Prev
Next

It sucks in the city as we all shop from the sofa

David Penberthy

by David Penberthy

05 Oct 05:55am

Must Reads

The Punch is moving house - this is a caption

The Punch is moving house

385

Will Pope Francis have the vision to tackle this? - this is a caption

Will Pope Francis have the vision to tackle this?

122

Advocating risk management is not “victim blaming” - this is a caption

Advocating risk management is not “victim blaming”

251

Filed under: Bookstores, Retail, Shopping, Society

63 comments

What will cities look like in 50 years’ time? Given the pace of change you could bring forward the question. What will cities look like in 10 years’ time?

Do we look like the kind of store that sells I Just Called to Say I Love You?

One by one, across almost every retail sector, webbed-up economies such as ours are bearing witness to individual instances of a broader social upheaval.

Little shops which have been part of our communities for decades are quietly vanishing. In boardrooms decked out with marble at a time when retail looked unassailable, department store executives furrow their brows as they ponder plummeting revenues, with big companies such as David Jones experiencing a 40 per cent drop in profit this past financial year.

Next time you walk down the street have a look at the shops that are currently there. With the exception of pharmacies, saved (for now) by the need to fill prescriptions, almost every shop you can find has a cyberspace equivalent which is growing in popularity.

Across every age bracket, we are more adept at using mobiles and tablets. We are happier to divulge our credit card details. We are comfortable browsing from the couch via a search engine, rather than driving into town, parking the car and traipsing through stores. The reason late-night shopping was introduced – to give us a chance to buy things outside of working hours – has been rendered obsolete by the fact that we can now shop for everything all of the time without leaving home.

It is conceivable that within a generation western cities will become service and entertainment centres with no retail component. There will be no high street. There will be government buildings, financial offices, law firms. Restaurants and cafes will survive.

But it is hard to see the continuation of anything close to the current number of department stores, boutiques, shoe stores, bookstores, homeware and hardware stores, kitchen suppliers, you name it. Even fresh food stores and supermarkets will suffer, as it is now common for people to do their weekly food and grocery buying over the net. Music stores have already largely vanished.

There was another marker of this change this week with the closure in my hometown of the Mary Martin bookstore, which opened in 1945. For a short time Mary Martin was in Pirie Street and while I was doing my cadetship at The Adelaide Advertiser in the early 90s I would habitually sneak over the road on the boss’s time to buy books. It was a great bookstore, although I had others which were favourites.

One was Liberty books, which I associate with the advent of late-night shopping in the 1970s, when my parents would bring us into town for a Friday dinner at Campari or Da Clemente, then wander to Hindmarsh Square where my sister and I would each pick out a book.

Through high school I liked going to the Third World Bookstore in Hindley St for the scungy late-night weirdness of it all, with its bizarre collection of Marxist pamphlets from the USSR, and over-sized soft porn “art” books, at which I’d usually have a perv. Through university it was Imprints in Hindley St, where I’d go on Saturdays after working my shift at the Central Market, and buy a book each week.

Of these four bookstores only Imprints remains, thumbing its nose at the digital age, but for how long.

Web enthusiasts talk about the ease with which we can now shop. Not only do you not have to leave the house, the algorithms used on sites such as Amazon are so sophisticated that they can replicate your brain. If you use Amazon to buy some CDs by Neil Young, Radiohead and Etta James, a Mexican cookbook, and a novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the auto-suggest feature will scarily resemble the inner workings of your retail mind.

Amazing, I guess. I always preferred the search engine at Imprints. His name was Greg and he knew what I liked to read. What’s more, there is a lot to be said for leaving the house from time to time. You get to talk to people.

Comments on this post will close at 8pm AEST.

Most commented

63 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • GC says:

      06:23am | 05/10/12

      Good enough for Australian retail shops. They’ve been ripping off Australian consumers for years and you can’t blame consumers for wanting access to products at prices that Europeans and Americans have been enjoying for years now. Think Levi jeans, you can buy them from the States for $30, and I had paid $150 for them a few years ago, what is with that? So stuff em.
      As for the changing face of shopping strips…. that’s progress.

      Reply

    • Lars says:

      08:37am | 05/10/12

      You’re on the money GC, I have no sympathy for the big Australian retailers nor the horrendously exorbitant import taxes that get passed onto consumers. Their joyride on the backs of consumers, and the advantages they’ve exploited of a market that is physically distant from the rest of the world is coming to a screeching halt, and we (consumers) love it!

    • Tanya says:

      11:38am | 05/10/12

      You can buy Ed Hardie/True Religion and Guess jeans and shoes in the US for $30. You can walk into virtually any store in America and afford it. The average income earner shopping in Australia can’t. Retailers pay lower wages over there and lower rent. Online shopping isn’t the only factor killing retail here – it’s the greed of the giants and property owners skyrocketing the overheads.

    • acotrel says:

      06:57am | 05/10/12

      We have been got at for years with obscene mark-ups on imported goods. As well tariff protection meant that our own manufactured goods could be crap, and the mug punters would accept it, because they were cheaper . Now ‘reality bites’ for the opportunists. Pity we are all going to lose our jobs as counter jumpers.

