Does anyone avoid shops and shop online?

[Viv0321]

Does anyone avoid shops and shop online?

Yes I only really shop online now, which I don't mind for food, miss yellow sticker bargains though), but I hate for clothes etc. Miss charity shops.

Yes, just online.

I get grocery shopping online.

I’ve gone in a few clothes shops but it seems pointless with no changing rooms. The shops need to sort out covid secure changing rooms if they want to survive. I won’t buy anything if I can’t try it on.

I don’t like online clothes shopping so I’m saving a fortune. I did need a new sports bra and it took ordering 3 different sizes in 2 separate orders until I got the right size.

So spent £90 (yes I’ve now had £60 refunded) and a load of hassle doing returns. M&S don’t supply return labels anymore, my printer wouldn’t work, I had to go to a shop, it took over a week for the refund. I can’t afford the time or money to do this.

I don’t know what M&S are playing at with their new ‘no paper deliveries’ but I stopped going in the shop as I can’t try on and now they are trying to make online shopping as difficult as possible if you need to return things and don’t get me started on their banking app...

When I returned something to M&S I just wrote the address on some paper, cut it out and sellotaped it to the packet. My printer is ancient and I hate using it, but I got my refund just the same. I find it much easier to return there than many other online retailers.

@JacobReesMogadishu

I get grocery shopping online.

I’ve gone in a few clothes shops but it seems pointless with no changing rooms. The shops need to sort out covid secure changing rooms if they want to survive. I won’t buy anything if I can’t try it on.

I don’t like online clothes shopping so I’m saving a fortune. I did need a new sports bra and it took ordering 3 different sizes in 2 separate orders until I got the right size.

So spent £90 (yes I’ve now had £60 refunded) and a load of hassle doing returns. M&S don’t supply return labels anymore, my printer wouldn’t work, I had to go to a shop, it took over a week for the refund. I can’t afford the time or money to do this.

Went into local shops yesterday and noticed that Mint Velvet and Phase Eight have their changing rooms open, max 4 garments. Notice up saying they’re sanitised every hour. Don’t think all the shops changing rooms are open yet though but good news for the high street if they are able to open them up.

@Megan2018

I did this even before the pandemic. Shops are to be avoided at all costs, all the time.

We buy 95% of things online, only go in to a shop if there’s no alternative.

I have never understood shopping as a leisure activity though.

Under normal circumstances I have never understood why so many mumsnetters make it sound like actually going into real shops to buy clothes is a moral failing

I am not a standard size. I prefer to try clothes on in a shop, to feel the clothes, to see the colours in reality rather than a photograph. I also prefer not to spend £££ on buying several sizes, then waste time queuing at the post office to return them.

As for footwear, I often have to try several pairs of shoes before I find any that are comfortable.

I hate it that the high street is declining, and will continue to support it rather than live in a sterile world where every transaction is carried out online.

Yes. I have avoided all shops where masks are required and have shopped online since they were brought in..

loulouljh that's all shops then.

Of the few shops that I do go in I also check for masks first. I'll only go in if everyone, including staff, are wearing them and all trying to prevent the spread of the virus.

@Lindy2

loulouljh that's all shops then.

Of the few shops that I do go in I also check for masks first. I'll only go in if everyone, including staff, are wearing them and all trying to prevent the spread of the virus.

Well @loulouljh is helping to prevent the spread of the virus more effectively by not going in shops at all

Yes all!!!! (actually that is not quite true..there are some small shops where people don't wear masks in our area....)

If the side effect is me not spreading the virus then that is good! am also saving a fortune..which is a real shame for local shops but that's the way it is unfortunately. Glad we have people like you Lundy2 checking out for full compliance!!! (never mind the poor people with exemptions...)

I live in a market town and using our local shops keeps me sane. They have good safety measures in place and having a short (masked) chat with the shopkeepers does me good. I don't want to live in a place with rows of empty shops.

The shopkeepers know that not everyone wants to shop face to face. Most of them started doing free local drop offs during lockdown and have also built up their websites.

Using them really makes me feel part of my community Some of the shops are doing really well, which is lovely to hear.

