Tales of an ‘online‘ shopaholic
Shopping has completely evolved as COVID-19 has brought everyone to an online state of mind.
It’s morning.
Rather than the alarm you set last night, it’s your mother’s voice that wakes you up and makes you run downstairs in a rush. She sounds furious, you think, a second close to busting a vein that could end up disrupting everyone’s peaceful dreaming. You wonder what got her so worked up in the morning, but as soon as you see the familiar delivery guy in front of the door as you get to the last few steps of the stairs, realization finally settles inside your head.
You can’t help but smile sheepishly as you walk past her. “You! You ordered something again! How many more parcels are going to arrive here? Where are you getting all your money to spend on these things! This is too much!” She hollers using the tone you’re used to hearing, given that this is the fourth... or maybe sixth time this week that a package arrived without warning.
The rest of Mom’s dialogue remains
The rise of the coronavirus cases in the country comes with the surge of a homebound obsession: online shopping.
unheard when either the Lazada or Shopee delivery guy hands you the parcel. You sign the form happily along with a “Thanks, Kuya!” as if your mother isn’t yelling incoherently inside the house.
You take a deep breath before dashing from the front door to your room to avoid any more chastising from either your mom or the rest of your family who unceremoniously woke up because of you. The package safely arrived. You’ll deal with them when the next order arrives (which won’t be long, anyway).
The rise of the coronavirus cases in the country and the quarantine period came with the surge of a homebound obsession: online shopping. This is the kind of scenario Filipinos have grown
accustomed to as a way to cope or deal with boredom, anxiety and panic amid the global health pandemic. Call it by its popular term, “retail therapy.”
According to a study by the Journal
of Psychology and Marketing in May 2011, retail therapy is an effective way of improving one’s mood by “treating” oneself — whether it’s the new shoes you’re eyeing or the leather jacket that perfectly suits your taste. It’s a coping mechanism that distracts people from stressful and painful situations (ie. the COVID-19 situation.)
Especially in times of great distress, the temporary boost of serotonin that people get from shopping is from the sense of control and of the satisfying feeling of “regulating what we take into our lives,” Amy Morin, a psychotherapist and author of 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do said in an article on
Refinery29 last March 2018.
With the looming threat of the virus on everyone’s health, avid online shoppers say that clicking a few buttons online to order is more convenient and safer, as it prevents people from “going outside” and “contracting the virus.” There’s no need to go outside to get what they want or need when the wonders of the Internet are within one’s reach: there’s Lazada, Shopee, Zalora and the phenomenal increase of marketplaces and online sellers on various social media platforms.
Based on a Facebook 2018 Holiday Study, 50 percent of respondents prefer purchasing online to avoid the hassle of going out to their physical stores, which saves time and effort. Also in the same year, Facebook has cited that the younger generation has the most contribution to the 18 percent increase in mobile-first shoppers in the Philippines.
And no one’s to blame. People have their ways of dealing with stress, boredom and anxiety. And while online shopping can lead to a vicious cycle that empties one’s wallet without the owner realizing it or e-commerce is not as reliable as seeing the products firsthand — one’s happiness, even in the smallest of packages, can do a great deal amid uncertain times.
It’s three o’clock again. You’re usually wide awake at this hour of the day, the quarantine easily messed up your sleeping schedule. You’ve been staring at your laptop or cellphone screen for too long that it’s starting to hurt your eyes, fingers hovering on one button — one small movement can get you a new case for your phone. You ask yourself a few questions: would you do it? Yes. Would you endure another earful from your mom? Yes. Is it worth it? Definitely.
Add to Cart it is.