Shops shockingly empty

WalterMitty

Tea drinker wrote: »

they must all be driving as the carpark was %^&**(()

Rich kids from South County Dublin all driving cars at 17 etc. It aint really a good barometer of the wider country.

markpb

WalterMitty wrote: »

But how much are people spending? The place is full of window shopping teenagers most of time.

Most people were carrying some bags when I was there this afternoon. The car park was almost full most of the day and the queue hasn't abated yet.

Of course, it's possible that some people will queue for ages in traffic, search for a parking space, pay for that parking space and then walk around aimlessly carrying empty shopping bags

Sleepy

Squall19 wrote: »

What shop was it?

Sounds very cheap.

Your maths are wrong btw, its even more than 43%.

Halfords.

185.557* / 425 = 0.43 ergo 43% of the Irish price.

* Today's STG exchange rate according to xe.com

woodoo

Hogzy wrote: »

Its also a positive to be paying the Irish VAT. I know its more but it doesnt make me feel as bad for shopping from a non Irish company. (I know the profits stay in the UK/US but it could be worse.)

I don't think we are paying Irish VAT. I bought something of them recently and i calculated the VAT to be 20%. Thats the UK rate.

Hogzy

woodoo wrote: »

I don't think we are paying Irish VAT. I bought something of them recently and i calculated the VAT to be 20%. Thats the UK rate.

Maybe you bought from the Amazon Marketplace. I know for a fact that all purcahses made from Amazon will be charged at the Irish VAT rate.

woodoo

Ardent wrote: »

Amen brother! I was in Seattle recently and experienced the same thing. Customer service is unreal in the states and such a pleasant experience.

Not when a waitress is over asking you non stop how your meal is and your answering her through a mouth full of food.

woodoo

Hogzy wrote: »

Maybe you bought from the Amazon Marketplace. I know for a fact that all purcahses made from Amazon will be charged at the Irish VAT rate.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/

Thats where i bought from. I'm skeptical about this Irish VAT thing.

Hogzy

woodoo wrote: »

http://www.amazon.co.uk/

Thats where i bought from. I'm skeptical about this Irish VAT thing.

I know you bought it from Amazon.co.uk but within Amazon.co.uk are alot of marketplace sellors. You must ensure the product is actually being sold by Amazon

JDxtra

Went to my local An Post depot to pickup a parcel. The place was wedged with Amazon boxes!

I love their iPhone app too - useful for quick product reviews by others and a price check if you spot something while out & about.

And the selection is amazing. If you take toys as as example, Smyths actually have a very limited product range - in terms of the ranges available, and the products within those ranges. Amazon simply have everything.

hmmm

JDxtra wrote: »

Went to my local An Post depot to pickup a parcel. The place was wedged with Amazon boxes!

And yet An Post seem to go out of their way to make it difficult for people to access those parcels. It's a discussion for another thread perhaps, but it ties into an idea that Irish companies (whether private or public owned) seem to see this "Internet thing" as some sort of temporary fad getting in the way of their main business.

usamaoreilly

Dannyboy83 wrote: »

I don't disagree about the paddy tax in some cases.
I wonder how widespread it is in actual fact tho.

I'm just going by 1 example here, but Irish customers who buy sports products from the Irish outlet of one of the large UK Producers, pay a premium of 21% compared to UK customers. (Soon to be 23%)

We used to pay the British rate, then the company had to open an outlet here due to distance selling regulations.
We then had to pay "Paddy prices".
It seems the culprit was not the Protein Producer tho - the culprit is our own government... The UK does not charge vat on food supplements such as Protein Powder, the Irish government do (across the boards as of Jan 1 2012).

Check for yourself:
UK - http://www.myprotein.com/uk/cats/protein/whey-protein
Ireland - http://www.myprotein.com/ie/cats/protein/whey-protein
(It would actually be cheaper to buy from the UK outlet and get it delivered than to buy from the Irish outlet!! )



A caller to Newstalk last week claimed that one of his suppliers are closing in the Republic and relocating to Newry!
I have little doubt that all these business are going to go bankrupt, if they don't leave Ireland. This is the fault of the Irish government.
The really crazy thing, is that Ireland has the potential and the capacity, to be a world leader in innovation of these products and a colossal exporter.