I have always hated shopping so have shopped online for years, with just the odd visit to a shop. We've been doing our grocery shop online for 20 years, i've been buying shoes online for many years as my size is never available in stores , ditto clothes. Birthday cards come from Moonpig and Amazon (Amazon sells some lovely cards) and so many retailers sell online now that I can't see me ever going to shops again unless it's for something very specific and niche. The last few years I've done my Christmas shopping online and have already started this year's shopping. The only potential difficulty there is that not all retailers will giftwrap items and deliver to the recipient. I am assuming that we won't be able to have our usual big family get togethers, so am looking to have gifts delivered direct. Even Costco delivers these days, so I don't even need to go there.

I get that some people hate shopping, but how many of you exclusively online shoppers will complain when city centres become crime riddled derelict no go areas because all the shops have closed?

This is already happening to the town I grew up in.

Not really. I go less often and go at the quietest times. If it looks busy or there are too many people not wearing masks I don’t go in.

But I’m easily able to wear a mask and don’t mind it and sanitise my hands regularly so I see shopping as low risk. Not a chance of going inside a cafe, restaurant or pub though.

@Ginfordinner

I get that some people hate shopping, but how many of you exclusively online shoppers will complain when city centres become crime riddled derelict no go areas because all the shops have closed?

I have repeatedly lobbied our local council to have housing built on our dying town centre, with a small mixed retail area retained. It would be a far more suitable location, close to amenities and the station than the green belt land they are currently building great swathes of housing on but of course more costly/less profitable for the developers

I think that is the best solution for dying city centres @TenOclock.

I work from home, so getting out of the house, even to go shopping is a treat for me. I enjoyed a mooch around Meadowhall recently. I only bought a top, but it was nice to see and feel the clothes, and hold them up against me to see if the colour suited and the sleeves were long enough (I have long arms, and far too many jumpers have sleeves that come well above my wrists).

Meadowhall was buzzing, and I was pleased that the shops were busy. Far too many jobs are at risk so I hope that retail doesn't die a death. We will just become a nation of warehouse pickers and delivery lorries.

@Ginfordinner

I get that some people hate shopping, but how many of you exclusively online shoppers will complain when city centres become crime riddled derelict no go areas because all the shops have closed?

It will be a real shame for the shop employees, and I hope (but won’t hold my breath) that the government provides adequate support. But I’m not going to force myself to spend my limited free time walking round shops in a mask, unable to try clothes on and having to follow nonsensical one way systems in the vain hope that I might keep a shop open.

Yep avoiding shops and doing everything online but thats not new ive been doing it since i had kids

I have supported cafes, shops, supermarkets, independents, our local town centre and shopping mall over the summer but the fact is that shopping is no fun anymore. Masks aside, it is extremely off-putting to walk into a shop and immediately be told to put hand gel on, or that you have gone the wrong way or that not all my family can come in yet/at all. Perhaps I don't live in a friendly area but there is rarely a Hello preceding this. I also don't live near a high street, so it's already a pain to get to one to have that experience.

It's not the shops' fault, but it's also not people's fault if they don't like shopping right now.

@Funkypolar

Only because I hate masks and standing outside in the rain. The death of the high street.

For this exact reason I shop online. High Street is over for me

Yes. I do everything on line apart from the local baker and farm shop both of which do a one in one out thing.

@Ginfordinner

I get that some people hate shopping, but how many of you exclusively online shoppers will complain when city centres become crime riddled derelict no go areas because all the shops have closed?

I am 100% with you in this, but the shops not stocking things as they were is the reason people are going online.

I am someone who refused to do online for a really long time and lockdown forced me. I realised how much more choice I had now. It’s a massive shame and I think right now is worse where there are long queues for the shops that are popular.

Where I am the local high streets have been dying pre covid sadly. Most shops replaced with coffee shops or charity shops. I also think a lot of people have been more conscious of only buying what they need which is killing the shopping experience as a whole.

I don’t have a car, so yes always shop online. Fingers crossed intensive driving starts again soon as it frustrating having few options.