internet shopping

[overload]

That applies to a lot of stuff, Comet have lower prices for some stuff ordered online. I think they're trying to discourage people from using their stores.

....and a growing trend that is too.
Used to occasionally pop into Banbury Trailers for odds and sods while at the same time they operated a website to sell their wares and then they suddenly announced on the entrance door at Banbury you can only buy from them off the Internet even if you were local!!! Collection on the other hand not a problem. I still think it's daft though!!!

 

[Frankenweld]

Many years ago I worked in middle-management for Burberrys. I was involved in logistics and saw first hand just how much the company added on as profit.
One that comes to mind is telescopic umbrellas. We shipped them into the warehouses from China (yes) at a cost of £2.75 each. The warehouses had to make a profit to cover running costs so we passed them on to the retail outlets at cost plus half the price again. The shops were then selling those unbrellas to the public at around £90.00 each....

 

[Wozzaaah]

PC world, buy an item in store at X price but reserve it online, go to the store, collect it and pay for it and get charged Y price.
Ask them why you can't simply have it at Y price and they can't tell you, they just say that's how the system works.

Halfords are the same, I went in for a new cycle helmet and saw the one I wanted but it was more than the price I'd seen. "Oh, that's the web special price, not the store price"..."so why can't I just have it at that price".."because you can't".....
3 mins on my phone reserving the helmet (that I still have in my possession) and I show my reservation code to the the guy on the till and walk out with the helmet at the web price!

 

[rtbcomp]

That's bureacracy gone mad

 

[Paul.]

PC World, my son bought a posh laptop bag £30 odd pound, I saw it on the website, reserve and collect £15, we reserved one, he took it the first one back got a refund, and then bought the same one home less than half price, Crazy!.

 

[rtbcomp]

Here's an idea.............

Because most people don't like waiting for deliveries, why don't all the retailers open local, small depots on the high street. Deliveries could be made to these for customers to collect. As an extra service, these depots, let's call them "shops," could hold stock just in case someone called in wanting to buy something. These "shops" would accept someting called "cash" just in case people didn't want to risk their cards being cloned.

 

[Wozzaaah]

PC World, my son bought a posh laptop bag £30 odd pound, I saw it on the website, reserve and collect £15, we reserved one, he took it the first one back got a refund, and then bought the same one home less than half price, Crazy!.

I bought a leather Antler laptop case from PCW a few years ago, instore price was a hefty £79.99 but 'reserve and collect'.......£24.99!

 

[Drains]

PC World purchasing technique -

1) Go to shop, look at goods, decide what to buy.

2) Lean against convenient stack of computers, tvs etc, get Iphone out of pocket, go to PC World website and reserve item, whilst politely fending off offers of help from PCWorld sales-people.

3) Go to Collect Desk, and get item.

4) Take to Cash Desk and pay, with discount. Olé!

 

[Drains]

Here's an idea.............

Because most people don't like waiting for deliveries, why don't all the retailers open local, small depots on the high street. Deliveries could be made to these for customers to collect. As an extra service, these depots, let's call them "shops," could hold stock just in case someone called in wanting to buy something. These "shops" would accept someting called "cash" just in case people didn't want to risk their cards being cloned.

The way of the future! Cracking idea!

 

[tigler]

Books are my favourite Internet purchase and were the very first thing I ordered when I started using the web. That was from Amazon and I've been hooked ever since. Amazon have this one click ordering system that I really have to be strong to resist, I know thats why they do it but it is soooo brilliant to have such little hassle ordering stuff !
The only time I ever go into a shop is if I need something NOW but I cringe at the price every time !
Car models are another thing, I collect these and am amazed how any store on the high street sell theirs when the prices on the web are so much lower.
Damage and non or late delivery are not a problem, I don't experience that often and most sellers resolve those issues quickly.
As an example, I bought an exhaust back box earlier this year and despite me checking everything very carefully and verifying with the suppliers own website the wrong type arrived. After a little discussion to establish that it was indeed their fault they called me back after about an hour and said they would issue a full refund and to keep the item they sent as it would cost more than it was worth to have collected !
That went on ebay !
When shops are considered they no longer make sense, they belong to a bygone era.
They were needed in the time when the only way a consumer could see merchandise was to physically stock it in a place where people could conveniently travel to and see it on display in a shop window. Now there is the Internet where we virtually travel to to see whatever is available in the entire world, examine via photo's and description and purchase regardless of physical distance, it's a global shop window !

 

[rockjock620]

Very narrow viewpoints on here. Shops exist to provide that one-to-one service that online doesn't give. To do that they have expenses to cover - rent, rates, stock, gas, electric, wages (owner and staff), tills, card machines, advertising, delivery charges, carpets, displays, taxes and a million other things. Many people want the convenience of going to the shop and buying there, obviously the net dwellers and computer savvies on here don't.

Shops have to have a margin to justify their existence, don't berate them for that. After all, nobody on here would work for nothing, would they? Why should shopkeepers? The death of the high street may well be predicted by some on here, but that will be the death of the country in my opinion. You will just get ghost towns with bars, clubs, pound shops, charity shops, fast food outlets, druggies, drunks and all the associated crap that comes with such activities. Places where god fearing people dread to walk. Many decent towns are suffering from this already.

The internet is not the solution to kife, not at all. Price isn't everything.

