OT:Why shops continue to die ...

It does :-)

MBQ

Back in the 70s peole brought vinyl records and sony walkmans. Other like myself brougt rack system hi-fis and speakers that rivled wardro= bes for size ;-) =20

Now everyone listens to mps with yheadphones or at least the vast majoroity= do.

You mean like an Apple store ?

Internet accessable info gives you that, and as for build quality I think m= ost people understand the differnce between buying an MP3 player at an Appl= e store and one from poundland.

I brought a TV from amazon for ~=A3300 at argos it was ~=A3500 .

Not the zip up furry booties I hope.

I just put a second, thicker, pair of socks on as well as the slippers.

No, although that might have been better.

Could do that I spose. But its easier to take them off than sox would be, when my feet then overheat.

It's ages since I've bought anything _in_ Staples, but I do often order from them on line. They don't charge extra for deliveries to IV27.

Some of the work shoes with steel toecaps and steel sole plate come in wide fittings and can be extremely comfortable. I have 2 pairs in black leather costing around £15/pair.

Yes - I am sure they can. But in my case it is the combination of extreme width and extreme height of instep. (And I need to be able to wear any shoes with an orthotic insert.) They are the sort of footwear that, just sometimes, I can get away with for a while so long as I do not lace them up properly. Then my feet start screaming...

Online shops already pay commissions to affiliates and to outfits like quidco etc. Does not seem like so much of a stretch to extend the same idea to paying for retail display space.

(in fact Amazon are already beginning to do this sort of thing in deals with the likes of Waterstones)

However they never have black school shoes available in all three sizes that we need for our three children at the same time, necessitating a return the next weekend or a trip to another branch.

SteveW

Any shop with retail space is going to cost more than a shop without. So if it's a commodity item (part number 123ABC456) then people will look and then buy online from someone else who undercuts.

There are four ways round this:

1. Charge people to look at the goods even if they don't buy
2. Make sure you win whichever way people buy it
3. Make yourselves the only supplier
4. Win on delivery costs

1) is unlikely to fly, though you could be creative (eg a subscription to view as much as you like).

3) is common in clothing (a particular design of jumper is only available from M&S) but limited in other markets (eg cameras, even if people like Currys and John Lewis try to get 'special' models made for them). It's also much of the reason quidco works - those £20 teapots from Whittards only actually cost a couple of quid, which is why they can offer them with 20% Quidco - but not worth it if you can buy the identical from TeapotsDirect for a fiver.

Theo

En el artículo , John Rumm escribió:

What about the rent and overheads for the shop and the cost of training these people? That ultimately has to be factored into the price charged, which will make it more pricey than simply going online and having your geegaw drop-shipped from the warehouse.

En el artículo , Mark escribió:

That's when you down tools and walk out, and refuse to pay. They'll soon get the message.

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So-called special models in the electronics market are sometimes nothing special at all. they simply have a different character within the model designation that denotes the supply channel. HP, for example, do this with iPAQs (or did - not sure offhand if they still sell 'em)..

The spec is also normally slightly different 4GB RAM instead of 2 etc. These subtle spec/model number changes also mean that the store has no obligation to honour the "find it cheaper elsewhere and we'll refund the difference + 10%" headline marketing. You can't find the same spec/model elsewhere as it is only sold by that store.

It's not only tech gadgets either, Karcher pressure washers in B&Q are another. I don't like it as it may make getting spares later awkward as your model will be "discontinued" when the one it's based on and shares

We find if we forget to do the shoes/uniform shopping early, then stocks of everything in all stores are low. Try to avoid doing that sort of shopping in the last fornight of the holidays...

They didn't. They went out of business.

And they seem not to restock during term-time.