What`s App shopping

I was visiting a friend on a social call. While I was in conversation with the friend`s wife, her mobile started ringing. She excused herself and  when she returned after 15 minutes  she looked excited. It seems the call was from her sister in Mumbai, who had called   her on the family `s What`s App group, so that she could get her approval on the sari that she was going to present her on the wedding of her sister`s daughter. `You know , she showed me several saris to choose from , on the video…I could decide on what I wanted. . It was so nice of her`. A good idea which ensures that you present what people like instead of thrusting  something  which the recipient may not like.

Suddenly I remembered that I had also done something similar when I was shopping for a sofa set at an `Interiors Design` exhibition at a popular exhibition Hall. Prompted by my daughter  I sent photographs of a few sofa sets I had identified on our Whats App group, indicating their price range. My daughter whom I respect for her Taste for interior designs,  helped me choose the right sofa set for my home .

This is different from online shopping. I call this `What`s App shopping`! In the case of Online shopping, you go through a whole set of photographs of the different brands of the product you are looking for online and then  make up your mind depending on the best deal on offer.  While in `Online shopping` you don`t  get to physically touch & feel the product,  `What`s App shopping`  involves both physical shopping combined with an online decision. Some one is physically inspecting the product and another person is taking the decision.

I had a pleasant surprise from my son, an ardent online shopper,  a day before Diwali this year.He had ordered  ten  `Brownies` chocolate sweet boxes for distribution,  based on what he saw on the brand`s website. In my keenness to find out what was inside,  I tried to open a box. He stopped me. He showed me the different shots of the contents in the box by opening the webpage of the brand, based on which he had ordered  ten boxes containing assorted pieces with different flavours.  No touch & feel, no tasting. Look and order. That is what the younger generation believes in. This idea is extended by them to even  choose a life partner, in some cases.

My late wife would  have never allowed such shopping. An avid shopper for saris and jewellery,  she believed in visiting several shops , trying out several pieces , before deciding on a particular item.  Invariably, she would have second thoughts  on her choice when she went to pay and at the cash counter found another customer`s choice more attractive. She will start the process of selection all over again. That is not the end of the story. After returning home when she went around showing her new acquisition to friends & relatives, even if  one person made a negative comment she would decide  to visit the shop again and exchange the item for another piece.  In the forty years of our married life I had seen her exchanging hundreds of items, before she was satisfied. The only thing she could not exchange was her husband as  she belonged to the older generation . Unlike  the younger generation of today , many of whom decide to go for a divorce  at the first sign of incompatibility and marry again

.

This article appeared in the 24-30^th March, 2019 issue of Adyar Times under my column `Rajan`s Random Reflection`

Feedback welcome on rvrajan42@gmail.com or 9840392082