I can count on one hand the number of items I've bought on line in the past 2 years. I shop as local as possible and if I can't find it locally do I really need it that much, or can an alternative be found locally?
If I can't find it in my home town or region I'll go to Auckland (two hours away) if I can't find it there I generally don't buy it online (a Boro top was an exception as can't get them in NZ).
Every time you shop on line you are potentially taking away the jobs of somebody that works in your local community, maybe your partner, child, cousin etc.
And the argument will be 'oh but you can buy it cheaper on line'. Yes this is often the case, but the extra $5-$20 you save may cost somebody else their job, or be the nail that finally closes down your local store that sells similar products.
That's just me though and I know most people do. But when you rellie or friend who works in retail tells you they've lost their job or the company's closing due to dror in sales think about the reasons why.
The computer you wrote this on put loads of telegram writers and postal staff out of the job due to advent of email and instant communications, likewise mobile phones.
You can’t just half progress and freeze life as a snapshot in time because people are comfortable.
The other side of the coin is where jobs are being lost, young people coming out of uni are getting involved in programming dev QA test business analysis rpa automation etc so by freezing the progress of technology you stymy their futures
Change is often uncomfortable but you can’t control it, it will just happen. Two great examples of resisting change heavily are Kodak believing digital cameras to not be the future, they were everywhere in photography from film to cameras and now they don’t even make them anymore, they do printers and imaging. Another is blockbuster having the opportunity to buy Netflix for just 50 million dollars.
Easy to get misty eyed about these brands disappearing but they will have squeezed out many independent traders to get where they are today, just as supermarkets were largely the death knell for green grocers and fishmongers etc, now largely relegated to rare units or farm shops. They’ve also been chronically mismanaged and nit evolved with the times so whilst any loss of jobs is inherently sad, it’s not up to me to like their shareholders pockets.
People talk about an online tax to bring parity but that is just madness, any firm starting up would be off kilter right away due to paying a tax for not running a property. It’s just changing society, people don’t want to “go down down” anymore and spend money on parking and carrying stuff shop to shop, when it can get delivered next day and be sent back really easily.
The things I buy on amazon aren’t sold in teesside, certainly not by any independent stores. And I have no particular wish to go to a store and pay £10-50 more for an item from one corporation just because they’ve got a fat 25 year lease out of some misguided sense of community spirit.