Is eCommerce killing high street shopping?

[maria102]

I am hoping to get into some type of retail - I'm thinking of a few options really (I've posted before so I won't go on), but they include dress shop/dress hire/dress agency.

However, I dont know if I have been brain-washed by eBay, but I can't help thinking of the impact that this would have on trade...Soon is everyone going to shop online and never leave the house?! Would people come to me when they can get things on eBay a bit cheaper or from some other website.....I am aware that I can offer more - ie great customer service, great image - but is this enough to encourage people to leave the house?!

[TWD-Tony]

The normal way of shopping will never die!

There are just some things that you need to go and see with your own eyes - take your example of a dress hire company, sure you could get a few people wanting to order online (so maybe you could run ecommerce to compliment the normal shop?) but the majority of people will want to see / feel & try on your products before ordering.

I suppose this applies for a lot of things - except maybe electric / electronic products where the most important thing is that they work...

Tony

[Cornish Steve]

The normal way of shopping will never die!

...but it might go into intensive care.

Just look at the following industries and see where trends are taking us:

Books (Amazon)
Auctions (eBay)
Travel (Expedia)
Estate agents (visit other houses from your current living room)
Cars, especially new cars
Insurance (property, car, life)
Financial services (online banks and brokers)
Education (online universities)

Add to this list the huge amount of B2B buying and selling that takes place online.

Some stores have done a good job of implementing a 'click and mortar' approach whereby online shopping is supplemented by local stores. This means that goods purchased online can be returned to a local store if there is a problem.

The only stores that are likely to escape the online shopping trend are the following:

- Stores that sell goods that are perishable
- Stores that require considerable personal interaction
- Stores that meet the need for instant gratification

Otherwise, I wouldn't bet on traditional shopping surviving at all.

Maria, in order to make a dress shop work, you have a lot of careful planning to do. You could argue that a face-to-face visit is needed to ensure the product fits well. You can also argue that great customer service will encourage people to visit (see the book 'Hug your customers'). However, you're going to struggle to make enough profit to cover building costs, insurance, in-store inventory and the like, overheads which online stores do not face. This implies that only specialisation (wedding dresses, graduation dresses, etc.) will pay.

Having said all this, I have zero experience in retail, so you are quite at liberty to say that I am speaking hogwash.

[Alpha]

Otherwise, I wouldn't bet on traditional shopping surviving at all.

Try telling Tesco that (Or Wall Mart in the States).

but seriously Steve I believe you are are the right lines with the thought that only certain niche areas will still need to be in the High Street whilst much of the shopping requirements will be done online as broadband bandwidth increases.
In fact in 20 years time will there be a 'High Street' at all, will it be just market style traders with the only other shopping done either at Tescos or a small local convenience store.

[Jayne]

Hi,

I don't think the internet will take over going out to shops...Women love it too much :D

There's nothing better than a couple of hours shopping and a bite to eat to lift your spirits. I don't buy much off the internet, I don't like waiting..if I want a new dress etc, I like to go and get it that day.


Maria,

Are you wanting to buy an existing business or start one from scratch? An on-going business would have to show you their books before buying, so you would know how well the shop does and it's already got a name that you could build on.

Jayne :D

[Cornish Steve]

Try telling Tesco that (Or Wall Mart in the States)

They come under the categories of perishable goods and (especially) instant gratification, so they'll continue to thrive. If my wife is out of shampoo, she's not going to order some online.

Other stores in the perishable category include newspaper shops and companies selling anything that can't be shipped (e.g., ice cream).

Other stores meeting the need for instant gratification include chemists and auto repair shops.

Thinking about this, maybe low-value goods will also be purchased locally since the postage costs mean that online stores cannot compete on price.

[SillyJokes]

I can't stand high street shopping and avoid it at all costs. It is purgatory. I have better things to do.

I do love my village corner shop which supplies everything I need instantly. that I can't get online.

I like online shopping and I don't care about the high street.

I was thinking about the dress hire thing and it also occured to me that while for fancy dress there are lot of differing events for which a costume might be hired from parties, through promotional and fund raising events is there the same range of market for evening dresses, or are they only ever hired for a posh do? Plus people hire a fancy dress costume because they are only going to want to dress as Henry VIII once, but they would potentially get several wears if not more out of one evening dress so can justify the cost of buying.
Also clothes are famously incredibly cheap these days, presumably including smart dresses. At what price can you set a hire session that competes with the high street price of a dress?
Just the musings of someone who has done asolutely no research on the topic (I just said I never shop) but I have made two dresses last me two years of posh dos.

