"Shopping Online" has been easy and the thing to do for quite a while, however many people are creatures of habit.
But force them to stay at home for 2-3 weeks and form new habits...

This could be a watershed event that gets millions of people hooked on buying things online (Amazon), using "curbside pickup" and grocery delivery, etc.

"Why didn't we do this earlier?" people will say.

I have often wondered this myself, I know so many people , mostly women personally who have already done just about ALL their shopping online and through Amazon. It is very easy and convenient. And quick. The packages seems to  arrive at your doorstep not long after your done completing the online purchase.Frankly, I'm surprised  most Americans weren't addicted to this convenience  a long time ago.

It seems they've been priming us for this for a long time now, I've been watching those monstrous Amazon  "distribution centers" go up all over the state recently and they're doing it for a reason. They're kind of like Walmarts was years ago, when the big box stores ran out the Mom and Pops off Main St, years ago. Now Amazon has "out-walmarted" Walmart. the big boxes and the malls, strip malls and galleries days are numbered, just like Main st went extinct, but this process will be much faster and you will have to transition much more quickly or YOU will go extinct.

Mark my words: brick and mortar will NEVER fully recover after Coronavirus. Not in a year, not in 2 years.

 Yes and no. Yes in the immediate for now. But, people will always yearn for the nostalgia to go in an establishment and have the touch and feel of the real thing and interaction with other people. It;s kind of like the restaurant business, bars and taverns. People will stay away until the hysteria of CV is over and the govt lifts the restrictions. Yes, a majority will still just "order out" or online dining, but eventually people will want to associate and mingle, it's our nature. It's the way God made us. You will not forever change the nature of man, God's inordinate  nature intrinsically instilled in us for fellowship.

To me I see this is an attack by the demonic world system. To get you to sell out to it in order for the temptation for the materialistic and conveniences of the technology and the world over faith, family and fellowship of your fellow human being.


They could not force-feed us into this for years, now they will try with this crisis to literally scare the crap out of us to comply with this inhuman, faithless, isolated existence. But, that is what the world system has been trying to do from the very beginning. We will have to eventually stand and fight back, like every other people where they've been dominated by some Godless, soulless world system or empire. 

f you study human history, you appreciate what I'm saying. Every revolution is built up for many years. Then a TRIGGER EVENT occurs -- the assassination of an archduke for example -- to set everything off. But things were building up for years before that. That's how history always works.

We already have lived through one, 911. I was at the epi-center and watched a lot of things change before my very eyes. We are also living in the same terror now, even worse with the unknown. I watched all commerce come to a halt and everyone was suspicious of everyone else, especially if you looked Arabic or M.E.. there was fear everywhere and I am seeing that now, especially fear of the unknown and now an "enemy" you can't even see. Perfect time for the system to make massive changes and implement laws, rules and dictates that they have been desperately trying to impose on the masses for years. So now, be prepared for everything in the world as you once knew it to change almost overnight and  with almost no opposition. Cause after all, it's for you're own good and safety. You will have to kind of just go along to get along. but try not to buy into the nonstop fear-porn from the media and some academia, medial and political. You will have to sit back and analyze the facts and critically think for yourself. And at some point, you will have to make a decision on whether you will sacrifice your principles, especially regarding your family and faith. these will not be easy times.

Mingling with other human beings is fine -- parties, restaurants, museums, sightseeing, church and church-organized activities, etc.

That is where I want to spend 100% of my "be with other humans" time. Shopping? I'd prefer to do 100% of it online. It's not FUN. Period. I want it to be as efficient as possible. If I could reduce the time spent shopping down to 1 minute a month I would do it. FOR YEARS ON END. But I'm a guy, so I'm 100% practical in that department. I don't shop for fun, diversion, or to escape boredom. Shopping is like picking up dog poop or some other nasty chore -- if I never had to do it, I'd be totally OK with that.

Mingling with other human beings is fine -- parties, restaurants, museums, sightseeing, church and church-organized activities, etc.

That is where I want to spend 100% of my "be with other humans" time. Shopping? I'd prefer to do 100% of it online. It's not FUN. Period. I want it to be as efficient as possible. If I could reduce the time spent shopping down to 1 minute a month I would do it. FOR YEARS ON END. But I'm a guy, so I'm 100% practical in that department. I don't shop for fun, diversion, or to escape boredom. Shopping is like picking up dog poop or some other nasty chore -- if I never had to do it, I'd be totally OK with that.

