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Shopping Sucks Now

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Re: Shopping Sucks Now

#101

Post by qrbLPHiKpiux »

egypturnash wrote: post #12

When I was living in the PNW and realized I direly needed gloves, I just hit up a few of the department stores downtown until I found some that met my criteria. Which are probably similar to those of this author, I wanted some that looked cute, had a conductive patch on the finger so I could use my phone without taking them off, would fit on my long hands with long fingernails, and weren’t super expensive gloves desi…

At Sam's Club today, eyeing a watch. Waiting for associate to let me see it. Open Amazon, read reviews. Over $20 less on Amazon. Asked if Sam's price matches.

> No.

In two taps, right in front of her, ordered it.

Said she understood. Thanked her for showing it to me.

Re: Shopping Sucks Now

#102

Post by dredmorbius »

Barry Schwartz, "The Paradox of Choice"

https://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_the_paradox_of_choi...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paradox_of_Choice

There are also:

1. The issues with online misrepresentation and fraud.

2. The limited amount of information (far from perfect as TFA asserts) of online shopping. Heck, half the time you cannot even limit a results set to the product you're interested in, rather than a slew of vaguely associated items). Fit, finish, and quality can often only be assessed directly in person.

Re: Shopping Sucks Now

#103

Post by rsa4046 »

pkilgore wrote: post #28

If you're interested in a deeper treatment of these issues check out the 2004 book [1] The Paradox of Choice. Some interesting notes from follow-up research [2]: > In a meta‐analysis of 99 observations (N = 7202) reported by prior research, we identify four key factors—choice set complexity, decision task difficulty, preference uncertainty, and decision goal—that moderate the impact of assortment size on choice overl…

+1 I'd forgotten Paradox of Choice. So true

Re: Shopping Sucks Now

#104

Post by Pxtl »

Imho, the problem is Amazon and how everybody is aping them. Every store is now also a bazaar with infinite combinations of functionally-anonymous brands hawking indistinguishable Chinese plastic.

I want a e-store where somebody has taken an editorial role in curating their crap. I used to be a habitual researcher and I'm completely burned out on the process.

Re: Shopping Sucks Now

#105

Post by taurath »

This is the tomato sauce problem. There are too many tomato sauces on most store shelves to ever be satisfied with what you select. You would be happier given how unimportant tomato sauce is relatively in your life, to have but one choice. More choice is not always better.

Re: Shopping Sucks Now

#107

Post by chewz »

smacktoward wrote: post #32
egypturnash wrote: post #12

When I was living in the PNW and realized I direly needed gloves, I just hit up a few of the department stores downtown until I found some that met my criteria. Which are probably similar to those of this author, I wanted some that looked cute, had a conductive patch on the finger so I could use my phone without taking them off, would fit on my long hands with long fingernails, and weren’t super expensive gloves desi…

I think the key to the article can be found in this passage: > [T]he problem is that now, somewhat suddenly, perfect knowledge of the perfect glove, for you specifically, exists, if you simply do enough research. When you're shopping in a physical store, you have no expectation that you're going to find the absolute, one-and-only perfect glove (or whatever) in the world for you. Even in the largest stores, you unders…

> > [T]he problem is that now, somewhat suddenly, perfect knowledge of the perfect glove, for you specifically, exists, if you simply do enough research.

> When you're shopping in a physical store, you have no expectation that you're going to find the absolute, one-and-only perfect glove

Tinder for gloves problem sort of? The misleading impression of infinite possibilities on the Internet. In real life you optimize for local maximum only

Re: Shopping Sucks Now

#108

Post by ghaff »

smacktoward wrote: post #32
egypturnash wrote: post #12

When I was living in the PNW and realized I direly needed gloves, I just hit up a few of the department stores downtown until I found some that met my criteria. Which are probably similar to those of this author, I wanted some that looked cute, had a conductive patch on the finger so I could use my phone without taking them off, would fit on my long hands with long fingernails, and weren’t super expensive gloves desi…

I think the key to the article can be found in this passage: > [T]he problem is that now, somewhat suddenly, perfect knowledge of the perfect glove, for you specifically, exists, if you simply do enough research. When you're shopping in a physical store, you have no expectation that you're going to find the absolute, one-and-only perfect glove (or whatever) in the world for you. Even in the largest stores, you unders…

It's one reason I like sites like Wirecutter and related. It doesn't necessarily work for categories where I have very specific opinions about what I like and don't like. But if I want a trowel, a USB hub, or whatever utilitarian object, I'll probably just order one of their recommendations and be done with it--and it will probably be just fine.

Re: Shopping Sucks Now

#109

Post by sofal »

stevenwliao wrote: post #34

Shopping sucks less now. Wider selection and more transparent information means that you can make a better choice today. If the author stops looking for the absolute best item, they'll find that it's a great world for the satisficing consumer. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/satisficing.asp

The wider selection is very often knockoff, quasi-fraudulent garbage dressed up in fake reviews that will drown out most of the transparent information you were hoping to find.

Re: Shopping Sucks Now

#110

Post by AnimalMuppet »

basseq wrote: post #54
Retric wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Consistent quality is the entire point of brands. Find a soap you like and you can mindlessly get the same thing for the next 20+ years. Which also generally means you can pick a random brand and not end up with junk as long as trust the supply chain. The issue is when you want something different than the millions of other people out there. Sure, things change and the quality may slip, but there is only so much time…

That's kind of the point, though. Supply chains are becoming more transparent and accessible to the end customer, so in 2020, you have a much better chance of going "directly to the source" than you did 20 years ago. So the FOMO is paying a brand markup for consistent quality you could get for less. Then you have "established" brands that are just trying to maximize profit. And "new" brands that are just AliExpress r…

30 years ago, there were 10 options, but the information was hard to get. Now, the information is right there, but there are 1000 options. Does it now take less time, or more?
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