Shopping habits.

We used to travel to Little Rock several times a year, usually just to “go shopping.”  With a wider variety of stores there, there more of a selection of whatever we were shopping for.  On occasion, we would venture to Fort Smith, which is a little further from us than Little Rock.

These days, there is more available locally than back then or, if we are to travel elsewhere, in Conway, which is about half the distance of Little Rock.

I don’t mind shopping for most things, but I usually detest shopping for clothes, which, because of available sizes, is  generally a struggle.

I’m a big guy.  Most stores carry few, if any, shirts that fit me well and even fewer that I like.  Sometimes, they’ll have pants in the right size and style.  Even then, I have to search just to find a pair or two to try on.

A few weeks ago, we went to Little Rock, mainly to get out for the day, but, also, to do a little shopping for new “business casual” work clothes.

I found one shirt and two pairs of slacks that I liked and that fit.  The shirt was from the “big and tall” section of the store, but, even there, it was an effort to find just one.  Usually, I’m on the lower end of sizing for “big and tall.”

I was also looking for shoes, but the one style I liked wasn’t available in my bigfoot size.  I scanned the bar code into my smart phone so that I could order the shoes later online.

While I still needed more work clothes, I was done for that day.  My older work clothes were getting a bit ragged, but there are several pair that were good enough for a while – and I just wasn’t up to searching (shopping) for more clothes.

Weeks later, I still hadn’t gotten around to shopping for the rest of my work clothes.  Since I liked the one shirt found in Little Rock, I checked to see if it was available online – and it was, so I ordered several more in various colors.

That was easy! – and so much easier than trying to find my size and choice of clothing in stores that, the next day, I ordered slacks and jeans.

The digital revolution has certainly changed shopping habits and led to the demise of many retail shops.  It’s been many years since music stores were common in malls – almost all of our music purchases have been digital downloads for at least the last seven years.  Because of Amazon and other online book sellers, most small book stores have closed as have some large ones.  We both have kindles, so visits to bookstores are now very infrequent.  We shop locally for most other purchases.  However, specific products are often easier to find and order online and can often be delivered in just a few days, often without any shipping charges.  It wasn’t that long ago that long distance purchases – generally through catalog sales – took several weeks for delivery.

How have your shopping habits changed?

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