Put me in a gun store and I can spend an hour or so just looking at them!

Brick and mortar does cause extra overhead and, therefore, more money.  Of course, if Amazon gets a monopoly they could raise prices.

IF? They already have a monopoly on the book industry. I think that Amazon is waiting until they are bigger and more powerful before flexing their powers. Right now they are in the "low price" stage to put competitors out of business. Once Amazon takes over Europe and Asia (which hasn't happened yet), they will make their move. I'm hoping that the US Government intervenes by that point using antitrust laws.

I'll never order another thing from amazon. I'm going out of my way to order food in bulk locally and make whatever I can. I now pay $4 to make a gallon of the best yogurt I've ever eaten...
I know that me boycotting anyone wont make a difference but it definitely feels good to be getting everything I can locally. Also, try to support Azure Standard if they come to your town; family owned and great food! 
By the way, can someone tell me if Tom Nelson passed away? I remember him getting last rights but never saw an obituary. +

"Shopping Online" has been easy and the thing to do for quite a while, however many people are creatures of habit.
But force them to stay at home for 2-3 weeks and form new habits...

This could be a watershed event that gets millions of people hooked on buying things online (Amazon), using "curbside pickup" and grocery delivery, etc.

"Why didn't we do this earlier?" people will say.

People do a lot of things "just cuz" if it doesn't make a huge difference one way or the other.

But habits, once formed, are hard to break. Especially when those habits involve MORE convenience.

Mark my words: brick and mortar will NEVER fully recover after Coronavirus. Not in a year, not in 2 years. Amazon is just too convenient AND they have the lowest prices on many items. Ordering online has slowly become BETTER IN EVERY WAY over the past 10 years, but it took Coronavirus to coalesce the movement, to wake many people up, to bring things to a head.

If you study human history, you appreciate what I'm saying. Every revolution is built up for many years. Then a TRIGGER EVENT occurs -- the assassination of an archduke for example -- to set everything off. But things were building up for years before that. That's how history always works.

Coronavirus is "the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand" for brick-and-mortar stores.

And I for one welcome the Brave New World. I like convenience. I'm a busy man with 8 children, 5 acres, a full time job, and many side businesses, interests and hobbies. I don't have time for shopping. It's a huge chore. That's why I order everything on Amazon that I can justify (read: it's the cheapest, or tied for cheapest) My wife and I would buy even MORE things online if we weren't so frugal. But more and more, online is offering the lowest prices. The price premium disappears from more items with every passing month.

P.S. Amazon is hiring ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND new employees to meet new demand. In the meantime, 1-day shipping has become 3 days, and 2-day shipping has become 4 days.

For better or for worse Amazon is where it's at in terms of the JєωWorldOrder.  It appears to fit in perfectly with the cashless society, a society which will be welcomed by so many who will presumably have all their student loans wiped out, perhaps all kinds of consumer debt erased, and perhaps even mortgages wiped out all in exchange for a universal digital income controlled by Big Brother who will then know what you buy and sell and who you buy it from and who you sell it to along with the ability to reduce or even totally eliminate your access to such power at the click of a button, a click which for all practical purposes would be a click to end your life and the lives of those dependent upon you.

a universal digital income controlled by Big Brother who will [...] totally eliminate your access to such power at the click of a button, a click which for all practical purposes would be a click to end your life and the lives of those dependent upon you.

.
Indeed. One mouse click to send you from a comfortable, secure middle class life to instant beggary and homelessness. That is the nature and purpose of the cashless society.

I don’t see the problem.

I save a lot of time and money shopping online.  There’s better selection, too.

There are way too many stores anyway.  It’s a blight, really - out of control consumerism and capitalism.  Years ago I was in France and noticed the lack of commercial advertising.  There were stores of course, but no oversized loud signs in your face.  It made for a more attractive city.

Amazon’s monopoly is an issue.  But, as soon as they get fat and lazy and start selling at high prices and can’t provide fast shipping and good selection, other companies will fill the gap.  Just like what is happening to Sears and JC Pennys.

For now it is cheaper. Like everything else it won’t be.