I think shops have the worst of both worlds. They have to pay for their overheads, and so can't lower their prices to match those online (though they probably wouldn't anyway), so they lose out to the internet. I mean, in all honesty, hand on heart, who's going to pay more for something just to keep a shop in business? You have to remember, when all there was were shops, they weren't exactly helping us, so while I don't want to see physical shops disappear, I do feel in a way somewhat as I did when record labels started whining about Napster: we don't want you to get it for free but we will keep our prices high, so support us.
And then shops have to deal with things like theft, fires, floods, broken down machines, broken down staff, strikes, wage cuts, weather... none of which affects online businesses. So they're on a fast track to nowhere really. I hope not, but the time may come when someone goes to walk into a shop and someone else says "where are you going? Why are you going in there?"
__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018
|