I’ll confess to receiving the news of HMV going into administration with a heavy heart. Along with Woolworths, JJB Sports, Clinton Cards, Game, and Borders, it’s clear that most of the shops from my childhood are disappearing from the High Street.
Some of these structural changes have been caused by the economic downturn and benign changes in consumer habits, but the more enduring factor remains the ascendency of the internet. The Centre for Retail Research estimates that online sales accounted for 13.2 per cent of all retail sales last year. That’s an increase of 14 per cent on the previous year, and the highest figure for any European country. As increasing numbers of us start shopping with portable devices (such as tablets or smartphones) that figure is likely to rise even further.
Bricks and mortar retailers simply can’t compete with the likes of online giants like Amazon and iTunes.
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