Six-Year-Old Orders Almost $400 Worth of Toys

A note from Jim:

Blake Atwood is an editor, ghostwriter, and wordsmith who helps writers tell better stories, choose the right path to publication, and know how to best market their words. He has a degree in English from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas.

He tells me that he was once featured in the Wall Street Journal because he used the word albatross in a blog post. (I’m not sure how that happened . . .) He is a gifted editor and communicator; I am sure you’ll appreciate his article today.

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Would you shop at Walmart in a “virtual showroom”?

The company recently applied for intellectual property patents that would allow VR headset owners to browse their store shelves via virtual reality. The experience may still be years away, but Walmart is working on this VR experience to woo consumers away from their chief rival, Amazon.

However, as Katelyn Lunt has proven, Amazon has achieved their preferred consumer status by making the shopping experience so simple a six-year-old can order almost $400 worth of toys from her mom’s account.

Of course, Katelyn wasn’t supposed to order that much.

She just wanted to check her mom’s computer for the delivery date of a Barbie her mom had ordered as a reward for doing chores. But how could Katelyn refuse the allure of Amazon presenting dozens of other Barbie-themed items to her?

A few clicks later–including checking the box for two-day shipping–Katelyn had ordered herself a rather large collection of Barbies. The photos accompanying the article, with Katelyn grinning in front of a tower of delivered boxes, speak volumes about her feelings on the outcome.

What really matters

Closer to home, I recently spent time with my Fortnite-playing eleven-year-old nephew. We discussed his interests, which, unsurprising to most any parent with a preteen boy, centered on gaming.

I also spoke with my twin teenage nieces, casually asking them about the rules their parents had set for texting….