Unfortunately, our government continues to be an obstacle .
Either way, I'm certain that things are going to get worse until we get the rents/rates business under control.

If an online retailler exports more than 35000euro a year to Ireland they have to charge the Irish vat rate of 21%(soon to be 23%)...I was buying stuff from a UK online store for years and only found this out recently...I immediately searched for a similar store in Germany,bought an item from them recently 19% vat rate included and paid 58 euro for the item delivered including p+p...The same item on the UK site was 77euro or 90 euro in a Dublin shop...So check out German websites and most are in English!

the_syco

SeaFields wrote: »

Argos prices can be phenomenally high.

Agreed, but that's why their website is great, so I can check for bargains, without even going to it.

Delancey

From what I have seen the past 2 weeks or so the shops appear busy but I think there is a lot more browsing than buying.
I think the outlook for Irish retailing is grim -

High Rents
VAT rise
Increasing charges/cuts everywhere that will just eat into disposable income
Several years of sharply deflationary budgets
Falling consumer confidence due to fears about the Euro
And lest we forget that Q3 saw a sharp contraction in the economy , given that Q4 is likely to show another contraction then we are back in recession ( officially at any rate ).

A lot of speculation about retailers pulling out in tne New Year , I think its a miracle they haven't left sooner.

Scofflaw

hmmm wrote: »

And yet An Post seem to go out of their way to make it difficult for people to access those parcels. It's a discussion for another thread perhaps, but it ties into an idea that Irish companies (whether private or public owned) seem to see this "Internet thing" as some sort of temporary fad getting in the way of their main business.

Having been in the Internet business in Ireland now for 16 years, I have to say that's absolutely the case. The dotcom crash in 2001 made most Irish businesses say "phew, thank feck that Internet fad's over!" - and then the Tiger came along, and you could make money in Irish retail all year long just sitting on your fanny (as long as you could cover the rent charged by people sitting on their somewhat fatter ones), so why bother with that aul interwebbie rubbish? That was for people who didn't have a successful business model like being in a property bubble.

Now we have business initiatives to get businesses online. Nice for my industry, but a little late in the day.

cordially,
Scofflaw

femur61

Hogzy wrote: »

I know you bought it from Amazon.co.uk but within Amazon.co.uk are alot of marketplace sellors. You must ensure the product is actually being sold by Amazon

As a professional shopper (its in my genes). Thats where you get caught for additional postage. You won't get the free postage if product is not sold by Amazon.

meoklmrk91

I was in the Crescent shopping centre in limerick last Friday night, no busier than a normal Sunday really. I did most of my shopping online and have been doing so for years so this year was no different.

Irish retailers really need to buck up if they are going to compete with amazon. They usually have the best prices, you can read the reviews and they have customer service which is second to none in my opinion and I know I am not alone there. A friend of mine got me to order to 2 bikes for her kids, one for a 9 year old and one for a two and a half year old. The grand total for both €145, there is not a hope in hell you would get it anywhere in this country and they are both great quality and the 9 year olds was even a BMX.

HMV are doing some good deals this year, do are xtravision you really do have to shop around to get any real value for your money.

Godge

woodoo wrote: »

http://www.amazon.co.uk/

Thats where i bought from. I'm skeptical about this Irish VAT thing.

If you study your amazon bill carefully you will notice that quite often the amount you are charged in the final bill is different (larger) to the amount advertised because of the difference in VAT. Sometimes the extra charge is only added on right at the end after the shipping address is added in. You need to be careful therefore when calculating savings.

Sleepy

Am actually kicking myself a little this year. I've always shopped for small things (books, CD's, DVD's etc. on-line but avoided ordering larger items as p&p used to negate any savings over the larger bricks&mortar prices. Will certainly be looking a little harder into doing more of the xmas shop on-line next year!

pog it

Scofflaw wrote: »

Having been in the Internet business in Ireland now for 16 years,
cordially,
Scofflaw

Have to ask, what kind of internet business would that be??

Scofflaw

pog it wrote: »

Have to ask, what kind of internet business would that be??

Web development - complex systems (e-commerce, booking engines, scheduling systems, airline gateways, APIs etc) rather than web design. Used to have a training company running internet courses, but lost it in the dotcom crash (well, foot and mouth, really).

cordially,
Scofflaw

BostonB

JDxtra wrote: »

...
And the selection is amazing. If you take toys as as example, Smyths actually have a very limited product range - in terms of the ranges available, and the products within those ranges. Amazon simply have everything.

