From afternoons at the mall with friends to one-click purchases and next-day deliveries, shopping has changed forever. But has this change actually made us happier? Is convenience really king, or do we still love getting together and browsing the racks? We turned the online-vs-in-store question into a quick opinion survey to find out how people really prefer to shop.
Why we ran this survey
Online shopping has fast become the "normal" way many of us shop. One-click purchases, free returns, and endless choice have completely changed the game. We can order almost anything from anywhere, but has all that convenience actually made shopping better?
We wanted to find out how people really feel about the art of online shopping versus the thrill of in-store finds.
There’s no right or wrong answer. We all shop in different ways for different reasons. This survey lets you see whether your habits match the crowd, or whether you’re doing things your own way.
How people answered the great shopping debate
Here’s how thousands of people answered some of the biggest questions about how they shop.
How people answered
"Online shopping is better than going to a physical store."
"Free returns are the main reason online shopping is worth it."
"Shopping in-store is a better experience because you can see and touch products before buying."
"Social media ads have made me buy things I didn't actually need."
"Shopping malls will mostly disappear in the next 20 years because of online retail."
What our results say about the way we shop
The most stand-out response was that social media is influencing the way we shop, with many of us admitting we end up buying things we don’t actually need. Turns out the doom scroll can have real-world consequences for your bank balance!
There is also still a nostalgic place for shopping malls in our hearts. The near split on the future of shopping malls shows that we aren’t ready to give them up quite yet.
The key thing overall, though, is that while convenience is clearly winning in our busy modern lives, it’s not king just yet. People love the ease of online shopping, but there’s still a place for the touch-and-feel experience of a real store with friends. Turns out we’re all a little bit of both.
Want to see where you stand on more of life's big questions?
Take another GimmeMore survey and compare your opinions with thousands of others.
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