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Hi, friends.

We are currently in a chaotic phase of global economic uncertainty, everywhere in the world is almost similar to this situation in terms of economy, energy scarcity, food scarcity and many others. but that's not what will be discussed with friends here.

A few days ago I was walking around the housing complex, and I noticed that a lot of grocery stores and other needs (conventional/retailers) had gone bankrupt, maybe this happened because prices were soaring even worse, and people prefer to buy from online stores instead of buying from neighbours, which causes the economy to slow down is undeniably this is the impact of the global economic chaos and technological advances.

If you are a person who has money to shop for daily needs, I suggest you buy from merchants around you instead of shopping online whose stores are far from your place. This must be done to turn the wheels of the economy in your neighbourhood and save them from bankruptcy, at least you give them space to live.

It's mostly about moral.

Customers and suppliers has a different goal, so they both will have a conflict. A customer will want the best product with the lowest price, while a supplier will want to get a income with the lowest cost. You can't blame if there's a customer don't want to buy from retailers since they don't have a lot money and want to use their money to invest or other thing.

Actually those retailers need to lower their price if they want to compete against a big company.

We have to pay attention to the economic circulation around us, I totally agree with that. But sometimes things like this become a separate war for us. I will give a little description of what happened to me personally. Buying at dealers around the house is much more expensive than buying at wholesalers or something, so the choice is when I need a lot I will choose to shop at a store that offers lower prices, unless my needs are few, I prefer to shop around the house.
Sometimes our humanity is at war with our needs too, that's what gets difficult. When shopping we will definitely take into account the money we spend with what we get. And also we all know everyone is in a phase or heading in a more difficult direction in the future.

Maybe this is what traders around us need to pay attention to, they have to raise prices that are not too far from the prices offered at large wholesalers to attract buyers around them. That way we will mutually benefit each other, we as buyers will not go too far to shop, and they as traders will not lose their customers.

High inflation triggered by different world situations, war, pandemic and high oil prices.

You just can't stop people if they're shopping online as it's convenient and choose not to go to the nearest store to buy their needs. Well, not at least for me, I shop to the closest one as it is economical and cost saver.

Whatever is the way of purchasing stuff, it's still helping the economy.

It's actually quite important to "shop local", it creates local employment and maintains
the service which is important because it helps to maintain a sense of community
for local people.

We cannot get everything locally but we should not buy everything online either.

We buy all our fruit, veg and meat from local growers and farmers, we pay a little
extra for this but we want to support local.

Of course, if we shop locally it might trigger the economic recovery of some small business around your area. The thing though is that most of the shops increases their prices as well sort of to recover what they have lost during the pandemic.

And that's where others try to look for cheap alternatives, because of the steep price that the stores around them are offering.

For example, let's say there are food shop that you offer food for around $7.00. Now the price is $10.00. So as consumers you look for more options and try to extend your $7.00, or even your $10.00.

In my country (Indonesia) this kind of thing is called UMKM (Usaha Mikro Kecil dan Menengah) or maybe simply a business that is run by individuals or groups on a small scale.
This has even been supported by the government to make economic growth in my country so that indeed the suggestion to buy the products produced is always encouraged even though it is not coercive in nature but these directives still exist because in fact this is also good enough to support the economy in the surrounding area and this too can be proof that we care about and appreciate local businesses.
Even though the current era of modernization and buying online from e-commerce is very strong, I think at least giving support to local businesses is not bad.

You can understand two things here and you can't do anything about it. One is inflation. It is inflation that reduce value of currency to buy adequately but now the quantity to buy is reduce and the money is not available for more purchase and sellers goods perish because of low patronage. Another point is Digital awareness and we can't change that. Sellers everywhere take advantage of advertising of goods online so buying in neighborhood may not be important if online seller can deliver your goods to your house.

the issue is that although SOME customers have moved to online purchasing groceries straight from distribution centres rather than a local store. its actually the local leases and state/county taxes on local businesses that have choked those small local stores out of business.

EG initially 9.6% footfall drop of revenue. but 60% increase of bills and rents.
store gets 1000 foot flow. online equivalent does 8 deliveries an hour for 12 hours(96)

imagine a tin of baked beans only cost £0.15 to make
an online store has an distributor lease/tax cost average of £0.05 and so sells for £0.25 (£0.05 profit)
but a local store has a £0.20 business lease and state tax rate average so sells for £0.40 (£0.05 profit)

here in the UK many towns have lost lots of local stores due to business rates, which then pushed people that normally shop locally have no where to shop locally.

many people prefered to shop locally before-after work when carparks were free and businesses had things they can see touch smell and decide on buying.

it was not that a customer decides to shop online "for convenience" as many dont want day old groceries picked by a stranger. or choosing clothes they cant touch or try on in the stores changing rooms before purchase.. where by instead they have to "order and hope"and having to pick a day off to get delivery
.. it was a push to go online because stores closed because it was the local stores that became a premium price compared to online due to their physical costs and higher lease, local parking and taxes.
things like:

by pushing local stores to be a premium and unable to compete against their online competitor. the local store dies. even if they had the extra 10% of footfall back in the town centre.. that wont be enough to cover the 60% premium required to stay afloat

Since the beginning of this year, the economy has been in a state of disarray, and most people are switching to online retailers where they can get products with less difficulty and at a lower price. The current economic recession is difficult for people to handle because of rising prices.

Good advice. It's not different on what is happening in our place but I do understand why. Price comparison. Ever since the prices of necessities soared to an amount a regular salary cannot handle anymore, people look for options. Online stores are mostly suppliers who are directly selling their products to the people near them. The question of "why?" comes out. Simply because the retail stores are closing down. No one is buying in the small shop so the big shop will also feel the effect of it. That's the reason why they are forced to sell their products themselves.
Chain reaction.

The reason why many of those small shops have closed is because people can’t compete with stores like Walmart.
They will basically undercut most stores and people will shop where it’s cheaper.

They do a survey in my area. Would you shop local and support local businesses? Most answered yes. However when asked “would you shop local but pay a little more” and most said no. Hence why businesses like these can’t compete with Walmart.

Hi also,
If you don't want to talk about the economy, energy scarcity, food scarcity and many others, why do you mention these in the discussion of this topic?
Anyway, if their bankruptcy (conventional traders/retailers) is caused by many consumers using the online shop application to shop for their needs for reasons of low prices, it means that conventional traders/retailers are currently still relying on wholesale shops or the like to buy goods so they have to sell them at a higher price.

In fact, many sales or wholesale store owners who have warehouses to accommodate goods also use online applications to order goods which are then resold to conventional traders/retailers. So it would also be better if conventional traders/retailers wanted to use the online shop application to order their goods so they could compete at a price that was slightly cheaper than what they usually sell.

I am a person who very often uses online shop applications when I want to shop for needs such as clothes, motorcycle parts, but I still buy daily necessities around my own environment or at conventional traders/retailers. I know this will make conventional traders/retailers look very miserable because they feel a decline in their sales, but that doesn't mean we have to blame the online application developers, because these parties also provide better service and according to what consumers need.

Your suggestion is not wrong, but they (conventional traders/retailers) must also see more opportunities in running their business at this time, because there will always be competition from various parties and those who do not update and still maintain the old way of doing things. trading or trying to expand their business with old methods, they will fall behind and go bankrupt in the end. So for now they (conventional traders/retailers) have to use new methods in order to further develop their business and avoid bankruptcy.

Your advice is highly esteemed Mate because supporting local shops would create employment opportunities, reduce emigration or immigration and keep the neighborhood alive. But the economic challenges are also affecting buyers and most people are looking for places they can buy goods cheaper. Apart from selling goods at a discounted price most online shops have variations of products that can serve as alternatives.

It would take government intervention to protect these local shops from unhealthy competition from these bigger multinationals. Government can subsidize the price of some essential commodities in these local shops and the cheap price would attract local customers. It would also be good if the government reduce the tax imposed on these local shops because it would also assist the to become competitive. Most businesses in my area are closing down because of multiple or sometimes double taxation.

Economic turmoil affects all groups, including small communities, looking for alternatives to balance income with expenses needs to be done to survive in uncertain conditions. Most people switch to shopping online because it is considered that the buying value is cheaper than the stores around them.

For grocery stores that have large capital, the impact may not be too bad due to decreased purchasing power, but for mid-level grocery stores around the complex, they have to go out of business because they cannot achieve sales targets. Online shopping is not about not caring or helping the people around us, at times like this we have to help ourselves to survive.

It's true, it's not that we don't care about life or the traders around us, but circumstances force us to keep spending as minimum as possible for our needs, one of which is looking for cheaper selling prices from traders around us, sometimes I myself still compare prices between wholesalers big. We have to do this because of the fact that the current situation is getting more and more difficult.
Things went awry, because on the one hand I believe we all want to help a healthy economic cycle around us, but on the other hand we also have to save our own economy.

Grocery or conventional stores went bankrupt because they could not compete on price with larger stores, say supermarkets, which offered various kinds of discounts that were there.
In addition, these small shops also lack the capital to increase the number of products, which makes people choose to shop at other shops that are complete than the small shops.
Sometimes, shopping online can provide lower prices than offline stores because they offer discounts, including discounted shipping costs to the destination address.
But those local shops will still open their business because they still have regular customers who shop there frequently.

