Taylor FitzpatrickYou’re stuck at home, with nowhere to go, and have minimal reason to even wear something different than you did the day before.
But the promotional emails from all your favourite stores keep rolling in, now with sales up to 50% off. Hard to pass that up. But should you?
As we embark on our sixth week of social distancing and the closure of all non-essential businesses, shopping right now feels different.
On the one hand, businesses are taking a real hit by the forced closure of their storefronts and the overarching economic down swell. So, if you have extra spending money, by providing your business you’re doing a good thing and helping them out.
But on the other, our society is strife with over consumption, and it begs the question of, why are we still so pressured to consume even during a global health crisis? Isn’t a pandemic enough to warrant a pause in our gluttony?
If you’ve been spending anytime on your phone (like the rest of us), then you’ve likely noticed the spike in social media marketing.
Brands and businesses are flooding our feeds with creative ways to encourage our spending. I’ll admit it’s worked on me already.
I feel like I’ve been inundated with promotional emails, Instagram story sales, and beautifully curated posts that I started to feel like I truly did need those sandals.
Where am I going to wear them you ask? On my daily social distancing walk!
Justification at its finest here.
But it in all honesty, I did snag a few more things that one might deem unnecessary.
Conversely, with a lack of social engagements to attend, offices to show up to, or frankly anywhere to show off anything new you may have just bought, what is the point?
Hunkering down during this time and limiting your personal spending could lead to a pretty little savings pile by the end of it all.
It’s also a great time to get to know the items in your closet already and practice some minimalism.
At the moment, the retail world definitely feels like the wild online west. With sales abundant and online marketing peaking it’s hard not to jump into the madness.
So, if you are feeling like self-indulging, why not do so mindfully?
For starters, you can support the small businesses in your neighbourhood. For some of these stores, the loss of revenue over this period of time will be devastating, something they might not recover from.
In order to stay afloat, many have shifted online and are offering contactless delivery of their products.
Toronto thrift store, Chosen Vintage, has plenty of stylish and meticulously chosen vintage pieces and are currently selling dried flower bouquets too!
Additionally, Toronto intimate’s designer Knix recently raised $80,000 which they put towards purchasing 100,000 pieces of personal protective equipment for hospitals across Canada.
If you’re looking for skincare, the Vancouver company Riversol has organized a hand sanitizer donation program that you can contribute to. They’re selling personal hand sanitizers online for $5 and using all the proceeds toward funding donations to community organizations across Canada.
Vancouver based fashion company Aritzia is donating 20 percent of all online sales to a relief fund that supports their 3,000+ employees across Canada. To encourage support, they’ve marked down their typically high prices to 50% and under.
As so many companies are making a difference right now, it’s worthwhile to look into the brands that you’re shopping at before you buy.
Just by supporting the right businesses you can be making a difference too.
Don’t beat yourself up if you are looking to lightheartedly shop. If you can, and you want to, go for it.
Shopping can make us feel excited and take our minds off the reality of our world. Though maybe, as a recovering shopaholic here, that’s just something I tell myself to sleep better at night.
