The comments about offshore shopping resonate strongly with us and are spot on. Our websites provide cashback to shoppers buying online, and the number one query we get at both DealSave.com.au and StartHere.com.au is about when we're going to add more overseas merchants to our offering. It's definitely a clear trend. The positive for us is that O/S merchants are extremely receptive to the cashback concept and already support it, so we will be adding offshore merchants pretty shortly. But as a local merchant I'd definitely work hard to differentiate on service and fulfillment.

@ Jason - agree with you and clearly Kevin didn't read the article and/or shows he just doesn't "get it".
@ Kevin - your comments come across as the ravings of a man over 50 (grumpy old man/men?), bucking against the changing world and blaming various aspects of change as vehicles for societal destruction, instead of embracing them as possible tools of enhancement. I'm sure people were making similar arguments about the impact of TV when you were just a boy. The idea you would weed out staff because they shop online is laughable and the fact you are still trading with this mentality astounds me. Surest way to accelerate your shelving due to antiquated attitude and operation. Service will always be king...using arbitrary definitions to weed out your employees based on your personal gripes is not a smart way to ensure your success, only grind your axe.

Kev Cox, you sound like my dad: "ban the internet becauses it destroys jobs, ban the internet because the crims are stealing your identity" (he sees this stuff on tv and in the newspapers).
"i'm with you dad: ban windows because crims are always using them to enter your home, ban cars 'cos they're always killing people, ban aeroplanes cos they give you deep vein thrombosothing"
Mate, you just can't hold back the future.

Working in the space between Retail and Online and focused on the integration from ERP to POS and Online, I find that information provided above is highly significant however note that there is a lack of available information for Clicks and Mortar businesses. This is possibly due to the inability of most (POS, Office and ERP) systems to operate from a single database.
If the Business owner were able to track the customer/user and their movements in store, the reluctance of SME Retailers would be alleviated. In store redeemable, the experience and the upsell are all valid reasons for driving your customers in store. Unfortunately, there is a real lack of cross discipline knowledge and rarely is it used to create a product that matches the Retailers real needs. It does; however, do a good job of justifying the developer’s ability.
Key performance indicators should be in store, with the advantage of the experience, not just an aesthetically pleasing online store.

As for the comments above...did they even read the article?

btw being against technology and young, there are a few out there, does not make you a dreg. some times it is a life choice. mostly the parents choice but some people just dont like the net.

hi pat, as far as becoming irrelevant because of a low tech business model, my business uses tech as a tool but never as a replacement for service and advice. in a high tech world where everything is available at the push of a button the person who can use his hands and communicate face to face becomes the person of value. my point is also that if shops continue to go down the tubes who will hire those young people and where will they get the money to spend online? people with dreams and stores built cities not computer generated sales. the us military has found that soldiers who pilot UAV's have less compassion than the soldier on the ground. they new this in the vietnam conflict as well. the more disengaged our young people become the less they will care about each other and who will take care of us when we are elderly. this seems off topic but it can all start in the work place. just like a good work ethic is instilled and not just simply a mutation at birth. we need to let people know about the connection between haveing a job and a companies ability to keep your job availble.

Kevin, I don't think you're going to have too many young applicants for your jobs if they're not wanted because they shop online. And those you get are going to be the dregs if you're selecting people with a criteria that includes being technologically ignorant. Sounds like an excellent recipe for making yourself irrelevant.

All the articles we read are positive about the online model. However ask some of the largest distributors in industries such as toys and sporting goods about the large debts that some of the best known online retailers have run up. Just like any business you must look at your costs and free freight, return it if you don't like it etc.will eventually catch up with you. The game is still running, at least until Amazon set up here!

Reading the comments, I find it difficult to beblieve they read the article.
Consider a brochure to be Generation 1 of online, eCommerce as a seperate entity to be Gen 2, full integration from POS to Online Gen 3 and what we witnesses this morning at PWC for enterprise integration and customer centric focus is Gen 4. The best offering i have seen so far, is about a Gen 3.5 and I've only seen it because we created it.

debra, if you dont shop with those young people and make a complaint to senior staff, nothing will change. a bad employee beleives they are good until they are told different. the management are to blame for not putting better training methods into practice. nothing gets better without critique. just look at shows like master chef. how many people are now foodies and how many restaurants are now lifting their game because of people making noise about being dissatisfied?

i strongly encourage each and every retail employer to ask each person they interview for a job if that candidate shops online. if they do use that as de-selection criteria. as retail is the largest employer of young people if they cant get a job from a bricks and mortor business and the internet is not hiring at this stage, it gives us the power to make a statement and teach the young people the value of face to face interaction. the idea that internet shopping and social media is not harmful to business and society is ludicrous. you only have to turn on the tv for a few minutes of new to see the degradation of our society. there was an ER surgeon who stated that young people no longer have any respect for other human beings. i believe that this is due to the disinfrachisment caused through to much social media and now kids dont even have to interact with shop keepers and other humans to get their products. it all ties together and the fact that these folks will need our issued pay cheques in the future gives us a platform to teach.

Its just so easy to shop online. My past 5 experiences in stores recently with customer service has been so poor. I prefer not to deal with the untrained staff, staff who do not know how to use a till, staff who do not know the very basics or slow serving staff. Online is just so easy.