It's a shame that in terms of economic competition, what shop owners need to do is dare to compete in all offline and online sectors. I can't bring myself to buy at a store that doesn't have what I need. In terms of economic growth, we really have to encourage micro-entrepreneurs who are around by helping to buy goods. But they also can't rely on just one stream. Because now technology provides instant choices for shopping.

However, as someone who knows enough about how the bustle of microeconomics goes, it is undeniable that you often hear complaints from conventional traders about increasing online trading, which on average shifts the position of the offline store.

comparing a brick and mortar retailer to a similar size online retailer, the differentiator is the lease and business rates.

having a physical store has a higher tax bracket than a warehouse serving via a website. yep just having a shop on mainstreet with a sign above the door that allows customers to enter and browse comes at extra cost. even things like liability insurance incase a customer had an accident is a differentiator

..
when it comes to the mom&pop independent retailer vs national chain retailer. its the wholesale cost of goods that is a differentiator. small retailers dont have the wholesale purchase buying power to get the best prices.

using the same data as my last post it turns a £0.15 wholesale price for small independent retailer. becomes a £0.10 wholesale for the likes of wallmart.
also walmart can, due to its customer footfall of 10,000 a day but only 5x the number of staff compared to a small retailer have better profit margins

in short
beans cost to customer
£0.40 - small ind' retail - £0.05 profit(12.5% profit)
£0.25 - large nat' retail - £0.10 profit(40% profit)
£0.25 - large nat' web  - £0.125 profit(50% profit)

I understand your idea....

However, now it is hard for everyone - both individuals and legal entities. 

People are also forced to minimize their spending in order to survive the economic crisis and recession.  Previously, I did not buy goods in online stores, but now I do it quite often. 

My country has a very high inflation rate, so I have to minimize my expenses and buy food, clothes, shoes and household goods at the best price.  I try to keep my expenses to a minimum.

Responding to the economic turnover in the nearest environment which is very sad, I also visited a traditional market some time ago and saw many things have changed, shops, now while selling, they are also active on social media posting their goods, and some are even broadcasting live. It's no wonder that today's economic competition is increasing and of course it takes courage to follow modern market movements.

Most of those who have switched to online are goods stores, while vegetables still have a portion of the profits in traditional markets.

My understanding is that the bankruptcy of offline stores is not caused by the rise of online stores that are developing at this time, as far as I know, the effect is only a few percent, not all people want to shop for their daily needs at online stores, few if compared to residents who use online shopping methods, For example: China, which is a developed country, on average, their lives are online, few want to shop online, they prefer to go to the store directly, after seeing new items, they pay online or digital currency.

People from developing countries like China don't shop online one of the bad methods.

Why do Chinese not shop online.
Reason:

Many surveys say why the economy for those who trade offline is not developing while online is growing fast.

The factors are:
Those who open offline stores, most of them do not have their own capital, many of them borrow capital from banks and so on as initial capital, their profits cover the bank's interest, that's what makes many offline shops today with high bank interest rates and they quickly go bankrupt, they can't afford to pay bank installments that are swelling, not to mention shops that are in debt with their customers.

While online shops, most of them are not involved with start-up capital bank, pay cash, no debt, For this reason, there is no economic effect of the rise of online stores on the economy for offline stores.

I think that's hardly the reason why people make purchases online. Sometimes, it's a question of availability and quality, not price. In  fact, prices of goods in online stores are often high compared to local stores. Not to mention that, we've got delivery fees to pay and getting your goods is going to be in days and can take up to 3 weeks.
Again, making our have from an online store doesn't necessarily have a negative effect on your nations economy when the company or sore your buying from happens to be a local store within the nation. Perhaps when imported, we could take about that otherwise, its still a win.

I don't think online stores cause offline stores bankrupt.  
Not all goods are worth buying via online stores. If you want to buy daily necessities, I am sure most people prefer to buy in offline stores. Also, not all people are familiar enough with online stores, there are still many people who never buy goods from online stores in my town.

If you see there are many offline stores closed, it probably causes by a significant increase in good prices and the competition with bigger stores who dominate the market. If you live in Indonesia, you must be familiar with Ind*mar*t and Alf*ma*t. These retail companies dominate the market and cause smaller stores rarely have customers.

I think the OP's suggestion is very understandable. But I do it according to the category or type needed. If the needs are related to food such as vegetables, fruits and all kinds of groceries. so I always choose to buy from the nearest dealer. although the price offered is quite expensive. But if you need electronics and the like, then I prefer to shop through online stores. because the price is always 30-40% cheaper than the electronics store in the area where I live. i understand the nearest electronics shop charges high rates because of the cost of shipping from the manufacturer to their shop. But still the price is too high. so that in my area most of the closed shops are electronics stores. while the groceries traders everything went smoothly.

Buyers generally look for places that offer lower prices. Grocery stores and those selling other needs around the housing complex are at the point of imperfect competition or a form where there are only a few sellers, but many buyers. Sellers can determine the price of goods for any reason resulting in monopoly which can lead to injustice between sellers and buyers.
When market efficiency does not materialize and people are in a position of economic uncertainty, they will choose to find a place that can offer lower prices than the shops around them.

Thank God, even though I always buy things online, I don't forget the merchants around and sometimes I often buy them.

Indeed, nowadays most people always buy things online, for only one reason. ie cheaper. the traders who are around sometimes always increase the price, because it is for the sake of profit. because of this, many merchants went bankrupt because people preferred to buy online, and rarely bought. but I'm sure, both are equally good.

I have to say that it's quite important to have some sort of base income or at least guarantee when you are starting an offline shop. I had a friend who started a bakery based on this, she had this amazing recipe for a cupcake but a tiny version basically and it went for like a week without refrigeration or anything, which allowed shops to sell it for a whole week as long as they do not put it on anything super hot, don't have to be cold but at least room temperature and usually it got sold quick enough.

She got an offer from a big chain, so she started it as an offline shop with the offer in hand. That way she knew what she would make in the long run and could calculate based on that. Nothing like that in your hand means you are just rolling the dice.

Price matter even if it's not available as long as the price differs from the others and also, no one can expect a good quality over in online shopping but if it's a brand supplier you will get what you expected to get but the price would be less than in any local store although a bit expensive compared to the online shops.

Online shops are just retailers although the quality they are selling isn't the quality we are expecting since they aren't the supplier. You have to expect that those items you were buying through online doesn't have the high quality you were expecting since most of those products are rejects.

Sometimes buying wholesale or retail depends on where you want to buy it if it's available or how you will get less when buying wholesale. Options are open to local store or online shops.

From where I'm at, most retailers/wholesalers' businesses are booming, and it's kind of weird because it does not align with where we currently stand globally in terms of economic situation. Perhaps it has more to do with the current season (Christmas and New Year) with which a lot of people have a lot of disposable funds and are not hesitant to spend it on basic necessities among other stuff. But come January after all festivities are over, I'm sure I'll see people being frugal as ever with what little remains of their money from the previous year. Retailers would surely have more of the market's share compared to wholesalers as people will have very little money left, and they will opt to buy items individually and would not have the chance to buy things in bulk. Due to the current pricing of everything, people are forced to do the more expensive route (without realizing it) by not buying things in bulk.

Also, online grocery shopping here isn't as popular as walking to your local grocery store/market and getting what you really need. I'd go as far as saying that we haven't caught up with the West's culture in relying almost everything online, and I think one thing that will not change any time soon is buying necessities - we will always want to buy it personally to assess the quality of the product and to see whether it's what we really need/want or not.


And in such a situation, your trade department/industry/organization should step in and freeze prices into what everyone deem to be a fair and reasonable amount. Price gouging has happened a lot of times here in the Philippines and the trade industry has stepped in countless of times when things went uncontrollably hard for the buyers to seek for items that are reasonably priced. Sometimes, it's not always the government that's the problem - for the most part it's the sellers banding together, hoarding these items and creating this imaginary demand in order to hike prices and take profits.


Which is true, but most of the time what they consider "lower prices" are not buying things in bulk and not doing the math before making the purchase. Economic uncertainties often push the public to make uninformed and unintelligent decisions that hurts them more than it can benefit them short-term.

Traders themselves are not insulated from change. They themselves are no longer able to ignore the power of the Internet and its effectiveness in facilitating services. Even in small towns or rural areas in poor countries, they use the Internet to shop, or at least to promote their products. Not all online sellers are honest. Many of them exploit the virtual space to carry out fraud, which is what repels people to use such services.

The business environment has also its own version of evolution. Those who don't adapt will perish.

You cannot blame the consumers if they prefer goods and services that are cheaper. Price is a major consideration. Those with actual stores are forced to price their goods and services in a level that would give them enough income to pay for the rent, electricity, staff, and so on. These could be avoided if what you have is an online store, so you could offer a lower price.

You cannot also blame them if they prefer to shop in the most convenient way possible. Online shopping has provided them that. They won't have to shop physically. They could do it in the comfort of their homes and wait for the goods to be delivered right to their doorstep.

