In modern times, the buying process involves utilisation of technologies from the virtual world as well as appropriate devices and their functionalities. Strategies of this type are also appreciated by young Polish people for whom balancing between actual and virtual reality is becoming an intrinsic element of consumer awareness. Based on selected papers and research reports, including their own and ones not yet published, the authors of the paper present various ways of moving between two realities throughout the whole buying process, from the stage of creating needs to completion of the purchase. In this respect, they draw attention to such issues as the kind of devices and their functionalities used or preferred in this process, the diff erentiation of actions in the individual buying categories, the involvement of third parties in the buying process, responses to messages, and willingness to disclose personal information. In addition to the empirical character (presentation of the relevant data obtained during the research) of the study, the authors consider the extent of autonomy and rationality of consumer decisions. The paper presents empirical research as it was based on the authors’ consumer studies, the full descriptions of which, along with the conclusions, are included in two reports constituting elements of a project implemented by the Social Research Institute at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Pedagogical University of Krakow (IFiS UP) and the Interia Group, under the name ‘Studies on the construction of an innovative platform, compliant with the latest global trends and enabling creation of services in the “Shopping Assistant” model’, funded by the Regional Operating Programme for Mazowieckie Province for 2014–2020 (Priority axis1: Knowledge Economy; Action 1.2 Research and innovation in enterprises, Sub-measure 1.2.1 R&D projects for enterprises)