Why are some stores going to all "pick-up" or "delivery"?

horseless carriage said:
Is the internet killing the high street? Many of the big name shops have vanished, all that's left is a mix of charity, discount and coffee shops. Each of those often have closed-up shops next door, strewn with graffiti and with the homeless sleeping rough in the porch.

The decline of the high street is alarming. You can blame the internet, austerity, or even political incompetence. However, the reality can be boiled down to a simple equation. The average working person has less disposable income to spend which, in turn, causes less money to spend, making shoppers more careful about where they spend their money.

It probably needs political influence but when shops, restaurants, and even town centres up their game and try to attract consumers to their premises with products at affordable prices, it could make retail shopping an enjoyable experience, but I am not holding my breath.
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Affordability will be always be an issue, however the issues - as you say - are more complex.

Property taxes are really high these days, for example. The land they sit on is also valuable. Then there's the cost of maintenance etc. and it means making a store pay is really difficult.

I don't look at it as the internet killing High Street's though. Instead, I see it as simple progress. By the time you've gotten ready, driven the car, paid for parking, and then walked around a big store - well it can take half a day. Whilst an online grocery shop is perhaps, at most, half an hours work. I can use the time it saved for things I truly enjoy.

In other words, High Streets simply aged out as a concept. It's evolution, that's all.
 

Unlike many posters, I dont mind grocery shopping - which I do in person once a week. The shops do also offer delivery and click and collect - but I prefer to just go there myself.

Clothes shopping _ I do like to try clothes on first - but have seen a big decline in amount of clothes shops in recent years, which I put down to online ordering taking over.

Things like furniture and white goods - yes there is usually a model or a similar model in floor stock - and then you order your own in whatever colour or size and it is delivered to your house when it arrives in town.
 
MACKTEXAS said:
I find online, "The goal is to integrate online and offline shopping experiences to provide customers with greater convenience and flexibility," but I personally feel that the long term objective is to reduce the number of brick and mortar outlets.

from "The Week"
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Control the population by eliminating choices was my first thought.
 

chic said:
Control the population by eliminating choices was my first thought.
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How does this break down to controlling the population? Online services only work if people use them. The same principle applies to stores - if people keep using them they'll stay open. If they don't, they'll go under. I believe what we're seeing is mostly because of the convenience, the cost savings, and the ease of access to online stores. For example, I can easily order a record from a store in Ohio if I want, and never need to go to the US myself.

So there's nothing nefarious going on, imo. At the end of the day, it's the pressures of the capitalist system which drives increased profit, lower costs, and convenience to the consumer. Where do you are more conspiratorial idea?
 
I would have to be too sick to go shopping to use online services for groceries. Right now I do a big shop once a month at an employee owned very large grocery store. Their prices are the best and even beat Walmart and their selection and quality is great.

I pick up things I need in between at a much smaller grocery store close by. While I can order tops and sweaters online and they usually fit I cannot order pants and capris and have them reliably fit, even if they are the same brand and size from the same company. So I definitely have to try those on. I would not buy furniture online as it’s expensive and I need to sit on it to make sure it’s comfortable.

I buy many other things online that aren’t important to see in person and have them sent to my home. In particular, I order my dog food from chewy which has great prices and because it’s heavy it’s great that it comes right to the door.
 
Where I live, all the grocery stores offer online order and self pickup service, and they promote it. It started since covid era, and continue now. I supposed they did the math and figured this is more profitable or requires less labor, or bring more customers.
 
I've seen how some of the pickers treat the groceries they are picking for you. I want to choose my own fresh food myself. There are times that what I want & what they have isn't the quality I'm looking for. The picker has no way to know what you would pick out yourself.

All the groceries around me are usually packed with people when I go.
 
horseless carriage said:
Is the internet killing the high street? Many of the big name shops have vanished, all that's left is a mix of charity, discount and coffee shops. Each of those often have closed-up shops next door, strewn with graffiti and with the homeless sleeping rough in the porch.