We can still run both simultaneously, for our daily needs we can still use the services offered by grocery stores around the complex, such as sugar, eggs, cooking oil and all other kitchen needs. It is impossible for us to buy all these needs online because of sudden needs.
The increasingly narrow economic situation forces us to make choices to cut expenses, one way that can be done is to find places that offer low prices with good quality. Online service providers can still sell lower than offline stores, they don't need to spend money to pay rent for their business premises, only marketing skills are needed to attract consumers.

I don't think that I can "save the small businesses in my town" with my money. This won't be enough.
Please don't try to mix economy with charity. ;D
I will happily buy goods and services from the small businesses in my area, if they sell really good products and provide good services.
I won't buy their products and services, just because I feel sorry for them. The economy doesn't work that way.
What do you mean by "daily needs"? Do you mean food? Who the hell is buying food online? Do you mean services like Doordash?
I think that businesses like Doordash are using the services of local restaurants, which means that buying food from Doordash proves that you are actually supporting the local economy in your area.

As for me, I rarely buy my stuffs online but I prefer to buy things offline because it's less hassle and less costly. When you only need basic items like 1 pc of soap and toothpaste I think it does make sense to shop it online so I don't retail stores are losing because the buyers are transferring online but there might be a different reason for it. One of it can be the inflation.

Inflations aren't caused by the online business but it caused by other things i.e the Russia-Ukraine war or the sanctioning of a certain country. Another could be the increasing interest rates. That might also affect the price of the goods, resulting for them to sky rocket as well.

Online shopping and physical stores are both directly or indirectly part of the economy. Most physical stores these days also have their own online market for customers that are far away and cannot drive down to the physical store, and even many of the people who sell commodities online are into drop shipping, they sell to customers directly from the manufacterers because they cannot affort to rent a physical store. Imo both the large and small scale market are important, and people/customers would eventually have to choose what's best for them, and sellers will have to adapt.

Having said that, talking about adapting, smaller shops in street corners can adapt by understanding the sort of goods that people in their community would need from a local store without having to go to a bigger store or online, thus they can have those sort of commodities on display for fast sales, if they try to compete with the bigger online market they might be out of business sooner rather than later.

COVID lockdowns/restrictions decimated small businesses to the point they're out of business and the only options are large retailers with e-commerce platforms that can undercut any local businesses that survived the pandemic. I'm a fan of supporting local business, but it's hard to tell people that they should pay higher prices for goods for the sake of supporting locals in an economy like this.

Small businesses are having a hard time surviving because of the economic difficulties that we're experiencing. Local businesses hooe relies on local consumers so we should prioritize buying their products over huge and well-established businesses because they're the ones who need our help.
They can't compete with huge grocery stores but supporting them wi also be beneficial to us since they offer cheaper yet quality products. If we'll prioritize local merchants, we could help them survive and we could also support our local products which are good for our local economy as well.

This, besides the difference in the price is not small at all, I went to a mall recently and I had recently bought a product online and when I checked the price at which the same product was being sold at the mall I was surprised to find that it was 400% higher, now most likely this is not very common however it is obvious retail vendors will sell for a higher price than what you can find online, and with the economic situation being what it is and money being scarce customers are not going to be willing to pay such a high price for the same product.

I always try to buy local food and local products, but that's expensive, especially food that doesn't naturally grow here. And i cant ask others to do so, because poor people have less choices on what they support with their money, especially now when cost of food has doubled in few months, cost of electricity is sky high and everything is up but crypto prices :).

A lot of people are living from hand to mouth and wouldn't survive without charities. So not only local businesses are suffering, and they are suffering for a reason.

Okay, maybe most people complain about conventional stores because the prices offered are higher than the prices offered by online stores, it's natural for you to be in a situation like now, economic turmoil occurred in various industrial sectors and was accompanied by inflation. definitely looking for the best price to save money in the current circumstances.
After I read the book a few days ago, it turned out that it is normal for a business to be disrupted by new innovations and if for business people to be unable to balance or adapt to changing times.

The fact is people will buy products where they can get it cheaper so the retailers has to sell for competitive price if they want to survive or else they will lose their customers. Grocery like products will become cheaper when the stores buy it as bulk that is why superstores can able to sell it cheaper than a normal store so all the small stores had to bring some kind of innovative ideas to deal with it or else in future only super markets can survive.

That's the point, we look for the best price to save as much as possible in a difficult situation like this. It's not that we don't think about other people, but it's the situation that makes us do things that don't support the economy around us, let's say.
Merchants can compete and attract consumers to buy from them, but they must have something to offer us and give reasons why we should buy their wares, such as more affordable prices for example. Because what I see now is that consumers like me are looking for something that is cheap and of the same quality. Logically, people will prefer cheaper ones with the same quality comparison.

The weird thing about where I live is that online stores have higher price in our culture because it means they are providing an extra service. Yes I know that if you go to a store and buy something, the store would have to pay rent and salaries and bills etc etc, whereas if it's just a warehouse, it's cheaper because instead of 20 stores and 200 workers, they could have 1 warehouse and 10 workers and they could reach out to everyone.

However, they are saying between shipping and providing you with sizes (if you buy a clothing and it's too small, you can send it back and get a bigger size) and you not being needed to leave your house and all, these are all extra services instead of you leaving house and going to a store and trying and buying and coming back, so they charge higher for online stores.

If local stores want to sell, they have to offer competitive prices compared to the online stores. But maybe they can't, because they purchase from online stores to sell more expensive in the local community... ::)

So I guess the local stores aren't even necessary at this point of modern society anymore. Those entrepreneurs should look for alternative ways of making money.

Moreover, when purchasing online we have access to a wider variety of products we wouldn't have access shopping locally.

On the other hand, there are exceptions of local stores. Some of them are very traditional and offer goods you can't find so easily on the internet. I believe these ones are relics which should be preserved by locals.

We're lucky because, in our place, online stores have cheaper products. Local platforms always offer free shipping services which are also convenient for us. Maybe that's the reason why physical stores have lesser sales when online markets existed. It's way more convenient and twice cheaper so customers could save bigger. Physical stores are now having a hard time competing with online sellers so it's a big challenge for them.

Online shoppers are not the problem, it is the inflation happening that cause of sudden price hikes for all of the products. Also, we can't force people to stop online shopping if that's what they want, because it is convenient and much cheaper in my opinion because of vouchers and discounts. Economy will continue to collapse if the Government doesn't have any plans on how to solve the economic problem in their respective countries.

On the one hand, you are right that some merchants went bankrupt and this is certainly very bad, but the progress that we so wanted so much is to some extent to blame. The ability to order goods without leaving home is cool, it saves you time and sometimes even money, which is why people are increasingly choosing the opportunity to shop online. So I went to a large store to buy a synthesizer for my child, and it turned out that it simply wasn’t in stores. And I had to go home and order it online. And believe me, this happens so often now. Then why should I waste time and money on a trip to the store when they don't have what I need? This is just one example. But I want to reassure you, there are still many people who buy goods in real stores and markets.

what you say is true. other than that the items we want don't exist and it's a waste of time traveling from home to the store. there are other things that make online shopping a lot of interest.

As happened to me, I found an item at an online shop in the same city but couldn't serve it offline. After searching, I found the offline store, but the prices there were all more expensive than those online.

a little confused even though online you have to pack and have to pay for the courier too. What's the difference in management? what's the difference in taxes? Is this a strategy for eliminating offline stores? Those who know can answer yes.

Traveling still has its own benefits too. I am not talking about riding a vehicle but when we simply walk. We can burn some extra calories this way which is good for our body. People shouldn't be lazy and rely all to online because it can also cause a health problem in the long run.

I think the reason why items on offline shops are a little expensive is because they pay a rent for that place. They do also have other expenses like water bills, electricity, personnels, etc. but this all can be avoided if the setup is only online. Yes, they can pay for the courier but they can save a lot if the items that will be delivered are in bulk. This isn't a strategy to eliminate offline stores. That's crazy.

Indeed, in an online store, it requires a courier or delivery fee, but in an offline store, the expenses are much more.
employees and building rent are examples so the price is also more expensive,
more or less like that short explanation

Everyone can make price comparisons on the same goods with the same benefits before buying an item at a particular store. So don't be surprised when everyone needs to see a lower price on the goods he wants to buy with good quality. And this is the best way for everyone to continue to save money in spending something in the current conditions. Because for me it's not the online or offline that's the problem, but the same goods with the same quality but the prices are very much different.

We can only assume that life is going to be better in the future. We are equally into this. Let us not forget there are only 1% rich who can literally live by doing nothing by this time. They have earned good amount of fortune for them. Then comes the second group of people who are well settled to enjoy their few generation to come and then some of them who can survive for next 50-100 years by doing nothing. For the rest, where I come, damn I have to keep my ass on the line to work day and night and feed my family. Always searching for the extra income, passive sources whether it would take my sleep away or one times food, I am fine but that's how I have to keep the economic cycle running for me and my family. Literally I am used to it now.

At present the economic crisis is increasingly felt, and this has happened for so long since the pandemic until now it has not been fully stable as it used to be. So, as you said, saving others in the worst, there is something that is highly recommended, especially the people around us. ,whatever we can do, right now is something we have to live to care for each other, maybe some people have their own reasons why they prefer shopping elsewhere, it could be because of different prices, so everything can be adjusted if we have the desire to always live in harmony around our environment.

