We are becoming exceedingly spoilt, with all the options available at our fingertips. More confused, perhaps, and less tolerant. And very, very spoilt.
I remember when I discovered Myntra a year ago (and with it, opened the door to online shopping). For several days, Myntra had been tormenting me with their ads in TV. Finally I decided: let me just try. Once. The star attractions were ‘cash-on-delivery’ and ‘30-day return’. Then, you know how Myntra pampers us with all their attention and their warmth and their SMS-es: ‘Your order is packed,’ ‘Your order has checked in,’ ‘Your order is now getting its security clearance,’ ‘Your order has boarded and is now switching off,’ ‘Your order has now landed’, ‘Your order is picked up by the delivery guy, he has just stopped for a cup of tea and will be on his way soon!’ ‘Your order and the delivery guy are turning in at your gate,’ ‘Your order is right outside your door – ting tong!’ And you feel as though you have just hit the ‘purchase’ button when the delivery guy knocked on the door – the delivery guy with his pleasant smile and bowing to the ground ‘Thank you Madam’ and everything. And what’s more, the two kurtas were even better than I had hoped for.
Forget the confusion arising from a million kurta options - we can wallow in confusion for hours - it's so much fun (and probably healthy). We can even dream throughout the night of wallowing in kurta-confusion, what better dreams can you hope to have?
Some time later, I purchased something on Flipkart. (No, I was still a loyal Myntra-buyer, but some products could only be bought on Flipkart.) After the process was over, I called up my friend and whined, “They charged Rs.40 for delivery, and took one week to deliver.”
“You are spoilt,” she said. “If Rs.40-and-one-week-delivery was the only option available, you would have said, ‘This service is amazing, I don’t even have to budge from my home, they deliver it to my door within a week!’ But now that you have experienced something better, you will never settle for anything less. And it only gets better and worse. One service gets better in your eyes and the others become worse, in comparison.”
True, I thought. Not far off was the time (well, it is a little far off in technological time scale – a couple of decades or so ago) when my parents took me to buy dresses for special occasions or festivals. There were about two shops in Trivandrum that we frequented. They offered dresses that were affordable and comfortable, with bored, uninterested sales people and limited options. I would pick one because I had to, not because I was excited with it. And it was okay – something was better than nothing. Once, the kurta I chose was slightly damaged, but we never bothered to return it or anything, thinking of all the trouble we would have to go through for a mild stitching defect.
Yes, indeed, I had become spoilt with all the options thrown at me - door delivery, unimaginable discounts, cash on delivery, return and exchange policies, complaint resolutions, customer pampering, and so on - that I could not tolerate any lapse or neglect from their side. I am the customer, and I am always right. And totally spoilt. Where's my candy?
I remember when I discovered Myntra a year ago (and with it, opened the door to online shopping). For several days, Myntra had been tormenting me with their ads in TV. Finally I decided: let me just try. Once. The star attractions were ‘cash-on-delivery’ and ‘30-day return’. Then, you know how Myntra pampers us with all their attention and their warmth and their SMS-es: ‘Your order is packed,’ ‘Your order has checked in,’ ‘Your order is now getting its security clearance,’ ‘Your order has boarded and is now switching off,’ ‘Your order has now landed’, ‘Your order is picked up by the delivery guy, he has just stopped for a cup of tea and will be on his way soon!’ ‘Your order and the delivery guy are turning in at your gate,’ ‘Your order is right outside your door – ting tong!’ And you feel as though you have just hit the ‘purchase’ button when the delivery guy knocked on the door – the delivery guy with his pleasant smile and bowing to the ground ‘Thank you Madam’ and everything. And what’s more, the two kurtas were even better than I had hoped for.
Forget the confusion arising from a million kurta options - we can wallow in confusion for hours - it's so much fun (and probably healthy). We can even dream throughout the night of wallowing in kurta-confusion, what better dreams can you hope to have?
Some time later, I purchased something on Flipkart. (No, I was still a loyal Myntra-buyer, but some products could only be bought on Flipkart.) After the process was over, I called up my friend and whined, “They charged Rs.40 for delivery, and took one week to deliver.”
“You are spoilt,” she said. “If Rs.40-and-one-week-delivery was the only option available, you would have said, ‘This service is amazing, I don’t even have to budge from my home, they deliver it to my door within a week!’ But now that you have experienced something better, you will never settle for anything less. And it only gets better and worse. One service gets better in your eyes and the others become worse, in comparison.”
True, I thought. Not far off was the time (well, it is a little far off in technological time scale – a couple of decades or so ago) when my parents took me to buy dresses for special occasions or festivals. There were about two shops in Trivandrum that we frequented. They offered dresses that were affordable and comfortable, with bored, uninterested sales people and limited options. I would pick one because I had to, not because I was excited with it. And it was okay – something was better than nothing. Once, the kurta I chose was slightly damaged, but we never bothered to return it or anything, thinking of all the trouble we would have to go through for a mild stitching defect.
Yes, indeed, I had become spoilt with all the options thrown at me - door delivery, unimaginable discounts, cash on delivery, return and exchange policies, complaint resolutions, customer pampering, and so on - that I could not tolerate any lapse or neglect from their side. I am the customer, and I am always right. And totally spoilt. Where's my candy?
Haha excellent, online shopper ! You have got company ! :D
ReplyDeleteTruly said that "We are becoming exceedingly spoilt, with all the options available at our fingertips. More confused, perhaps, and less tolerant. And very, very spoilt." When there are plenty of options, it is also bad for us...
ReplyDeleteIn this era where options are available at fingertips and there is less physical activity, we should try to invest saved time into yoga/gym/swimming/brisk walking/trekking etc. etc. : )
ReplyDelete