There are two types of internet shopping.

1. You go onto retailers web sites and compare prices.

2. You go in to stores, do your research, then buy online from an overseas competitor.

Now the first way is fine, however, it's the second way that we should all be very concerned about.

You see, it is hardly fair to go into a retail store, take up a sales persons time, learn all there is to know about models, (pros & cons) then go away and buy online from an overseas competitor.

In fact, if this practice is not stopped, retail as we know it may well be doomed.

Please consider this if you are one of the 2's out there, as someone has paid that sales person's time that you wasted, other than you yourself.

rechtub I doubt you know just what you are proposing here.
Fact is free market is a plank our economy needs or falls without.
Would you stop say a white goods retailer shopping around, even ordering his/her stock on the net.
I bough my retiree meant present last weekend.
Going fishing again, after 8 years away.
3 reels line all imported and very good , seller was very happy he made a lot, I saved a lot, we do not make much that is sold in this country.

Belly, I have no problem with what you have said or done with regards to internet shopping.

Now go back and read my post, as it appears you have objected simply because it is my post.

Then, once you have read my opening post, tell me if I am wrong in what I say.

3/ I go online and do my research. I buy from the supplier who best meets my needs based on the level of service I require, the total price, how quickly I want it etc.

Often the decision to buy on line is because the items are not available locally, the delivery times for a local item are much slower than me getting the same item shipped from the other side of the world or the price difference including that shipping is so large that I just can't justify supporting the local supplier.

It gets really frustrating when you see the same item (genuine) on an oversea's site for a fraction of the price that local supplier want to sting you for and the overseas site is not allowed to ship to Australia. I want a gear for a lawn edger which sell's for less than $10 in the USA and in Australia it's part of an assembly which was around $130 last time I checked (and I don't think it was in stock).

R0bert

Rehctub,

I must agree with Belly on this.

While I do shop around for prices on the Internet for larger items, for small components such as leads, adaptors etc, I can buy them cheaper over the Internet than even the cost of driving to the shops.

As for computer equipment, I usually buy these over the internet too, but from local companies.

My internet shopping seldom involves even a visit to the shops let alone using salesmen's time.

rehctub
How is it any different if you take up the salesman's time and buy from a real store? Is that "unfair"?

Heard on the radio that this was a "trend" that whatever authority had noticed.

In order for them to "notice", it must be a bloody landslide, and inevitably an issue for local retailers.

The butcher is right, someone is paying that sales clerk.

OK, *are* you a genuine customer? right. We charge a $20 consult fee, which comes off the top of any purchase you make here in the next week, else we keep it. Oh? "just looking? carry on sir!
Or:
A shop three feet deep, all window, with the odd search screen to allow you to order Item#3 (with fried rice), and a cheap warehouse/delivery team, far from expensive retail-land, might be able to match internet shopping. with locally valid warranty? Has a given production batch been *certified* to meet australian standards? will your insurance cover property damage from a fault?

Rusty

Yes it is probably not good for our economy if we buy goods from overseas that we can get in Australia. However, it is in all human's nature to want to pay a lesser price for the same goods!

How on earth would you police the act of asking a salesman to tell you about an electrical item in a store, and then going home and buying it online from an overseas store?

If such a bizarre rule was made, wouldn't we all say 'no sir, I am not going home now to buy it online'!

A bizarre notion really.

Smaller retailers will close, fewer products in stock (within local areas will be available over time), larger stores such as Dick Smith etc I see as remaining open, though prices for customers will soar, as a result of the increase in consumers shopping on line.

For the urgent goods ordered online that a customer is seeking and discovers that it is delayed or missing, there will be a rush to their nearest electrical store, only to discover, the store(s) have closed their doors as a result of customers ordering online.

For the most part, though, I believe that people will continue to go shopping and purchase locally throughout each year regardless of the odd purchases made on line.

Many people LOVE to get out and about on weekends to cruise those shopping malls - I stay away as much as possible and never visit them on weekends.

What's so good about the current retailing model, then? You're expected to hop into a car, drive to a shopping centre, and search through massive air-conditioned showcases of stuff you don't need in order to find the two or three things you actually want (and often don't want, but you get lured into buying anyway because the display was attractive, or they're on 'special'). You do this several times per week, sometimes several times a day. You pay extra for advertising, enormous rents, shoplifting losses, and the labour of dozens of people who add no value other than keeping the place tidy. Whereas what you buy on the internet is delivered to your door — using a fraction of the staff, a fraction of the energy expenditure, and much, much smaller fraction of your time.

It's a big dislocation, sure, but change will take a long, long time. If we bothered to think internationally, many Australian businesses could sell their wares overseas as well. I do. Internet shopping — and retailing — is an opportunity. The world is a Darwin Machine, in which you can run, but you can’t hide. The fittest system will survive. I think adaptation is a better option for the economy than resistance, especially given that Australia is a small mammal in a world ruled by large carnivores. Better for us to master the internet shopping model than to fight it, I’d say.

I appears that only a few of you actually get my point, so let me make it very clear.

I do not have a problem with Internet shopping, other than the fact that your grand kids will have many less job options than you did.

My problem lies with those who do their research at the expense of others.

That's my beef!

Eg: People go into a shoe store, try on several pairs, find the pair/s they like, get the info (color, style, model) then go off and buy online and save 40%. THAT IS NOT FAIR!

This is happening with many items, clothing, electrical, etc.

Now how on earth can you try cloths on over the net!

It all comes back to the honesty of the shopper and whether or not the possess morals.

Now on the other hand, if they go to another shop and find the same item cheaper, then that's fine.

Sometimes it's hard to be sympathetic when many of the same big companies feel free to import cheaper foreign goods rather than supporting the local product or when they move various jobs off-shore to maximise their own profits.

I suppose that as consumers, we must all share the blame but isn't that what globalisation is all about?

Dg >>What's so good about the current retailing model, then?

They help retain jobs and tax payers. Two things we simply can't survive without as far as our future goes.

Internet shopping, like most things modern will cost jobs, then, who will pay the bills?

I love many of the comments about Internet Shopping that one sees on here and recently with the Gerry Harvey debarcle.

Without doubt almost all of you commenting on here ,live in large or capital cities ,where you actually have access to a variety of Retail Shops.

I live in suburban Brisbane , where I am overwhelmemed by choice... AND.. I also live in rural North Western Tasmania.. Guess what ?

I think that the Internet is Bloddy Fantastic.. why.. I HAVE CHOICE.

A range that all of Tasmania simply cannot provide.. or any other country area of Australia , for that matter.

I still shop locally for most ( and larger ) items.. but once you get away for the basics.. forget it.. I am on the Net.

It is because of situations like this that Net Retailing will only contine to grow.