Retailers hit panic button as online sales boom

By Brett Winterford on Jan 4, 2011 12:21 PM
Filed under Strategy

Retailers call for changes to GST-free threshold.

A group of Australia's largest retailers has called on the Federal Government to amend its taxation laws in the wake of strengthening competition from online merchants hosted overseas.

In an open letter to the Government [PDF], local retailers complained that foreign etailers enjoyed GST-free sales on goods and services sold for less than $1000, whilst local bricks and mortar outlets were taxed for a purchase of the same value.

The retailers called for the Government to lower the GST-free threshold on goods and services purchased online from overseas.

This would "create a level playing field where the same rules apply to everyone," the letter said.

"That means everyone is exempt from GST and duty charges for purchases less than $1000 - or everyone has to pay GST and duty."

Led by Myer, the signatories to the letter included David Jones, technology giant Harvey Norman and book retailers Angus and Robertson and Borders. In total, the complainants represented 2,211 retail stores, employing more than 76,000 Australians.

Bricks and mortar retailers have struggled as the Australian dollar has climbed against the U.S. dollar and Euro, with more and more sales heading direct to manufacturers or retailers based overseas.

Retailers have also struggled against restrictions on trading hours imposed by State Governments in conjunction with trade unions.

In South Australia, for example, stores were closed for five days during the Christmas and New Year period, much to the angst of both industry [PDF] and shoppers.

The Myer-led protest letter also noted that the rise of the smartphone had led to huge growth in online retail at the expense of physical stores.

"We agree with our customers that online retailing is a wonderful convenience that is here to stay. We currently offer our customers online services and we want to offer more, but we are disadvantaged by an Australian tax regime that offers overseas businesses a better deal to the detriment of Australian retailers and consumers who shop locally," the letter said.

Electronic Frontiers Australia stepped into the debate today to ask that the Government not pander to the retailers' lobby group without canvassing the opinion of all stakeholders - especially consumers.

Any move to reduce the GST-free threshold "would hurt Australian internet users and consumers," said EFA Chair Colin Jacobs. "Until a solid case is made that the economic benefits would outweigh the advantages in choice, price and convenience to shoppers, we don't think the status quo should be changed.

"The rise in online commerce has significant benefits for Australians, and will only become more important," added Jacobs. "With the NBN on the way, any changes targeted specifically at hindering online shopping should only occur after a lot more study and consultation."

Retailers hit panic button as online sales boom

43 comments in this discussion

"There is a subtle difference here - the retailers that are bricks and mortar and warehouses and an army of staff are going to be more expensive. Fact of life. What can they do to compete with ..."

By peterhau

Tags

retail, gst, threshold, myer, harvey norman, etail, online, sales, efa, retailit

Myer automates online order management

Aussie retailers fail to invest online

Myer pushes into Apple's Passbook

David Jones, Click Frenzy sites bomb in online sale

Breaking Stories

The illusion of cognitive computing

TransGrid makes the leap to Windows 7

QLD energy provider to outsource IT services

Dotcom threatens to sue web giants over patent 'infringement'

Police tap social media in wake of London attack

Readers of this article also read...

