Bankruptcy is Us

[Undertoad]

But normal people want the interaction and being able to touchy feely the goods.

There's a new "normal"! Because in 2016, people made 51% of purchases online.

http://fortune.com/2016/06/08/online...ing-increases/

[An annual survey] polled more than 5,000 consumers who make at least two online purchases in a three-month period. According to results, shoppers now make 51% of their purchases online, compared to 48% in 2015 and 47% in 2014.

As online shopping accelerates, so does the use of smartphones to make purchases. The survey showed that 44% of smartphone users made buys through their devices, compared to 41% a year ago.

Walmart is closing 3% of their US stores this year! Amazon and Walmart grew at the same rate last year but Amazon did $82.7 billion in sales while Walmart did... can you guess... $12.5 billion!

2/3rds of people surveyed compare stores prices with prices on their phone.

Mark my words... the malls are going to be closing. Only big destination malls will survive, but even those are going to have to change. (KoP Mall, nation's second-largest and the only one visited by two Cellar moderators this week: instead of a Sears anchoring its western end, there's now a Dick's Sporting Goods. That's unthinkable 20 years ago.)

JC Penney is closing 138 more stores after it closed a bunch in 2015. Macy's may not survive. HH Gregg just died. Kmart is only barely alive - and its shoppers are not exactly the online sorts.

And all this is happening in a growing economy!

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

There's a new "normal"! Because in 2016, people made 51% of purchases online.

The survey, now in its fifth year, polled more than 5,000 consumers who make at least two online purchases in a three-month period.

Wait a minute, they only polled people who had made 2 or more online buys? What about the people who made one or none? Biased much?

Walmart is closing 3% of their US stores this year! Amazon and Walmart grew at the same rate last year but Amazon did $82.7 billion in sales while Walmart did... can you guess... $12.5 billion!

Walmart has been closing tons of stores for years, they're the largest owner of unused retail space in the nation. It has been part of their plan to open a store, kill off the local mom&pops, then combine several stores into one location when the shoppers no longer have a choice but drive 40 miles to the new store.
Yes, Amazon is killing everyone with their 3% margin.

2/3rds of people surveyed compare stores prices with prices on their phone.

From that same bias poll...

The survey showed that 44% of smartphone users made buys through their devices, compared to 41% a year ago.

How many people don't have smart phone, and how many smart phone owners don't have another internet connection? That's not as crazy as it sounds, there's a lot of smart phones in the hands of people who can't afford any other internet toys and only have access through free WIFI.

Mark my words... the malls are going to be closing. Only big destination malls will survive, but even those are going to have to change. (KoP Mall, nation's second-largest and the only one visited by two Cellar moderators this week: instead of a Sears anchoring its western end, there's now a Dick's Sporting Goods. That's unthinkable 20 years ago.)

You may be right, but I think "retail is dead" is overblown, or at best premature.

And all this is happening in a growing economy!

But that growth hasn't trickled down, the people getting the benefit don't shop, they have people to do that for them.