On Line Shopping Guilt .

[Frederick]

I have a broken retaining clip on an ethernet cable and have just ordered a new one on line ..99p including postage for a 3metre cable . My nearest shop to buy one over the counter is 18 miles away and will cost a few pounds .

Anybody else using on-line shopping for most things now ? ....And feeling a bit guilty about not supporting the high street shops ?

[Mr Ice-ni]

Don't worry, you won't have to feel guilty for long - the High Street shops (sadly excl. Estate Agents and Charity Shops) will soon disappear from the landscape. Not necessarily a bad thing as this will free up the flats above and the shops for housing so no need to concrete the last remaining acre of green space.

The out-of-town shopping centres, Tesco et al and the Internet will get the blame for this - but of course this is unfair. The real culprits (?) are the shoppers who decline to use them yet are the first to whine when the opportunity has gone.

John (who is also to blame - never having bought a retaining clip on an ethernet cable)

[Russethouse]

 I suspect real shops will be forced into ever more niche and specialist marketsmarkets, I can't see me giving up buying from our local butcher or visiting the lovely cheese shop we have a few miles away and we have a wonderful hardware shop locally too, the internet will not repair your shoes, do your hair or give you a manicure.....

[dave21478]

I shop online with no guilt whatsoever. I also shop in big supermarkets and to hell with the locals.

My village has two shops. One is a private shop and the other is a tiny SuperU franchise. Very limited choices, poor quality fresh produce (depot de pain in one sells bread that is already 1 day old, so doesnt last. Veg is normally rotten on the shelves). And the prices are so high its unbelievable. They exist because there are enough old people and stubborn hillbilly types who will not travel to the nearest larger towns. Same goes for the petrol station....I rarely see the point in hunting around to save just 2c per litre or so, but when the difference is 15c per litre, it is cheaper for me to drive 40km to the city and fill up there. He is expensive even by other rural filling station standards and I recently found out why. The garage owner also owns the local taxi service, the ambulance and patient transport cars and the funeral cars. Obviously, he sells his fuel to the other businesses making a fat profit for himself at the expense of the locals.

Even in the city, the range of goods is relatively limited and customer service is pish. Hence, I buy as much as I can online, often from the UK too, and franky, I dont give a damn what people might think. If the locals want more of my business, they have to buck their ideas up a hell of a lot.

[Gardener]

Mrs G supported the local market traders last week, she's not usually able to do so as I have the car. We live in a agricultural community and often buy veg at a farm shop, so expected the market to be more of the same. But the carrots came from Spain. So we tried to support local traders, but they don't support local farmers.

I will buy local if it is good quality and well priced, but like Dave we have no hesitation in shopping online for the best deals.

[Clarkkent]

I think that Frederick is talking about his experiences in England - I shall too.

I do not feel guilty about using on-line suppliers. The service is often excellent, and the information associated with products is excellent too. If I buy electronic goods from Amazon or Dabs I can see quite thorough specifications and technical descriptions as well as customer comments about their experience with the product. In the retail outlets - you know who they are - I experience inadequately trained staff whose main motivation often seems to be selling extended warranties. I get dvds, cds and books faster and cheaper through Amazon than high street shops.

High streets have to change. They are no longer an essential part of many people's shopping experience.

 Reasons for their decline have already been mentioned. I suspect that another factor in their decline is the existence of property company landlords who are demanding unreasonable rents from traders whose income is declining.

[NormanH]

I recently bought a book by an ex business partner of mine, with whom I ran a secondhand bookshop for some time.

He has since returned to the UK and written about his experiences in the trade, seeking that one 'rare find'.

We both were amused by the irony that the fastest and easiest way for me to obtain it was from Amazon.fr [:D]

At the same time were were early pioneers of using the Internet to connect with customers.

Abe books has for a long time been invaluable to find out of print books that may be in some little shop somewhere....as long as the bookseller keeps his stock updated on the Abe site.

It seems a good model of combining the cosy little shop with  an efficient search and find system for stock.

Yesterday he bought an edition  book for his son's A level English course that I recommended...online .

[suej]

 

I've used Abe Norman and found it very good- I managed to track down  a rather obscure if not very valuable book I wanted for my husband. I was a happy customer..

[Frederick]

There was a time when if I needed anything I automatically got in the car and  off to the shops .     Now  I automatically turn to the computer to seek what I want and normally find it at low cost and with  free postage .This I do both in the UK and when in France.. .Much to the amusement of my French  neighbours  will see hell freeze over before they will give their card details to anybody on line .

When we do go into town to the shops ...now only once a week .I see the growing number of shops that are closing and I dont like to see the high streets looking  run down as today many are ..But ...there is no doubt about it the internet will change the look of high streets as more and more people turn to it first before spending   their cash .And yes as a penny counting pensioner these days I do feel a bit guilty  I am helping to add to their decline .

[just john]

I automatically research on the t'internet, but still like to check out the stores, especially for immediacy and one off reductions, why should there may be any guilt? or think shopping off the High st is new? anyone remember Catalogues, Littlewoods et al?,  problems for virtual shops can be same though, you can't walk in, touch it, and take it home. Despite shopping around I am also surprised that not everything is cheaper on the net either, I was staggered to find some cresote in a little old shop for £9 a gallon which was listed at £60 on the net.