Comments: 43

Alias2010 Jan 4, 2011 2:03 PM	Boo Hoo, I Don't care ! Last month in China I purchase a camera TriPod for $40 USD. The same brand sells for $160 in several locations in Sydney. EB-Games sells computer software for at least $80AUD. I purchase and download the same software for $30USD. Just now I purchased genuine iPhone ear mic\plugs for $3USD which will take a week to get delivered from overseas. The same plugs sell for $40 at any iphone supplier. I'm sick of getting ripped off by Aussie retailers.. I will, when I can, buy online.
Alias2010 Jan 4, 2011 2:06 PM	"Customers call for NO changes to GST-free threshold"
nedlud Jan 4, 2011 3:40 PM	Yeah, a 10% GST falls a long way short of explaining the difference between local prices and what I can get online. Let them change the threshold. I'll still be able to buy far cheaper online.
greg.t Jan 4, 2011 3:46 PM	10%GST on purchases is not going to make consumers buy from places like Harvey Norman. HN are grossly over-priced when compared to other Australian retailers, and the price difference between them and overseas retailers is sometimes 40% or 50%. GST is not the issue - it's GH's operating costs. If he was smart, he would open an e-store in Singapore or HK, like a lot of other smaller electrical goods retailers in Australia.
Tom Jan 4, 2011 3:57 PM	HN et al are not stupid. They realise that an introduction of 10% GST on the majority of online purchases would make it more difficult for online retailers to sell in Australia. This is nothing to do with price - 10% is not the issue with retail sales sometimes 10x price. The GST is simply a smokescreen in which HN et al are trying to limit competition. If the gov are sensible they will listen to HN et al's pleas, smile, commission a report and then ignore them.
@LeslieCBarry Jan 4, 2011 3:59 PM	I would suggest that competing by pricing fairly and preparing for the obvious move to online over the last DECADE would be the correct response, not whining once the obvious happens. The NBN will also dramatically accelerate the move online, so brace yourselves, retailers...
craob Jan 4, 2011 4:03 PM	Cry me a river, Gerry Harvey. The reality is that most of the larger "bricks and mortar" retailers are forcing consumers into using in-house credit, such as GE Money and American Express, which are deliberately designed to allow people to default and pay interest in arrears. The fear of HN and Co. is that having business driven away by online retailers, they will lose their agreements with GE/Amex which accounts for so much of their revenue. It was never a good business model to start with, and what the high Aussie dollar has shown is that people are buying within their means instead of feeding the greedy banks and sub-tier lenders.
RB Jan 4, 2011 4:04 PM	Of course the Tax office will be very happy to levy the GST on imported items ... that's why items over $1000 DO have GST applicable. Problem = to collect GST on items under $1000 will cost more than it generates. So ... Myer and co. are really asking for the community to pay for bureaucracy to levy a tax that COSTS the community money. I don't think so!
Marquiss1 Jan 4, 2011 4:15 PM	Retailers crying poor...How times have changed! These are the same hard heads who were too ignorant to foresee online shopping was here for the long run and they said it wouldn't last. Just take a look at there websites, HN, DJs, Myers etc. Does it look like they have embraced online shopping seriously ? They dont even have a decent online store, for good reason they want to force you into there outlets. How about less complaining and using some business acumen to counter the competition. I totally agree with the 'Smokescreen' theory, that's all it is. If we let this go through then they will only be asking for more incentives. In the scheme of things, we are talking about a measly $1000AUD imports here. If we collate all the people buying online getting this GST exemption, if this really makes a huge dent on your bottom line then your executives aren't working hard enough for us consumers to be won over.
gteeb Jan 4, 2011 4:32 PM	agree with all of the above. I buy almost all of my books, music and DVDs from overseas and the price saving, even after paying for express delivery, is still way more than the 10% GST. The reality is that these local retailers gouge Australian customers, reaping the benefit of exchange rate fluctuations and hoping that local consumers are too lazy to look elsewhere. If the government does do a study then I'd be interested for a line-by-line comparison between overseas products and local products to explain the difference. If Gerry wants a tax then levy a 110% tax on ALL profit the local retailer makes above the overseas price and send the money back to us with a drop in income tax because I bet that would be huge.