+1 since Smyths took over, the selection of toys has decreased from what I remember as a kid. Just hundreds of boxes of the same thing.

Dawn Rider

I wonder do Irish shops think that if they advertise prices online it makes it easy for customers to go elsewhere?
Where as, if they're in the shop they might just say 'well ok, seeing as I'm here I might as well buy'.

I tried buying carpets a few months ago and do you think I could find prices in Dublin? Not a chance.
It's really not too hard to say on your website this one is X amount per m2 + y for fitting on stairs, z for a hallway or room.

I noticed the same thing in other shops too. When I emailed them asking why they didn't show any prices, the response was that they don't sell online and to call in them and have a look around the shop...
No thanks, you're ok. I like to know how much the stuff is going to cast before heading over to them.

imitation

I can see why most irish businesses don't have an great online presence, I don't know the figures, but I can't imagine developing branding and maintaining a site will be cheap (some people have this weird perception that because theres nothing physical about it that its going to be cheap, thus leading to disgust when they see the actual cost). This site then has to compete with international companies who don't have the expense of warehousing and handling the item in Ireland.

ninty9er

Limerick retailers say they are experiencing shoppers makeing concerted effort to support them

http://limerickpost.ie/index.php/navigation-mainmenu-30/local-news/4017-ho-ho-shoppers-row-in-behind-the-city.html

Hogzy

ninty9er wrote: »

Limerick retailers say they are experiencing shoppers makeing concerted effort to support them

http://limerickpost.ie/index.php/navigation-mainmenu-30/local-news/4017-ho-ho-shoppers-row-in-behind-the-city.html

Its not a good thing to that. Only a select few will do this. And this clearly shows that prices and service is usually better online. Peoples pockets are not as deep as they used to be. Yet people still want to have the same standard of living (which is fair enough). If shopping online helps you save money which will preserve your standard of living then im all for it.

Competition is good for business. Irish retailers/suppliers need to wake up and realise their competition.

Dawn Rider

imitation wrote: »

I can see why most irish businesses don't have an great online presence, I don't know the figures, but I can't imagine developing branding and maintaining a site will be cheap (some people have this weird perception that because theres nothing physical about it that its going to be cheap, thus leading to disgust when they see the actual cost). This site then has to compete with international companies who don't have the expense of warehousing and handling the item in Ireland.

There are expensive web designers and cheap web designers. There are also free web sites that you build & maintain yourself just by following the easy instructions.
I think you're doing your business a disservice by not making it easy for customers to make an informed choice.
This isn't a jab at you btw.

ninty9er wrote: »

Limerick retailers say they are experiencing shoppers makeing concerted effort to support them

http://limerickpost.ie/index.php/navigation-mainmenu-30/local-news/4017-ho-ho-shoppers-row-in-behind-the-city.html

That article reads a bit like those 'Come on in - The waters lovely'! stories. If it's true then I'm glad. I hate to see shops closing down as it looks bad and it's bad for moral.
In the UK ASDA has been linked to high street shops closing down, much like their parent company WallMart closing down main street USA. But the awful truth is that high street shops are operating in a very different world from when they first started, and if they can't or won't adapt to peoples needs they'll struggle.

Mr.Micro

Hogzy wrote: »

Its not a good thing to that. Only a select few will do this. And this clearly shows that prices and service is usually better online. Peoples pockets are not as deep as they used to be. Yet people still want to have the same standard of living (which is fair enough). If shopping online helps you save money which will preserve your standard of living then im all for it.

Competition is good for business. Irish retailers/suppliers need to wake up and realise their competition.

That will be the day that they compete. I bought for my son and daughter online, Play and Amazon. I refuse to pay rip off prices here. On average per pound sterling value its 1.50 euro here. The vat rate at the moment is the same in the UK, so what is the excuse for the rip off. Its no wonder the retailers are struggling with the expensive prices and limited choice.

femur61

Theres a book I want on Amazon for £6.00 shop here was going to charge me €13.50. I read a lot so always spend enough to get free delivery. Got my son on Amazon for £22 here it would have been €54!