Is it cheap to buy items online? It is opposite in our country; buying in our local shops or neighborhood is way cheaper unless you haven't seen that item you need, then that is the time you will buy it online. But in terms of food and other needs, people here tend to buy their needs locally, like those people who sell on the sidewalk (they are cheaper than in those shops). Those majority of people who buy online is because they do not want to leave in their houses due COVID but now businesses, including shops, are beginning to gain profits and customers, unlike when the pandemic hits.

The average person buys things by shopping online because it's easier and cheaper he said, the difference in price makes other people reason to buy even though the place is far away, I really realize that the current conditions are very difficult conditions for everyone so take care of their money to save money. But if we talk morally maybe we have to buy necessities in the surrounding area to help economic growth and save it from bankruptcy. That is the dilemma, we need cheap goods to save money and we also sometimes cannot see the small traders around us going bankrupt because no one wants to buy goods from them.

Each recession is generally unique and comes from a whole new set of shocks that were unexpected before, but we're actually living in the most prosperous few decades that humanity has ever seen and should always be grateful for that fact. The current disasters will hopefully resolve themselves in due time, we're slowly getting past the shock that Covid caused us and eventually Russia 's invasion will get defeated so we can return to normality. That will help prices to stabilize once again, commodities will come down and efficiency will improve to lower prices of the products that we all use. The richest countries of the world have possibly been sheltered the most from increasing prices so it will benefit the poorest countries the most when this happens.

This is right and I agree with your prepositions of supporting our local business especially the ones around us.
I've been an advocate of supporting local businesses and I've done this by trying to patronize the goods and services of friends around me and I always feel fullfied after doing this and I don't ever regret this, I always tell my friends to do same because by so doing, we could all help each other grow.
I've also heard of people talk about price slash for goods online but I still ask them if they also consider the cost of delivery?
I'm not against online shopping but it doesn't make sense buying outside when your neighborhood has same product.

In this aspect I don't understand exactly what you mean buy environmental economics cycle but I believe from my own understanding that economic or economy of a particular country can be easily the control with the government not by an individual and what makes our economic Factors to be abnormal it's because of our management

some online merchants are giving free shipping vouchers, discounts or cashbacks, hence, some people are getting hooked in online shopping. with the financial crisis, some people are really into buying cheaper products. some will go to their central market rather than buying from their neighbourhood which sells more expensive items. we can't blame people for looking for more cheaper alternative routes.

And this is without a doubt a problem, I think the majority of the people can realize that if given the choice it would be better for their local economy to buy the products that are being offered by the people that live there, however due to the inflation we have been experimenting people are short on cash, so if they can save a little bit on their purchases then they are going to take that option, otherwise it would be impossible for them to pay their bills, which as we know they have become more expensive during the last year.

It's true that now everything is completely online, even just buying flowers online.  How can people not be tempted by these services, you just have to choose which one to buy and then pay, even now there is a cod (cash on delivery) feature that makes it easier for buyers to pay.  But the drawback is, maybe we can be deceived by goods that don't come as you expect.  therefore we must be able to distinguish which ones to buy online and in person.  Besides that, the advantages that you get when shopping directly are that you can immediately see the goods' texture, material, color, etc.

It doesn't work like that. I can't buy from a store in my neighborhood just because they're in my neighborhood. It's good to support local business, I agree but the recession is affecting everybody. If there's an online store that gives me a better offer I'll take it.

I'm a digital marketer and I've helped stores in neighborhood create online presence. I educate them on the advantages of taking their business online. I see this as my own way of helping businesses in my neighborhood. Some actually want to put their business online but don't know how to while some just don't want to (for various reasons). I will be doing more educating this year too and I think that's what we should do. It's a digital world and if you want to stay alive as a business you have to move with the current.

Receiving better and cheaper offers on online shops for the things we need is very normal and common for everyone, even though it looks bad for the local business people around us. But that can at least help us as customers who are saving money in difficult conditions, because local business people also won't want to help us when we are having difficulties. So there is no need to pay attention to things like that because business people are looking for profits and they are also very aware of business competition in this world.

What you are doing is extraordinary because some people who are still in business and want their business to continue smoothly clearly have to keep up with the times at this time, in other words, they cannot go against the flow if they want to stay alive by running their business. So don't mind those who still have reasons to refuse your offer or invitation to be better, because you just need to focus more on those who want to listen to you for this or for better changes.

And who is promoting their goods / products, is there any kind of advertising, or how does it work for you? For many people who are not familiar with online sales, this can be a very difficult moment, because they do not understand how to do it right.

For some, spending on advertising may become unacceptable, or they may need to increase the cost of their products to make it profitable. In any case, you are doing a good job, people need to be helped to sell through the Internet, this is the future and more and more users are looking for goods online every day.

It's true, the stores in my area all sell at a higher price than the online stores, and we all try to save as much as we can, so it's difficult to support the stores close to home. We are also in financial difficulty, how can we help someone, and if we were in that situation, I don't think they would help us either.
Those grocery stores should change to catch up with the trend, or else they will soon be eliminated, that's the law of business. No one can help them except themselves.

We live in the province, so online stores are much more expensive because we have to pay for shipping, but local stores are much cheaper, which is why we mostly buy it directly because we can see the actual product, unlike online, but there are some products that are not available, so we have to buy it online. But it is better to support local products as first, it can boost your own economy, and second, you can help locals with their products.

I live in an area that can be called remote but actually has the opposite story from you.
Maybe for food items and daily needs it is slower and shipping costs are also a bit of a hassle but for secondary needs I think online shops are better especially looking at some of the ecomers now that seem to be competing for a better position lots of people always make deliveries with free shipping there.

Helping others to let their business stay longer is really good, but how can you extend your help if you are also struggling budgeting your funds? So you have to buy items in their lowest price possible, as long as they’re not expired and as long as the brand is good enough. Although not in general, but most of the small store owners are also overpricing their goods that’s why people would never want to buy from them, instead just order online so they can still save some money that can be used to buy other items too.

I don’t think people will just settle on buying from retail stores most of the time because obviously, it’s not helping them to save. Even people with money, they are mostly buying from big companies so they can maximize stocking some goods for future use and that will save not just money but time and effort too. Although online buying is also the trend right now, but that is how the pandemic has taught us to just stay at home and order online, since the items are cheaper in prices too.

This variation differs based on location. In my own area retail stores are much cheaper than online stores, but the only disadvantage with retail stores is limited variety of goods. Online stores are more expensive because shipping fee is always included, but they are many alternative options to chose from. In my area online stores are majorly affiliated and so many affiliates sell their product on a particular store at their own price making it more expensive than retail store.

I agree, it's just not possible because I could buy some stuff as little as half the price, even less if it's clothing when I am shopping online. The clothing store near me sells a basic shirt for 39.99 for example, and the online shop sells it for as cheap as 5.99, and usually for 9.99, tell me that difference doesn't bother you and I won't believe you.

I have bought 5-6 shirts recently that's why it was my example and the shirts that came to me which was so cheap, turned out out to be good quality as well, not like it is a terrible thing, it's a basic black shirt and that's it, nothing more and it was still high quality. That's why there is no way I would support local and stop online shopping.

Right. It’s not that customers will adjust just because they are our neighborhood, the store owner alone should also initiate ways so he can cope up with the competition in business. Or he can also sell online using his items, but most likely in a cheaper price too as most of online items are not totally costly. However, if there are options too that we can help them, that would be great, but for now everyone is affected with this inflation, so we should always be responsible for our own survival.

During the pandemic, I also saw many businesses go out of business because of it, in various places, in various businesses. And thankfully now, conditions are getting better and many more businesses are starting to run again with more leverage.

Related to this, I have several considerations, between agreeing and not. To agree, because by buying daily needs at shops near our house, we can simultaneously help maintain the continuity of their business, even if it's small. But unfortunately, there may be several factors why someone sometimes chooses to shop at stores that are farther away, bigger, or online than shopping at home. sometimes it's a matter of many different prices, completeness, and also convenience in shopping. However, if the price does not differ much and is complete and convenient for shopping at a store near you, why not?

They won’t be building business in the first place if they are not capable to sustain their sales despite of the competition found online. So they should set initiatives for that, otherwise they will end up in bankruptcy and forced to close their stores. The economic downturn we have at the moment is only temporary, but if you won’t take actions on this, probably you will be doom forever.

in the area where I live, the government continues to buy goods from neighboring stalls so that the wheels of the economy between residents continue to run. Besides that, he also recommends buying local products made by the nation's children, whose quality is no less than foreign production. that way economic growth will develop.

it's true as you said, sometimes the price is very much different from online stores. however, we will get our own satisfaction if we shop directly at offline stores.

Honestly, I can't help them, because like I said, we're also struggling with inflation and we're trying to save money, how can we help them? While online stores in my area are willing to offer discounts or free shipping, there is no reason for me to buy from more expensive places. It's the local shops that need to change, they can't count on the help of a few neighbors, which doesn't make their business better. That's not the solution.

