The death of the high street.
Discussion
Crabtree and Evelyn closing in york with a claim the piece that all shops are closing to go online
https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/17387656.crabtree...
https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/17387656.crabtree...
survivalist said:
Unless I’m missing something it’s pretty simple, in terms of traditional retail the high street is indeed dead. The future for the high street is food, drink and other ‘experiences’.
Anyone who thinks he high street can ‘do’ retail is deluded.
My local menswear shop is now a coffee shop, hairdresser and social club that happened to also sell clothes l. They seem to be doing better than most.
Traditional retail is moving to the stores being used for click and collect. So whilst the punters are there collecting, you need to lead them to impulse buy and get more cash out of them.Anyone who thinks he high street can ‘do’ retail is deluded.
My local menswear shop is now a coffee shop, hairdresser and social club that happened to also sell clothes l. They seem to be doing better than most.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46960792
I think there’s a lot more to this than the closure of high street stores.
Many on line businesses aren’t exactly booming either.
A lot of people are looking at what they’ve bought and seriously questioning the point of it.
Much of the stuff sold is tat and many just can’t be bothered with it any more. They’d rather stick with what they’ve got, make do and go on a holiday or some other experience.
Shelves with ornaments, housewares, clothes, electronics. We’ve just got too much stuff and I (and others) are increasingly looking at it and questioning the point of working to spend on stuff we don’t really need.
Many on line businesses aren’t exactly booming either.
A lot of people are looking at what they’ve bought and seriously questioning the point of it.
Much of the stuff sold is tat and many just can’t be bothered with it any more. They’d rather stick with what they’ve got, make do and go on a holiday or some other experience.
Shelves with ornaments, housewares, clothes, electronics. We’ve just got too much stuff and I (and others) are increasingly looking at it and questioning the point of working to spend on stuff we don’t really need.
Thankyou4calling said:
I think there’s a lot more to this than the closure of high street stores.
Many on line businesses aren’t exactly booming either.
A lot of people are looking at what they’ve bought and seriously questioning the point of it.
Much of the stuff sold is tat and many just can’t be bothered with it any more. They’d rather stick with what they’ve got, make do and go on a holiday or some other experience.
Shelves with ornaments, housewares, clothes, electronics. We’ve just got too much stuff and I (and others) are increasingly looking at it and questioning the point of working to spend on stuff we don’t really need.
I think there is something in this. You can get a high end hi fi with multi levels of Amplification etc or you can stream music to a sub £100 speaker from your phone. You used to buy a desktop pc with speakers a printer an scanner, or you can use your phone an never print a thing just use a QR code. Ornaments...yeah they need dusting, high end cookware, you just eat out. All tv's are smart and screen tech is gobelddy gook to most people its 4k or not (even thoguh they don't have 4k content). We don't even buy coffee now its pods. We buy less stuff perhaps an more experiences, thing is an experince can be buying a cup of coffee or climbing to Everest base camp none of which means a visit to a retail shop Many on line businesses aren’t exactly booming either.
A lot of people are looking at what they’ve bought and seriously questioning the point of it.
Much of the stuff sold is tat and many just can’t be bothered with it any more. They’d rather stick with what they’ve got, make do and go on a holiday or some other experience.
Shelves with ornaments, housewares, clothes, electronics. We’ve just got too much stuff and I (and others) are increasingly looking at it and questioning the point of working to spend on stuff we don’t really need.
steve_k said:
With the eBay Argos click and collect service what is in it for Argos it's not like the typical eBay customer is going to impulse buy from Argos far too price conscious to fall for that.
I've always wondered how Argos makes money from this arrangement. There is no additional cost to the Ebay seller to dispatch items to an Argos for customer collection and there is no additional cost to the customer to have it delivered there for them to collect either. I can't see Argos providing this service to Ebay for free so how are they making money from it?
steve_k said:
With the eBay Argos click and collect service what is in it for Argos it's not like the typical eBay customer is going to impulse buy from Argos far too price conscious to fall for that.
Price conscious? Argos is lower end isn't it? Similar to online, a big challenge I think is making sure the customer has you fresh in their memories as opposed to forgetting yo amongst the competition. So that ebay customer who actually visits your store, if he has a good experience, he may use the store itself or go online.