      Reply

    • Troy Flynn says:

      12:00pm | 05/10/12

      Those jobs could be offset by the growth of courier driver jobs, to deliver all those goods purchased online.

    • Bertrand says:

      06:59am | 05/10/12

      Greg also probably charged 3X what you would pay to get the same thing online.

      It’s called capitalism. A new model of retail has appeared and is out-competing the old model. Like every other industry, retail is changing with the times and those retailers who don’t or won’t adapt lose out.

      Plenty of other start-up companies have appeared and their owners building very successful businesses.

      Reply

    • libertarian vegetarian says:

      12:25pm | 05/10/12

      It may be some kind of capitalism but it’s certainly not a free market. Internet stores don’t have to pay enormous wages to have staff work on weekends or public holidays. This is what pushes up the prices in bricks and mortar stores. Every one wants to shop 365 days a year but noone wants to pay the higher prices involved in having stores open all the time. In many cases stores are loosing money on Sundays and weekends, but need to open for fear of losing loyal customers to their competitors, or because as is the case in many large shopping centres, it is a requirement of their lease to be open whenever the centre is open.  If employers and employees could negotiate between themselves operating costs could be reduced and prices would fall.

    • egg says:

      01:06pm | 05/10/12

      @libveg, by “operating costs could be reduced” I assume you mean weekend/public holiday pay could be abolished, thereby forcing people to give up family and leisure time for the saving their boss some money

      “If employers and employees could negotiate between themselves”  ... you mean like workchoices? Boy, that was just a raging success!

    • lv says:

      01:36pm | 05/10/12

      You know egg, there are many people who WANT to work weekends. Uni students, for instance, or parents who prefer to have one parent at home with the kids rather than both work weekdays and dump the kids in childcare.  Why is working on a Sunday worth 2.5 times as much as working on a Tuesday?
      As for ” forcing people to give up family and leisure time for the saving their boss some money” for starters, this article is about retailers going broke, so it’s not just saving the boss some money its about the job even staying in existence. If the business can’t make a profit, it can’ employ staff

    • Al says:

      01:50pm | 05/10/12

      egg - “you mean like workchoices? Boy, that was just a raging success!”, for those of us who were able to utilise the system, yes it was. I am only now almost caught up with my pre Fair Work rate of pay and benefits.
      Being for or against stuff like this is simply unrealistic.
      A more moderate view is needed, along the lines of:
      Individual statutory agreements should be allowed to be made subject to: Passing a no disadvantage test, not being able to be a requirement of employment and includes a clause that stipulates rates in the agreement are adjusted at least as per the annual wage review and subject to minimum standards (maximum ordinary hours, leave entitlements etc).
      This has not been the case previously (even pre work choices) (they contained some of them, but none had all) and seems like a reasonable solution to me. If I want to work weekends as it suits me (i.e. no family responsibilities etc) and are compensated for it with a higher base hourly rate, why shouldn’t I?

    • Achmed says:

      07:01am | 05/10/12

      High cost of parking and fuel, lousy public transport, rude or just plain lack of customer “servce” staff are also among the reasons customers are moving away from retail shops.
      I dont enjoy being “served’ by some young brat more interested in showing off hunks of steel hanging out of their nose, eyebrow, lip and/or their latest addition to their sleeve tattoo, or banging away on their iphone and who knows nothing about what they are selling, does not have an interest in trying to make shopping an enjoyable experience so you come back.
      Always in too much of a hurry to get back to Twitter or some other s**t that doesn’t involve serving customers

      Reply

    • thatmosis says:

      07:57am | 05/10/12

      Are you talking about the future or now. I live in the bush and go to town once a fortnight, for grocery shopping and not from the big two, that’s enough for anybody really. Lack of service and rude people make it a fun day and enforce the reasons we decided to move to 100acres of bush. I do all my major shopping on line as its always cheaper, it arrives in good order and if it doesn’t I’m covered by insurance by the people i pay through to get it fixed. Now compare that to the debacle of buying a lap top from a reputable dealer 100klms away and bringing it home to find it didn’t work, taking it back and on opening it at home the screen was broken. I finally threatened to sue those bastards for loss of time and money returning goods that were obviously faulty from the shop and they eventually shipped a one out to me the same day after checking it worked. Now I bought another on line for my partner and it arrived 2 days later, set up ready to go in perfect condition and a lot cheaper than the original one. Retail is just a bunch of shop fronts for modern day gangsters as far as I’m concerned.

    • Al says:

      07:30am | 05/10/12

      “It is conceivable that within a generation western cities will become service and entertainment centres with no retail component.”
      Please explain why this is a bad thing?
      The title to this story to be accurate should be more like:
      The service, price and availability of retail sucks in the city so we all shop from the sofa as it is cheaper, easier to locate what you want and the online service is usualy very high.

      Reply

    • SAm says:

      07:37am | 05/10/12

      Did we cry that blacksmiths are obselete?
      Stuff em, ripped us off for years, whilst at the same time dropping service standards, and cry poor all the way home. Zero sympathy, except for the people that will need new jobs. Not the owners, they reap what they sow

      Reply

    • Mahhrat says:

      07:46am | 05/10/12

      And in every suburb 120 years ago was a blacksmith, fixing everything from horse’s hooves to the kitchen knife.  Go see if you can find a forge now (I know of one in Hobart, The Iron Hand, and they are mostly for aspiring metalworkers to practice their craft and to sell metal sculptures and other knick-knacks).

