Posted on 05/07/2017 5:56:43 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
With more than half of 2017 still ahead, the retail industry is seeing a record-setting pace for bankruptcy filings and store closings and more are expected in the not too distant future, despite what most consider a healthy consumer.
This tipping point for retail is the result of a number of compounding reasons, but the inability to pay looming, massive debt bills is dealing the final death blow to many.
More online shopping
Yes, more shopping is shifting online in general, and to Amazon specifically, as in-store shopping traffic and sales trends fall for many retailers and shopping centers. Slice Intelligence said 43 cents of every online dollar is spent on Amazon, based on its analysis of millions of email receipts.
However, according to the latest Commerce Department retail sales data, 86 percent of all retail sales (excluding motor vehicles and parts and food service and drinking locations) are still made in physical, brick-and-mortar locations. To be sure, the online versus in-store sales breakdown varies wildly from retailer to retailer.
Less stuff, more experiences
While some shopping is shifting from stores to the web, other spending is being diverted from physical goods, particularly, clothing.
In 2005, 3.6 percent of total U.S. retail sales went to department stores; now it's less than 2 percent, according to government data. Retailers like Macy's and credit card companies have discussed the shift in consumer spending from physical goods to experiences like travel.
Plus, for years now, Americans have been making bigger purchases or investments like their homes, which has paid off for Home Depot and Lowe's.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
But I don't think anybody has done anything on the scale of Amazon with regard to moving product from one place to another. And I remember when they were just a bookseller on the Internet with maybe just a couple thousand titles. People laughed at that business model for years.
Niche markets, specialty markets, mass markets, etc.
Businesses need to understand what market they are in.
Sorry I rankled you.
I started my post with:
On-line purchasing is ALSO an outgrowth of instant gratification, and touch screen access [caps added].
“Also”, in addition to Amazon’s growth due to superior product availability and purchasing convenience.
You as a cognizant and responsible purchaser (debit card) were not my focus.
My focus was the smart phone addict, ‘trained’ by leftists to ‘deserve’ everything now, and who avoid payment by using credit. These probably do qualify as agents of moral decay.
Does my hypothesis still fail?
PS I also order from Amazon. Use the evil PayPal so my card is not in many merchants’ systems, and my address is right there for shipping. I pay it off each month.
only one generation away from those who had grown up going without in the Depression and WW2
= = =
That’s me. My pile of stuff is just not quite used enough to throw away. Imprinted by my parents. Sometimes buy extra something to have it ‘in case’ (farm repair syndrome). I am getting over that because the availability is better, I’m getting older, and I can sometimes recognize junk that will not be needed, and can be tossed.
I joke that I can’t toss something unless it has been used for five different projects.
My kid criticizes my mess and is working to eliminate clutter (partly due to my ‘bad’ example).
They are all dying off. We here in my county lost Radio Shack, Macy’s, Circuit City, CompUSA, Dillons grocery stores, Gordman’s, Kmart, Ventures, Foodland grocery stores, Ponderosa Stake House, five malls in the metro, Sports Authority, Builders Square and so on.
"Advertising" has little to do with Amazon. Or Uber. Or Apple.
Heck, how many people go to Lowes or Home Depot because of their "Advertising?!"
Do people wait for a Wal-Mart ad telling them that "prices are dropping" or that they have everyday low pricing?
Do people buy $120k Tesla electric cars because of their advertising?!
Do people buy firearms because Colt or Smith & Wesson advertises?!
Do people buy gasoline because Exxon advertises?!
Could it be that ads are now flags that signal a product *isn't* in demand?
Amen. ‘Do I REALLY need this, or will it just end up in a yard sale?’
= = =
How about ... “or will it just end up in an Estate sale?”
I stopped at an estate sale of a single, male engineer.
Lots of wonderful loot stacked in the yard on numerous saw-horse tables. I thought, this could be my yard in the future. I bought some stuff anyway, files (tools) Made in USA.
He wasn’t far off. The emptier mall closed down here. It was featured on the dead malls website. The busier mall thrives.
Read about home delivery of groceries but it was not in my area. Order online and they bring it to you.
No I don’t suppose it fails. I haven’t actually witnessed impulse buying by smart phone addicts, but it is plausible that some do impulse buy.
As for PayPal, WOW, they own your card ;)
Thank you for naming the cause of the whole mess.
Nonsense, you are bombarded with ads for Apple, Amazon, and Uber. You just don't always realize it. Even news stories are advertisements. You have to think outside the box.
Everytime I buy something from Amazon, it starts showing up in web pages.
That’s a fact and since we abort our kids we have less young people needing to set up apartments and houses.Add to that the job market and young people living at home.
Trump wants you to BOYCOTT AMAZON. They steal BILLIONS each year from the U.S. and EU by using Luxemburg as an offshore bank. 40% of Amazon sellers live in CHINA. Amazon makes ALL of its products in CHINA. Less than 1% of items on amazon are MADE IN AMERICA
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