Hmmm I think it will depends on how convenient the things are for you. It's not all because of the money, we all know that time is more precious and expensive than money, I admit that I want to buy goods to those local merchants here in our place but the thing is it is an hour away from here where supermarket is near than that place. Also, some goods in here are cheaper than to those sellers we have enough money to buy but still we're in inflation we I'll choose what will fits us in the long run. When this inflation ended, I will surely support locals as well especially for fruits and vegetables.

Every buyer wants to buy goods at low prices and they will exclude whether the product is local goods or purchases online, you may be lucky to live in strategic locations near online stores and free shipping costs, but not all goods are available in online stores, so however we will still do traditional transactions with local shop. I think local shops/sellers should change their sales strategy to compete with online shops and maybe online driving services will help local traders to increase orders for goods delivered to buyers without having to leave the house.

You can't blame people for being practical since it's really cheaper to order anything online nowadays. However, it's true that this affects some merchants since they will have lesser sales. Most online shops offer free shipping, or even offer their goods cheaper since they can get them directly from suppliers or they don't have to pay any rent for their shop. One of the biggest bookstores in our country is starting to close down its branches because of bankruptcy since most people choose to get their school/office supplies online than go to stores.


I agree with this, they should start thinking of a way to compete with online sellers by letting people order goods online through their shop and also offer delivery services. This way they can somehow increase their sales or not lose any customers.

You are not responsible for it neither. I mean they could make it sound like they are dying because you do not buy from them, but the reality is that they are dying because they are in a business that's long gone and they are trying to fish it out of history.

The reality is that if you could find a lot cheaper products online instead of buying at those shops, then why should you be responsible for keeping them open. And no, it doesn't mean everyone will lose their companies and we will just be looking at amazons of the world to sell, you could always start an online shop, every single day there are new people who start a new business but online, that's the point of it.

I don't know if there is a difference between countries, I don't think I'm lucky, but I can say online business, and free shipping is significantly developed in my country. Instead of building a big store, costing money to hire employees, renting space, and tax..., they save a lot of things when switching to an online business, so free shipping is normal. Once in business, you need to have a plan and strategy to get customers, not expect customers to come to save you.

Supporting local businesses, especially during difficult economic times, can have a positive impact on the local economy and community. By buying goods and services from local merchants, you are helping to create jobs and stimulate economic activity in your neighbourhood. You are also right in stating that technological advancements have led to a shift in consumer behaviour, where more and more people are opting to shop online instead of visiting physical stores. This has led to an increase in competition for local retailers and has made it more difficult for them to survive.

However, it's important to note that not all people have the luxury of choosing where to shop. Some people may have limited access to transportation or may not have a credit card to make online purchases. Others may not have the disposable income to buy items at higher prices.

At the same time, it's worth noting that online shopping has its own benefits, it can be more convenient, time-saving, and can offer a wider range of products to choose from. In general, balancing between supporting local businesses might work for everyone and taking advantage of the convenience and variety of online shopping. It's also important to be mindful of one's own financial situation and to make informed decisions based on that.

Your intention is good but that would also depend on the choices of the buyer. If he is in a tight budget, then he will surely buy in a big grocery store wherein he can save some money, whereas buying in neighborhood and expect that their goods prices are higher compared to bigger grocery stores. But if it only means for some small amount, maybe a neighborhood store is a good place for that.

well, I think the practicality and ease of shopping through online shops has made us all prefer to shop more through online shops. And I think local business people or local traders also have to keep up with the increasingly advanced times. they can make their shop also available in the online shop so that they can still absorb more consumers or can adapt well in this era. some local traders who do not keep up with technological advances will definitely feel a setback in their business. because some of their customers will definitely decrease as a result of switching to an online shop. so steps to promote local business can also be done by providing advice or insight to local business people so they are more familiar with increasingly advanced technology and utilizing it in their business. it would be great to have an online shop as well as a physical store at the same time. it is likely that customers will survive and even increase. helping with insights is also most important.

There is one benefit of buying inside the shop which is basically just making sure you could buy something you want by seeing it, but aside from that I do not think that online shopping has any disadvantages at all.

And I know it is going to sound silly, but it is not just beneficial financially because of cheapness, but also because you do not buy something you don't need. At shops they try to sell you something, retail workers come and try to convince you to buy a thing you don't need, but otherwise when you are shopping online, you may see something you don't need and buy personally but there will be nobody that is forcing you to buy something.

I see this from the point of view of a buyer who is actively shopping online, I definitely do it every week because I play a direct role as a buyer but I also play a role as a seller. In essence, everything is mutually beneficial if we know how to manage goods from store A and sell them in store B. However, if this is the moral support that must support offline stores, I think we are still among offline buyers. We do not always buy from online stores due to slow delivery, length of time for items to be packed etc. Of course we will choose offline stores to shop in person to meet urgent needs.

But it's also a point that can cause trouble for us if you're in a hurry and order online. But when you receive an item that is not what you want, you will have to spend more time waiting for them to change or accept to use it reluctantly.


For direct purchases at the store, it is easy to refuse the advice of the employees, I think it is not too difficult to do that.
In short, both have their pros and cons, as @savetheFORUM said, shopping for variety and making the right choice can save us time and money.

Buying inexpensive items online, shipping costs can also play a role. But some trading platforms sometimes make promotions when delivery is free in a certain period, or online stores make free delivery from a certain amount, so the buyer can win, as he will receive free delivery and the store, since they will be able to sell more goods . The volume of online trade is growing every year, this must be taken into account.

The pandemic accelerated the transition to online shopping by a few decades at least, and this is because people were very afraid of going out of their homes to make any purchase, while at the same time many small business were forced to close their doors, this benefited online giants like Amazon and once customers had a taste of ordering everything online and getting exactly what they wanted for a low price then it became impossible to stop this trend, and now brick and mortar stores are struggling to keep themselves in business.

Urgent needs could be, but if it's something that we need exactly that day, and if we need something that would be alright in the long run as well, like do not buy something just because you need it that day, it's urgent but it's also long term.

I like to buy things online not just because of the price but also because of the options. Whatever you want to buy, it's going to be something that will take some time to get to you, but at the same time you could compare 5-10+ companies and their products and if you really want to buy then you do that. This is why it's going to be quite important to handle something like that, and it will take some time for sure.

It has been over two years since the pandemic began, and restrictions on movement and communication have been lifted for 1 year before the post, so I don't consider the pandemic responsible for the non-visit of nearby grocery stores. Shopping online has provided people with conveniences that accommodate their busy schedules. Despite being almost the same price, it reduces stress with proper time management; however, most of these societies have a large population and should not eliminate shopping at nearby malls.

And I disagree, while the trend towards online shopping was already there the pandemic accelerated it, and this was possible due to the force of habit, habits can be beneficial or counterproductive, and when the pandemic started people had to adapt to a new reality in which going outside was full of restrictions, so they adapted and now even with the crisis being over now they spend more time indoors and online than in the past and they got used to shop in this way, and this explains the recent growth of online shopping.

I really feel bad now days when I use to visits to our local market they are not earning enough because people engage in online shopping. In my opinion with online shopping we must have to give importance to our local market as well, it creates employment for our own native people. If we don't support them then who will? I know some time online shopping is profitable for us but if we only support online shopping in this level then our local market can't survive and when we don't have any other option except online shopping then they will start taking advantage because too much is not always good.

I try to buy things that are available in the nearest stores in my area, if they are of the right quality. Even if it's a little more expensive, it's still more comfortable for me because I can try them on and see the quality. I almost always buy food near my house, I understand that it is important for them and it is also convenient for me, because I can always buy fresh products from a seller I know and I am sure that he will sell me only fresh products, and will tell if something is not worth buying today.

If I need something that these stores do not have, then of course I will buy it on the Internet. Before I read your post, I didn’t think about what and where to buy, it happened as if by itself, because it’s convenient.

You humbly think that's what it is but for those who are earninf profits or merchants but, did they think the same about it? Nowadays everything can be bought using online methods since it is all the option we could have for those countries who lacked those wants and needs, and although some of you who will criticize those decision due to various reasons, but it is up to the person to decide what he prioritize.

Shopping from the neighborhood could be a personal decision for anyone. Infact, the sellers don't even want your money sometimes because they have special customers or they work when they please or as their mood demands.
Well, I understand the need to grow the local economy around one, that's why I do most of my daily shopping around. It doesn't matter what I intend to buy, I try to get it around. I know I spend alot, it doesn't make sense carrying huge bags, unless what I went shopping for isn't sold in the area, or too expensive compared to someplace else I know, or it is of a higher quality/quantity, then I spend my money where I get a good return for it.
Paying merchants online should only be for items that are rare or not available in the area of residency.

I understand your point of view, on the side of the suppliers and local merchants to reduce the rate of bankruptcy, but you also have to understand that the bad economic situation affects everyone including the buyers.

Whenever the prices of goods and services start soaring higher and higher, it is beneficiary to the merchants and extremely terrible for the buyers. Customers are constantly looking for how to get quality goods at cheaper rates. So, since purchasing items from online stores seems to be the best option for most of them, they go for that best option.
Another thing is, critically thinking about, those local merchants didn't buy those goods from some local manufacturer. Most times, those goods are imported ( especially in my country ) and then sold and higher prices to earn a befitting profit.
At the end of the day, everyone is just doing what works best for their self-interest.

