I went back to Uniqlo today to pick up my hemmed pants, and also to use the remaining credit I had. After trying on a few items, I settled on a pair of drawstring linen shorts. I figured these would be nice and light for our upcoming summer trips to Mexico and South Asia. I also picked up some pants for Kaia to grow into and some slippers (not sure why, but these slippers made me really happy, much to my husband’s annoyance for slippers and my purchasing more things).

When I went to the pickup area for my pants and to buy, I realized that the entire purchasing process is completely different than it was the last time I entered a Uniqlo. There were about six self-checkout counters and only 1-2 attendants monitoring to help. Instead of individually scanning each item, all I had to do was dump all my items into the “box” that had a scanner by the screen, and the box would automatically read the item, how much it cost, and then ask me to pay. I downloaded the app for a discount, scanned my phone for my membership number, and then used Apple Pay to complete the purchase. It was that simple and easy. No fussing with the tags or bar codes. No ambiguity. It was fast and straightforward.

I felt like a bit of a dinosaur walking out of the store. It’s really been THAT long since I’d made an in-store clothing purchase. And this is what purchasing clothes in person is like now?!