Online shopping, shopping malls etc

Grantanow

Our small Somerset market town is thriving and thankfully - unlike Bruton and Frome - free of celebs, London journalists and discarded politicians.

same here, my small market town too and also in somerset.

Free parking helps as do central and clean toilets. It does get quiet on saturday afternoons but that was the norm wrt local shops in Liverpool in the old days. I try to buy local when possible and love the chats with strangers and also love the many benches all over the place

i shop online now as i have to use a walker outside and i don't drive, i buy from poundland online and get about 3 months of cleaning and laundry products, i get tops from wish, and other things from primark when my son takes me out. my food shopping is because i don't have a choice now, i have a morrisons 5 mins away that i can buy small items.

biglouis

*there is talk of an online shopping tax being introduced to help the High Street*

Platforms like Ebay in the USA now charge a tax to many of their buyers based upon their home state location. Taxes vary considerably from one state to another. I buy a lot in the USA so I was careful to choose a US based shipper in a tax free state. The money generated (which is paid by buyers) has to be paid to the appropriate state authority and this is arranged by the online platforms themselves. There is no accountability about what is done with the money. It does not seem to have put people in the USA off buying online.

Fortunately we dont have multiple states in this country but I can see this happening in the foreseeable future. The greedy politicos in westminster lose no opportunity to find new ways to fleece people while lining their own pockets.

The US have always had extra tax on their goods, which vary state to state. The price you see on the ticket, isn't the price you'll pay at the till, because they add differing amounts of tax to it. I think it's just that now they're aligning their online sales to match.

there is talk of an online shopping tax being introduced to help the High Street

Platforms like Ebay in the USA now charge a tax to many of their buyers based upon their home state location. Taxes vary considerably from one state to another. I buy a lot in the USA so I was careful to choose a US based shipper in a tax free state. The money generated (which is paid by buyers) has to be paid to the appropriate state authority and this is arranged by the online platforms themselves. There is no accountability about what is done with the money. It does not seem to have put people in the USA off buying online.

Fortunately we dont have multiple states in this country but I can see this happening in the foreseeable future. The greedy politicos in westminster lose no opportunity to find new ways to fleece people while lining their own pockets.

I agree with you, Doodledog and what a cheek! Who would the money go to? Bet my bottom dollar it would be the politicians and they would probably not use it in the best interest of shoppers, either.

I heard somewhere recently that there is talk of an online shopping tax being introduced to help the High Street. I think that would be very wrong - if people are happy to buy online it is nobody’s business to try to change that.

I dislike shops intensely. I probably do 90% of my shopping online now. I can browse comfortably, at my leisure, at a time that suits me (which is often 2 or 3 in the morning, because I don't sleep well), and it's often less expensive, to boot. Win/win in my opinion. Even before the pandemic I was an avid online shopper, but it's definitely increased since then, due to the fact that, out of sheer necessity I found many more online shops that I like, so I've stuck with them. I can't remember the last time I visited my local town centre, but it's definitely pre-pandemic. My son visited from Australia last year and he popped over there to visit some old friends and do some shopping, and he told me then that it was dead as a dodo. 60% of the shops were closed and it felt like a ghost town, he said. I wasn't too surprised, to be honest.

nanna8

He, there was an item on the radio today saying there is a trend away from online shopping here and people are going back to the shops. Interesting.

That’s in Australia I take it nanna. Wonder if it will happen here in UK

Comment on the business pages yesterday on M&S annual results - sales up, especially in food and clothing - described the company in an aside, 'as already owning the fashion market for the 'over 55s'

Reading this thread and many others on GN, I cannot imagine where the commentator got this impression. Running a cursory eye over my wardrobe - and I am well over 55 - and I have a couple of items from M&S, but no individual brand is central to my wardrobe.

I was interested to read nanna8 s comments about a move away from online shopping, I think she is in Australia. We have just returned from holiday at a familiar destination in France and noticed how many new dress shops had sprung up in the local high street in the last year.

Te intersting thing is that they are all indpendent shops, not chain stores, and seemed to be quite busy.

I used to like the M and S website but it seems to have gone off a bit. They separate out what we can get from what is available in the uk, put the price up and think we will ‘wear’ it, excuse the pun! People are not stupid and just look at the cheaper prices of what we can’t get and it’s goodbye.

Jaxjacky

cc you can set up an email alert on the M&S site if your item is out of stock.

Yes, I've tried that when the box was showing, but I have NEVER had them get back to me! I suspect that once clothing has sold out that is it.

nanna8

He, there was an item on the radio today saying there is a trend away from online shopping here and people are going back to the shops. Interesting.

I'm not sure if I believe them! There are so few good non-food shops left now. Even our local big shopping mall is fairly quiet except at weekends.
There's a pretty good sized M&S on a small trading estate near us and only the food part is ever bustling. Also there are usually people there returning unwanted online purchases as it is simpler to park there than trying to get to a Post Office.
It's all on one floor so you can see everyting and there are times when you can be the only person looking at clothes or homeware.

