I can never understand how people can
buy fashion apparels online without the physical contact with the garments and
fitting. There is no doubt that technological advancement has improved some
areas of our lives to a certain extent but have you even noticed the many downsides
to living in the digital age? For one, my eyesight has deteriorated drastically
as I spend most of my waking hours fixated on monitors and screens-laptops,
smartphones, tablets, LCD TV, etc… it is unprecedented that humans are exposed to
blue light to the point of irreversible eye damage.
As we are all ‘busy’ people, shopping
online seems to be a time-saver and a blessing especially before the festive
seasons start and during the sales period. Unfortunately, thanks to the return
policies offered to expedite successful e-commerce transactions, there are a
lot of wrong purchases, regrets, and hence returns when the orders that arrive
fail to match our expectations, the most obvious includes an ill-fitting size
or hue which is far from what you see online. Have you any idea how much of our
purchases are being returned and hence the financial and environmental costs
involved in the entire process? The returns don’t go back to the retailers’
shelves but end up in landfills, a huge and ever-growing environmental burden
which can no longer be ignored. The promise of the return policy encourages
customers to buy and indulge without giving much thought or planning.
There are so many different marketing gimmicks
used to entice customers to buy more, be it online or at a brick and mortar
store. Pop-ups are a hit recently (to test the water and saving long term
rental) and some retail shops have a strictly no fitting policy. To maximize
the turnover of their stocks, some of the shops allow customers a grace period
from 3 days to 4 weeks for return and exchange. As one of the victims who
succumbed to the fast fashion mentality, I have made numerous trips back to the
shops to exchange for something which turned out to be defected / plain wrong, and
I had to spend hours rummaging the racks for something of similar price (if not
more) which was not easy and ended up paying more (the price difference) for
something I didn’t even want or need in the first place. How ironic is that?!
And there are retailers using tactics
which are psychologically based to draw our attention in the vast sea of
consumerism. Have you ever walked into a shop only because of the big bold sign
that says: ‘Buy 1 less 10%, Buy 2 less 20%, etc…’, or ‘Buy 3 and get the 4th
free’? Why force yourself to pick out 3 items when all you need or want is one?
Is the ‘freebie’ really free and worth the extra purchases? Sounds too good to
be true right and you have already lost before the battle starts! Why would
anyone want to be on a shop VIP list only after you have made a certain amount
of purchases upfront to qualify for future discount of a meager 5%? Would the
shop even exist in a month considering the skyrocketing amount of rent forever
on the rise?
I have had an experience recently which
I wish to share with my readers in closing. Having been a market enthusiast all
my life, I found and bought a black slip dress of ideal length the other day
for less than the price of a coffee until I handwashed it and the pigment started
running so badly that it stained my hands! Imagine all the dye and chemical attached
to your skin (if you end up wearing it) and the water pollution that entails
from washing it in your machine…What I initially thought a bargain was money
totally wasted; and now I have to find a way to get rid of the stain… 2
