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Why have online retail sales flatlined?
Topic Started: 2 Jul 2014, 03:01 PM (2,826 Views)
newjez
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Curious Non-Economist
4 Jul 2014, 09:29 PM
Yep, a depot is definitely one way to do it, especially in the country where land is cheap. The depot then becomes a shopping mall of sorts. Add in decent internet to country towns, doesn't need to be NBN, adsl2+ is fine, and you can have a media rich shopping experience and get your item delivered to the depot. It might work as long as the town is close to a decent road or has a regional airport.
Much of the stuff we buy online gets delivered to our local store and we pick it up from there.
Whenever you have an argument with someone, there comes a moment where you must ask yourself, whatever your political persuasion, 'am I the Nazi?'
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Curious Non-Economist
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newjez
5 Jul 2014, 02:27 PM
Much of the stuff we buy online gets delivered to our local store and we pick it up from there.
What is your local store? Is it a general store in a small country town?
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miw
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Curious Non-Economist
4 Jul 2014, 09:29 PM
Yep, a depot is definitely one way to do it, especially in the country where land is cheap. The depot then becomes a shopping mall of sorts. Add in decent internet to country towns, doesn't need to be NBN, adsl2+ is fine, and you can have a media rich shopping experience and get your item delivered to the depot. It might work as long as the town is close to a decent road or has a regional airport.
I hadn't taken my thinking to that level. It seems like the logical extension to me. Except for the fact that the depots are sleepy little buildings that are not necessarily staffed all the time, the infrastructure is already there today. Plenty of internet bandwidth for shopping at the current level of technology and a couple of trucks coming through for the various courier companies every day even for the spot-on-the-map places. (At the moment, it is often one truck serving multiple couriers.)

I wonder what the ultimate impact would be for the people who currently have jobs/businesses running shops in the town would be? There are both threats and opportunities. For example, if the world goes media-rich shopping, they could become shop assistants in high-street shops from home....
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newjez
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Curious Non-Economist
5 Jul 2014, 02:57 PM
What is your local store? Is it a general store in a small country town?
Take tesco for example. It is a supermarket, but you can by almost anything from them online. You just order it and pick it up from the local store. They don't stock most things they sell on the shelves, although they have a presence for groceries and smaller stuff.

Same with clothes. They may not stock everything in your size, but you can order it in. Same with shoes. Advantage is you can try them on in the store, and give them back if they don't fit.

I often order stuff online, get it delivered, and then drop into the store to swap it if it doesn't fit. Online with a store presence works well. I'd hate to buy stuff from overseas. There would be little come back if the stuff was faulty.

I don't shop online because its cheaper, although it often is. I do it because it's convenient. If I suddenly realize I need something, I'll just buy it. I don't have to remember to buy it next time I'm at the shops. The shops are in my house. Plus I can compare all prices in seconds.
Edited by newjez, 5 Jul 2014, 08:43 PM.
Whenever you have an argument with someone, there comes a moment where you must ask yourself, whatever your political persuasion, 'am I the Nazi?'
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Curious Non-Economist
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miw
5 Jul 2014, 04:10 PM
I hadn't taken my thinking to that level. It seems like the logical extension to me. Except for the fact that the depots are sleepy little buildings that are not necessarily staffed all the time, the infrastructure is already there today. Plenty of internet bandwidth for shopping at the current level of technology and a couple of trucks coming through for the various courier companies every day even for the spot-on-the-map places. (At the moment, it is often one truck serving multiple couriers.)

I wonder what the ultimate impact would be for the people who currently have jobs/businesses running shops in the town would be? There are both threats and opportunities. For example, if the world goes media-rich shopping, they could become shop assistants in high-street shops from home....
Yes, it has got me thinking. I wonder though if those work-at-home shop assistants would require internet with fast back channel. I've used Skype video and while it is OK to chat, I wouldn't want to shop over it with my current internet upload speeds.

newjez
5 Jul 2014, 08:42 PM
Take tesco for example. It is a supermarket, but you can by almost anything from them online. You just order it and pick it up from the local store. They don't stock most things they sell on the shelves, although they have a presence for groceries and smaller stuff.

Same with clothes. They may not stock everything in your size, but you can order it in. Same with shoes. Advantage is you can try them on in the store, and give them back if they don't fit.

I often order stuff online, get it delivered, and then drop into the store to swap it if it doesn't fit. Online with a store presence works well. I'd hate to buy stuff from overseas. There would be little come back if the stuff was faulty.

I don't shop online because its cheaper, although it often is. I do it because it's convenient. If I suddenly realize I need something, I'll just buy it. I don't have to remember to buy it next time I'm at the shops. The shops are in my house. Plus I can compare all prices in seconds.
Oh right, the UK. Still, the concept is valid. JB Hi-Fi does something similar here. You can order on the website and pick up at the store. If their online ordering system wasn't such a dog, I would probably use it. Maybe large stores with an online catalogue will be the first step in decentralisation of trade. I sure hope so.
Edited by Curious Non-Economist, 5 Jul 2014, 10:51 PM.
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miw
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Curious Non-Economist
5 Jul 2014, 10:47 PM
Yes, it has got me thinking. I wonder though if those work-at-home shop assistants would require internet with fast back channel. I've used Skype video and while it is OK to chat, I wouldn't want to shop over it with my current internet upload speeds.
Especially if there is more than one person in a household working. (I think you can do quite a lot with 5Mbps uplink if it is just you though.) Australia is screwing the pooch bigtime with the NBN right now. Hopefully someone will work that out before they waste all of the $30B on copper last-mile.

Most country towns seem to be going for the fixed wireless version of the NBN, so I guess that is not wasted.
The truth will set you free. But first, it will piss you off.
--Gloria Steinem
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Dr Watson
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The ABS has just announced retail sales figures for August. The result was a 0.1% seasonally-adjusted rise in sales over the month, a bit disappointing considering economist’s expectations of a 0.4% increase. Annual sales growth came in at a decent 5.1%.

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NSW continues to enjoy boom conditions:

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Intriguingly, for reasons I can't quite fathom, cafes continue to enjoy rapid growth:

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Overall though, things aren't looking too good. It appears we might be rolling over ...

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Edited by Dr Watson, 1 Oct 2014, 01:37 PM.
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Dr Watson
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Australia's services trade balance has improved very slightly:

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Edited by Dr Watson, 2 Oct 2014, 03:18 PM.
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