Being elderly with a shape that confirms that, I have looked in all the available shops I have in my vicinity. No luck for a summer dress as styles just don’t work for me. I have had much better luck on line. Time and time again I can’t find things locally but Amazon produces just what I want. I have always enjoyed shopping and yes I would prefer to try things on but can’t if they are not available. When needing fridge freezers, washing machine, dishwasher I have gone to JL and ordered from there or online later when I get home. However recently my microwave went kaput so looked on Amazon, read up on product details and reviews, pressed a couple of buttons and one arrived next day like a miracle on the shoulder of a cheery young Amazon man who offered to put it where most convenient. As we no longer drive and couldn’t just go and pick one up it was great.

cc you can set up an email alert on the M&S site if your item is out of stock.

I've never enjoyed traipsing round department stores or chain stores and often find that the section I wanted has moved and once I find it, I can't find the exit - and as for those big car parks... So I buy clothes from companies I know I can rely and even shoes which I believe will fit me and if they don't, returning and replacing is easy. But I buy food locally. I feel the need to get beyond my four walls without having to make a tour of a big store and its car park.

I stopped shopping because of Covid and since then the Dial ride bus no longer runs. That last time shops were closing because of high rents. I am now told that it is dead with a few discount store.s.
Because I do not drive and reducing amount of transport I have always shopped on line.
Thirty years ago there were busses es every day to towns every day now there is only one because the village is now population has changed with more younger people and the original retirees have passed away.

He, there was an item on the radio today saying there is a trend away from online shopping here and people are going back to the shops. Interesting.

I agree high streets now seem to be much quieter, mostly charity shops!
I'm not a great one for shopping, and I do tend to buy online, but not normally jeans and shoes, like to try on. Don't visit our city often as it's over a 100 mile round trip and is virtually a whole day out plus fuel is still pricey.

On a train, queue at Bicester to get to the shopping village was massive. Like a football match. So guess they’re doing well! Guess I must go one day, but I am not a good shopper.

I used to love in person shopping. However with my arthritis and not driving it all got too much for me. First I had to troll into the city and I have never been very patient at standing in queues.

There is a large shopping center here in Manchester and I recently heard that M&S are pulling out so I dont know where that will go. Its ages since I went to the Trafford Center.

I shop exclusively online now even for antiques! I used to go to the odd in person auction but there were people who knew what I bought and they could deliberately ran up the prices even though they didnt want the items. Now I bid online via several platforms I belong to. I can bid worldwide and they are completely anonymous so no one knows who I am. I love the anonymity of it all. Buying items in the USA or Europe is no more diffcult than buying in the UK.

But we don’t all have cars to get to the out of town Malls

I have to shop online as we have so little left in town but it’s not a pleasant experience and the items never seem like how you expect them to be or feel…the sizes are so weird sometimes Im a 12 /14/16 then you have to wait in for parcels to be delivered and go to the non existent PO to send them back !!!

Mainly on line for me, have a weekly organic veg box delivered and alternate between Ocado and Waitrose for groceries but do try and use the butcher and cheese shop not too far from me. Clothes and shoes I'd much rather buy on line, try on in the comfort of my own bedroom with my own tops/shoes etc and back in the post next day if I don't like them.
Also our small family business is on line retail - of things you only buy if you need them .

Jess20

I buy things like bedding, curtains and clothes online but I'm often surprised, to say the least, at the variations in quality and fit, even from the same company and I have to send a lot back, which isn't ideal. I have tried going back to shop in the high street but am constantly disappointed in what's on offer. M&S, which used to be my 'go to' store for good quality cotton underwear, socks and basics, now has a huge range of impractical stuff which isn't what I'm looking for at all and seems to be trying to replace Debenhams as a department store with all sorts of other brands. I usually know what I want before I go shopping, like skirts, trousers etc with decent pockets, which are very hard to find, and underwear that's 100% cotton without fussy elasticated bits which are so uncomfortable. The most annoying thing is that my size is so often sold out - and that's online as well as in-store but much more annoying if you've made all the effort to take a trip to the high street for something and it's out of stock.

Yes, the M&S stock issue is irritating. I found some lovely cord trousers there a couple of years ago, but by the time I'd bought a pair and tried them on there were no more available in my size either online or instore. Yet there were plenty available in tiny and very large sizes, or in short fittings.
I just can't understand why they run out of the sizes that we all want but suppose that once they've sold out they have no way of knowing that there is still demand. At least John Lewis have a box on the product page where you can put your email to be notified if they come back in stock.
And don't get me started on M&S knickers! They used to be so good, nice fabrics, good styles, true to size and most of all very well made.

I buy things like bedding, curtains and clothes online but I'm often surprised, to say the least, at the variations in quality and fit, even from the same company and I have to send a lot back, which isn't ideal. I have tried going back to shop in the high street but am constantly disappointed in what's on offer. M&S, which used to be my 'go to' store for good quality cotton underwear, socks and basics, now has a huge range of impractical stuff which isn't what I'm looking for at all and seems to be trying to replace Debenhams as a department store with all sorts of other brands. I usually know what I want before I go shopping, like skirts, trousers etc with decent pockets, which are very hard to find, and underwear that's 100% cotton without fussy elasticated bits which are so uncomfortable. The most annoying thing is that my size is so often sold out - and that's online as well as in-store but much more annoying if you've made all the effort to take a trip to the high street for something and it's out of stock.

The last time I went to a big city I was traumatised. Dozens of beggars asking for money - all ages and states, both genders. Huge, aggressive feeling crowds. Dirt and litter everywhere, cracked paving and loud music. It was horrible. Could not wait to get home to my little market town with fresh air and no crowds. Obviously will not go again.