6 reasons to shop online

Laridae Claudia Itzwerth

The trend is toward online shopping

More and more people are shopping online instead of driving to local stores. This is illustrated by the sales figures in e-commerce, which have been rising exponentially since the 1990s.

There are also expert forecasts up to 2025 that show that more and more people will continue to shop online in the future and want to do so. To give you an overview: There are now around 120,000 online stores in Germany, and more are being added all the time.

Online shopping sales since 2001
Stoffe und Zubehör fürs Quilten

Demand and supply: local stores are (unfortunately!) dying out

While online retail is booming, local stores are slowly dying out. Terms like “store shrinkage” or “store death” often appear in the major media – they are very dramatic, but they also have a kernel of truth. Many stores and branches can no longer withstand the huge competition from online shopping, especially in rural areas where there are fewer customers anyway. Laridae was opened precisely for this reason – there is no store with patchwork fabrics within a radius of almost 60 km.

Because of Corona people buy more online

The phenomenon of “store shrinkage” existed before the pandemic, but was exacerbated by Corona. The lockdown disrupted supply chains, made raw materials unavailable or difficult to obtain, and retail 2G regulations eliminated a large share of potential customers for a long time (as of May 2022, just over 15 percent of +18 year olds are still not dually vaccinated). A large part of the German population also avoided shopping in stores for the sake of their health. Shopping online offered a fairly convenient alternative.

6 reasons why online shopping is becoming increasingly popular:

  • Due to increased gas prices, long drives to the nearest store have become expensive, especially in the countryside (and a good, accessible quilting store has to be found first)
  • Online there is much more choice and a better overview
  • Good price comparisons
  • Discount codes
  • Independent reviews and customer recommendations
  • Time saved

An online store for patchwork fabrics and quilting supplies?

The idea that the craft of quilting or patchwork is also increasingly becoming the focus of online shopping may seem strange at first glance. After all, patchwork and quilting is preceded by an intensive design process, where the choice of the right patchwork fabrics and materials is crucial. How does the fabric I want to buy feel? Is the quality good enough for me? Do the colors match the way I imagined? And most importantly, is an online store enough to satisfy me in these things?

The biggest advantage of local stores is the live experience. A survey by Profital found that 74 percent of respondents miss seeing and touching products the most – so a good online store must be able to compensate for this.

The advantages of Laridae

Laridae offers matching Bella Solids with many Fat Quarter bundles, with colors perfectly matched to the fabric per the color chart. This not only saves a long search, but also eliminates color matching errors. Moreover, well-known brands such as Anthology, Art Gallery Fabrics or Moda guarantee the quality of fabrics. And if you want advice, you can get it: just send a message via WhatsApp/email (insert number/email) to Tel. 0162 2050261 or info@laridae-quiltingshop.de and the consultation will follow!

Research and text: Helene Terese Itzwerth