      The game has changed.  We don’t need to walk into a shop to buy things, we can go direct to the source. 

      The funniest part to me is that business made us this way - “You deserve the best! The cheapest! The most convenient!”  Nowhere are there discussions of loyalty, brand recognition, customer service (oh, how I miss you, customer service) - just the need for more, bigger and better.

      Well friend, the internet has everything, all in one place.  I carry my store in my pocket.  It’s always open, it’s always friendly, it’s cheaper, faster, and more accurate.

      By the way, I have a Debit Card just and only for shopping online etc.  If I want to buy anything (either online or in store), I transfer money from my main account to it, and make the purchase.  This way, if my card’s details were copies, they only get what pennies are in the account.  Good tip, that - thanks Paul Clitheroe.

      Reply

    • St. Michael says:

      03:21pm | 05/10/12

      I wouldn’t mind a good blacksmith coming back into fashion.  I don’t really want to spend the time forging my own sword for medieval re-enactment displays.  The rolled eyes you get from “fabricators” when you go asking for a straight rod of spring steel…

    • Troy Flynn says:

      04:41pm | 05/10/12

      @St.Michael. I’m still happy with the convienience of Global Gear. (Look them up if you’re not familiar with them. A medieval re-enacters dream, even have full plate armor)

    • Wayne says:

      08:23am | 05/10/12

      Customer service is the reason I go into shops, and it is sadly lacking in most places I go.  The actual purchasing I will happily do online due to the price; however, I usually need someone to discuss the pros and cons of a product with, check for size, etc.  There needs to be the right mix of getting the service and expertise, but paying the cheapest amount for the product.

      There are exceptions, books, music, etc, where the dollar rules, but the internet has changed how we shop for lots of things, cars and houses included.  I just saved almost $9k on a new car (ordering today, exshoitment!!) by finding a cheaper price interstate, and asking the dealer to match it.  They did, and coupled with the care and attention in choosing the right one, got the sale.

      Customer service at it’s best.

      Reply

    • Jack says:

      08:26am | 05/10/12

      SOFA,  you dribbler

      Reply

    • JamesH says:

      08:53am | 05/10/12

      I worked in retail for almost a decade prior to a career change, and this change was driven by the unwelcome changes I saw in the retail business that had me thinking that a wholesale shift like this was inevitable.  I was a full time manager at the end of my time in retail, what triggered my shift was the major department store I worked in (not saying which, but they claim there’s no other store like them…) decided to make my full time role redundant and offered a permanent part time one instead.  I saw that this ridiculous cost cutting was the biggest issue.  Seeing the cost of training, developing and keeping staff as a burden and not a way to improve the business has had an amazingly detrimental effect.

      The smart ones jumped ship long ago.  After a period of increased profitability due to fewer staff but more sales, the worm turned and the trend is downward.  I’m sick of telling untrained, clueless and uncaring high school and Uni students how to do their jobs properly whenever I want service in a store.  I was trained in customer service, sales and basic loss prevention.  Today’s staff learn how to operate the cash register (and these days they are computerised and not the clunky thing I had to master early on) and that’s about it.  I have no sympathy for Gerry Harvey crying “poor” or any of the rest of them because - quite frankly - they are reaping what they have sown over the last decade.

      Reply

    • TheRealDave says:

      09:07am | 05/10/12

      I have little sympathy for the bigger department stores and franchises. Well, none to be honest. I do have sympathy for the smaller more niche markets mainly because I know they are being shafted from both ends. But the biggest ‘bastard’ in all of this is the likes of Westfields and other site owners aroudn the country who charge extortionate rates for shop/business owners to set up shop in one of their precincts.

      Make no bones about it - people are still getitng in their car and shopping, they are still spending money, online sales are a fraction of total sales. Wages are higher, granted - but rents - ridiculous. And you wonder why Westfields makes the money they do? Good for shareholders though right?

      Reply

    • Anubis says:

      09:31am | 05/10/12

      “Good for shareholders though right?”

      Until all the small retailers have been driven out and all they have left are the anchor businesses of KMart or BigW. Then the shareholder returns will suck big time. I gave up retail (I was in the IT retail business for ten years) when rents went crazy. When I asked why my rent had increased by 230% I was told “because we can. If you don’t like it shut down, I’m sure we will get some one else in when you go”

      Worked for the landlords in the ‘90’s, won’t work now because the rents are too high for small start-ups. This is amply demonstrated by walking through most of the big precincts now and noting the number of empty stores. They are noticeably on the increase.

    • Bill says:

      09:08am | 05/10/12

      Excellent article but going on the comments so far the point seems to have been missed. It doesn’t matter that the price of retail might be too expensive (isn’t it always going to be deemed too expensive for the punters?!), the point is that by it’s nature internet shopping will, unfortunately, always trump “real” shopping for the masses because of it’s relative cheapness and convenience. But as commenter “Wayne” says, customer service doesn’t happen with internet shopping, so who then do we go to with problems pre and post-purchase? No one.
      The main point, I believe though, is that the extinction or retail outlets will ultimately go a long way to destroying real, physical community as we know it. And that is a tragedy.