Res Jan 4, 2011 4:46 PM	Alias2010 hit the nail on the head, when we are ripped off at criminally extortionate profiteering rates for power and petrol, and bordering on it as well for rents, people will buy from overseas when the same thing can be bought for a pittance, hell they cant even get it right here, I bought a pair of runners at myers a few years back, cost me 70 bucks, 45 minutes later I came across the EXACT same pair sold in target for normal retail price of 50! These so and so's only have themselves to blame for the rise in use of international buying.
brownbear Jan 4, 2011 4:55 PM	The problem Australian retailing has nothing to do with GST. If the Australian retailers want the custom of Australians customers then it is time that they started providing some real service. The real differentiation between a bricks and mortar store and an online store is the personal interaction that the customer can have with the store staff. Poorly trained and motivated staff who are only interested in the total of their weekly sales and not customer relations and satisfaction don't make the retail store an inviting place to shop for the consumer. It is about time that our retailers got a big wake up call and on line shopping looks like it is giving it to them.
Mordd Jan 4, 2011 5:18 PM	As someone who works for Harris Technology in one of their retail stores (or business centres as we call them), I have to agree 100% with this call to even the playing rules. Fact is unless something is done you will see even big retailers like Harveys, Dick Smith and Officeworks scale back their offerings and close stores, let alone guys in the middle like Harris Tech, and don't even think than an independent with a bricks and mortar presence can compete anymore. Retailers are simply not getting the amount of walk in customers that we used to, and I personally am sick of having to explain to customers that no we don't match online only stores pricing, its impossible to compete in those circumstances, and one of the main reasons is that the online only store is not paying GST or even import taxes that the rest of industry has to pay.
MarkSmits Jan 4, 2011 5:38 PM	Mordd makes a good point, also for the most part, so does Brownbear. The retailers are just asking for a level playing field. If the brick and mortar retailers have to be legit, so should anyone selling to Australians. This means they should pay import duties. Yes the 10% on a <$1000 item won't be much, and the cost of the business collecting and paying this will be more than the amount generated... but hey, the brick and mortar retailers have to do it. Why shouldn't the online traders? A level playing field is the cornerstone of our capitalist society... By buying from these online outlets, you basically are just damaging your country's economy, the jobs of people like Mordd, and sending the profits overseas.
anonymous Jan 4, 2011 5:54 PM	In most cases a potential GST charge would be a very small part of the difference between local and direct-import prices. Perhaps therefore the retail lobby could tell us why such a small change will force everybody back to their premises? Or in fact why we should be forced to pay a lot more, over and above any GST difference?
mmccormi Jan 4, 2011 6:13 PM	If the retailers had offered us what we wanted, when we wanted it over the past decade, then it may have been a different story today. However, they never have taken Internet shopping seriously, so why should we or the Government take them seriously now? The retailers have not noticed that the ground has shifted, but somehow they still want a level-playing field. Some examples: 1. I seem to recall Gerry Harvey criticised web users some years ago because he wasn't getting the sales through his web site that he wanted - so he spat the dummy and shut down the e-commerce functionality. 2. David Jones has never offered an online store. 3. Angus and Robertson and Borders haven't seen the future coming for years - now it's headed right at them through devices like the iPad. So, bad luck boys and girls...you missed the boat. Don't come crying to the Government because you can't manage your business, and you don't know, or can't predict, what your customers want at a price they can afford.
1percentspend Jan 4, 2011 7:51 PM	People will always want to go to retail stores. They don't want to be taken for fools. Years ago I went to Dymocks to look for a book. They didn't stock it, they told me it would be a special order and they quoted me 4 months delivery and a $95 AUD price tag. I got it from Amazon in 6 weeks and it cost me around $27 AUD including shipping. I still shop at Dymocks, but I compare prices and when the difference is too big I buy from overseas. just recently I bought a couple of text books from Dymocks because the price difference wasn't enough to warrant buying from Amazon but one of the three I was looking for had a price three and a half times the Amazon price so guess which sale Dymocks lost. Plus the service at Dymocks just sucks! Mind you its better than the ill educated mutts at HN or, sadly to say for Mordd, HT who have no clue about the products they are selling and in HT's case I don't see a lot of price difference between the bricks and mortar store or their online store, at least the information I get from the online store is reasonably accurate.
