News - Comet closes its doors for the final time tomorrow

[csgohan4]

I decided to visit my local store after the HUGE letters on the Comet website abvertising HUGE discounts instore. My anticipation was somewhat dampened when I pulled up to the store and noticed a sign in the window saying "up to 30% off". Hardly a HUGE discount but I thought 30% off a notebook or Tv might bring their prices lower than Amazon. Sadly upon entering the store the only item I could find with a 30% reduction was a desktop fan, with a r.r.p of £15.95. The desirable items were discounted by 5%, the odd Tv 10% and were still way more expensive than Currys let alone Amazon. I doubt people would feel obliged to part with their hard eanred cash having been suckered there under false pretences. Its a shame that even as they were going under they didnt see the light and actual beat competitor prices, even if it was simply to shift what will be redundant stock.

and you wonder why they went under..... Trying to rip off the British Public, well they voted with their wallets and shopped around.. simples

[Saracen]

.... and even my mate at Tesco's has said he expects them to start closing stores as people are just not spending the money...

People can't spend what they don't have. Or to be more accurate, they cant now that the banks have realised that a never-ending debt cycle cannot possibly be never-ending, and it has ended, and even people that can still get credit are (rightly) nervous as hell about doing it without good reason.

This is one of the real, hard results of consumer profligacy over the last 15 or 20 years - sooner or later, the bill cones due. And it now has.

And it's also one reason why "growth" is hard to come by. Now that consumer spending is looking more sustainable, and that a lot of people are not only not borrowing as much, but are actively paying down existing debt, we cannot expect to sustain an economy based on a consumer boom powered by debt. And about flaming time we realised it, too.

I'm afraid retailers are going to have to get used to the new reality, and it's slowly sinking in to the public conciousness too.

[3dcandy]

Aye Saracen my A-Level Economics taught me a lot...
My point however is that I expect the High Street as we know it to be finished. It will become increasingly difficult to see something before you buy it unless it's food or convenience items and consumers will be at the receiving end of driving prices down over the years...

[csgohan4]

It's about time retailers realise it is not sustainable to charge high prices and expect the public to pay. People are now more savy and checking prices online. The times I smile when I see people buying stuff at Dixons/ Pc world is astronomical, because I know Online is usually cheaper

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

and even my mate at Tesco's has said he expects them to start closing stores as people are just not spending the money...

They are looking to close their retail chain in the US since it is making losses - I am not sure about the UK though.

[csgohan4]

They are looking to close their retail chain in the US since it is making losses - I am not sure about the UK though.

More of a sainsbury man myself. Tesco is cheaper but so are the goods in terms of quality

[Saracen]

Aye Saracen my A-Level Economics taught me a lot...
My point however is that I expect the High Street as we know it to be finished. It will become increasingly difficult to see something before you buy it unless it's food or convenience items and consumers will be at the receiving end of driving prices down over the years...

My view, for what it's worth, is that the High Street is certainly changing, but not necessarily finished.

Then again, it's been changing for decades.

I remember the days when doing the shopping meant a visit to the grocer, the butcher, baker, maybe fishmonger, and so on. And supermarkets didn't exist.

So, "as we know it"? Maybe so, though I'd put it more as being "as we knew it". It's already in flux. Some shops going out of business, and others thriving .... like coffee shops.

I think we will see a change towards more social elements to the High Street. We'll see boutique-type places, we'll see outlets with niche products, we'll see places where service is a strong element. And that letter can be an interesting angle. Not far from me, I've certainly got PC World, Currys, Argos, etc, and an array of supermarkets. But I've also got Waitrose, John Lewis, a really good small PC shop, a place specialising in mid-range to high-end audio visual gear, and a specialist installer of car audio (or rather, these days, car AV), alarms, etc.

All of those have one thing in common, which is that they emphasize service. Quality product, and top quality customer service.

There are always going to be those for whom price is king. If money is tight, you may have no choice. But I do most of my food shopping is Waitrose. Why? Quality of product, and outstanding customer service. Both, to me, are worth paying for.

Similarly, I've been buying my car audio gear from that place I mentioned for, well, about 35 years. Why? Again, service. I certainly could get things a bit cheaper online, though my place isn't bad on prices. But I don't. The same is true of camera gear, too, though for nowhere near as long.