Gnasher1970

"Rigorously excluding" the highstreet from societies is a solution that'll bring a shudder to the spine of most normal civilised people, but it's nice that people make no attempt to conceal their real, quite repulsive, agenda. When the high street is no more people will come and ask why?

samina

I was out shopping tonight and shops are really quiet still. Would have thought things would pick up this week but they seem to be having it really tough this year.

Mr.Micro

Gnasher1970 wrote: »

"Rigorously excluding" the highstreet from societies is a solution that'll bring a shudder to the spine of most normal civilised people, but it's nice that people make no attempt to conceal their real, quite repulsive, agenda. When the high street is no more people will come and ask why?

Well money talks. The High street have had years to start to compete and court the consumer. Many here do not even have a web site or if they do its often poor. The retailers have only themselves to blame.

thebman

I bought my present in Ireland in store in the end and it was cheaper than online but it was an electronics device which might be the one area the chains having woken up to that people can buy online easily.

Same product is same price online or more expensive unless your include the US.

100 Euro Ireland
100 Euro online Euro/Sterling
85 dollars US (works out at 65 Euro...)

Crazy difference between the US and Europe overall but could be tax reasons for it.

WalterMitty

femur61 wrote: »

Theres a book I want on Amazon for £6.00 shop here was going to charge me €13.50. I read a lot so always spend enough to get free delivery. Got my son on Amazon for £22 here it would have been €54!

Do amazon sell wives for £22 too?

Mr.Micro

thebman wrote: »

I bought my present in Ireland in store in the end and it was cheaper than online but it was an electronics device which might be the one area the chains having woken up to that people can buy online easily.

Same product is same price online or more expensive unless your include the US.

100 Euro Ireland
100 Euro online Euro/Sterling
85 dollars US (works out at 65 Euro...)

Crazy difference between the US and Europe overall but could be tax reasons for it.

Bought a book £12.99, and in Easons here, the same book at €23.99 a reduced special price was the promotion slogan.

Hogzy

Mr.Micro wrote: »

Well money talks. The High street have had years to start to compete and court the consumer. Many here do not even have a web site or if they do its often poor. The retailers have only themselves to blame.

Exactly. No matter what you do in life business will ALWAYS change. How you adapt to this change reflects how well you will do in business. Not having a well developed website where you can purcahse products is just a lazy oversight by the retailers.

You snooze, You lose!

Mr.Micro

WalterMitty wrote: »

Do amazon sell wives for £22 too?

Would they like to buy one?

Hogzy

thebman wrote: »

I bought my present in Ireland in store in the end and it was cheaper than online but it was an electronics device which might be the one area the chains having woken up to that people can buy online easily.

Same product is same price online or more expensive unless your include the US.

100 Euro Ireland
100 Euro online Euro/Sterling
85 dollars US (works out at 65 Euro...)

Crazy difference between the US and Europe overall but could be tax reasons for it.

What did you buy as a matter of Interest?

ardmacha

Would they like to buy one?

That would be the Amazon market, I expect.

nice_guy80

online sales are really hurting Irish shops

especially with cds, DVDs, electronic equipment

thebman

Hogzy wrote: »

Exactly. No matter what you do in life business will ALWAYS change. How you adapt to this change reflects how well you will do in business. Not having a well developed website where you can purcahse products is just a lazy oversight by the retailers.

You snooze, You lose!

Interestingly I was doing a favor for a friend by making a website for their new franchise operation and they were giving out that they were saying they just needed to be able to show the franchise dealer (or whatever you call them) that they had a website to be able to operate within the franchise.

Other than that, no interest in the website. I was kind of shocked that they considered their online presence to be mandatory problem inflicted upon them by the UK operation that was operating the franchise.

Hogzy

thebman wrote: »

Interestingly I was doing a favor for a friend by making a website for their new franchise operation and they were giving out that they were saying they just needed to be able to show the franchise dealer (or whatever you call them) that they had a website to be able to operate within the franchise.

Other than that, no interest in the website. I was kind of shocked that they considered their online presence to be mandatory problem inflicted upon them by the UK operation that was operating the franchise.

Was the company run by a person older than 50? I find older people tend not to understand the power of an online presence. They are completely ignorant to the internet, Probably because they dont know how to use it effectively. There are alot of Irish start ups that have most of their sales online.

