Consumers in the US spend more money when doing the grocery shopping online, but spend less on sweets and desserts than when they shop in physical stores.

In recent years, online grocery shopping has grown massively. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the amount consumers spend through online shopping has more than doubled in the US.

Laura Zatz at Harvard University and her colleagues have looked at how people’s habits change when they’re spending in-store compared with shopping online. They hired 137 participants, who were regular consumers of two supermarkets in the US state of Maine. Each participant was the key shopper for their household, and they also had experience in shopping both online and in-store.

The researchers studied each participant for a total of 44 weeks and tracked what items they purchased. They collected data from a total of 5,573 transactions (交易), 1,062 of which were made online and 4,511 in-store. “They purchased more items when shopping online, both in terms of overall number of items but also a greater variety of unique items,’ says Zatz. On average, participants spent 44% more per transaction when shopping online than in-store.

The results show that people spent more money on sweets and desserts when shopping in-store, spending on average $ 2. 50 more per transaction. However, there was no difference in spending on sugary drinks.

It seems that in-store shopping attracts shoppers to unhealthier food choices. “When you’re shopping in-store, you’re facing all sorts of stimuli (刺激) that could make you more willing to buy unhealthy food groups when you might not have otherwise planned to,” says Zatz. Unhealthy food choices are often placed in supermarkets at the end of aisles(走道) and at checkouts, where you can easily see, touch or even smell the food.

“The findings could help consumers reflect on how to avoid unhealthy food purchasing choices, especially as complex marketing is coming online,” says Zatz. “Besides offering seemingly appealing discounts, online stores may follow physical stores in many ways. You can never be too careful when shopping online.”

Almost every day we come across situations in which we have to make decisions one way or another. Choice, we are given to believe, is a right. But for a good many people in the world, in rich and poor countries, choice is a luxury, something wonderful but hard to get, not a right. And for those who think they are exercising their right to make choices, the whole system is merely an illusion, a false idea created by companies and advertiser, hoping to sell their products.

The endless choice gives birth to anxiety in people’s lives. Buying something as basic as a coffee pot is not exactly simple. Easy access to a wide range of everyday goods leads to a sense of powerlessness in many people, ending in the shopper giving up and walking away, or just buying an unsuitable item that is not really wanted. Recent studies in England have shown that many electrical goods bought in almost every family are not really needed. More difficult decision-making is then either avoided or trusted into the hands of the professionals, lifestyle instructors, or advisors.

It is not just the availability of the goods that is the problem, but the speed at which new types of products come on the market. Advances in design and production help quicken the process. Products also need to have a short lifespan so that the public can be persuaded to replace them within a short time. The typical example is computers, which are almost out-of-date once they are bought. This indeed makes selection a problem. Gone are the days when one could just walk with ease into a shop and buy one thing; no choice, no anxiety.

A textbook exchange is a business that buys and sells college textbooks. Textbooks can represent a significant part of a student’s education budget. By purchasing used textbooks or selling unneeded books to a textbook exchange, students can reduce their expenses significantly. 【小题1】Today, online textbook exchanges offer the service to nearly all locations.

Unlike the textbooks used in public education courses, college textbooks are required by only a small percentage of the university student population. These textbooks are often written by famous experts in a given field and sometimes by college professors themselves.【小题2】

Traditionally, university bookstores were the only sources for required textbooks. The success of bookstores that buy and sell used books inspired some businesses to copy the process for textbooks. A textbook exchange will purchase textbooks from students who have completed courses and no longer need the materials. 【小题3】 This can benefit students who are struggling to meet their tuition and living expenses.

Textbook exchanges on the Internet can accept used books from students anywhere in the world and deliver them almost anywhere through standard package delivery services. 【小题4】 They can compare prices on a national or even international level and choose the most reasonably-priced editions.

【小题5】 In addition to easing the financial burden on their fellow students, the business also gives the students experience in business skills, such as doing online marketing, analyzing pricing structures, and maintaining profit margins (利润).