      Reply

    • SAm says:

      09:41am | 05/10/12

      Incorrect Bill, customer service with every online purchase Ive made has been fanstatic. On the odd occasion where something went wrong I had no trouble getting a timely professional response and my problems resolved

    • L. says:

      09:54am | 05/10/12

      “But as commenter “Wayne” says, customer service doesn’t happen with internet shopping, so who then do we go to with problems pre and post-purchase? No one. “

      A.. Tell me Bill, when was the last time you actaully went into a shop looking to be ‘sold’ something. By that I mean looking to be ‘sold’ on the superority between product A and product B? Many shops will ‘push’ products whatthey want to move, not the best.. Photographic stores are a good example, will push Canon or Nikon, while Pentax won’t get a mention.

      B. As for returning defective purchases.. Yes, there are many ways to return defective stuff, so the ‘no-one to return it to’ argument simply dosen’t fly’.

      Most people do thier research before stupping into a shop.. If you don’t I suggest you do. All you need is someone to take your money.. and teh net does that just as well, and cheaper than 99% of Australian retail outlets.

    • Roy says:

      10:11am | 05/10/12

      Bill, I disagree.
      If you buy from a shop and have a problem, most times they tell you to see the manufacturers preferred repairer.
      I bought a high powered torch from Ebay (hong kong), one of the specialist batteries was a dud, contacted the seller (expecting zero care) but they sent me 2 replacement batteries, no questions asked, did not even want me to send the dud back.
      I have had nothing but good service from online sellers, often they include a discount voucher for their store and a hand written thank you note. No retail store bothers with that sort of service, so they do not get my money.

    • Chonko says:

      11:06am | 05/10/12

      I have never had a bad on line shopping experience and the attention to service I have received, even when it has been my fault, has been beyond anything experienced in a retail chain.  On line businesses appear to be quick footed smaller enterprises, keen to sell, impress and without the bloated layers of share price focused executives who consider customers cattle to be sales processed.  For me, the management systems based retail chains force customers online.  As for destroying communities, if a community is based on retail chains, it is not a community.

    • Bill says:

      11:19am | 05/10/12

      Ok, I concede that with the few purchases I have made online the service associated with it hasn’t been all that bad.
      For a couple of bucks difference though I’d still prefer to have a shop to walk into!

    • L. says:

      12:40pm | 05/10/12

      “For a couple of bucks difference though I’d still prefer to have a shop to walk into!”

      Except when buying a TV, clothes, electronics, movies etc it isn’t ‘a couple of bucks’. It’s usually 30% more than the Australian RRP, and that includes the shipping costs..and that’s before we address the actaully selection options!

    • Audra Blue says:

      01:15pm | 05/10/12

      I prefer to shop in actual stores because I like touching the merchandise and especially for things like perfumes and makeup, I need to see the colours on my skin and smell the scents to make sure I like them.

      I don’t like being bothered in stores, so customer service isn’t an issue for me.  I know what I want and I just go and buy it.  If I want professional opinions on brands etc, I’ll look online.  I’ve experienced too much customer service in most places, not zero like a lot of people.  If they bother me too much, I won’t buy their stuff.  I’m especially baffled when they keep talking to me after we’ve exchanged greetings and the standard, “just looking”.  I’m usually listening to my iPod anyway which, for me, screams “leave me alone”.  But no, they have to keep coming after me.  I’m not the Facebook/Twitter generation, so I don’t like being reachable all the time and if I want to spend a day on my own musing in silence and enjoying the humming throng of humanity without engaging with them, then JUST LET ME DO IT!!

      I don’t spend much money anyway.  The less clutter I have in my house the better off I feel, so I never buy the latest whatever just to have it.  But I do like wandering around the shops when I have time to see what’s new.  All by myself, of course.

    • Lukew says:

      01:16pm | 05/10/12

      I agree with you Bill and I think there are a lot of short sighted comments here.  People will bemoan the loss of a retail profile.  There are so many things we take for granted that will only be missed when they are not there anymore.  Gone will be the days of spontaneous or emergency purchases for example.

      I know people and no doubt some making comment here, who will go into a shop with the sole purpose of trying on, say, a pair of shoes to get their size so they can buy them online.  How is this in any way fair and what will they do when the shop has to close down?

      Most of the comments here are varying degrees of rationalisation to justify changing habits which are not all good.  It is very easy to refer to retailers as rip off merchants and some may be, but this is a largely ignorant comment and ignores the associated costs of having merchandise available to look at, taste or try on ready for immediate sale.  Costs such as rent, wages, utilities, stock etc.  I have heard many retailers say their wholesale price is higher than the internet price.

      In any case, it is up to the customer to be an alert shopper whether online or in person.  You can’t get ripped off if you don’t buy the stuff.  I have bought things online too, but I often do the research online and then go and buy it retail.

    • Meph says:

      01:25pm | 05/10/12

      @Bill

      A couple of bucks is ok, but when I can buy a book in a brick-and-mortar shop for $18+ and as an alternative I can order from the book depository for $9, with free postage to Australia, why the hell would I (or anyone else for that matter) bother?