ARF102 Jan 4, 2011 9:36 PM	I think MarkSmits makes a good point... "By buying from these online outlets, you basically are just damaging your country's economy, the jobs of people like Mordd, and sending the profits overseas." How many Australian jobs have disappeared in manufacturing over the years to be replaced by cheaper foreign imports? This is the beginning of the same road for retailing. Australians need to have jobs in the long run to be able to earn the money to buy these "bargains" online. As Gerry stated, keep the playing field level - if one pays GST etc, then so must the other - and vice versa!
grips Jan 5, 2011 12:28 AM	Re ARF102: Who do you think are the companies who are using cheap foreign imports? HN, Mayer and many of the partners in the ad campaign. So they haven't thought about Australian jobs then, why are they suddenly so concerned about them? I have just bought a US book from BookDepository for AUD 22.07, Angus & Robertson has it priced for 42.95 and Borders for 45.95, all delivered. This book is imported anyway so there is not a lot of value added in AU. The book was ordered on the 15.12. and delivered on 30.12. A Bookstore I asked about it quoted me 6 weeks delivery. So I will keep buying books, CD's and DVD's overseas and even 10% won't keep me from doing it. I think the whole thing will lead to a backlash against the proponents of this and they will loose much more in the future.
X_Selectar Jan 5, 2011 1:46 AM	I seem to recall a Prime Minister somewhere saying, "Competition drives the best deals for consumers".
Francis Jan 5, 2011 3:15 AM	This whole thing is far bigger than the GST and if I remember correctly tax on the goods would have most probably been paid in the country of origin. While this may not necessarily be the case in law, from experience on small purchases it is too much bother for the overseas retailer to file the paper work to claim the Tax rebate so they often do not do it. So to impose a 10% GST on top would be double dipping. Now while I purchase the odd article overseas I am not a great user of the Internet for purchasing goods but let me give a couple of personal examples. I had an a Briggs & Stratton Ignition Module on my Lawn Mower fail. To purchase a new one from a mower shop in Sydney the cost was $140 odd and around five days delivery from Melbourne. So I E-Mailed a friend in Canada who purchased a new one for me and the landed cost was half the cost of purchasing one here and that included Canadian Tax. Not only that but the delivery was three days door to door. If I had shopped around I could have even got it even cheaper, mail order from the USA. I also had to purchase a set of brushes for the Starter Motor on another B & S engine Price $68 I could purchase via mail order complete motor for $50 US. Next Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium purchased on line from the USA is around $80 less expensive delivered to your door. This equates to around a 30% saving. The only logical conclusion is that 10% GST is not the answer as in these few examples it would still be far more attractive to purchase overseas. To Mr Harvey let me say this. I shop around and I always try to buy locally as the effort of going overseas is often to much hassle and on some items such as a Printer the freight cost makes the transaction too expensive and as far as warranty is concerned that's another problem still. Further, however as an example the last printer I purchased which was in the $300 range was $50 more expensive in his shop than it was elsewhere. In conclusion let me just state that before whining about the price of overseas purchases and GST, these retailers should look in their own backyards first, as tax as shown in the above instances is not the answer.
Francis Jan 5, 2011 9:40 AM	On top of what I have already written I would like to ask Mr Harvey and friends this. I have just read where new car sales are also down. How many New Cars were ordered overseas via the internet? Could it just be that this is not just a Retailing slump? I also read where Wesfarmers who own Bunnings Hardware are joining Mr Harvey's band. What a great example that is, they hardly stock an Australian made product putting people in manufacturing in this country out of business and their workers out of a job. If we are to have a level playing field lets include manufacturing in the mix as well and make this push in Australia's interest and not that of a few lucky Billionaires.
cjbroad Jan 5, 2011 9:43 AM	I've been talking to major retailers for 2 years about their on line stores and they all have said "its not core to their business" and they don't want to spend any money on it. Now they are being overtaken but the fantastic stores that are being built elsewhere and they are complaining. Just an ounce of vision (like from small etailers such as www.zodee.com.au) and they would not need to be grizzling about the GST.
