Internet shopping vs. High Street shopping

I've just been half-watching an item on the News about the increase in Internet shopping and its possible impact on the High Street. One of the questions was about what high street shops could do to regain the sales lost. Of course, the obvious answer was avoided - lower the prices!

This is a particularly appropriate topic here in the Twilight Zone, where shopkeepers seem to think that the loyalty of the locals will overcome the attractions of cheaper goods by internet.

An example: I decided, a couple of years ago, to upgrade my stereo (I'd just received a small legacy, and it seemed like a good idea). I decided to do a bit of research, so I went to my local shop with a "shopping list" of components (tuner, amp, tape deck) and had it priced. The shop guy went and looked at his lists, hummed and hawed a bit, then quoted me a price of just under £600, with a 4-week wait for the bits to arrive. I thought that this was a bit much (especially the wait ) so I went online to look about. Eventually, I hit on the "Richer Sounds" site. For the same components, £320 including delivery, and only 4 days to wait. No contest.

In the TZ, I'd prefer to use the local shops (usually, I do), but when using them involves so much increased waiting, PLUS a 100% premium, I have to take the view that so much cash is better in my wallet!

When I bought my DVD player (again, online) and needed a scart connector, the local shop (same one!) said "You didn't get it here, then!". Of course not - they had wanted an extra £120 for the same model.

IMO, it's time that high street shops woke up to the fact that a huge percentage of the population has internet access and is becoming aware of the fact that the Web is cheaper. If they want to stay in business, they are going to have to compete on price, even away up here in the boondocks.

If Richer Sounds could sell me my stereo at half the local price and still (presumably) make a profit, it puts the local shop's markup in quite a revealing light - and it's not as though the local shop is paying prizewinning wages!

Snorri
(Internet shopper by choice)

i completely aggree...the only time i will definatley buy in shop is for shoes and food....bad experiance with tesco and i am between sizes for shoes so need to try them and stuff!

Alex

ive just had a pleasant time wandering up n down our local high street, chatting to staff in the shops, feeling the clothes, seen a nice bag im gonna get next week so i enjoy high street shopping

I enjoy high street shopping because it gets me out of the house for a few hours, I always find something I like and it is a great buzz knowing I am going to buy it the following week. But there again I am a little :smt077 for shopping, I just :smt049 it. :smt048

I do like seeing the goods (if possible) in a shop, but then I go online to get it. The savings don't half mount up!

Why pay £14.99 for a DVD when you can get it for £7 less by going online? Then, after your online retail therapy, you can come to Dogweb to tell us all about it!

Snorri

i HATE shopping!!! it makes me aggressive, whe people cut you up, rude counter staff, people wacking your ankles with prams, cant be bothered with it, plus im a tight a**e!

Alex
xx

I like to do both, but find I am doing more and more online. Despite living very near to the Cribbs Causeway Mall in Bristol it is sometimes too much hassle to actually fight my way through traffic to get there. This especially applies at Xmas (the rush starts about October half-term until the end of the Sales-about now) and weekends and school holidays. Frankly, it is just too much bother!!
As for going into Bristol itself - forget it - it is just no fun at all. Paying a fortune for a dirty bus ride or to park.

I must admit that these days I do an awful lot on-line and seem to save some money and quite a lot of effort.
Last week I bought Sydney's Hill's on-line, plus some treats and a toy with free delivery right to the door and it worked out at £35 for the lot, I usually pay £40 or more for the dog food alone and I have to drive to pick it up!!

As a bit of a shopaholic I find I can browse quite succesfully on the net, comparing models of different things, reading reviews and then pricing up ...

Having said that, last week I went to the outlet village in Swindon and that was nice - no crowds at this time of year. Coffee and lunch with my mum and sister, son at school. Highly recommended. But it has been a while since I did that as of course I don't really like to leave Sydney on her own for too long and so that has cut down on my shopping activities somewhat!!!

I tend to shop more and more on the internet,except for clothes as obviously I like to try them on

I should imagine one of the reasons they can supply much cheaper goods is the fact that they don't have the high overheads that a shop would, i.e. the staff, the rent for the shop, the horrendous council tax charges, etc. etc. whereas with internet shopping all they need is a warehouse to store the goods, staff to run it, but no middle-man that the shop has? i.e. the shops buy from a wholesaler who is the internet supplier you are probably buying from anyway?

I had much this discussion with the manager of the electrical store when I was sussing out the stereo. His answer was that I should buy from him because he was local, and that all internet sellers were fraudulent. I wasn't convinced, especially as the one big item I had bought there (a washing machine) had broken down inside a month, and he wouldn't repair it, because, he said, none of his people were qualified!

With a lot of things, I do like the experience of "hands-on" shopping. What I don't quite understand is how Richer Sounds could deliver in four days, and the local shop said weeks . Methinks they should try finding another wholesaler. However, the local shop was itself part of a large national "association" and claims that its purchasing power guarantees lower prices! (A bit like "SPAR" grocers.) Still no contest.

Clothing is becoming an online purchase now (in Snorri Mansions), because the Twilight Zone isn't exactly the fashion capital of the planet! Mrs S may have the odd problem finding trousers to fit ( ), but the aggressively-marketed Cotton Traders can supply most of my needs, most of the time.

Grocery shopping online is impossible here, it's impossble even to get a pizza delivered outside Kirkwall! Besides, the internet wouldn't allow Mrs S to carry out her usual intimate examination of each individual pea or grape, nor would it permit her habit of breaking the stalks off broccoli before it's weighed! (Skjerstad, if you see this, now you know why Somerfields seem only to stock broccoli stalks! Mrs S got there first!).

Internet shopping will always win hands-down with me, especially over shopping with women - it means I don't have to get dragged round 37 shops before buying back in the first one, after looking at millions of things we didn't go out to get. Also, as I reflect every time I go with Mrs S: it took me less than two weeks to teach Kali "Stay!". 24 years have gone by, and Mrs S hasn't even grasped the concept yet.

Sorry, folks, shopping is NOT a sport, and you will never convince me that it is. Not that I'd be interested if it was.

Snorri

I do a lot of my shopping online now....no queues, no cold weather, no ignorent people, no heavy bags to carry round.......!

All my x-mas shopping is done online...same for birthdays etc.
My sister/bro in law etc all have 'wish lists' on amazon, so it's easy to buy for them (althugh I usually buy the item from Play, then delete it from the amazon list.....Play is cheaper)