    • Greg says:

      09:12am | 05/10/12

      You go into any shopping center now and look at all the business boarded up or for lease then think about the times you went in there the vast majority will of had terrible customer service, high prices or crappy goods there is a reason places go out of business and a reason good places stay in business.

      When I bought my wives engagement ring looked in all the chain stores and then a jeweler in a smaller shop sat me down and spoke to me for half an hour about diamonds and rings said he didn’t mind if I didn’t buy from him he just wanted me to be informed while I was looking.  So I bought the ring there, the wedding rings there and I always go there first for anything new.  Customer service simple stuff

      But when I can get a book shipped form America for $45 it takes 2 minutes to complete the purchase, or I can go to the shop and they don’t acknowledge your presence and want $110 for the same thing, well see you later enjoy being unemployed.

      Reply

    • mark says:

      09:14am | 05/10/12

      The problem with the “oh it’s internet shopping” theory is this is all coming at a time when people are moving away from debt and back to saving.

      It’s worth looking at the long term household savings rate in Australia. We always saved, but in the 2000’s it went negative, now it’s back around 10%. At the same time debt skyrocketed.

      It’s no stretch to think a lot of what went on in retail over the last decade was based on that fall in savings and rise in debt.

      Reply

    • Tom says:

      09:18am | 05/10/12

      Is it really all just about the price and convenience of online sales. A sleeping giant with all this is the reduced social and emotional development through the lack of human interaction over a long period. I feel especially for the young ones who may claim they have a group of friends who they regularly socialize with but as we know life experiences come from a variety of interactions with people of all ages in all situations where sometimes you need to think on your feet and deal with a ‘situation’ good or bad. You don’t get that from the sterile safe environment of the sofa.I predict the online sales surge to peak when people realize that consumerism is not the only thing in life and that human contact and sense of community are far more important.  Hang in there bricks and mortar retailers, your day will come.

      Reply

    • acotrel says:

      09:19am | 05/10/12

      I have to laugh at people like Gerry Harvey, they believe they are geniuses, and deserve their wealth.  Now anyone can access the web and use overseas prices to make a killing. It is the only perk from globalism which helps the Australian punter, the rest is loss of our manufacturing and follow on jobs.

      Reply

    • Anubis says:

      09:21am | 05/10/12

      For many decades Australian retailers have been pricing on “what the market will bear” principle. Which basically means if you can buy it wholesale for $5 but the mug punters will pay $105 for it then thats how you price it.

      Now that the internet has opened up other markets the Australian public are finally seeing through the “what the market will bear” crap and are buying from genuine retailers, not the Australian rip-off merchants we have dealt with for all these years. One prime example of this which happened in the 1980’s when Ford starting selling the Australian made Capri (SA) in America - Australian price $23,000, price in America for an Australian made Capri $5000.

      Reply

    • expat says:

      01:07pm | 05/10/12

      If the local market will bear $105 for the $5 item then why shouldn’t the retailer sell it at the “market price” ?

      You would jump up and down if your super investment people started selling off your portfolio for less than market value would you not?

      Cars are an interesting subject, because the vast majority of price difference is complements of protectionism and taxation.

    • Markus says:

      03:23pm | 05/10/12

      @expat, likewise the retailer shouldn’t start with the ‘loyalty’ and ‘costing Australian jobs’ crap when the market decides it will no longer bear the $105.

    • Greg says:

      03:48pm | 05/10/12

      Expat, the point is now with the internet and a global marketplace the ‘market price’ is no longer $105, but the retailers do not want to realise this and adapt so like Harvey they jump up and down about GST and how the global market is hurting them.

    • Traxster says:

      09:24am | 05/10/12

      Wouldn’t it be great if you could buy your petrol/deisel/gasoline on line ??
      That’d make the oil producers sit up and take notice of us !!....‘eh ?

      Reply

    • TIm says:

      09:42am | 05/10/12

      I think there will still be a market for ‘reality’ shopping, as long as the retail model gets a tune up.  Humans are social creatures, and the act of getting out of the house and having a social and tactile shopping experience will always appeal (not to mention that you can take your purchases home with you straight away).  Don’t forget that they said video would kill off cinemas, but the socail experience of the cinema has kept it alive. 

      Of course, rents in shopping centres and our CBDs need to pull back from their golden age levels and retailers must invest in the shopping experience.

      Reply

    • Aussie Wazza says:

      10:39am | 05/10/12

      ‘Money is made round to go round.’ is a pretty solid saying.

      The butcher buys bread and candles, the baker, candles and meat and the candle stick maker meat and bread. Round and round the money goes and all are kept busy and prosperous.

      I’ve seen it for years where country town people buy their new car from a big city dealer to save a few dollars. His suit and furniture the same.

      Then complains that his town is dying and there is no job for his kid who is finishing schooling.

      Maybe if the local business sold more, they could reduce their mark up. Perhaps they could employ more staff, who, if they spent their wages locally would create more jobs.

      From time to time newspapers exposed what a ‘rip off’ sandwich shop are.

      Loaf of bread 24 slices = x cents . scrape of marg = x . 4 slices of tomato @ $1 Kg. = x. salt and pepper. total = 60cents. Retail $2.00. Wot a ripoff.

      No mention of rent, power or wages +++. And the limited market here.