Many Sainsburys have an argos in. So a £30+ food shop whilst there too perhaps.
hyphen said:
steve_k said:
With the eBay Argos click and collect service what is in it for Argos it's not like the typical eBay customer is going to impulse buy from Argos far too price conscious to fall for that.
Price conscious? Argos is lower end isn't it? Similar to online, a big challenge I think is making sure the customer has you fresh in their memories as opposed to forgetting yo amongst the competition. So that ebay customer who actually visits your store, if he has a good experience, he may use the store itself or go online.
Many Sainsburys have an argos in. So a £30+ food shop whilst there too perhaps.
hyphen said:
Many Sainsburys have an argos in. So a £30+ food shop whilst there too perhaps.
Just today I was in White Rose centre Sainsburys in Leeds to do our grocery shopping and on the way out walking past the Argos I remembered I needed a pair of secateurs to trim some overgrown plants partially blocking the view out of the window. A swift diversion into the Argos section and within 30 seconds I had them up on the screen but alas no stock at this one (could order in for collection in a couple of hours though) but the Crown Point store 2.5 miles down the road had them in stock. Reserved online, quick drive down to the other store and had them in my hands 20 minutes later. I've just checked the same make and model on Amazon and they're the same price with them but I would have to pay for delivery to my house or the nearest Locker which is in an inconvenient location. I've spent over a grand with Argos over the past 12 months on various household bits and pieces and it's mainly because of the convenience and ease of ordering in a couple of clicks and being able to pick it up at the same time as doing the grocery shop, plus also if the item breaks it's a trivial matter to take it back rather than having to pack it up, pay for a courier and insurance and risk it being lost somewhere and all the hassle that comes with it.poo at Paul's said:
Chappelle Jewellers went into admin on 14th Jan I noticed yesterday. Didn't see it in the news, just noticed a sign in the window.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...Other thread?
Gecko1978 said:
Thankyou4calling said:
I think there’s a lot more to this than the closure of high street stores.
Many on line businesses aren’t exactly booming either.
A lot of people are looking at what they’ve bought and seriously questioning the point of it.
Much of the stuff sold is tat and many just can’t be bothered with it any more. They’d rather stick with what they’ve got, make do and go on a holiday or some other experience.
Shelves with ornaments, housewares, clothes, electronics. We’ve just got too much stuff and I (and others) are increasingly looking at it and questioning the point of working to spend on stuff we don’t really need.
I think there is something in this. You can get a high end hi fi with multi levels of Amplification etc or you can stream music to a sub £100 speaker from your phone. You used to buy a desktop pc with speakers a printer an scanner, or you can use your phone an never print a thing just use a QR code. Ornaments...yeah they need dusting, high end cookware, you just eat out. All tv's are smart and screen tech is gobelddy gook to most people its 4k or not (even thoguh they don't have 4k content). We don't even buy coffee now its pods. We buy less stuff perhaps an more experiences, thing is an experince can be buying a cup of coffee or climbing to Everest base camp none of which means a visit to a retail shop Many on line businesses aren’t exactly booming either.
A lot of people are looking at what they’ve bought and seriously questioning the point of it.
Much of the stuff sold is tat and many just can’t be bothered with it any more. They’d rather stick with what they’ve got, make do and go on a holiday or some other experience.
Shelves with ornaments, housewares, clothes, electronics. We’ve just got too much stuff and I (and others) are increasingly looking at it and questioning the point of working to spend on stuff we don’t really need.
What that also means is that when consumer confidence drops we can switch off a large percentage of purchases immediately - no one is short of jeans, jumpers, gadgets etc
At the same time there's a massive shift in advertising still happening, think this week they announced that instagram capture 5% of all advertising revenue, while sales of magazines plummet and TV advertising continues to be challenged.
Your point about devices is also valid. The quality of 4k blueray, OLED and high end audio can be stunning, but 99% of people value convenience over quality so Netflix, Spotify and Amazon Echo Devices make more sense 99% of the time because they are both cheap and convenient
Thankyou4calling said:
A lot of people are looking at what they’ve bought and seriously questioning the point of it.
I belive Brexit is on another thread Councils make it tough with excessive parking charges, and to be honest knowing that in a few months the same tat in the shops will be flogged for next to nothing in a Black Friday fire sale makes me not rush down to the shops. Amazon and Ebay is where most of my shopping is done. Click and Collect, and pray it's not Hermes delivering your goods in case you never recieve it.
