Is On-line shopping killing the High Street?

[Webbo]

Amazon picked a point in time where Internet trading was just beginning to take off, and used the lack of requirement of bricks and mortar to make a hugely successful business and undercut their competitors selling consumer products, which is an enduring market. This has had a clear effect on the competitors - they've gone out of business. So far, so reasonable. Fair play to them.

But (perhaps this puts me in with the tinfoil-hat wearers here) I think it would be far, far harder for another company to come in and do what Amazon is doing and compete with them in this market than it was for Amazon to come into the market in the first place. I just don't see where the competition (which is what drives capitalism) is going to come from. Now the Internet is already pretty much fully established, I think the market for various goods bought there is close to fixed, and that's not a good thing at all. I think Amazon are going to increase their dominance over this particular market to a pretty much total level. And that's not a good thing either.

I mean, what could an aspiring company offer in competition...lower prices? The food superstores have shown you can't win price wars with bigger companies selling the same products, as a rule.

Lidl and Aldi are both growing businesses in the UK so the big companies can be beaten on price.

Who knows what's around the corner? Amazon is just catalogue shopping with knobs on, who buys out of the Littlewoods catalogue anymore? Something new will come along.

Edit;Don't forget that Amazon and Ebay also act as agents for smaller firms.

[Captain...]

Amazon picked a point in time where Internet trading was just beginning to take off, and used the lack of requirement of bricks and mortar to make a hugely successful business and undercut their competitors selling consumer products, which is an enduring market. This has had a clear effect on the competitors - they've gone out of business. So far, so reasonable. Fair play to them.

But (perhaps this puts me in with the tinfoil-hat wearers here) I think it would be far, far harder for another company to come in and do what Amazon is doing and compete with them in this market than it was for Amazon to come into the market in the first place. I just don't see where the competition (which is what drives capitalism) is going to come from. Now the Internet is already pretty much fully established, I think the market for various goods bought there is close to fixed, and that's not a good thing at all. I think Amazon are going to increase their dominance over this particular market to a pretty much total level. And that's not a good thing either.

I mean, what could an aspiring company offer in competition...lower prices? The food superstores have shown you can't win price wars with bigger companies selling the same products, as a rule.

And that's just one particular market (though probably one of the most widespread). What about the markets for essentials, like food and energy? The energy market and prices in the UK are a joke.

I hope I'm wrong. You could probably offer me reasons why I'm mistaken. I hope so, because they'd be reassurances, not criticisms to me.

Amazon competes with the high street, and despite hmv and and blockbusters going it is still competing with Tesco, and I wouldn't be surprised if Tesco buy up what is left of hmv and develop a more specialised music section in stores and online, there is still a big market for buying high street cds, you will go to Tesco for your chart music and rockaboom for more specialised tastes. They also compete with apple and Samsung with tablets, and a number of other big companies.

There really is no issue with amazon, except tax, they were the first are the best and facilitate smaller businesses to sell online.

Should we worry about a monopoly? Only if they are using their monopolistic power to dodge tax and exploit workers.

Ultimately amazon are progress, and the high street needs to adapt and look to cut prices and Mr add value to survive, but then maybe it isn't as bad as we think, jessops, hmv and blockbusters have been suffering a double whammy of online trading and digital alternatives to their stock and trade, make that triple whammy with an economic crisis. Now if boots went under as some suggested then I would be concerned.

[Daggers]

You don't employ people to save them from unemployment

Joseph Williamson

[whoareyaaa]

Blockbuster have gone into administration as well now the list keeps on growing

[rico]

Blockbuster have gone into administration as well now the list keeps on growing

They had so much choice as well

[ADK]

I'd have thought labour costs would be much lower at the moment, that is one of the things that gets cheaper during a recession.

[Manwell Pablo]

They had so much choice as well

In Blockbusters case it's Netflix, Lovefilm Blinbox Microsoft and Sony etc for making rented films available without even leaving your home.

[Mack]

The title of this thread can now officially be changed to 'Changes in shopping trends have completely crushed the High Street'