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| Use deferred shopping (home delivery) to save time. |
Personally, I find that I really like shopping this way. I can compare prices across multiple retailers and even against Amazon to find the best deal. But what I really love is the free in-store pickup option. You save a ton of money on shipping regardless of how much your order is.
The only problem I have with in-store delivery is that I have to wait a few hours up to 2 days to pick up my item even if it's already in the store. That is because I have to wait for my merchandise to be specially loaded onto a truck from a distribution center.
Companies like Target, Wal-Mart, and K-Mart have huge warehouses that send out trucks every day to their local stores. This way the stores only keep as much merchandise on hand as they think they will sell in the next few days.
I call this "deferred shopping" because you wait until your merchandise is ready before you go visit the store. Since you have already paid online you don't have to worry about finding what you want or standing in a long line of customers.
Now you may have to stand in a long line if you go at the busiest time of the day but you can pick up your merchandise at any time after the truck has delivered it. That means you can visit the store when they have fewer customers to take care of.
Every time I have tried deferred shopping I have been able to find great prices and get into and out of the store really fast. I just can't believe it took so long for the retailers to set up these systems.
If you're thinking only Amazon for your online purchases, check out some of the other stores before you make that purchase. You just may find that you'll save both time and money.
