Shopping online has never been easier. Virtually anything you need can be ordered at the tap of a screen and delivered to your doorstep without you ever even having to leave the couch. While online shopping can sometimes lead to overspending, high shipping fees, or having to return products for various reasons, it also has its perks. Because of the pandemic, more people are shopping online for everything from groceries to car parts and soaps to bedsheets, and retailers have made it even easier for loyal customers to get great deals.
While some things should be purchased in a store, like groceries or large furniture items, there are many products that we just feel more comfortable buying online. Here are just a few of the things we prefer to head to our computers to buy.
1. Cannabis Products
As society learns to accept marijuana as a part of life and more states in the U.S. make recreational use legal, the marijuana industry has begun to thrive more than ever before. With dispensaries popping up all over the place, and many people turning to more natural forms of medicine, it was only a matter of time before we’d be able to have our weed delivered just as quickly and easily as ordering a pizza. By far the best way to do this is through weedmaps.com, which allows customers to search through local dispensaries in the cannabis industry by distance, by customer rating or price range, or for specific cannabis products. Shoppers can also look for local deals, read blogs written by the WeedMaps family, and find doctors nearby who offer medical marijuana prescriptions. Who ever thought that there would be data solutions for your weed needs? With this point of sale software, you can enjoy weed product discovery from the comfort of your couch.
While it’s easy and often cheaper to buy your bud using other means, buying from a dispensary means getting cannabis products that are safe and regulated, and also gives you a chance to try new things like CBD hybrids or buy pre-rolled joints, ointments, or edibles. This means you don’t have to worry about the legal status of your sale, and you can get all of your products in one convenient delivery.
2. Harnesses, Leashes, and Other Pet Products
It’s no secret that pet owners consider their pooches to be a part of the family—which often means ensuring that they have the best food, toys, and accessories on the market, whether that means organic dog food, comfy harnesses, solid leashes, or a trainer with years of experience working with pups like yours. If, for example, you’re looking for the best no pull dog harness for your pooch, Joyride Harnesses are your best choice for larger dogs and smaller dogs alike. Rather than putting too much pressure on your pup’s trachea with a traditional leash and collar, these lightweight harnesses wrap snuggly around your dog’s body for a more comfortable fit, with the leash clipping at the dog’s back. No messing with difficult buckles or front ring attachments. You simply slip on the harness, adjust the chest strap on your dog’s body, and go!
Not only are these harnesses great for training a perpetual puller, but they give better control overall regardless of your pooch’s breed, size, or age. Large dogs and small dogs alike can benefit from a no-pull harness with a snug fit. Plus, very purchase from Joyride Harnesses helps rescue dogs in need—which is definitely a win in our book.
3. Houseplants and Greenery
If you’re less of a pet person and prefer instead to fill your living space with plants, you don’t have to run down to the hardware store or local plant nursery every time you feel the need to add another plant to your collection. Whether you’re looking for beautiful African violets as a gift for your mother, or you’re dying to add a climber like English Ivy Glacier to your secluded patio, live plant delivery makes it easier than ever to get plants brought right to your door. This way you can add a different color to your living space and enjoy the greenery without going outdoors.
Lively Root offers dozens of different house plants in a variety of sizes, so whether you have a pro green thumb or you’re just starting your collection of plants, shopping here is a great option—especially if you like to stay home as much as possible these days.
4. Books
We have a lot more time on our hands these days, and many of us have chosen to spend these extra hours reading through our TBR stack. And while it might be cheap and convenient to order our books from Amazon, right now more than ever we need to support indie book stores over major corporations. This is why we’ve stopped buying our books on Amazon and switched to Bookshop.org for all of our literary needs. Wherever you are—from New York to Los Angeles and everywhere in between—this is a great option as a vendor for all your literary needs.
What makes Bookshop so great is that every single sale supports the indie bookstore industry as a whole. Since its launch in early 2020, Bookshop customers have helped raise over $8 million to support local bookshops—just by buying books! The site as a whole is very intuitive and easy to navigate; readers can search for specific bookshops to purchase from or simply look up a book and order it from Bookshop’s warehouse. And their affiliate program helps authors and booksellers make a commission from sales made through personally tailored recommendation lists.
So if we are keeping track, Bookshop.org helps: readers, by ensuring they have books while they social distance; authors, by offering commission and an alternative seller to Amazon; and, most importantly, the independent bookstore market, by donating nearly three-quarters of their proceeds to other vendors in need!
5. Electronics
We all know the struggle of buying a fun new gadget online and then having to wait impatiently for it to be delivered so we can use it. But sometimes the instant satisfaction of using your new phone, computer, or camera means that you miss out on great deals, and sometimes a wider range of gadgets to choose from. While retailers may offer a lot of options to choose from in person, there are often even more options and even better deals online.
When you go into a brick and mortar store to buy a device, you’re also paying for the labor and time of others. By buying from an online vendor, you cut out the middleman, and thus a percent of the price. And instead of making an appointment to shop for a device in a physical store, as many retailers are now requiring because of COVID, online shopping means you can shop whenever, from wherever, without having to rearrange your schedule. It also means that you can have tabs open and compare prices, specs, and any other factors that might go into choosing which device you ultimately purchase. So while you might have to wait a few days for your purchase to arrive, the constant refreshing of the tracking updates will be well worth the money you save in the long run.
Obviously, the way we shop is a little different nowadays. We no longer have the option to wait all night in the freezing cold for the release of the latest console or the next installment of our favorite game series. We can’t go into a cellular retailer and test out every phone in the room before settling on that perfect one. Dressing rooms in many states are closed, which means a lot of us can’t try on clothes before we buy them.
But this doesn’t mean that shopping has to be stressful or difficult. By shopping online, we reduce our exposure to COVID-19, as well as reduce the chance of exposing others. Essential workers, such as cashiers, stocking crew, and managers have one less person they will have to serve, and every person adds up; and we have a plethora of choices at the tips of our fingers. Now all you have to do is resist the urge to impulse buy.