[Goodegging]

you will find ecommerce is changing the face of shops in town.

yes people will buy from ebay and this will have an impact on retail shops

but ecommerce cant cover everything and thats were retail shops have there advantages.

ie restautrnats, pubs, cofee shops, charirty shops.

mayber have a shop but do selling online too via a website!!

[RayB]

Hi,

I don't think the internet will take over going out to shops...Women love it too much :D

I'm a bloke and I avoid real shops at all costs. I have not been shopping for 4 years

As a family we only go to the supermaket once per annum (Xmas) and use tesco online and delivery the rest of the year.

I guess the survivors will be those that do both bricks/mortar and online shops side by side (that is what all the big boys do now)

[fridayteam]

I think also what has been completely overlooked here, are the number of people out there who don't even use a computer. Yes they do exist!

Whilst there are those that will convert totally to online shopping, there are also a lot of people who will not.

Just treat each method as a separate sales channel that targets different kinds of people for you.

So in answer to your question, no it's not killing it, more than likely it's helping to keep the rent paid on time!

[RayB]

I think also what has been completely overlooked here, are the number of people out there who don't even use a computer. Yes they do exist.

Agreed, but they will all die of old age within the next 10 years..........

[fridayteam]

Agreed, but they will all die of old age within the next 10 years..........

From what I see on the high street and talking to my clients - I have to completely disagree, but do appreciate that when someone like you or me uses a computer on a daily basis, that this fact is very difficult to believe.

[RayB]

From what I see on the high street and talking to my clients - I have to completely disagree, but do appreciate that when someone like you or me uses a computer on a daily basis, that this fact is very difficult to believe.

Still comes back to having a horse both sides of the fence then...........

[RedEvo]

One thing retail outlets suffer from is becoming a source of advice and an opportunity to test goods before going online to buy them cheaper.

d

[fridayteam]

Still comes back to having a horse both sides of the fence then...........

Couldn't agree with you more!

[Page]

It is a rapidly changing world on the shopping front and I think if you go into it - either on line or offline - you need to be aware that it could be costs and time with little to show for at the end of it. But business is always like that.

It is an enormous question you have asked. I throw in just a few near random comments of how it is changing.

Distribution is taking place closer to the source for goods. It is often cheaper to buy goods from abroad and pay the air freight than buy in the UK even by e-commerce. (Not without its downsides though but give it time).

Distributors are realizing the problems that commerce are causing them. The shops are becoming reluctant to stock goods that people then go and buy elsewhere so they are saying no thanks mate we don't want them anymore. So the distributors are starting to supply only outlets that have a bricks and mortar presence. (This battle will continue to evolve).

The high street is being affected by on line sales. Every £ spent on line is a £ not spent offline. This is a growing trend and will have a growing kick in effect. But the change can sometimes only be seen to kick in when a lease comes up for renewal and the owners think it is no longer worth continuing with.

With less demand shop rents will decrease or the premises will have a change of use. Lease contracts used to always have an upward only rent review clause in but this is now starting to change. The big boys are saying no and the landlords are having to say okay. This will kick down the line with time.

Retail consolidation will continue to go on and will probably rapidly increase. On line systems allows shops to enter markets that they would not normally cover. I have just bought a digital camera direct from that book company Amazon - from them not via them. They are also selling kitchen stuff. They are also a purchase point for goods from other suppliers.

Business has always been tough with some doing well and some doing badly. It is a question of whether you think you can find and do well out of a niche. It is just harder in a rapidly changing environment.

So if you go ahead I would try to avoid committing yourself to a long term contract.

[Goodegging]

i would say its just shifting the parameters. why not have retail shop and do onine too. best of both worlds.

[Dawg]

This thread is over a year old. Maria has opened her shop. When she opens her online emporium maybe she'll have an outsize section for the lardys who never leave home...a growing market. (Groan).

[Goodegging]

Thanks for pointing that out dawg but its actually more like 3yrs and 33 days old

maybe even some fancy dress clothes for dogs as well a dawg?

[maria102]

Flippin Nora! I was only talking about this post recently, when I was advocating the forum to a customer, saying that when I first asked advice how I was 'delicately' given the truth and not dismissed out of hand; looking back it was like the eighties shoulder pads and brick mobile phones, we were in the height of the boom when we were all spending and designer mad. Apparently its all 'recession chic' these days!

[Goodegging]

Flippin Nora! I was only talking about this post recently, when I was advocating the forum to a customer, saying that when I first asked advice how I was 'delicately' given the truth and not dismissed out of hand; looking back it was like the eighties shoulder pads and brick mobile phones, we were in the height of the boom when we were all spending and designer mad. Apparently its all 'recession chic' these days!

dont forget Timmy mallet from wackaday and neon clothing accessroies!