THE COCKLES OF MANY A direct marketer’s heart were warmed this winter by online shopping’s reported fortunes. Doubtless some of the increase in business reflects the public’s ever-growing comfort with online commerce, and some of it reflects rank opportunism. For instance, in December Web-based DMers took advantage of a transit strike in New York by offering stranded, panic-stricken gift buyers expedited delivery.
But the rise in online shopping has a dark side. Every step toward a fully Web-based holiday season heralds the decline of a time-honored family tradition. I speak of the bonds formed between a grandparent and grandchild as they hit the bricks
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