astir Jan 5, 2011 11:23 AM	Seems that computer parts retailers are able to cope as most major manufacturers (in China, Singapore and Taiwan) provide international warranties. I bought a pair of top end headphones from the USA for less than half of what HN was selling them for and was told by the local wholesaler that they would not support the warranty if I bought from outside Australia. There is price fixing in the market for brand name products like these, and the ACCC should have a look. I will continue to buy from OS where the price advantage is huge. If we buy products with International warranties the stores will get the hint, as have the computer parts retailers. We are in a global marketplace. Get used to it, Gerry!
marki Jan 5, 2011 12:55 PM	Hehe, another industry that ignores the obvious future then tries to compete by regulating the innovators out. It will fail of course like they all do. It's not about the 10%, we all know the price difference is significantly higher than that and there are some great examples above. It's really about making it inconvenient for overseas sellers and for we consumers. Given the publicity in the mainstream, I wonder how many are sitting at home now thinking gee I didnt know I could save 10% online! Amazon couldnt buy publicity like that.
gbyrneg50 Jan 5, 2011 1:05 PM	What is there to stop the "bricks and mortar" retailers going on line and doling the same themselves. They have wads of money to spend on webmasters and other experts. They can beat the online retailers at their own game.
kartsie Jan 5, 2011 1:49 PM	I actually don't care if I have to pay GST for online purchases, since local retailers often charge a lot more on top of that. What I don't understand is, how can this be enforced? You buy something online, then voluntarily send money to the government?
OzBobInv Jan 5, 2011 3:41 PM	Maybe if these giant retailers were for concerned with service to their customers and less about making exceptionally large profits, they might not have to worry about online buying as people would be happy to buyy"locally". As it is the only service these large retailers give is lip service and their prices are excessive. Look in your own backyard before you balme others for yor greed and incompetence.
ejobrien Jan 5, 2011 4:47 PM	Interesting to note that Office Works isn't in the list of wingeing retailers. Maybe that's because even with 10% GST they still manages to be competitive. I can often buy computer stuff, hard drives etc. from Office Works cheaper than I can get them anywhere else, including overseas. Harvey Norman, if it actually has the same stock (rather than last years obsolete model), will almost certainly be charging considerably more. Gerry, if you want to keep the customers coming, stop selling outdated overpriced stock. Generally I'd prefer to shop local if possible, if for no other reason than the warranty, and the convenience. However I wont if I have to pay like 40% more.
anonymous Jan 5, 2011 7:12 PM	@kartsie, Gerry and Bernie and their billionaire mates think that the Au govt imposing 10% GST at point of entry will protect them from os competition. So it would be our govt holding the goods at point of import that would be demanding we pay $5.50 GST on our $55 purchase (which is priced at $99.90 here by all the usual suspects) before it would be released for delivery to us. Two points: That nonsense will cost the govt more to do than the GST they would collect; and That imported item at $60.50 incl GST would still be far cheaper than local prices, so what the hell are the big guys going on about? All they have done is tell a lot more people how to save money by buying os.
Ace Jan 6, 2011 12:36 AM	Forget overseas online stores, even local online stores are cheaper than 'bricks and mortar' stores here.
davmel Jan 6, 2011 1:20 AM	Wow, reading all the various forum replies on this topic I am shocked at how many people have no correct understanding in how GST and duty is collected for imports so let's get a few things straight: 1. If the <$1k exemption is completely removed then it won't be viable to import ANY cheap items. Why? Because you don't just pay 10% extra (or 15% extra as most counties and products have 5% duty as well), you will have to pay the ~$55.20 import processing fee on EVERY importation. That fee varies depending on the import agent (AusPost, Fedex, UPS, Schenker etc) and there are no exemptions for gifts (like many people mistakenly believe). So if you receive a 20cent gift from overseas from your grandma you'll have to pay your import agent 3 cents for GST and duty and the ~$55 import processing fee. Therefore if the exemption limit is completely abolished it won't be economical to import anything under $100 value and in many cases much higher since any savings will be completely wiped out by the processing fee. It used to be a significant deterrent to purchasing overseas back when the limit was $400 for postal shipments and $250 for courier shipments, so the effect will be huge if it is exemption is removed completely. 