by Elizabeth M Young

Created on: September 08, 2010

The latest trend in marketing is to actually alter perceptions of reality by repeatedly and relentlessly publicizing "facts" about the overwhelming number of people who have abandoned real world shopping for on line shopping. Add into that the manufactured perception that anything online is cheaper for a variety of reasons and we have a giant misconception going on.

There are more than enough savvy and frugal shoppers who actually go through their third class mail and their local newspapers, for one thing. In those print ads and flyers are bargains that are rarely, if ever matched on line. By the time that shipping, wait time, condition upon arrival and other monetary and non monetary costs are considered, many consider shopping local and real world shopping to be far superior to taking chances with on line retailers.

Second, for major purchases, even of items that are $100 or more, there are not a lot of crazy discounts on line. The prices for a Casio keyboard, or a steam vacuum, for example, are not vastly different between E-bay, other online sites and a local retailer, even when free shipping is offered.

Third, catalogue shopping may have left the printed book behind for the website, but the same loyal customers are buying the same products from the same supplier, often without any big change in price or benefits that make online shopping cheaper than catalogue shopping.

Fourth, when it comes to comparing overhead, simply walk through a department store and see if there are crowds of staff, waiting on us hand and food. Between personnel cuts, branch closures, store consolidations, more efficient inventory databases and inventory management and even connections with the online counterparts, physical plant overhead is not as high as it once was and may not be any higher than the costs of managing central warehouses, then shipping or reshipping goods.

Add in the discount, overstock, liquidation, thrift store donations and other distributions of excess goods, it is not so bad in the real worlds these days. 

 Shoppers are discovering "Big Lots" and the "99 Cent Store" chains. Thrifty people are realizing that Goodwill branches will often sell brand new goods that are written off by major chains. Membership stores like Costco and Sams Club, that offer member exclusives and bulk discounts for a relatively small annual fee are also doing well. 

After all, a lot of E-Bay and other auction site sellers get their goods from Goodwill, garage sales and other sources, then mark them up for online sales! These are cases where real world shopping is much cheaper, ironically by cutting out the online auction middleman!

While the perceptions of reality promise increasing bargain hunting or even egregious spending at online sites, the actual reality is that the real world has adapted and has become highly competitive with the virtual world by offering many more benefits, such as ability to personally examine, return, and to get items quickly and locally.

Finally, there is a vast number of people who only buy the necessities of life, who enjoy browsing in a real store or who are loyal to their favorite stores and chains. Many of these people are not inclined to wait for food, clothing, a new toaster oven or even a great new outfit to come in the mail when they can get it immediately and at a cheaper cost in a local store. And that includes people who get their coupons online, then head to a real world store to buy an item!

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