summer stuff once for winter.

I don't review my purchases, I check out as a "guest" on sites where that option is offered, if I have to create an account it takes less than a minute; I love click&collect, I like that I can reserve online, I have my card details stored so I typically don't have to enter it all again etc.

In short, I love online shopping and in fact I rarely shop in person, maybe Tesco's occasionally or the "corner" shop but that's about it.

@WorraLiberty don't forget the banks only opened 10.30am - 12.30pm/1.30pm - 3.30pm Monday to Friday only & all shops closed a half day on Wednesdays & all day Sundays. I'm a child of the 50's/60's.

My mum is always fond of telling me about Christmas when shops would close Christmas Eve (or day before) and not reopen until after New Year so you had to have fresh food in for all that time (and no fridge either, luckily it's usually quite cold at Christmas so they'd keep stuff in the garage).

We live in a world where I can send gifts to friends in foreign countries at a click of a button

But we also live in a world were the picker can't get my online shop right

I absolutely hate receipts, vast majority are pointless and I refuse unless it's clothing or electrical

the evidence is in front of me with the targeted ads on the computer screen right now, for everything I dared to browse; also having to give the shopping headspace after you've done it, with the reviews, and marketing emails.

I use adblock, untick marketing and I've never left a review online. Online shopping is a dream! I do it all from my phone either in the bath or sitting on the sofa and it arrives at my door in a couple of days, perfect!
For passwords get yourself a password manager, I use lastpass, I use it to generate the pass and then save it.

I hate shopping around for fuel deals, so l don't do it although l feel I should. In the days before privatisation you had an account with British Gas and your local electricity board.

I used to use a broker for my car insurance.

Banks did open on Saturday morning. I remember in the 1950s going with my dad each week - I think he was getting the housekeeping out in cash to give to my mum!

I actually think it's the opposite problem, shopping is too easy therefore we're tempted to buy/spend more.

I don't give my email address out in shops, I just ask for a paper receipt, they have to give you one. I always untick any of those marketing options so I don't get any rubbish emails.

I don't bother leaving reviews and I don't bother with vouchers, codes (just shop somewhere cheap like Aldi/Lidl). I do sometimes research to find better prices but that's useful surely, much easier to do online than previously.

And comparison sites make buying flights/insurance and that kind of thing pretty simple.

Many would agree with you, especially those with sugar children who can't walk a short distance in bad weather.

1996 was the year buses started to become accessible so you could get on with a pram, or if you were in a wheelchair etc, before that you were stuck in your local area until your baby was old enough for a umbrella buggy. Very few women had the use of cars.

You had to pay whatever the price was and clothes were more expensive. You were really restricted on what you could buy.

Shopping for Christmas etc was stressful. The only thing that you was good was the Christmas clubs, the butchers and greengrocers ran, so your order was put in and you knew you'd have your stuff ready to be picked up on Christmas Eve (or delivered).

@WorraLiberty don't forget the banks only opened 10.30am - 12.30pm/1.30pm - 3.30pm Monday to Friday only & all shops closed a half day on Wednesdays & all day Sundays. I'm a child of the 50's/60's.

Oh blimey yes, I forgot about that.

'Half-Day' was Thursday on my high street and nearly all shops closed for lunch.