After this magical retail fix they go home and order from Amazon or worse still John Lewis.

The customers who actually do come back are now so bold they no longer flinch at asking us to match the internet price or lose the business. Most of them freely admit that they had to come to our shops to find what they needed because of the complexity. Then they use this free information to ‘research’ online the items they didn’t know existed before our professionals gave them the advice and guidance they needed. They repay us by offering us the chance to commit commercial suicide by supplying the products at our cost or below, whilst still insisting we give the service they expect from local professionals.

Is it any wonder that C F Lake, COMET, Best Buy, Sony Centres, Panasonic Stores, ETS along with dozens of independent electrical shops have closed (or are closing) their doors for the last time?

Many friends and colleagues argue that the supermarkets are a big problem and I continually disagree. There isn’t a single supermarket (at the moment) that can supply the quality, variety and professional resources my (and your) companies have as a natural part of our day to day offerings. The problem is the internet, absolutely, no question.

Why do I keep blaming the internet when I have three websites (Hutchinsons, Sony Centres and Euronics)?  I am not getting the same terms as my main rivals. Nor are you. Until we have a fair and equitable supply chain I don’t see it getting any better.

What can we do about it?

First and foremost, know your problems and look at ways of eliminating or alleviating them. Easier said than done.

Now I am going to say some things that will upset some of your loyal employees though. So if it’s a problem I’d suggest you stop reading now.

So, let’s look at how the internet works. For a start, web traders don’t talk to customers, they sell low prices, have low overheads, minimal staff costs and usually give the customers what they ask for.  Web traders don’t need shops to operate although they usually need them to be able to get accounts with the same suppliers we use and give themselves credibility and extra margin.

Now for the tricky bit – staff. If you want to compete with the internet (in my view you have no choice if you’re in retail) you need less staff. Lets assume you have to sell at much lower prices just to stay in business, then you just have to reduce staffing costs (another present from the internet). Do you need all the delivery staff you employ at present? Ask yourselves this question –  how much does it cost to have a delivery vehicle on the road?

Let’s assume that you need one or two vans on the road for your daily installation needs. If you have a busy installation operation it means you are turning over a fair amount (not necessarily profit, maybe even a loss). Are you also trying to do drop off’s as well? Does this put pressure on the install teams? Do you have to have an extra van or pay overtime to maintain the service you give? All of this is a cost web traders do not have to bear. All web traders do is use a courier service. Did you know that you can get couriers to drop off items for around a fiver. Think about it, no staff costs, no van costs, no telephoning customers apologising for late deliveries. No holidays to worry about and best of all your customer can go online and track the item’s progress from you to them.

So let’s now look at the installation side of things. Suppose you use a courier to deliver the items you need to install instead of using your own installers. I reckon you could make at least another 30% saving. By now you think I’m barking mad but read on. Clearly not all products needed by installation teams can be courier supported due to size and logistics but surely many, or even most can. Also if the install teams simply have to arrive on site, unbox and setup the items, many hours can be saved enabling them to actually do more installs.

I am sorry if I have trod on any toes (my own staff included). If we are to survive we have to stop doing things as we did in the distant past (last year) and find ways of improving our offering to customers at far less cost to our businesses.

You know, if we all take this type of route going forward we may even have a proposition that is competitive and compelling to customers. They may start engaging with us with an understanding that we can compete. All we would then need is a fair price from our suppliers. After all that has happened in the 45 years that I have been in the business I still think I have more chance of seeing pigs fly!