Where Are All The Back To School Shoppers? Online

When I drove into my driveway yesterday afternoon after a day of meetings, I saw a package on the front door. It was my daughter's three pair of jeans that she had ordered from American Eagle. Yes, there are several American Eagle stores in Minneapolis, but she opted for her to purchase her back to college wardrobe, online.

She's not alone. The experts are saying the paradigm is shifting. From Seattlepi.com

Sixteen-year-old Emma Myers is an unwitting case study in the changing way that Americans shop for back to school.

"I don't really like to go to the mall. It's kind of boring and stressful," said the Sammamish teenager. "It seems more like a waste of time just to go all the way to the mall and browse."

[...]

Of the top 250 Web sites last month, Nordstrom's site was the fifth fastest-growing inthe U.S., increasing 37 percent to 5.2 million unique visitors in July compared with June, according to comScore Inc., which measures Internet activity. (Nordstrom's jump could be attributed to a companywide sale in July.)

"We know that a lot of customers will use the Web site as a tool, shop from it sometimes and then purchase online," Boyd said. "Other times, they use it to look at what came in, and then they come into the store and buy something they've been looking at."

There is an aspect of online shopping that few people discuss--the boxes.Can I just say I really don't like boxes.
Fortunately my daughter's jeans came in a mylar envelope, but typically online packages come in boxes.

So here's what happens in my house. I have to find the box cutter and then without fail the product has been packed with those annoying Styrofoam popcorn thingees.  Have you ever tried to dump that popcorn into the garbage can?
Not going to happen.

They escape. They float. And, they are not easy to gather up.They have lots of static electricity which makes them very clingy. Someone needs to create a device that will easily capture those Styrofoam popcorn thingees into a bag that goes right back to the recycling center.

Then there's the box itself. You have to flatten it and prepare it for the recycling company. Let's face it, usually I just take it to the box section in the garage( yes, when you are an online shopper you have to have a box section in your garage) where once I month ( this is optimistic) I go through all the shopping boxes with the box cutter, tie them up in string and haul them out for the recyclers.

Now, if I had Blue II the bulldog ,my box issues could be solved.

Tried to find out if the box industry is enjoying an uptick. Let's just say it's easy to buy a box online than to find out how box sales are trending. If you can find that information, please share!