2. @kartsie and others don't seem to understand how the tax is collected. Every package imported is assessed based on the declared value attached to the outside of the parcel (which is a crime to falsify). Your import agent (Fedex, UPS, Australia Post) pays that on your behalf to the government to clear customs and then sits in their warehouse or in the case of Australia Post is sent to your post office. The item is not handed over to you at the post office counter or shipped to you by courier until you pay all the required fees. In some cases the parcel will be delivered and you'll receive the nasty surprise of an invoice in the mail shortly after but that is rare these days as the shipping agent usually holds on to the goods now. 3. Some others mentioned double dipping of tax in both origin and destination countries which is just plain false. In almost all countries if you export an item there is no added GST/VAT. That is the responsibility of the destination country. If the seller is including tax in their price for an export then they either don't have a clue or are mistaken. Ask them for a quote without tax and confirm it. There is no need for them to get a rebate etc. They just don't pay tax to their government for those exempt purchases and if they are ever audited they must keep the export declaration papers for a specific number of years. But after saying all that, there is zero chance in hell of the government removing the limit completely since it would be a major restriction on trade for low value items for the reason I outlined above. If anything the limit might get reduced to $500 etc but even that is highly unlikely for the reason it was increased several years ago - it's not financially viable. Heck, the limit might even be increased in the future rather than decreased! If Gerry Harvey doesn't like that reality then too bad. I will join many others in completely boycotting forever any businesses that join this campaign.
fphhotchips Jan 6, 2011 10:09 AM	Question: Is it the retailers themselves that charge outrageous prices? Or is it the manufacturer/supplier? From a software/games point of view, the reason I started using Steam was that they charged the American RRP for games, making games incredibly cheap. Software in the US is incredibly cheap - even on retail shelves. What is the reason? Is it the retailer (compensating for a higher minimum wage, and smaller market - in part at least), or the supplier? Once that question is answered, we can look at this issue a little easier.
Mark D Jan 6, 2011 12:37 PM	US: Pioneer / Onkyo Amplifier = $500 Australia: Harvey Norman = $1500 They wonder why consumers purchase online?
herebus Jan 6, 2011 2:04 PM	This is a bit rich coming from Myer, as when TPG floated Myer, I can clearly remember they did everything they could to avoid capital gains TAX, and we are not talking chicken feed either. Then we can go onto ignored share holder complaints of excessive executive salaries. And of course the iconic Pacific Brands dumping Australian workers, off shoring and pumping up executive pays. The old school, is just that, its a changing market, keep up or perish.
Ewok Jan 6, 2011 6:47 PM	If anything I would love to see the import sales tax threshold raised to $2000. Why not? FORCE competition locally and REALLY give them something to whine about. I just bought a new intercooler for my car for $600 delivered from the US to my door, whereas the SAME item was going to cost me $650 + $50 delivery in australia. One thing I was surprised about was a boost controller I just bought, $340 on Ebay australia. EVERY single retail store that stocks them, wanted in excess of $550 and would not budge. Get stuffed. I know for a fact these monkeys get their stock cheaper from the suppliers then we are still able to buy even from overseas stockists. The retailers are having a laugh all the way to the bank, and with these companies posting mammoth profits last year and year before, even though online shopping has been going on for YEARS, they can get stuffed, shut up, and realize their golden days are over.
Dan541 Jan 6, 2011 8:00 PM	Aussie retailers need to lift their game and quit crying to the government for their own failures. The fact that it's cheaper to buy from overseas when an individual consumer doesn't enjoy dirt-cheap shipping that comes with bulk orders. Really shows what a sorry state Australian retail is in. And don't get me started on customer service.
singo79 Jan 8, 2011 9:58 PM	I like many of the other posters here am totally against the introduction of a GST type tax on the importation of goods into Australia valued under $100. For starters, we aren't taking about small differences when purchasing goods online and from overseas, we are talking about decent savings, more then what the GST would ever equate to. In fact 99% of us could buy an item from overseas, pay GST on the item when arriving in this country and we would still have a far cheaper product from overseas! The perfect case in point is D-Link's new Boxee Box which currently retails for US$199 but here in Australia it is selling for AUD$299 for no explainable reason. During a recent article in PC & Tech Authority (I think) the question was asked of D-Link Australia why we had to pay more for the device, given the parity of the Aussie dollar etc, to which D-Link simply stated that local pricing of the device was not in their control and that local retailers were in control of the retail price. This is yet another example of Australian retailers taking us for a ride and expecting us to pay more to fund their profits. You can even take a look at the Australian iTunes store, we are paying roughly $1.19 per song on iTunes, despite Americans paying US$0.68 (or thereabouts). There is nothing wrong with the current situation and for the big retailers to start campaigning like this is a sign that they are desperate to protect their lucrative profits, especially Gerry Harvey!
