Jacobs in Administration

[Barakka]

Just heard last night... Jacobs in Administration the latest victim it seems..

... and I didn't realise Jessops had been given a £10M prop-up by Canon

I guess camera phones mean people just don't buy general camera much these days...

[kalniel]

Jacobs were excellent, hope they manage to get a buy out from someone and continue through.

[Funkstar]

And yet DSLR and lens shipments are up year on year.

I think the main reason is that people don't feel they need to go to a specialist camera retailer these days. Amazon, as an example, have an excellent selections, great pricing, fantastic returns policy and most people shop there already anyway.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

They had great stores and even a decent online store too.

I hope LCE is fine.

[GeorgeStorm]

Never been into one, but it's always sad to see the market get even more limited in terms of places you can actually go and talk to people/try things out.

[zhuzh]

Phew, for a second I thought we were going to lose cream crackers.

[csgohan4]

And yet DSLR and lens shipments are up year on year.

I think the main reason is that people don't feel they need to go to a specialist camera retailer these days. Amazon, as an example, have an excellent selections, great pricing, fantastic returns policy and most people shop there already anyway.

+1, I got my Canon 7D and gear from online shops rather than high street as their really expensive

[dave87]

Online shops are all very well until you want to try something/hold it (as I would spending the amount a 7d would cost), or want advice/information. Sad to see a reduction in competition too, as the only thing motivating lower prices is that very competition....

[csgohan4]

Online shops are all very well until you want to try something/hold it (as I would spending the amount a 7d would cost), or want advice/information. Sad to see a reduction in competition too, as the only thing motivating lower prices is that very competition....

Yeah I get what you mean. I reasearched it and then went to a local high street store to try it out as it was my first DSLR. You could also try the free returns from AMAZON under DSR. But I was bias and only went Canon and I knew I would get it, just needed to hold it and make sure it felt comfortable, which is important as you say. E.g the 550d is a bit small for my hands and bit fiddly.

The other thing to consider is Consumer choice. Generally they choose the cheaper option for the same product. Most people would rather go elsewhere to buy their groceries than Waitrose if money is tight and for a reason. People vote with their money. Sure you might lose some of the service and/or face to face interaction, but at the end of the day if it costs X amount more they wont be interested. Jessops for example sold my camera when I bought it for more than £200 more. With that amount of money I could have bought my filters, a Branded 50mm Prime lens and still have some change left for other miscellaneous stuff.

I too would rather see our British high streets succeeding, but as usual they rip us off, people will go elsewhere as Money is finite and find better deals elsewhere. Probably why Online shops are cheaper because they dont have as big operating costs to renting/buying physical shop space nationally and bring these savings to the consumer.

[Dareos]

very much depends what you are buying. For tech products I will usually buy online, after a bit of reseach, and asking a question or 2 on Hexus, however if I was buying a bathroom suite, I wouldnt be doing that online, I would be in a shop asking advice from a professional.
Similar story with all manner of things i suppose, a happy medium needs to be found where online stores and physical stores have a role to play.

[csgohan4]

very much depends what you are buying. For tech products I will usually buy online, after a bit of reseach, and asking a question or 2 on Hexus, however if I was buying a bathroom suite, I wouldnt be doing that online, I would be in a shop asking advice from a professional.
Similar story with all manner of things i suppose, a happy medium needs to be found where online stores and physical stores have a role to play.

True, you wouldn't want to buy all your stuff online unless you tried them such as furniture. As you said all products have their niche in online/ High street placements. But generally if you price your stuff above the online stuff substantially you will lose out eventually.