The decline of the high street is alarming. You can blame the internet, austerity, or even political incompetence. However, the reality can be boiled down to a simple equation. The average working person has less disposable income to spend which, in turn, causes less money to spend, making shoppers more careful about where they spend their money.

It probably needs political influence but when shops, restaurants, and even town centres up their game and try to attract consumers to their premises with products at affordable prices, it could make retail shopping an enjoyable experience, but I am not holding my breath.
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The High street is not dead, however it is critically ill........the out of town retail parks are what keep the inernet from stealing the life of shops in the UK....but not for very much longer. As has already been discussed here, if we in the UK go to a big box store..eg B&Q... or John Lewis.. Curry et al, we're as likely to be told ( and I have been ) that they no longer stock it, and that we have to buy it from their website...
 
OldOld said:
Where I live, all the grocery stores offer online order and self pickup service, and they promote it. It started since covid era, and continue now. I supposed they did the math and figured this is more profitable or requires less labor, or bring more customers.
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All our grocery stores do the same since Covid..either order online and have it delivered at a cost... order online and pick it up yourself...or go to the store in the traditional manner...


Our stores are still very full of shoppers.. and Online shopping is extremely popular, which tells us if we didn't have online shopping as an option we don't have enough supermarkets any more to Cater for the massive population explosion in the last few years

We still having thriving Malls, at least here in the South..but I've heard , some in the rest of the country have crumbled, but ours are still on the whole very busy....the one type of Mall which seems to have suffered tho' is the Outlet Malls... ...people can buy cheap stuff on all the discount stores online now... no need to go to a dedicated Mall
 
VaughanJB said:
How does this break down to controlling the population? Online services only work if people use them. The same principle applies to stores - if people keep using them they'll stay open. If they don't, they'll go under. I believe what we're seeing is mostly because of the convenience, the cost savings, and the ease of access to online stores. For example, I can easily order a record from a store in Ohio if I want, and never need to go to the US myself.

So there's nothing nefarious going on, imo. At the end of the day, it's the pressures of the capitalist system which drives increased profit, lower costs, and convenience to the consumer. Where do you are more conspiratorial idea?
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Eliminating a choice is not control? I think it is.

There are certain items I always choose myself in the flesh like deli, meats and fish. I like to choose my own produce too preferably and I enjoying having a conversation with staff who package and bag my purchase, how to do that for maximum food protection and satisfaction so nothing goes spilling all over the floor when unpacked.

And, I would miss the social aspect of it. I know the staff where I shop and I would miss seeing and talking to them as they would miss seeing and talking to me. It boosts my morale and I enjoy the positive mental health aspects of shopping in store myself. It's not a deep dark conspiracy theory but I do see a growing trend with technology to separate us from having human contact with one another, and this is important to me.
 
I like the social aspect when there is one. Most of the cashiers are younger and not really chatty. They look atcha like you're crazy if you try to talk to them and then laugh at ya when ya leave.
 
Went to Stop & Shop with son. Checkout is a nightmare of people, many not knowing where to stand, I think only 3 cashiers and 2 self check. It was agony. I don't see myself alone there. They changed locations of most stuff, I'd have to really practice going
 
You know I don't think they realize what a hassle that is for older people when they move everything all the time. For some just the walk through the store is hard enough without making it twice as long while we look for everything again. They're selling us less online cuz we're not forced to go down every aisle to find something that was always on aisle 4.
 
Fritz said:
You know I don't think they realize what a hassle that is for older people when they move everything all the time. For some just the walk through the store is hard enough without making it twice as long while we look for everything again. They're selling us less online cuz we're not forced to go down every aisle to find something that was always on aisle 4.
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It's a marketing strategy. If they move merchandise every once in a while, it forces customers to have to search and in doing that, they may see something else they weren't thinking of buying, but do when they see it. Same logic of putting items most people always buy furthest from the entrance. That way customers have to walk the whole length of the store to get there and may see items in their travel they impulsively buy.
 

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