This doesn't even count the three or four status updates that seem standard with any online order. The worst part, though, is getting the darn packages. When I worked at home and therefore had delusions that I would actually be able to answer the doorbell when the sun was high in the sky, the local UPS guy knew me as the woman who regularly and wildly chased him down on the street. Someone wiser than me once pointed out that until everyone has a lockable mailbox the size of your average meat locker, online shopping will continue to be a bother. And the freebies are running out.
Online sellers are under pressure to start turning a profit.
Until people have faster connections, more trust in online retailing, a better delivery method and stores come up with a more effective way of dealing with returns and order fulfillment problems, there's plenty of money to be made inside the bricks. I'll order online again, but not until memories of my book purchase gone awry have dulled. Hardly the latest best-seller. As I thumbed through Summit Avenue, I thought of the last time I saw her, in Harvard Square. The biggest thing missing from online selling is the random factor.