      Go to Asia; Shanghai, Manila, K.L. to a department store and because of the population numbers, you can’t move. Big numbers, low wages, low markup. Here, Small numbers, high wages, high rents; a bigger mark up is necessary.

      Once we had the public service to fall back on. Where any deadhead who couldn’t get a productive job could be placed, and if he made no waves, could in time via seniority, move to the top. Mr. Newman has sorted that out.

      So our shops close, our money goes overseas. Hello!?

      No productive jobs, no public sector jobs. Soon what??

      Reply

    • Frank says:

      11:11am | 05/10/12

      Where can you get tomatoes at 1 dollar a kilo?

    • BJA says:

      10:40am | 05/10/12

      “Thtats a Cosby sweater, a COSBY SWEATAAAA”

      Reply

    • sandra says:

      11:06am | 05/10/12

      I worry that retailers blame the internet for slowing sales. It is a simplistic view of a fairly complex issue.  I prefer to go into a shop and buy clothes/shoes etc. That way I can try things on, unfortunately at the moment a lot of what is in the stores is awful. In chasing price the quality is falling rapidly (a race to the bottom). You seem to have the cheap crap or expensive stuff.  I am not interested in a $5 T-shirt but nor am I going to pay $100 for a top to wear to work which may get damaged as I work in an engineering business. Where is the middle ground.
      Retailers have to work harder and smarter to retain their customers. Create a point of difference rather than just competing on price. I do acknowledge that it is harder for book and music retailers because price is a huge factor and it is pretty much impossible to have the range that on-line retailers can access. Personally I use Australian on-line stores where I can, maybe it costs a couple of dollars more but it is at least here. Many on-line retailers are very focused on customer service - more focussed than some conventional stores.
      Business is challenging and you have to keep moving forward and changing in response to your customers needs.  Some large organisations have been VERY slow in responding, they will have to work very hard to try and catch up.  They will also need to closely at their senior management and decide if they are up to the task of dragging the business into the 21st century. Engaging with customers might be a good start.

      Reply

    • sandra says:

      11:06am | 05/10/12

      I worry that retailers blame the internet for slowing sales. It is a simplistic view of a fairly complex issue.  I prefer to go into a shop and buy clothes/shoes etc. That way I can try things on, unfortunately at the moment a lot of what is in the stores is awful. In chasing price the quality is falling rapidly (a race to the bottom). You seem to have the cheap crap or expensive stuff.  I am not interested in a $5 T-shirt but nor am I going to pay $100 for a top to wear to work which may get damaged as I work in an engineering business. Where is the middle ground.
      Retailers have to work harder and smarter to retain their customers. Create a point of difference rather than just competing on price. I do acknowledge that it is harder for book and music retailers because price is a huge factor and it is pretty much impossible to have the range that on-line retailers can access. Personally I use Australian on-line stores where I can, maybe it costs a couple of dollars more but it is at least here. Many on-line retailers are very focused on customer service - more focussed than some conventional stores.
      Business is challenging and you have to keep moving forward and changing in response to your customers needs.  Some large organisations have been VERY slow in responding, they will have to work very hard to try and catch up.  They will also need to closely at their senior management and decide if they are up to the task of dragging the business into the 21st century. Engaging with customers might be a good start.

      Reply

    • Jason says:

      12:15pm | 05/10/12

      I buy all my businesswear online now.  I won’t name the sites in case it’s against the rules but they tell you how to take your measurements and you can pick a design that you want or design your own, right down to the last detail.  If you want you can even mail them clothing that already fits you well and they can copy the size.  All this for half the price and far better quality/fit than most stuff I can buy from retail stores.  They even even send you books of fabrics they stock for future purposes.

    • Kev says:

      12:10pm | 05/10/12

      Retailers are in this mess because over the years they’ve grown lazy and complacent due to their dominance of the market. Consumers have gone past the point of being fed up with the excuses many gave to justify ridiculously high prices for goods and that has played a massive part in the uptake of online shopping.

      What I’ve always found amusing and hypocritical is the argument that if the retailer buys their stock from the cheapest source and then sells it here it just makes good business sense and yet if the consumer bypasses them and goes straight to the supplier, they jump up and down claiming that jobs and the economy are going to go down the gurgler.

      I say retailers have grown lazy because any time there is an article like this the common theme running through comments is a lack of customer service. Shops are run by staff who have little or no product knowledge, are rude, are impatient and are basically in the game to make a sale without so much as bothering to listen to the customer.

      Despite all of this retailers still fail to address this major gripe of customers and strangely, they continue to ask the government for help in protecting an outdated business model with measures like the lowering the GST threshold and they claim without it, the playing field isn’t level. Again why should the government be asked to protect a business model that isn’t working?

      If history has taught us anything things change and evolve over time. I’m sure there was much consternation when the motor vehicle came along and rendered the horse and cart to a museum and there were probabl Those who will do well out of this are those who look to it as an opportunity rather than as a threat.

      Reply

    • St. Michael says:

      12:20pm | 05/10/12

      “What I’ve always found amusing and hypocritical is the argument that if the retailer buys their stock from the cheapest source and then sells it here it just makes good business sense and yet if the consumer bypasses them and goes straight to the supplier, they jump up and down claiming that jobs and the economy are going to go down the gurgler.”