The presence of an online shop has indeed made a lot of changes, in terms of convenience, of course online shopping is a fun thing because we can easily choose products that have the best reputation at the online store, of course not all products can be purchased online and what I'm doing right now is more buying daily needs at shops around the house even though I know it is more expensive but interaction with people around is very meaningful.

Nowadays I've seen a lot of people choosing to buy in online stores rather than around their house. And many users suggest buying around their homes because it helps their economy.

I think we should be wiser in this regard. Like it or not, we cannot rule out that the world is currently moving towards digitalization. And on the other hand, we are humans who have morals and attitudes that show our harmony as humans. Included in helping our neighbors in their economy.

I personally include those who often do online transactions. But that's only for some items that can't be found around where I live. For groceries and retail materials, I prefer to go to my neighbor, even though it is a little more expensive. I think our economy will work if wealth is distributed evenly, not just in the hands of one big capitalist player.

Online shopping has made people's lives much easier. People now don't go out much for shopping. Through online people now get the opportunity to shop various products easily. The big advantage of online shopping is that you don't have to go out to buy products, if you order at home, the delivery man will come to your home and deliver the product within a certain time. Many shopkeepers have changed their business because of online shopping. Many businesses are now offering online shopping as well as in-store shopping. The business of the shopkeepers who have opened both offline and online facilities has not deteriorated much but the business of the traders who have not started the online service has been affected a lot. Neighbors are not selling as much in stores as they are shopping online. As times have changed now we cannot do away with online shopping even if we want to but those shopkeepers who have not started online buying and selling along with offline buying and selling should start online buying and selling.

When shopping online, we really need to pay attention to the reputation of the store so that when we buy goods, we do not receive goods that are not according to our wishes. I choose to do online shopping only for items that I can't get around my environment and if I can still get the items I want around me, then I prefer to buy them around me because the goods we see directly will certainly satisfy us more in shopping . I totally agree with you that interacting with the people around us really needs to be done.

Exactly mate and It is unfair when you go outside to buy exact thing a close door neighbor already sells and I think one of the best ways to encourage  and boost the economy is to at least patronize the close door neighbor to us because it will not just help the economy monetarily but also help in reducing crime.

On the other hand, ive seen the effort this online vendors channel to their  businesses and I wouldn't blame them if they're doing well because I think they deserve it after all their efforts.

Economic crisis are growing rapidly in the whole world. In our area, the prices of things are very high. Consumers buy from wholesaler because retailers over charge on products after getting their profits. The strategies of business people are very bad, they have no knowledge of finance, they get over profit. Some schemes are given by government but they say that, there is no scheme and this is a worse situation. If someone is  patriotic, he will take care of his country. People are running businesses, now matter how many people are engaging and how many people are reattached from this businesses. Wholesaler should avoid to buy things from any other marketplace. He should buy goods from manufacturer, it will be helpful to grow our city and our country. Inthis way, no bankrupcy will occur and country will be stronger economically. Economical crises happens due to lack of knowledge of finance, mismanagement of money and assets. If knowledge will  be to finance any business, there will be prosperity everywhere.

Online sales are now becoming even more difficult, because due to the crisis, the purchasing power of consumers is falling, and sellers have to think about how to fight for the consumer, sometimes this leads to dumping, but in any case this is bad for business. But now this applies not only to online trading, this trend is visible in many directions, these are difficult times for many and this will also contribute to the growth of unemployment.

I am very aware of this, because doing this can help improve the economy of small communities. And even though I am one of those people who has enough money to shop, I personally also have to try to save money and expenses in an increasingly difficult economy. And this talks about the difference in prices between small shops around and the prices given by online stores and supermarkets. The prices given by online shops and supermarkets tend to be cheaper than the prices given by shops in my neighborhood.

So with rational thinking, I prefer to shop at online stores and supermarkets, because I also have to save money and expenses.

Until now, your words or suggestions in your post have helped me to think wiser. In the past, I sometimes often shopped online and ignored several traders around me who charged higher prices than online shops. But now I personally shop more often at local traders who are close to me. Well, this actually also helps their economy. And if the economy of the people around us improves. Then we will also feel the good impact in the same environment. But now traders around me have also started trading in a modern way. Namely by opening an online ordering service. And it can be delivered to my place of work. So this also helps me to stay focused on work without having to leave the office. or leave the house.

It sounds great, but if they sell lower quality products or are more expensive than online stores, will you still buy from them? We want good things for them, but are you sure that they also want good things for us, and are you altruistic enough to help them even if they just want to take advantage of you? We even compete and compare with everyone in our family, so don't try to be a good person in society.

For me, I will buy from a store that sells honest products, reasonable prices and that is the principle in business. If they can't do that then they shouldn't stay in business.

If you think about it mathematically, online stores have a much cheaper price offer compared to the shop or small shop in your environment, it is not a problem actually because it returns to you as a person who wants to shop at a low cost, but if it is at See from the price comparison of only $ 1 or lower than that why you don't buy goods around your environment.

Speaking of quality is relative, precisely by looking at the goods directly we will be able to judge the quality, if you get the same item at a slightly different price, it will not be a problem right?, Grateful if the store in your environment has services that can be delivered To the house in other words it is not much different from you when buying at an online store.

We also need to see the price differences in the two stores, if the price difference is too far then don't take it because it will also charge you yourself, but if only a small count the price difference, is better to buy goods in the store in your environment, therefore It would be very useful to build your regional economic circulation, sir.

Due to the lack of proper knowledge of the people economic recession is more common. Economic situation economic recession price inflation supply disruption energy crisis risk of disaster in banks and financial institutions which requires identification inventing remedies initiatives and measures to solve the problem. Recently there has been a growing distrust of informal economic activities in less developed countries. Stock markets often crash in such countries due to corruption, mismanagement and incompetence ordinary investors face huge financial losses, and a well structured and systematic financial system like the stock market is in dire straits. Failure to identify the culprits, bring them to justice and mitigate the losses to the affected people not only leads to deterioration of market indices but also leads to devaluation and large sums of money are lost from the market.

You made a good point here. What if the merchants around my area sell lower quality products and sell them at a higher price? Moreover, there is also the issue of quality and customer service, I mean what if I feel a lot more satisfied buying from online sellers rather than the ones who are around my area? Despite wanting to help these people around my area, I of course don't want to feel like I wasted hard earned money buying something that is low quality.

I agree with you because if I don't buy something from our permanent store then they will be financially deprived and as a result their family will not be doing well.We will also feel very bad seeing these so in my opinion we need to focus on the online market as well as the permanent market.Because they are our local people, we have a responsibility towards them.Finally, I would like to say that we should not buy the things that we get in the local market from online.

If I only shop in small quantities. So I would prefer to shop at the nearest shop because I also think about the postage that I have to pay to the courier and likewise if I buy something at a shop that is further away, even though it is cheap, I also have to think about the costs that I bear to go shopping.

However, if I shop in large quantities then I will look for the cheapest thing to buy. And here I am not only talking about the prices given, but also the completeness of the shop, comfort and service provided.

In other words you do not shop at the nearest store because you say it "far" that you must pay the fee to go to the place of the store.

I do not want to intervene too far, because this is optional and sebujentif according to their respective needs, and this is just a suggestion from my personal, whether you buy a lot of different items, or have store criteria with those that have complex items according to the needs you want You buy, I don't think it has to force yourself to do it.
If you can't do it, at least, occasionally you shop at the nearest store, which without the cost to go to the place of the store that sells your needs, does not have to be in large quantities, it is also a small initiative for the economic development of your environment.

Most time this is mostly caused by the over priced goods that is mostly sold by the store owners but it's obvious that it's not there fault entirely because they would have to pay for shop rent, pay workers, security, electricity bills, and tax too.

 This cause of business can be very expensive to manage and if there is no enough fund to boost the business, bankruptcy might be what will make the owners to look for a better investment than spending too much when there is no customers to patronize there business. Online business is one which we have to make sure that we fix ourselves into because there is nothing like paying for shop rent and making other expenses that can cut the profits made after substraction of expenses.

I have considered this but when I think about it critical what comes to mind is that these local merchants have to find  a way to get themselves online. The advantage here is that they will eventually be able to service more people outside of their locality which would increase their revenue streams for them to be able to stay in business.

What we should know is that the world we are living in has made many people lazy. They'll prefer to stay indoors and order everything online. It's not intentional that they don't want to buy from the local shop it's just what technology has turned it out to be.

Of course, product quality is what must be prioritized. So if the quality of the products sold by traders around me is not good then of course I would prefer not to shop at that trader. The price difference is also something to pay attention to. Because we definitely don't want to be more wasteful just because we want to help other people. Of course we also have to think about mutual interests and benefits.

But the traders around me are also smart people. Well they adjust the price to the market. The point is that the goods they offer are not higher than the market price. So the price and quality are not much different from those in online shops.

I also had some experiences that were quite unpleasant for me regarding online shops. That is, when I buy electronic goods and it turns out the quality does not match what is in the description of the goods in the online shop. I don't like making bad reviews. But I am a little warning about the online shop. And told them that they could lose customers if they lied about the item description.

