This story on online shopping and why you shouldn't do it

from Jeff Corbett's blog in the Newcastle Herald yesterday.

Jeff Corbett is regarded as the Hunter Valley's most provocative columnist and his piece on this subject is well worth a read. I'm with you on this one Jeff.

Do you shop online? And do you consider the impact on the community of your online shopping? With only the rarest exception online retailers won't be in your community, and many won't be in your state or country. Online retailers employ very few people and they won't employ you or your children or your neighbours. Every dollar we spend online leaves our community - not even part of that dollar returns as business expenditure, investment, profit or wages.

Yes, I buy online, mainly the paraphernalia of sport, , but in the past couple of years I've reduced the range of gear I buy online. There's no price saving in apparel, for example, because much of it doesn't fit and returns are either out of the question, difficult or expensive. And I buy online only if there is a very significant saving when the cost of postage is taken into account.
Another factor limiting my online buying is that I won't do my research in the shops to buy online at the lower price. I have done so, years ago, but I will no longer. It seems to me that the price difference is largely the cost of stocking the goods in a shop and offering shoppers access to them with specialist advice, and so to accept that advantage without paying strikes me as approaching dishonesty.

I have no compunction, though, researching my purchases online and, having made a choice, buying in a store, and I have just read that an increasing number of shoppers are doing this. Google and Monash University's Australian Centre for Retail Studies have found that half Australia's shoppers are researching online before buying offline.

Yep, prices are usually higher but I and apparently many others believe the advantages are often worth paying for. Those advantages include the capacity to try for fit or personal suitability and to make a warranty claim by passing the item over the counter. And, of course, someone who buys from a shop will always have much greater recourse than an online buyer.
I had believed that traditional, in-store retailing was under serious threat and so I'm delighted that the direction of the battle's advance seems to have changed.
We had become obsessed with price, and while we still are obsessed I think there is room now for other factors in our shopping decisions: local economy, local business, local specialisation, local reputation.
Has the internet changed your shopping habits? Is price enough to send your business online?

Footnote:

As Australia’s sixth largest city Newcastle offers the benefits and amenities of a large city but with all the friendliness of a regional town. Located 162 km's north of Sydney and with a population of around 142,000 it is one of The Bookman's favourite places across the Tasman. It enjoys a most agreeable climate, has numeorus glorious sandy beaches, a highy rated university, a progressive public art gallery, there are numerous excellent cafes and restaurants, and of course in the nearby hinterland is the Hunter Valley, one of Australia's major wine regions, with it's many attractions.

If you have not been to Newcastle I warmly recommend a visit next time you are in NSW.