I like to shop, but hate to go shopping. Does that make sense? The crowds, the picked-over items, and knowing that flu and cold germs are lurking on everything I touch.

That’s the problem—The little kid in me wants to touch everything, even stuff I don’t want to buy! Whether it’s a bright red cashmere scarf for a velvety plush doggie toy, those textures make my fingers reach out.

Online shopping is perfect for us retail aversionistas, except for the touchy-feely side of me people like me. So if you sell products online, how do you get around the research that says customers who psychically touch items while shopping reportedstatistically significant higher of perceived ownership?

By making just a few tweaks, your website can get folks like me to browse and almost touch! Here a few tips:

Let me see.. If I can’t see what I’m buying, I’m not buying. If your photo is large enough to show texture, I can imagine what that fabric, stone, jewelry or container feels like.  Consider adding flash or javascript that allows us to hover over the photo and see small details.  If you can give me multiple photos or angles, or show your product in various color choices—even better.

Let me roll the video. I love those 360 degree views on real estate sites that allow me to see an entire room as if I’m slowly circling around. You can even have a sales person or customer share a testimonial or product demonstration.

Let me play. Demos of your software products or apps are great, as long as I don’t have to be on your mailing list. I’m just looking to see if your product is right for me.

Set the mood. Is your website inviting me to linger? If you have warm colors and vibrant messages, I might stick around and shop awhile. Store owners do the same thing with their frequent display changes. Bring me some interesting textures and movement in your web design to invite me in.

Final tip: If in the future someone ever invents a Cinnebon aroma for website applications, jump on it right away!

I remember when brownish diamonds were jewelry store rejects. Far inferior to the real thing: the bright sparklers that would set a guy back two-and-a-half paycheck cycles.

Not anymore.  We’ll apparently consume anything coated with rich,  succulent chocolate. Yes, Chocolate Diamonds are now the “it” stone of 2011. No longer relegated to second or third best,  the chocolate version is its own shining star in the world of diamondology–a fifth C (cut, clarity, carat color, chocolate), if you will.

Chocolates are less expensive than their white diamond cousins but they do contain the same hardness, brilliance and chemical content. We used to call these stones “Fancy diamonds,” until some branding geniuses changed the name and the game.

Near as anyone can tell, it started ten years ago when famous jewelry house Le Vian got the attention of Hollywood celebrities. The diamonds began appearing on red carpet A-listers like Halle Berry.  Le Vian changed the way people perceive these amber diamonds, boosting the appeal and the sexiness to must-have status. Today Le Vian brands their diamonds the Chocolatier Collection.

There are three new brand categories to choose from: Natural (more expensive),  Cultured (man-made), and Coated (most affordable).

My advice if you want to be dripping with chocolate:  If you have a craving for Godiva but have a Russell Stover budget, work with a trusted and reputable jeweler!

Did you know that American consumers will spend 25 percent of their holiday gift budget on online purchases? We are so used to shopping via click that we don’t even think twice about fraud.

Online shopping fast, easy and more risky than ever, thanks to the seething yellow underbelly of online criminals eagerly waiting to harvest enormous amounts of your personal and private data.

Stay safe with these 11 tips:

1   Prevent computer flu. Make sure your computer has the latest and greatest spyware, antivirus and system updates installed. Before you shop, run a scan to make sure your computer doesn’t have any malware that might capture your credit card info. The last thing you need is someone helping themselves to your Christmas fund or a lengthy tech phone drama, and those geek support calls are expensive!

2   Get thee to a desktop. If you’re shopping on your smartphone, the online shopping protections you take for granted in many cases just don’t apply.

3   They’ll target your greeting cards too! Cyber criminals know your heart is wide open this time of your, and they will take advantage by exploiting fraudulent charities. And if you get a Christmas e-card in your inbox, leave it unopened. Those “click here to retrieve your card” scams will infect your computer.

4   Wireless is risky. Never EVER enter your credit card info while connected to a public Wi-Fi hotspot, or surfing in any public area like a coffee shop or hotel lobby.

5   “I thought you might be interested…” If your Facebook friend sends you an amazing online shopping deal—don’t click that link! It’s probably not your friend’s doing. That $100 iPad ad is guaranteed to be fake, and the only thing you’ll get is a malicious virus worse than the flu.

I get links from my friends all the time, and it almost sounds like their writing style. But those messages have never been legit. If you’re not sure, send a private message to your friend and ask. Chances are, he or she did not send you that link.

6   Only shop on secure sites. Duh, right, So how do you tell if a site is secure? Look for the icon that looks like a padlock, or a web address that starts with https:// rather than http://. This means the transactions you make are encrypted.