The point is that at least shopping in physical stores can make us ensure the quality of goods before we buy.

But for now I shop 50:50 between online and offline. And yes, the point is that I buy based on things that can benefit both parties and especially myself as a customer.

People become lazy because they are not addicted to online business so by this opportunity they easily order everything by setting at home but one disadvantage of online opportunities is that those poor people who stays for 12 hours in order to purchase their items went home empty handed.

Online shopping have made the life of wealthy people helpful because they can acquire all the daily and necessary items from anywhere they wants but those of the merchants buying items at our locality has little income because they have not much money to set their business as an online source.

Preference of merchants in our localities should be made because we can examine them physically whereas we cannot trust online business as some of them shows one thing but send another.

The effects of the war in Ukraine and Russia effect every country in the world. Due to this, the prices of daily commodities are now much higher than usual. As a result, various kinds of sufferings have been created in public life. Not only that, some people's business has also been greatly affected. The country's government has nothing to do. So it is important to figure out how we can survive by accepting it.

There are many small business people around us who are not able to run their business due to inflation. Many have already gone bankrupt. We must help those small businessmen. They should be extended a hand of help even from point of humanity.

It's a case-to-case basis, I think that there will be offers through online shopping that will help you to save more money like up to 70% or even 70% or more. Some may have a catch but there can also be no catch at all. Most of the people that I know buys their needs on a weekly basis and it's true that if there's a merchant near you, much better to go there if the price is good enough and competitive than the others that you like more but farther which will consume you more time, effort and money. This is like one of the sad times that it's like every week there's a news about another increase for the price of goods.

I have another conclusion from the excessive online shopping behavior of people in my environment. The marketplace platform has a clever trick to let their user "own" more money for shopping with its flagship feature "pay later", which is difficult to offer in physical stores. Of course it has a limit as a trial before the system increases the limit periodically if the user always pays on time. This is very effective in encouraging consumer behavior.

Absolutely, as someone with relatively stable finances, it's important to be generous towards those with less economic means.

Small sellers are seeking to make a living, often dealing with more challenges than we are. Meanwhile, larger sellers are looking to make additional income, as I believe their profits have already accumulated over time.

Even if we possess greater trading skills, offering advice and guidance to small traders on how to improve their trading methods can be beneficial. We can share knowledge and assistance to help them develop their businesses and provide for their families.

While this is true, I have noticed that there are still a few small sellers that sell their products at a higher price and lower quality compared to the big ones that I usually buy my things from. I really want to help these local sellers around me as I know they need the support and it would also help the community to support each other like that, but seeing as I only just have a strictly allocated budget for the products I purchase it has become such a dilemma for me as I am forced to still buy from big sellers since they fit my budget more and their products meet my standard. Moreover, I find it awkward and difficult to give advice to those smaller local sellers as they feel offended by such a gesture from me. Sometimes, even though we want to help, there are factors that prevent us from doing so.

I personally also feel this way, namely that I feel I can save more by shopping through online shops. Because the goods offered are sometimes much cheaper than the prices of goods offered by traders near my place of work. It's just that it was some time ago. Because now traders in my area are also creating their own online shop accounts. And yes, the prices offered are not much different from other online stores. So buying from a trader near our house doesn't mean we have to come to a physical shop. Because in reality the shops near my place of work also provide online services. Orders can even be delivered directly to our home or workplace.

Price increases have not stopped at this time. And just yesterday I was surprised by the increase in wheat prices in this area. In fact, the increase is quite high. I even thought about it when the trader said the price.

It's the effect of technological advancement which is why every business needs to innovate if they want to stay competitive. The pandemic also created a trend where many people prefer the easiest way like avoiding heading to crowded places like markets and grocery stores. Since the pandemic, I myself learned to adapt to paying all my bills online instead of heading to credited stores that can earn small fees. I also learned to do online shopping for my regular stuff. The only time I need to buy and leave home personally are rice, meat, fish, vegetables, and fruits.

I agree with you on this, about the buy now pay later feature that they offer. Of course for some users it is a convenience that they take advantage of even though they still have to pay at the end.
But on the other hand, this also creates problems if users are not good at managing their finances, then this feature will create difficulties for them. Yes, I have several neighbors who end up having difficulty paying bills from this pay later feature, he cannot manage his purchases that use pay later, so at the end of the month the bill becomes bloated due to using it too often without good control.

Play later must be used very wisely, this is indeed a very interesting feature if used wisely. However, if we use it carelessly, on the contrary, without us realizing it, we will enter a vicious circle. Because in my opinion this is a problem of debts and receivables, only now the language is getting cooler, first debt, credit, installments, now pay later. It is not impossible that the aim of the online shop platform is to target lower class people in rural areas, so that they are in debt and taught to be consumptive. My advice, if you can pay in cash, avoid debt. If you can't afford it, just postpone it.

Large online marketplaces typically collaborate with fintech companies to introduce the "pay later" feature. The party usually assuming the debt is the fintech provider, not the marketplace operator.

If small retailers in our area could embrace more advanced technologies, such as cashless payments, I believe access to pay-later options would become readily available as well. Store owners would receive full payments, while the partnering fintech entity would handle the consumer's debt.

Alternatively, I could offer some suggestions to small shop owners in our area to align with the prevalent convenience culture. For instance, offering fast doorstep delivery options could be another mutually beneficial alternative. Through such a mechanism, small shop owners would receive immediate full payment and could utilize the funds to replenish their stock.

Just a hype from people's online shopping behavior as @rat03gopoh said and I agree with your statement above, looking at the style of people used to shop, those who could afford it and made sense spent and were wiser in making choices. Indeed, nowadays there are many varieties and all are available according to the level of need... Yes. It's best to avoid debt and that's better and doesn't add to the burden on we mind later.

There can be some limitation on those offers but anyone is free to experiment and check it out if it's more helpful to shop online and they'll save more money instead of going with the nearest trader or merchant in their local area.

If they're doing that then that's much better because you're helping them and at the same time, you're getting services that's near you and soon who knows if they'll give discounts or slash to their margin to their known loyal customers.

In business, the customer is king, stores will know what to do and what strategy to best attract and retain customers. For me as a customer, I will only buy stores that benefit me, I cannot ignore my interests just to support a few stores around me. I want to do that too, but if they take advantage of our kindness for personal gain, is it worth helping them? No one wants to buy expensive, poor quality products, even from their relatives.

Pay features later on online shopping behavior can be a trap or become a solution, because this depends on its use, this kind of thing can have the interpretation of two sides, namely positively or negatively, but indeed with the "Pay later" feature especially in the old date In general, those who work "have not gotten a salary" This feature is very useful to support a temporary need. While indeed for real/traditional shop businesses it is very difficult for them to match features like this, there are some traditional shops that do things like this "may owe" but for them this is quite difficult because they do not have any compensation when their customers do not pay debt at a precise time.

I agree that it is better not to use the "Pay later" feature if the goods purchased are not so needed.

In any shop, the customer must be considered king because in general it is the shop owner who needs the customer, not the other way around. So shop owners are obliged to look after their customers and continue to provide super comfortable service so that their customers don't run away to other places. Apart from that, the shop must also show an attitude that can be liked by everyone so that its customers can continue to grow and cover as closely as possible matters of personal interest that can be read by everyone when they come to buy at the shop.

This is needed so that customers do not become suspicious of the interests of the shop owner, even though there is a hidden interest in continuing to attract customers so that he has more sales in his shop. But if the products sold in the shop do not have the quality we want, I also agree to stay away from the shop even though the owner is our own relative.

We live in a time when technological answers and money go hand in hand. The fact that the fintech company takes on the debt is interesting because it shows how well they and the market work together.

Moving on, there is a lot of promise for small retailers. If they switch to ways that don't require cash, they are basically throwing open the doors to modern conveniences like "pay later". What's the instant benefit? Keeping the retailer's cash flow steady and putting the follow-up on the banking company. Isn't there a slight change in the balance of power here?

Your advice that local shop owners adapt to the culture of convenience, especially when it comes to fast delivery, is important. It's business efficiency: immediate payment and quick stock movement. Still, isn't it strange? Even the idea of looking for new ways to pay in the future is based on trust and cooperate

Yeah Sure, Have to save our environment

Your approach to support merchants and businesses in your local community is admirable, because it promotes the growth of local manufacturing industries. However, it is important to recognize that many nations are members of World trade organization (WTO), which obliges all members to allow free and unrestricted movement of goods among themselves. Therefore, it becomes important for local industries to manufacture products that are both competitive in terms of quality and price on the global market.

In the midst of the uncertain world economic situation, many countries are taking various steps to ensure that the economy in their country does not cause serious chaos. I agree with you that we prefer to sell domestic goods, such as spending on basic necessities at local traders. If people's awareness grows to do things like that, it will be very good for money circulation in the area itself.

At the global level, economic competition is very tight, developed countries are competing to create quality goods at affordable prices for the public. On the one hand, activities like this are good, but they are very risky for developing countries which find it difficult to compete with the technology possessed by developed countries.

Therefore, I hope that local producers will be able to create higher quality products that can be reached by local customers so that the domestic economy will be more vibrant and of course government support will be highly expected in certain conditions.