 

[tigler]

Thats an extreme viewpoint but if it did happen that way it wouldn't matter as no one would go there anyway. The problem with the high street is that it always has it's hand in your pocket one way or another. Parking charges are my pet hate, no way am I paying £6-10 for a day in say Brum shopping !! Q's, £3 coffee's, people bumping into you, overpriced goods, thick shop staff who know naff all about what they're selling, limited choice, etc, etc. Shops admittedly have high overheads and why is that ? Greedy local authorities who force high prices by charging ridiculous rates and landlords doing the same with rents, all because they know the consumer is going to pay !
Sorry, but the days of the good specialist stores have gone, all we have now are cloned high streets selling the same old overpriced pap that can be bought in any other town.
The future is the Internet and mega, hyper supermarkets. The Internet I like, the supermarkets I don't. Ultimately this is all driven by the consumer.

 

[gridley51]

Here's an idea.............

Because most people don't like waiting for deliveries, why don't all the retailers open local, small depots on the high street. Deliveries could be made to these for customers to collect. As an extra service, these depots, let's call them "shops," could hold stock just in case someone called in wanting to buy something. These "shops" would accept someting called "cash" just in case people didn't want to risk their cards being cloned.

Something very similar to that is nearly at the installation stage.It`s lockers.If you`re not in,the courier drops a card through your door with a code number and the locker number.He puts the goods in the locker and sets the code.The operator changes the code from his desk after the collection has beem made.The idea is that banks of these will be installed all over the country.
The next step will be that the supplier will deliver straight to the locker and wire the code to the customer.Will save a fortune in lost time.

 

[Shox Dr]

Very narrow viewpoints on here. Shops exist to provide that one-to-one service that online doesn't give. To do that they have expenses to cover - rent, rates, stock, gas, electric, wages (owner and staff), tills, card machines, advertising, delivery charges, carpets, displays, taxes and a million other things. Many people want the convenience of going to the shop and buying there, obviously the net dwellers and computer savvies on here don't.

Shops have to have a margin to justify their existence, don't berate them for that. After all, nobody on here would work for nothing, would they? Why should shopkeepers? The death of the high street may well be predicted by some on here, but that will be the death of the country in my opinion. You will just get ghost towns with bars, clubs, pound shops, charity shops, fast food outlets, druggies, drunks and all the associated crap that comes with such activities. Places where god fearing people dread to walk. Many decent towns are suffering from this already.

The internet is not the solution to kife, not at all. Price isn't everything.

No different to an internet shop then


Well the biggest is they don't need to be in the middle of a town, but as others have said, they are, in middle of towns and on Retail parks


I had my own import and distribution company for 19yrs, and I can tell you there is no one more greedy than a retailer

 

[rtbcomp]

.......and I can tell you there is no one more greedy than a retailer

Apart from his bank.

I like that locker idea, they could be installed at carriers' depots so they could abolish the loacl delivery fleet saving even more money.

They'd just get that organised in time for everyone to be working from home or unemployed!

Better still, if they laid a pair of parallel steel rails between the major towns, along which trucks of parcels could be hauled using electric motors, with lets call them "stations" at various intervals, road traffic and pollution could be greatly reduced.

 

[Kafer_meister]

Better still, if they laid a pair of parallel steel rails between the major towns, along which trucks of parcels could be hauled using electric motors, with lets call them "stations" at various intervals, road traffic and pollution could be greatly reduced.

That might work, if they didn't have the left rail owned by one company, the right by another, the train carriages by a third and yet another for the engine. So when something breaks, they can all blame it on each other and then ask the government to pay for the repairs or extra capacity, whilst sending out huge cheques to their shareholders.

It's a great idea, but it'll never work

 

[jugs]

yeah one of my orders was a 5kva altenator for a diesel genny

Hi snoop,
was it a direct drive type fitting onto bell housing ? if so, where did you get it from, I need a replacement to go on my Petter . thanks in advance.

 

[pidgeon chit welder]

Something very similar to that is nearly at the installation stage.It`s lockers.If you`re not in,the courier drops a card through your door with a code number and the locker number.He puts the goods in the locker and sets the code.The operator changes the code from his desk after the collection has beem made.The idea is that banks of these will be installed all over the country.
The next step will be that the supplier will deliver straight to the locker and wire the code to the customer.Will save a fortune in lost time.

For several years I used to work form home and all my stores were delivered to remote locations and put in my locker all I had to do was collect them as I was passing by after being notified on a secure private terminal where they were.

So as such it's not a new idea but the resettable lock code is as it helps keep down the number of lockers needed . There is a home locker system the United States with a big outside all weather storage locker and a fridge & freezer combined .
I think it has been trialed here in the UK in blocks or near blocks of flats though I haven't heard the results .

The funny thing is back in the 1950's we already had such things .. a bit more primative perhaps and no locks as we trusted people not to steal our stuff .
Dad made three big front door'd hinged oak plank boxes on legs , he lined two with slates to about 1" thick and put a sand stone slab in the bottom of one which was painted with " Cool on the door the other was painted with "Grocer " , the un slated one had mail & papers on the door .

In summer the sand stone slab was wetted each morning when dad took the milk bottles there on the way to work . So we had a primitave evaporating cool box for deliveries .
The tradesmen then left the stuff in the correcft box at the end of the track which was 1/2 a mile from our hovel.

 

[pidgeon chit welder]

Apart from his bank.

I like that locker idea, they could be installed at carriers' depots so they could abolish the loacl delivery fleet saving even more money.

They'd just get that organised in time for everyone to be working from home or unemployed!

Better still, if they laid a pair of parallel steel rails between the major towns, along which trucks of parcels could be hauled using electric motors, with lets call them "stations" at various intervals, road traffic and pollution could be greatly reduced.

It wouldn't ever work the Bstd's would hold the country to ransome due to being the majority carriers ...now where have I experienced that before :whistle: ???

 

[gavuk]

I often choose to buy from online sellers who use Royal mail ,if i miss a delivery it is at least stored in my home town ,nightfreight ,dhl and the others often have depots 30+ miles away from me