Retail even makes it an ordeal to exchange something if the wrong size or fit, despite having the receipt. Most shop workers are often not on the shop floor looking to assist you and most have to be hunted down... reminds me of the last days of Toys R Us where the staff seemed so disconnected.
Everything is going the way of the retail park where there's decent parking (they need to make parking spaces bigger, though)
soxboy said:
Needed some handlebar grips for my son's bike. Automatically went on Amazon as first port of call, £9.99 plus delivery. Went on Halfords, exactly same for £5.99 and available in store immediately. Pleasantly surprised.
Ah yes, but then you need to drive to the store, find a parking space, use petrol, & take maybe 30 minutes + of your day to complete all this. I would suggest that the £4 extra for Amazon is well worth it, however, it then depends on the courier. My experience with local Hermes driver is excellent, but Yodel on the other had - what an absolute shower of s
t....
Biker 1 said:
My experience with local Hermes driver is excellent, but Yodel on the other had - what an absolute shower of st....
Couriers are the weak link in an otherwise convenient way to buy.t....When buying from any supplier who uses UPS I don't even bother using my home address anymore, because it is completely beyond them to deliver efficiently. I give the address of my local UPS drop off. On one occasion I forgot and used my home address, they still delivered to the drop off - they simply cannot follow basic instructions.
soxboy said:
Needed some handlebar grips for my son's bike. Automatically went on Amazon as first port of call, £9.99 plus delivery. Went on Halfords, exactly same for £5.99 and available in store immediately. Pleasantly surprised.
When amazon and eBay first started there were big margins in products. But now, 20 years later, there are almost no products left where these guys have not forced a Dutch auction and collapsed the price.Meanwhile, amazon and eBay take 10-15% GROSS out of every transaction.
So - the only person making any money from these transactions is now ebay and amazon. Their fees are enormous.
The answer is simple. Abandon the marketplaces and search on the internet. It has come full circle. Consumers trust the internet now.
My own website is a full 15-30% cheaper than our eBay and amazon stores for this reason and a few others such as the cost of keeping up with their ridiculous “metrics”.
Taking it a step further, if people really realise what parasites these two are then maybe we could see amazon and eBay have to fight it out - I would dearly love to watch them two have to cut their fees against each other to keep the sellers!
Julian Thompson said:
When amazon and eBay first started there were big margins in products. But now, 20 years later, there are almost no products left where these guys have not forced a Dutch auction and collapsed the price.
Meanwhile, amazon and eBay take 10-15% GROSS out of every transaction.
So - the only person making any money from these transactions is now ebay and amazon. Their fees are enormous.
The answer is simple. Abandon the marketplaces and search on the internet. It has come full circle. Consumers trust the internet now.
My own website is a full 15-30% cheaper than our eBay and amazon stores for this reason and a few others such as the cost of keeping up with their ridiculous “metrics”.
Taking it a step further, if people really realise what parasites these two are then maybe we could see amazon and eBay have to fight it out - I would dearly love to watch them two have to cut their fees against each other to keep the sellers!
That is really the problem, Amazon offer excellent service, seemingly reasonable prices and huge variety. Having done that they are rapidly becoming a cartel. The competition is disjointed and uncoordinated.Meanwhile, amazon and eBay take 10-15% GROSS out of every transaction.
So - the only person making any money from these transactions is now ebay and amazon. Their fees are enormous.
The answer is simple. Abandon the marketplaces and search on the internet. It has come full circle. Consumers trust the internet now.
My own website is a full 15-30% cheaper than our eBay and amazon stores for this reason and a few others such as the cost of keeping up with their ridiculous “metrics”.
Taking it a step further, if people really realise what parasites these two are then maybe we could see amazon and eBay have to fight it out - I would dearly love to watch them two have to cut their fees against each other to keep the sellers!
I do shop around on the internet, I can't think of the specific product right now but a couple of times I've found what I wanted and the price was the same across amazon/ebay and the actual retailer.
However, the direct sale sometimes wanted delivery on top of the price which the other two didn't.
Even when the direct price included delivery I went with Amazon as I would rather deal with their customer service/guarantees and not have my CC out with another Joe Bloggs.
However, the direct sale sometimes wanted delivery on top of the price which the other two didn't.
Even when the direct price included delivery I went with Amazon as I would rather deal with their customer service/guarantees and not have my CC out with another Joe Bloggs.
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