      The reason for that is because the retailer ultimately is a middleman.
      The Internet kills middlemen.
      Eventually, when Google is suffciently sophisticated, people will figure that out and not even use the online stores anymore; they’ll go direct to the manufacturers for what will ultimately be the cheapest price of all.

    • andye says:

      12:33pm | 05/10/12

      This article made me think about something in all this retail malarky that I hadn’t previously considered. Even as Jerry Harvey whines about the Internet, he is running a business model that demolished the previous one. The chains -  be they electronics, supermarkets, or whatever - have replaced the older, smaller more local and probably locally owned stores. If you travel a couple of blocks from some Westfields, you will find older shabby, and mostly empty centres. Ghostly shells of the previous generation of shopping. I doubt Jerry shed any tears over any local stores he drove out of business.

      Reply

    • LaraLouise says:

      12:39pm | 05/10/12

      I will really miss the atmosphere of high street shops. I’d much rather go out shopping, actually see and feel the items in a beautiful gallery experience before I buy them, than sit at a computer. I need to try clothes and shoes on before I buy them! I need to see the item and feel it before I know if I want it. More than once I’ve seen items online and gone to the physical store to buy it, only to discover that I don’t actually like it when I see the tangible item. Also, customer service is just great NOW - the online retailers are still wooing us. Wait until high street shopping has gone for good, and online retailers have the monopoly.

      Reply

    • Al says:

      01:12pm | 05/10/12

      “Wait until high street shopping has gone for good, and online retailers have the monopoly. “
      The thing you don’t realise is this:
      The online retailer needs to compete with every other online retailer.
      The physical retailer really only needs to compete with those in the nearby area.
      Also, a single dissatisfied customer can destroy an online retailers buisness (or at least have a large impact).
      A dissatisfied customer of a physical retailer will only impact the possible future sales to that customer and possibly their immediate contacts.
      In otherwords, dissatisfaction online can cause a larger impact than that to a physical retailer. This will require them to maintain high standards for customer service or loose their buisness to the many other online retailers available.

    • expat says:

      01:20pm | 05/10/12

      Australia is a poor retail business environment anyway, why you would want a bricks and mortar shop for a measly margin is beyond me.

      Don’t expect it to stop at retail though, the next phase is the service based industry. You can hire almost any service from the likes of freelancer or elance, with access to a global pool of talent, from engineers to IT.

      Reply

    • cb says:

      02:09pm | 05/10/12

      there are too many online platforms enabling people to think their opinion matters.. like i’m doing right now…

      Reply

    • Adelaide says:

      02:12pm | 05/10/12

      Thank you David Pemberthy, this article really took me down the Adelaide memory Lane. Sorry to hear Mary Martin Bookshop has closed down.  Always enjoyed browsing through when in town catching a flick,  I remember the Liberty Bookshop vividly with their dried flowers, classical music, hand made pottery and lots of “Liberty” fabric craft items scattered amongst wonderful books.  This was a Friday night highlight for me in the 70s too.  I still have some items I bought there.  And of course, the Third World Bookshop amongst the greasy souvlaki and cafes of Hindley Street.  This was the place to buy your “How to” guide when growing illicit greenery in the backyard.  I walk past Imprints a few times a week as I work in the city never go in.  I find it too dark, quiet and clinical. At times I have been in there and the person behind the counter reading a book has not bothered to look up from the book they were reading, a luxury they cannot ill to do. 

      Which brings me back to your article which is really not about bookshops. Exorbitant parking rates and bad public transport stops me from shopping in the city.  In any case I am in town every day for work so I can’t be bothered to be there on weekends too. I buy my books through The Book Depository for a cheaper price than Imprints, Angus & Robertson and other retailers and included in the price is free postage.  I buy my clothes and shoes from local shopping centres as I like to try these on before buying. 

      Street retailers have been to used to being the only choice and have made huge profits at our expense.  Now it’s time for the consumer to benefit from retail competition regardless what method they use to purchase.

      If Adelaide is anything to go buy, the city will soon be full of restaurants (people always eat ) and matchbox sized apartments for international students. Those who are lucky enough to have a place in the city now will probably welcome the peace and quiet!

      Reply

    • che says:

      04:16pm | 05/10/12

      Anyone who lives in the CBD in Adelaide now already appreciates the peace and quiet. And the tumbleweeds blowing down the street.

    • Line says:

      02:13pm | 05/10/12

      Finding out about online shopping is kind of like meeting your first half-decent partner. Once you realise that you don’t have to be treated like crap by the partner you were dating just because he/she was the only single person in town (Australian retailers) and some interesting clever person shoes up in town willing to meet you half way (Online retailers) it shouldn’t be any surprise that the old partner gets left behind.

      Note to Australia retailers, we don’t owe you any loyalty – what loyalty you might have had you lost with the last 20 years of price gouging us. I’m sorry for you that you’re business model doesn’t work anymore – but I’m not sorry for consumers that they don’t have suffer it anymore.

      I doubt retail dying will harm social interaction either – it will just allow people to spend more time interacting with each other rather than driving around Westfield car parks for 40 minutes looking for a park/wasting petrol.

