Joe can see….traditional retailing being dwarfed by e-commerce

As a regular user of Amazon, I have to concur with much of what Joe says here. And certainly the technology is readily available to make it even easier to shop electronically.

Although having said that, I only tend to use internet shopping for goods I have already decided I want and they tend to be things that do not need to be tried out, require extensive details or need inspection prior to purchase.

I dislike electronic advertising too and the perpetual bombardment of adverts, for me, is one of the main reasons I have dramatically slowed my use of Twitter, Facebook and web-surfing in general now.

In contrast, after spending the weekend in Harrogate and browsing all the fantastic specialist and quaint shops and retail outlets it struck me how, in their own way, the high street is evolving to compete against the hypermarkets and internet.

The main difference being, the retailers in a place like Harrogate make shopping a pleasure. The displays, staffing and product mix is designed to be as aesthetically pleasing as possible, each outlet is different and that makes them all the more alluring. Gone are the days when shop staff pounced on you as soon as you entered the store, these days they tend to stay visible and ready to help when you need it, but without being overbearing.

The internet is a great place to buy things, but retail therapy it’s not.

When Transformation reared it's ugly head and the Retail Model was the major talking point, I made the statement that the Internet is the new High Street! People didn't support my vision but I feel that my prediction is coming to fruition. Angus makes a great point that shopping in town centres such as Harrogate is an enjoyable experience, but more and more this is becoming a leisure trip rather than a shopping trip, hence the high number of coffee outlets. In this busy world we are now living in convenience has become the prime concern of the majority of people.

Retail therapy is not the first thing to come into mind when considering the purchase of a raised toilet seat, a commode or a manual wheelchair. In fact, given the choice, everyone of our customers would rather not be buying a product to assist their daily living. They would much rather be fit and healthy. But given the circumstances our customers have our industry needs to make our offerings in such a way that they are best accessed by those that need to purchase.
This will inevitably be a combination of several routes to market, the internet being just one. A retail showroom is a valuable source of information and touch / feel for many products but as many customers have impaired mobility then getting to the showroom for some is an impossible task. Home visits are also an essential method of presenting our customer base with products and assessment services. Indeed it would not be appropriate or legal to sell a mobility scooter without performing an assessment of the user and ideally the environment in which they wish to store and charge it. Likewise with things like stairlifts and hoists, it is essential to conduct a home visit. For all these reasons it is accepted that a small percentage of business can be conducted on the internet but overall the service element is more important in this industry than it is in many others so do not be surprised to see the Assistive Technology internet percentage lower than other market sectors.