"Andy Hall" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 5 Nov 2004 18:11:28 -0000, ":::Jerry::::"
wrote:



The point is, the use of on-line shopping is killing the retail trade,

Why does this matter?

Because not everyone has either computer or credit card, what do you
suggest
they do if and when all but the 50p and charity shops have gone over to
an
on-line store only ?..

snip the "Sod you, I'm alrigh attitued" remarks

It isn't an "I'm all right, sod you" attitude, it's economic reality.

Sorry but it is a "I'm all right, sod you" attitude, just the same as people
not voting for a government that would (say) put 1p in the pound on tax so
HMG can pay for more hospitals or schools etc. Think about it...


The proportion of people with computers is rising astronomically, now
well over half of households in the UK and continuing to rise.
Computers are cheap.

To you, to me but to Mr Bloggs on income support, or Mrs Smith on a single
pension, or Miss Jones working 'part time' (read, work when and for how long
we want you to) for the minimum wage ?

For some people, such as the elderly, online shopping to have their
groceries delivered is a godsend.

There are plenty of methods of payment other than credit card
available, including debit cards and even COD from some online
suppliers. The UK has the second largest number of credit cards per
capita outside the U.S.

AIUI it's almost impossible to survive in the USA without a CC, people are
certainly treaded with some suspicion if they can't transact through a CC.

So, I'll ask again. What should people do, when high street shops are either
just 50p or charity shops, if they don't own a computer, have a phone line
or CC ? And don't say use a internet cafe or the like, some people don't
know a tab key from a shift key, let alone what 'www' means.


You can't spend gold sovereigns in Tescos either. People will
inevitably move with the times.


I suspect if you really wanted to pay in Gold at Tesscos and made it
worthwhile for them they would make suitable arrangements, AIUI gold is
still a valid means of payment. :~) But that's not the point, try comparing
like with like, your argument would be correct if we were talking about the
Pound vs. the Euro say.



If the retail trade can't see that and react to it, then I'm sorry but
it deserves to die.


It's not a case of 'If the retail trade can't see', they can see but they
can't possibly compete - unless there is a change in the taxation system
to
level the playing field.

That's a total nonsense. Why on earth should taxation be used to
distort an economic reality? It's bad enough that there are
distortions with income tax, CGT and IHT as it is.

Oh right, lets scrap all those little tax breaks people get for being
married or having kids or any number of other tax avoidance schemes people
use to pay less tax. People like you like the tax system when it puts more
money into your bulging wallet but you don't like the same system when it
tries to benefit others or parts of society that you don't care for or
use...


If the retail bricks and mortar trade wants to compete, it will have
to do so in the real market, not an artificial one.

But it can't, an industrial building on a out of town industrial estate is a
lot cheaper to run and maintain than a town centre shop, then there are the
distribution costs, savings made by buying in bulk - all of which the
average high street shop can't compete with, hell even Dixons and food
supermarkets etc. are gradually moving away from town centre sites.



I can see that your wallet is far more important than the 'health' of
society.

Both are important. Retail shops attempting to compete with a far
cheaper method of connecting supplier with purchaser are not
indicative of the health of society.


Total clap trap, just were and how are people going to shop when town
centres are waste lands of boarded up shops ? If out of town shopping parks
have been accepted as a bad thing for the non car owning shopper, how do you
think a (creeping) move over to on-line shopping will effect the 'health' of
society ?...



Is Mrs Thatcher a relation of yours, she didn't care much for society
either?....


It has nothing to do with caring for society. That is brought about
by minimising government involvement in people's lives, not imposing
distorted economics to bolster the untenable.

It's nothing of the sort unless you care more about your wallet than you do
for the society you live in, you have both a computer and a credit card but
you still haven't answered the question about what should people do if they
don't have one or both of the above if / when high street shopping (and
possibly even the out of town parks) becomes a thing of the past.


I'm reminded of one of her most famous quotes though:

"If you try to buck the market, the market will buck you."


Who dictates the market thought ? Use high street shops and not the on-line
stores and the next thing you will find is those same on-line stores have
high street outlets or they close will themselves go belly up. It's not the
business that dictates a trend but the customer, if shop 'A' doesn't stock
white paint and shop 'B' does who do you think people wanting white paint
will trade with. As I said, the move over to on-line shopping is far more to
do with laziness and penny pinching than any other factor - as has been
stated in this thread, people will buy from SF rather than pop out to B&Q...