      Reply

    • che says:

      03:11pm | 05/10/12

      Isn’t there a term for people who romanticise inanimate objects? I wonder what the term is for romanticising retail shops? Online shopping provides superior service, price, ease of access. Shops don’t have emotions, and we shouldn’t get all emotional about them either. It’s business.

      Reply

    • Troy Flynn says:

      03:56pm | 05/10/12

      I’ve never “romanticised” inanimate objects before, but I have been guilty of anthropomorpising them. (I thank my car with a “Good Girl” every morning for getting me to work safely).

    • Gordon says:

      05:28pm | 05/10/12

      True. One day we’ll be getting all misty-eyed about when stuff turned up in yellow post-bags delivered by a human (remember them!), instead of being 3D-printed direct from a wireless adapter behind our left ear.

    • Michellemac says:

      04:00pm | 05/10/12

      I think the future for mall shopping and big-retail parks is not looking great in the long term.  High rents and chain-store domination without much point of difference and no service is a huge issue.

      I hope to see a return to convenience and local shops - the old retail strips you see in older suburbs. We have what used to be a derelict old 1950s shopping centre near our home which now houses a dog-groomer, a cafe, 2 antique/retro shops and a small card shop/boutique and is busy 7 days a week the rent must be dead cheap but it has build clientele over the years. 

      And another 10 min walk away I have a beautiful old retail strip with a vast array of restaurants, card shops, a specialist wine store, butcher, gourmet deli, fishmonger, hairdressers, physio, bathers store, homewears etc. These stores compete with the ‘Internet’ because they are local, they provide service and they are convienient. They are owner-operated but they are all flourishing as they meet the needs of the locals.

      Specialist retailers who focus on freshness and quality (I want to select my own fresh foods, thank you very much) convienience and/or service will all continue to do well.

      Agree with the comment above re: retailers blaming the internet when that is not the actual issue.

      Reply

    • Last Man Standing says:

      07:23pm | 05/10/12

      A. Sydney had the second highest retail rents in the world to New York

      B. Australia’s dollar floats against the US so when purchasing there is a gamble

      C. Currently the is out of whack with the USD - it will swing back unless the US goes into DEFCON 5 [TIC]

      D. Australian retailers pay import tax &  of course GST is stacked on top

      E.International manufacturers charge Australian retailers more for a number of reasons wont be explained here

      F. Retail is the second highest employer in this country. When the brick and mortar economy consolidates the economy will consolidate. Thousand of workers will be competing with you for your job.  The US and UK already have this issue with their economies.

      Dont put all the blame on Australian retailers for what you pay here. 

      Everything is half in the US, everything. Wages, petrol, housing, just in case you dont understand currency. 

      The USD will go back in time when Australian economy dives in the combination of China not wanting as much ore and retail contraction.

      Its more than this but Ive run out of time

      Reply
 
Sorry, comments are now closed for this article.

Facebook Recommendations

Read all about it

Punch live

Up to the minute Twitter chatter

Paul Colgan

Colgo 23 May 13 11:07PM

@TheStalwart an analyst in Sydney said it was a "sad day" http://t.co/vh4Yu4OgDD. I think he was just exhausted and gave up analyzing

ToryShepherd

ToryShepherd 23 May 13 10:43PM

@CatherineDeveny @sydwritersfest A wobble

Paul Colgan

Colgo 23 May 13 10:38PM

RT @NASA: Amazing views from the International Space Station of Pavlof Volcano erupting in Alaska. http://t.co/vqBkkiOful

Paul Colgan

Colgo 23 May 13 10:30PM

US Google Doodle features a girl's touching depiction of her father's return from Iraq http://t.co/4LiRFOntTY

See all tweets

Recent posts

The latest and greatest

The Punch is moving house

by The Punch Team

385

The Punch is moving house

Good morning Punchers. After four years of excellent fun and great conversation, this is the final post…

Will Pope Francis have the vision to tackle this?

by Hannah Harborow

122

Will Pope Francis have the vision to tackle this?

I have had some close calls, one that involved what looked to me like an AK47 pointed my way, followed…

Advocating risk management is not “victim blaming”

by Sarrah Le Marquand

251

Advocating risk management is not “victim blaming”

In a world in which there are still people who subscribe to the vile notion that certain victims of sexual…

Nosebleed Section

choice ringside rantings

From: Hasbro, go straight to gaol, do not pass go

Tim says:

They should update other things in the game too. Instead of a get out of jail free card, they should have a Dodgy Lawyer card that not only gets you out of jail straight away but also gives you a fat payout in compensation for daring to arrest you in the first place. Instead of getting a hotel when you… [read more]

From: A guide to summer festivals especially if you wouldn’t go

Kel says:

If you want a festival for older people or for families alike, get amongst the respectable punters at Bluesfest. A truly amazing festival experience to be had of ALL AGES. And all the young "festivalgoers" usually write themselves off on the first night, only to never hear from them again the rest of… [read more]

Light weight

Gentle jabs to the ribs

Superman needs saving

Superman needs saving

Can somebody please save Superman? He seems to be going through a bit of a crisis. Eighteen months ago,… Read more

28 comments

Newsletter

Read all about it

Sign up to the free News.com.au newsletter