Oh, and in addition to Waitrose, there's a certain Nottinghamshire village with two local butchers, and we frequent both. Again, quality and service.

I expect the High Street to morph again, in the direction of places that aren't seeking to compete with online solely on price, because, frankly, they can't.

It's not beyond the bounds of possibility that we'll even see service-oriented small retailers, like butchers and bakers, a bit more prevalent in the future than they have been in the recent past. A bit of a resurgence, perhaps. I hope.

So yeah, I suppose the current blend of high street shops may not be sustainable, and online may be the way of the future for high value, branded commodity items like TVs etc. But personally, I buy things like that from John Lewis rather than online because, yeah, you've guessed it .... service.

[benegerton1985]

Waterstones is another one that's in trouble and in a cruel twist of fate are the sister company to HMV.

[pipTheGeek]

I think the biggest problem that the high street stores face is convenience. Getting into the city is a right pain. Either I have to go in by car early so I can park or I have to pay a huge amount to go by bus. (For me, the wife and three kids it is about £15). Why would I want to do that when I can sit on the sofa with a laptop? The out of town stores like Comet have a similar problem, go to Comet, pick what you want only to find they don't have it in stock and you have to pay an extra £35 for delivery or go online and see delivery dates and costs easily.

I do still buy physical media for music, films, books etc. Music and films do get ripped for convenience, and to keep the kids grubby fingers off the originals.

[TheAnimus]

I think the biggest problem that the high street stores face is convenience.

This.

Do you know how much the parking cost for me at the weekend, £7.50. For almost two hours.

Luckily I have an eco deisel so it only cost about 2 lietres but still, thats the same amount of cash as same day delivery costs from amazon.

So unless I'm going to go and have Lunch or something why would I go in to the highstreet.

The other issue is discoverability. With music, HMV simply can't compete with the online shops in this, they can profile my tastes based on what I listen too, they know not to put simon cowel stuff near me. No short ass cruise films to be recommended either.

So the highstreet really has to change, books are a dying form like vynal, some people will still hold on to them for the romantic value, whilst probably claiming the high resolution of print is better than the e-ink screens.

This change is inevitable, we should not try to stop it but to embrace the more efficent economy and the benefits that can bring, the very low cost of entry for instance to becoming a retailer, the easier than ever change to get funded for ideas (indiegogo/kickstarter).

Meanwhile the highstreet has to turn itself in to a great pleasurable experiance that doesn't cost the earth. I was in part of London the other weekend where one of the shops was giving out free mulled wine with every purchase, or £1 without. It sounds trivial but just the focus on the experiance of shopping. Tesco really neglected that, at a time sainsburys really tried to sell people more of a dream.

[jamesv1000]

[QUOTE=pipTheGeek;52653]I think the biggest problem that the high street stores face is convenience.

I couldnt agree more. Its impossible to simply jump in my car and "pop" into my local town for a quick shop. The road network is now a convoluted one way system that takes three times as long to navigate, and is consequently tripling my petrol expenditure and carbon footprint. If you manage to get to where you need to be parking is an astronomical £4 for one hour, £7.50 for two. The car parks and meters are responsible for robbing high street stores of sales imo. That coupled with a decidedly sketchy public transport system means its just more hassle than its worth to even try, especially given how easy internet shopping is these days.

[phil4]

Now "online" has offered people a different choice, some will take it and the shops will suffer.

Where before everyone had to buy things from shops, now they can buy online. This has an impact.

Of course what people chose depends on many things, the person, the goods, convenience, service the price etc. And all this will change on a product by product basis.

Virgin's Cable, and BT's infinity will continue to change things further. Rather than Amazon sell you a DVD shipped from the channel islands, they'll stream you the very same via Lovefilm.

Very soon companies that sell CDs, DVDs and Books online but can't stream will find themselves losing out, as another option is opened, that they can't compete with.

It's a many changing world, and each extra channel that the consumer can choose will take a number away from the old ones. And what I'm trying to say about streaming above is that this isn't just bricks and morter vs the internet..... the internet hasn't finished changing yet.

[hesham1516]

Didn't realise they were still in business, havn't seen one in years. Too bad I missed out on all of the deals :<