I just dont get why more companies dont have an online presence. if you have a shop in a town then only those within the town have access to your business. If you have an online presence then you are open to the world. Its mental.

MysticalRain

Didn't appear to be crazy busy around Dublin city centre this afternoon compared with previous years. Judging by the prices I'm seeing retailers charging on items such as clothes, a lot of retailers are behaving as if they are still living in 2006.

IrishHomer

I recall Christmas shopping during the 1980's recession up in Henry Street Dublin and the streets were so packed with bodies it was a major ordeal to move through the street. I was like being in the front crowd at a big outdoor rock concert with lots people pushing and shoving.

Hardly live long enough to see shopping streets as busy again in my lifetime (I'm 42yrs old)

WalterMitty

IrishHomer wrote: »

I recall Christmas shopping during the 1980's recession up in Henry Street Dublin and the streets were so packed with bodies it was a major ordeal to move through the street. I was like being in the front crowd at a big outdoor rock concert with lots people pushing and shoving.

Hardly live long enough to see shopping streets as busy again in my lifetime (I'm 42yrs old)

yeah that was before out of town shopping centres and online shopping.

the_syco

I'd like to add Smyths (www.toys.ie) to the same as Argos - they both have a site that you can check the stock of certain items online.

Found out that they had this in their Fonthill Road site for €13.99 and got it there.

Also, the Argos website has a "review" tab for a lot of it's products. Some of it's reviews would be from England, but the review is about the toy in question. When looking at the reviews for the above toy, I found other people had gotten it for a one year old, and it was fairly kid friendly. Unfortunately it wasn't in stock in Argos nearby me, but it was in Smyths.

This option of having their site linked up to their stock levels saved me a lot of searching, and I believe that this will get people like me into the shops to buy something, for the convenience factor.

the_syco

IrishHomer wrote: »

I recall Christmas shopping during the 1980's recession up in Henry Street Dublin and the streets were so packed with bodies it was a major ordeal to move through the street.

I'd say you'd remember all the moving toys that used to be in the windows (I think Arnotts had several windows of this sort of thing). This would draw the families in to show their children, "and whilst they were in" they would often go into the shop to see Santa. They also had an epic lego "show" in the Windows until 1996. Something like this, except much better.

robd

the_syco wrote: »

I'd like to add Smyths (www.toys.ie) to the same as Argos - they both have a site that you can check the stock of certain items online.

Powercity and DID are doing that also. The TV I want is on sale now at €1599.95 in PowerCity. In stock in my local store. It's dearer at £1419 (~€1700) on Amazon. Don't think they'll even ship big tvs to Ireland anyway.

Bigger point is guarantee. Really you need to buy bigger items locally, so that you can easily avail of warranty if necessary. Shipping a 46" tv back to UK is expensive then there's packing it right.

thebman

robd wrote: »

Powercity and DID are doing that also. The TV I want is on sale now at €1599.95 in PowerCity. In stock in my local store. It's dearer at £1419 (~€1700) on Amazon. Don't think they'll even ship big tvs to Ireland anyway.

Bigger point is guarantee. Really you need to buy bigger items locally, so that you can easily avail of warranty if necessary. Shipping a 46" tv back to UK is expensive then there's packing it right.

If you look at something like Komplett.ie, online can be done with collection centres where you could return items for warranty.

Not sure Komplett.ie allows this. I bought my first HDTV from there because it was significantly cheaper, second one in Argo's because it was significantly cheaper than online.

DublinWriter

I was speaking to someone working in Blanchardstown SC today and they said that Next had 1,000 people queuing to get in at 6am and around half-a-dozen were forceably removed from the shop for being a bit too boisterous.

I'm not sure how true this was, but it was certainly jammers at 1pm.

imitation

Dawn Rider wrote: »

There are expensive web designers and cheap web designers. There are also free web sites that you build & maintain yourself just by following the easy instructions.
I think you're doing your business a disservice by not making it easy for customers to make an informed choice.
This isn't a jab at you btw.
.

Your right if an business wants a website showing the basics, contact details, location etc. If a business wants to be more like amazon then its going to be an costly affair, you need to have a website with stock management, credit card management and importantly somebody to keep it up to date (imo no website is better than one with 1 year old prices). I guess you could go through ebay or another 3rd party service, but it wont feel too professional.