7   Consider opening a separate credit card just for your holiday shopping—one with just enough available credit for the items you need. Better yet, make it a cash card (I loathe credit card debt.) This way your main account is protected and you’ll still be able to pay your electric bill at the end of the month.

8   Desperate times = dumb decisions. Fake holiday bargains are designed to look exactly like the big brands and latest hot items, especially those hard-to-find gifts. (Kinect, anyone?) No matter how desperate you are or how badly you just have to have that deal, do your homework to make sure the “real” retailer is actually selling this item.

9   Sly as a Faux. These days phishing robots and scammers are using spell check, so you can’t always go by poor spelling and grammar when discerning what’s legit and what’s obviously fake.

10   You want my what? If an e-form is asking for your personal information, you may be on a questionable site. Keep in mind that your credit card company, bank or credit union will never ask you for personal information, full social security numbers, account information, or passwords via email.

11   Worth the extra steps. Spammers love the holidays, because chances are their fake EBay or PayPal log-in page will catch a few more unwary shoppers. If you get an email link for these sites, don’t click! Just type the EBay or PayPal address directly into your browser.

If you thought Black Friday was the busiest shopping day of the year—“ehrrrrrgh!” (That’s my phonetic attempt at the “wrong answer” buzzer. I dare you to come up with a better one!) Today is Cyber Monday, the true celebration consumption via click.

Almost every retailer with a website– 88 percent—is offering discounts and free shipping today for Cyber Monday, so I’ve put together a short list of links to help you grab those online deals.

First, a little historical perspective: Cyber Monday was a term invented five years ago by the National Retail Federation. The NRF says today more than 106 million Americans are expected to rack up their credit cards shopping online according to its own research.  The survey also indicates 7 million of us will shop from our mobile phones this year–compared to 4 million who snagged Cyber Monday deals last year on their phones.

TOP CYBER MONDAY SITES:

#1 If you want to find a one-stop source for all the online deals today, you’ll want to check out CyberMonday.com where you can get alerts from more than 700 retailers like Dell, Staples.com, Nike and Williams Sonoma.  You can even follow this site on Facebook and Twitter to get the most current deals.

Here’s how it works:

#2 Savings.com offers more coupon codes that will give you 10 to 30 percent off your entire order of computer-related purchases from stores like Microsoft, Dell and Amazon.

#3 Next, head over to DealNews.com’s Cyber Monday page. Click on the navigation bar to find coupon codes for computer and electronics retailers for the best discounts on laptops, HDTVs and mobile phones.

#4 GottaDeal.com not only lists great deals, but you can also head over to the forums section to see what all those other cyber shoppers found online.

#5 If you’re looking huge discounts, Amazon.com’s limited time lightning deals offers up to 72 percent off DVD movie titles.  If you don’t see what you’re looking for, check out Amazon’s waitlist for lightning deals that fell through when customers claimed them but didn’t check out.

#6 Ebay is also hosting an Ebay’s Deals page for big discounts from its sellers and retailers.

Most retailers like Target, Sears, Macy’s and others have their own Cyber Monday pages. Some retailers Walmart.com have been blurring the lines a bit by getting a jump start on CM deals—Walmart is going as far as hosting “Cyber Week,” including a 24-inch 1080p HDTV for $199.

#7 Finally, I had to add this one for all of you fashionistas out there. Blogger Courtney Boyd Myers tracked down 5 favorite online fashion start-ups offering Cyber Monday deals on the latest celebrity looks for a mere fraction of what they pay.

If you find other deals online today, let’s hear ‘em!

Where are your Thanksgiving dinner guests? Shopping?  Working to serve the shoppers?

Thanksgiving is no longer a day to simply rest and be thankful.  It’s not about the family gathered around the table. It’s not about the parades and the football game. It’s not even about the turkey and stuffing.  It’s about stuff.

In an effort to boost their bottom lines, retailers have finally succeeded in making this day about convincing you to focus on acquiring stuff.

Photo by Woodleywonderworks

This year a few more stores will be open, like Sears and Toys R Us.

Author Thomas Hine (I Want That! How We All Became Shoppers), is convinced that more and more stores will jump on the bandwagon because–well, they can.

“This is an experiment by retailers to see how we will behave,”  Hine says.

Now they know.

It’s too late to go back. We’re no longer able to count on having the whole family enjoy an entire day together, thankful for their blessings and the Blesser.

Count me as at least one person who is NOT thankful for this change. I want to go back to a time when you could set a time for dinner based on everyone’s travel time–not their work schedules.    And definitely not their doorbuster strategies.

Let’s hear your comments!