In some cases I think the thing you order online comes from your nearest brick/asbestos/mortar shop. Some dude on a rackety eScooter just zips by and picks it and drops it and earn close to nothing. 

Yes, definitely. House appliances, clothes, even food are cheaper when bought over the internet.

I only go to the mall to try on clothes then I order the same items on JD because it's cheaper and when ordering from JD staff you are assured to get the real thing.

Heck you can even order food from nearby restaurants often with no delivery fee.

If not for work and socializing there would be no reason to get out of your home in China.

Problem is the restaurant food services are in Chinese only, so if you can't speak the language to explain to the delivery guy how to get to your home, then you lock yourself away from all these conveniences.

Now all of these "conveniences" have probably to do with the culture. Chinese like to say that home is a safe haven sheltering you from the nasty world outside, so if you can get everything straight to your home you don't have to deal with all the crap outside..

I visit home/receive vistors from home often enough that I don't really shop here.

But i've heard from friends that it's actually MORE stable and reliable to buy stuff from a taobao shop than from a brick and mortar.

Why? because seller ratings. Turnover of actual stores is so high and with subletting and stuff you could have a guy set up an actual shop to sell a consignment of fake protein powder, unload it at a profit and pack up before any word of mouth gets around.

where online that seller rating is all you got. So if you really do some dodgy stuff theres an easy way to display it.