Online vs Brick and Mortar shops

[Juniper]

It's that time of the election cycle when a few rich buttheads get together and openly mock each other until a quarter of the American electorate says one of them can be in charge of all our nukes. One of the big topics in every election cycle is the role of small business in society. Something that grinds my gears is this ongoing trope that small businesses are mom and pop stores down the street, and that they face serious pressure from the big bad online stores. It's my personal and absolutely biased opinion that in 21st century commerce, mom and pop are online. Actually, it seems that more and more, brick and mortar shops are the domain of big business that can afford the overhead of a traditional location, while ecommerce has been a boon for the small startups, boutique brands and family-owned businesses more than anyone else due to the low overhead and massive audience that can be achieved relatively quickly.

Maybe it's not much of an issue compared to gun control or abortion or civil rights, but what do you guys think? Should politicians favor the traditional brick and mortar shop over online entities? Perhaps more importantly, what role do you think brick and mortar shops will play in near to mid future?

[Guntur]

I don't know what happened in the States as I don't know much about business there but Brick and Mortar shops is still relevant due to how small and mobile the business is. I've been buying a lot of online Stuff but I rather pick self collecting due to recognize and get close to the product. For me small business could help balance the small market due to competition and availability. I am definitely alright if the small business are using online for the payment transaction and do self payment and pay for the deposit. While the internet help us on buying an item by looking at the review I also it would hurt the business too on certain aspect because in some of the cases you need to look and do examination before buying it. That's where Brick and Mortar comes in. I'm still supporting small businesses doing business for the consumers for the sake of price competition and quality.

The only thing I do online is only payment or shopping on online commence looking for price before buying it. I mean that I still collect and buy stuff but I need to know in term of the prices that could compete with other vendor.

[Azerane]

I agree that smaller local stores tend to have more of an online start-up than a brick and mortar one. There is less of a risk factor, more opportunity for exposure to larger numbers of customers. Especially when you're talking about a product that isn't mainstream and serves more of a niche market. In my opinion, anyone starting a small business (depending on what you're selling) is better off starting online, and once sales reach a certain point then you can start to consider the possibility of a physical shop. Personally, I love going into a store and actually browsing items and physically being able to see and hold something to test its quality before making a purchase. However, I also much prefer to support a smaller, local business, than a larger chain business (within what's reasonable for my price range). I buy my groceries at a South Australian supermarket, and buy fresh fruit and veg from the local farmers market (fresher and cheaper). I buy my pet supplies from small local businesses as opposed to large, chain pet stores, or pet stores that sell puppies and kittens in store.

In terms of society, I think small business plays a very important role. For someone with dreams and ideas, if there's no room for small business in the market, what can they do with those ideas, sell them to a big company? Small business gives individuals the opportunity to start something and make a life for themselves, rather than relying on other companies. I don't really think there's room to favour brick and mortar over online stores or visa versa, because both certainly serve a purpose and have their place. Brick and mortar will always be there, and perhaps in some instances they become too great of a presence with big bulk stores that carry almost everything (from groceries to hardware and leisure items etc) I understand why stores have gone in that direction, but I feel that the generalisation of stores instead of specialising will eventually be a downfall, not to the retailer but to the customer.