Shopping in my area has become an arms race over the years. I remember when I would be standing outside Staples, head over to Circuit City… and still get all the deals. Then the lines started. Getting in the first ten slots was easy. Now, I drive over and find the spot in line outside Best Buy that I was in just last year at 1 AM… was taken by 4 PM.

Thanks to online ordering though, this year has been a success… but the real shocker is how few people are taking advantage of it!

At Circuit City, I was one of less than 10 in the first hour to pick things up ordering online. Now, in fairness… I didn’t need to, I could have picked them up tomorrow. But, I certainly didn’t wait in line either.

Office Depot was probably the quiet surprise of the year, most of the Black Friday trackers missed it. Sure, it had the DSC-S700 everyone else had for $99, but it also had 5.8 GHz phones for $5 AR, and APC-brand UPSes for $20 AR.

Thanks to the online buying, I’m done a whole three hours early… but I fear the future. I can see everyone buying online, and picking up in-store, to become a mess with pickup lines stretching out-and-around stores…