Topolino Jan 10, 2011 9:51 AM	I think there are 3 main reasons why retailers may be experiencing xmas sales: 1). Retailer's Mid-year sales cannibalize their xmas sales. I think retailer's balance sheets would show an evident increase in mid-year sales at the expense of xmas sales. So the sob story summer sales figures may be being fudged. They have cannibalize their own Christmas Sales for fear of avoiding loosing to their competitors. Many people buy their xmas gifts earlier because the prices are better. (That may also explain the absurd reason why Easter hot cross buns are found in the supermarket on Boxing Day) 2) Retail Store Design – Lack of natural light. Most department stores such as Harvey Norman are designed similar to casinos. They are artificial, have no natural light and they are purposely designed for people to become distracted, loose track of time, and make irrational decisions and impulse buy. It may work in a Casino where alcohol also helps cloud their judgement and the pokie machines promise rewards but in a retail store people just go asap. 3) Consumers often know more about products than the Sales staff do. Consumers are often treated as suckers by sale staff yet I’m always amazed how they can know absolutely nothing about what they are selling. Most consumers do their homework before visiting a store and know what they want.
anonymous Jan 10, 2011 12:52 PM	@Topolino, your first point about early sales cannibalising Christmas shopping is right. The difference between say ten years ago and now is that people use the Net to find the value of things and can see how much we have been ripped off by "special Christmas pricing". And not many salespeople seem to realise that serving customers is their livelihood, and not just an unwelcome interruption to their day.
Ezy2Confuze Jan 10, 2011 5:32 PM	One of the reason's I no longer go into HN for equipment is the lack of service I get. Two months ago I went into the City West store to get a 16GB Micro-SD card. After waiting at the camera counter for over 40 miutes for someone to serve me, I walked out. There were about 10 staff just standing around the TV section waiting to serve people, like they wanted to cherry pick their sales, to sell more expensive products and therefore get more commision. At the begining of December I went into the Osborne Park store to look at a small notebook or NetPC to take into Server rooms etc when on-site, again I waited for over 40 minutes but all their staff were standing around the TV section or playing on the PS3, not one person was walking around serving people and I remember when one lady asked for assistance, the young assitant rolled his eyes up when she turned around to show him what she wanted. In WA, Coles, K-Mart etc gave staff 3 hour 40 minute shifts to get around the rule that you have to give someone a break after 4 hours of working, which is disgusting, no wonder staff aren't interested anymore, they are only in the job to make some money until something better comes along.
Digger11 Jan 11, 2011 1:13 PM	We Aussies are happy to have all manufacturing go overseas We Aussies are happy to have most of our food produced overseas (we even import Orange Juice !!!!!!!) We Aussies are happy to let our mining compnaies be owned by Overseas interests. We Aussies are happy for house prices to be unaffordable to the young so that overseas investors can make lots of money. But we must protect the overpriced retailers. You're kiddin me right ???? Is it April fools day or something ???
peterhau Jan 15, 2011 11:22 PM	There is a subtle difference here - the retailers that are bricks and mortar and warehouses and an army of staff are going to be more expensive. Fact of life. What can they do to compete with onliners? offer a couple of basic things that they don't at the moment. 1. Gerry, when i worked for you, you implemented the Nordstrom system for customer service. what happened to that?? Simple. Customer service isn't important, obviously. 2. want to win the hearts and minds of your clients? CARRY STOCK. carry it and get your reps to actually tell the customer that you do have stock. The pricing difference between the countries is always blamed on those greedy retailers. far from it, the manufacturers hold back far more profit than they let go. Distribution gets a pittance, then the retailer does too. Stop Blaming the market. It is pretty good as markets go, but online will always be cheaper. sell value, not price.