What have you bought during the confinement, and where have you purchased from?
The lockdown has brought a swift acceleration of our shift from purchasing instore to online, even avid online buyers have moved new categories online. We have been testing out a number of retailers – how their supply chain and customer service performs under pressure and the overall customer experience.
The clear winner is still… Amazon, although Argos coming in very quickly behind with their ability to collect in a couple of hours at one of the many Argos or Sainsbury’s pickup points. Big thumbs down to Curry’s who are often out of stock, impossible to reach on customer services – and sent me a faulty monitor the first time; loyalty is won and lost during a crisis, #CurrysFail.
Here are a few of the things we’ve been buying (disclaimer, some links will drive affiliate revenue).
Home Office
We started the lockdown during school holidays, so my first focus was getting the home office set up – after a week of huddling over the laptop, I realised that it was going to need something more serious
First on the list was a new monitor, in fact I bought 3, the first a 4K BenQ from Curry’s was faulty, the second a quickdelivery from Argos but only 1920×1080, and so finally a beautiful Asus 4k from Amazon. After worrying about whether I really needed speakers included, I added some Creative Pebble to make sure that I could really hear all of our Zooms!- Next I needed a webcam since no point looking back at the laptop – difficult on availability here, but finally went for a Logitech C920, the Brio is probably the best option today, but not necessary unless you want to sit waaaaay back.
- Keyboard & mouse were next, Apple style and quality too pricey, but this Jellycomb combo is pretty good, and fully rechargeable.
- Upgrading the furniture wasn’t critical, but a new desk and lamp have completed the setup.
Home Schooling
- Not part of the home office setup, but we quickly discovered that home-schooling 3 little rugrats involves a lot of printing, so the quickest delivery was an HP Envy 5020.
- And then DD#2 needed a tablet upgrade, and again Amazon with super fast delivery saved the day on this Samsung Galaxy Tab A.
Personal Grooming
- Lockdown wouldn’t be confinement if your hair didn’t grow twice as fast as normal – so last resort was these hair trimmers to get myself back under control (handled by experienced wife, of course!).
And, what’s next on the list?
Well, for one these two furry friends are warming up… and shedding, so I’m interested in a RoboVac (but we have a step which will surely hinder its ability to manoeuvre).
