Is online shopping ok during a lockdown?

Whiling alway all these isolated hours it’s no wonder that our minds drift into thinking of  how to brighten life up for ourselves and our loved ones when we are stuck inside for such a long, uninterrupted periods! So, you gather a few little treats in an online shopping basket and you’re about to check out but then you suddenly think ‘Is this sort of shopping ok during a lockdown? Is it safe for me? Is it safe for the people who pick and pack my order? Is it safe for the delivery drivers?’

If you’re shopping with More Than Just a Gift, we can reassure you. It’s about as safe as it can possibly get! All our wonderful team of staff are safely furloughed at home (and very much missed). In the meantime, Sophie & Simon (aka Mr & Mrs MTJAG) have stepped into the breach. It’s hard work and long hours yes, but definitely worth it to help our customers, and keep our business afloat, through this time. 

Between us, we are able to pick all your orders from our stockroom, accessed only by us, and pack them in our packing area which is also completely isolated. We keep our standards of hygiene scrupulously high and wash our hands throughly and regularly. We deliver as many local orders as possible ourselves, so no one else has to handle them, making sure we always stay at least 2m away from anyone. For orders further afield, our dpd collections and drop offs are all contactless, and dpd have strict protocols in place throughout their delivery chain to keep everyone as safe as possible.

So shopping with us is definitely safe and experts confirm, online shopping through lockdown is not only ok, it can be highly beneficial to people’s mental health. Ann Gallagher, professor of Ethics and Care at the University of Surrey. “Families and friends who can’t be close to each other may wish to express their love by sending gifts and cards,  making sure people feel connected and cared for.”

Ratula Chakraborty, professor of Business Management at the University of East Anglia says online shopping not only boosts everyone’s morale, but also helps the economy. “It’s important for this kind of economic activity to continue while it’s safe to do so,” she says. “This isn’t just for the sake of the economy, but for the spirits and wellbeing of households who will continue to have needs to make purchases.”

Chakraborty says that during this period of lockdown, the freedom and pleasure from buying goods online might go some way to counter the feeling of being prisoners in our own homes, and cut off from the commercial world we know, and probably miss.

Online shopping is also the only way many small businesses can continue to operate. Indies have been hard hit by the shutdown and many will struggle to survive through the challenge. If we want our towns, villages and high streets to have a diverse range of independent shops and businesses in the future then we have to support them as much as we can now. So please do keep using every independent business that you can right now.