Everybody Is Doing Their Holiday Shopping Online Because Malls Are Terrible

RIP mall. (Photo: Flickr)

Let's be blunt: malls terrify us. There's dealing with the parking, the hour-long wait at the Cheesecake Factory (no we're not sitting at the bar like heathens) and don't get us started with the teens circling around the Wok N Roll samples like vultures. And apparently, the rest of America is starting to realize that because more and more people are doing their holiday shopping online.

The Seattle Times reports that online retailers are, *cough,* cashing in as new data reveals that they're growing more quickly than their brick-and-mortar competitors. According to retail analysts, holiday sales now account for 40 percent of shopping done online--almost double from 2012.

There's a myriad of reasons why this is happening. First, there were six fewer days to have panic attacks during the shortened holiday shopping season, so consumers figured that shopping online was more convenient. Second, the recent rash of wintery blasts forced people to stay inside and huddling with their laptops for warmth. Lastly, there were no "hot" gifts this year, which led shoppers to search around the Internet for deals.

Amazon, which doesn't release holiday figures until after, packed the worst punch to area retailers. Features like two-day shipping, an easy return policy and Amazon Prime worked in stopping consumers from stepping outside to deal with the hell that is the mall. (Just wait until its drones are launched!)

The newspaper reports that Amazon also experienced a burst in traffic the day after, which incidentally was Cyber Monday, its report on 60 Minutes aired. An analyst adds:

We'll be holding a seance for our ratty Aeropostale clothes if anyone is interested next week.