Producing good quality and prices in producing goods is very necessary in order to attract more consumers to buy the goods we produce and if we have produced good production and good quality, of course consumers will choose the goods we have produced. To save the economic cycle of the surrounding environment, I think there is a need for training for business people to be able to make good quality goods so that those in the environment choose to buy them from other places because the goods produced in their environment are not of good quality.

I don't think it's like that, sir, even if the WTO gives freedom to every industry, it is allowed to carry out marketing wherever it wants, but this is the prerogative of returning to the country that is the market, and usually each country has its own trade rules in this policy.

For example, marketing goods to China has complicated requirements and lots of documents that need to be fulfilled to make them eligible for trading in China.
Meanwhile in other countries there are not too many requirements in trade agreements.

Your conversation is very interesting, but what the OP means is not that, he is more focused on shopping at the shop around your house rather than using the online shop to make purchases for your needs, sir.

Going to your local produce has always been the best choice for me. Not only are they cheaper, you can also guarantee that they are fresh and straight from the farm/fisheries. I live near a coastal area, as well as a piggery so when I look for meat I don't go any farther. To some especially those that live in tight urban cities this may be a massive ordeal especially since most of these places are monopolized by large groceries and supermarkets, but if you're willing to take that 30 min. walk which you can also portray as your exercise for the day, you're getting the epic guarantee that not only are you getting fresh, cheap, and healthy produce, you're also making sure that you're fit and healthy on the way there.

There's a saying in my country: "Where there's a will, there's a way". In times when resourcefulness is necessitated, we gotta keep our brains fired up else we're risking losing those important few cents you know.

The input given by the OP is correct and it can be said that the OP's input is very sympathetic. Because nowadays there are quite a lot of people who don't really care about the people around them. Moreover, to help advance home businesses or grocery stores near where they live. In my opinion, this is very rare, especially in the area where I live. In fact, what is happening is not helping each other, but rather the opposite, namely mutual envy. So with this, the people around me tend to be individuals.

Therefore, people around me (in particular) prefer to shop for daily necessities in online stores or shopping centers around urban areas. Because apart from the things above, there are several other reasons that make people prefer to shop online.
Caused because
• Incomplete supply of goods or food ingredients
• Prices tend to be more expensive compared to online stores
• The quality of the goods or their hygiene is very poor. Because from my personal experience, I often find food ingredients that have expired, but are still being sold.

Maybe these are the factors that make me and the people around me prefer shopping online or shopping at large shopping centers rather than at local shops. But after I saw the post and suggestions from the OP, maybe I will shop more often at the stalls around my house. Because basically life is not just about ego, but having a sense of sympathy and humanity is also very important.

Now this is different, I've been talking about other products aside from produce when I initially replied to OP but I agree with you regarding produce. It is always best to go local as they are cheaper and they are also mostly fresh (this still depends on the kind of market and vendor you go to). Moreover, it is a good way to support your local farmers and fishermen, most of all the country's local agriculture. I especially feel this for my country as agriculture is the main source of living here, at least outside the greater capital/city. Essentially, if we are talking about produce then I have no doubt going for my local vendors for sure.

Price and quality really matters alot because if there is something which is less in price but quality is not good then people will not buy that. Sometimes higher price also attracts costumers because i have saw many costumers who just move towards those shops in which the price touch the sky.

Quality is preferred more but less price can attract poor people and those of wealthy people always think about quality but for them price price is not a major concern.

The words of sellers also have the power to attract the costumers in a case of physical shopping as we know that costumers will be more in those shopping site the seller of which has sweet tongue.

A call to humanity in a world where even our connections are commodified. I find it naive that you think we can turn back time and help local businesses when, let's be honest, they're fighting a losing war against online giants. Your experience with food that has gone bad and more expensive items? That's the rate at which small businesses fail yelling at you. It's harsh, but that's how business works

I'd like to try something different. Why not tell these small shops to step up their game? It goes both ways, doesn't it? Before I take my money away from easy-to-use online giants, these neighborhood vendors better have something special to offer. And before you use words like "sympathy" and "humanity," please ask yourself: When was the last time you worked hard to make your local businesses better?

A hot topic in my country right now is the allure of online businesses, particularly those selling on marketplaces, due to the availability of discounts and free shipping. Many stalls and stores in my vicinity indeed struggle to sell their products daily, as a substantial number of people prefer online shopping.

In my view, it all comes down to their mindset, where they need to harness the potential of online product sales features to expand their product offerings further. Uploading product photos and setting price tags might broaden the audience they can reach.

As for some stalls dealing with products that may not be suitable for online sales, such as vegetables, fruits, eggs, and the like, I believe they aren't losing their market. I don't reside in the city center, and neighborhood convenience stores still serve as the primary destination for purchasing essential foodstuffs.

Necessary items that can be obtained from our neighbors should never be purchased online or from a distance. A good relationship will develop between you and your neighbor when you purchase any necessary item from your neighbor. If we buy the things we need from other places instead of from our neighbours, then the business will never be successful. Suppose your neighbor has a grocery store, but instead of buying any product from your neighbor, you buy your necessary products online, then it will be seen that your neighbor grocery store goes bankrupt after a few days and he is giving up his business. So buy goods from neighbors and make them economically viable.

I believe this is due to inflation. but apart from that, the management is also to blame for this because even though inflation, financial management, capital and the supply of goods must really be at the right calculations, if you miss this, it is possible for the retail store to go bankrupt. Apart from that, maybe they can't adapt to the current market.

Possible reason is due to pandemic they can even sustain their business because of the lack of customer or they cant compete with other product sellers, there are a lot of possible ways reason why they bankrupt their business, another thing is the economy right now are in the post-pandemic most of the business backs again with their starting point and I guess with the use of online shopping there's no wrong with here still the user are buying the things they need that contributes to the market, reason why they are doing this is because the convenient they can easily manage to buy all the things they need without hassle and just wait to deliver unlike seeking it through different stores. It is part of the economy that people who cant adopt will be left behide.

That's what I want to say, I have no reason to support the stores around me if they disdain customers, sell expensive products compared to the outside, and expect to receive support from the familiar. Many people who are trying to be noble will buy goods at the surrounding stores, but I seriously doubt that they would still buy them if those stores were more expensive and of poorer quality.

In business, we should sell what customers need, not what we have, customers need service attitude, quality products and competitive prices. Business people should know that, we should not expect people to support us when we do not have business ethics.

I see today the retail store is getting quiet, so there may be influence from inflation, but I think more focused on consumer behavior, maybe the conversation will expand because it will involve primary and secondary needs which today are available in online stores and e-commerce monopolizes the whole This market is by offering a cheaper price offer, this fund is what makes MSMEs, traditional markets or shops bankrupt.
I don't know who to blame, but indeed this is the impact of Pandemi that results in market magnification and shopping centers, new generation consumers prefer simple shopping behavior, and if I pay attention to old players who use stores are those who are outdated or can be said that They are disrupted by new players who understand digitalization.

I concluded this after going several times to traditional markets and shops around my environment and discussing them.

You know, it's rather perplexing why some threads here point fingers at inflation. In reality, if we can channel our creativity into generating more income daily, we can easily offset the losses caused by inflation. For regular folks like myself, inflation tends to have a greater impact on financial aspects that don't fluctuate as much, such as investments. The truth is, we simply need to put in a tad more effort to cover the value eroded by inflation.

I'm not attempting to condone inflation, but it's worth considering that we can each seek our own solutions to address it. Avoiding it may be prudent, but taking on the challenge and conquering it can be more rewarding and fulfilling.

You have a point, the only thing is I don't normally buy things in my country, because they are too costly, imagine seeing something on Amazon for 10$ and in your country it's 3x of the price, that is way too much, some people are using the advantage that many can't buy from outside country to sell goods in their own country, if they are been mercy with their own citizens they will have more customers.

The problem with such people is they want to make a bigger amount of money from a single product, I remember buying an RTX 3070 ti graphic cards for 1000$ in my country while its 700$ online, it's just ridiculous, now I don't want to buy anything within the country except food items. 

I understand what OP is trying to say, but I do wish there is a way I can pass a message to sellers in my country too, if the profits they plan to make from an item is twice as the item itself then they will lose customers.

When I usually go to the market I tend to buy from those people that are selling their vegetables beside the road because that is more fresh and cheap than in the market that has stalls because those people are really in need of money and at the same time you are sure that it is fresh and cheap.

If you have spare land or even a backyard it is best to plant your own crops just to save money. If not you can go to the local market and it is better to buy from those individuals that have no stalls because they are the cheapest and also fresh.

Yes I know what you mean, you are doing a good thing, besides it is cheap and you believe that the vegetables look very fresh and also far from harmful fresheners then go ahead, there is no prohibition whatsoever. By doing that you are indirectly paying more attention to people who have businesses but are not too big or maybe they are just small traders who use the roadside places to make a living and there you have helped them by always coming to buy their wares, that's a good action my friend you have helped them and if there really is no problem with the vegetables you consume then continue.

And yes you gave good advice, because indeed in the midst of economic difficulties or economic decline now we inevitably have to do something that can sustain our lives in order to continue, by utilizing some empty land around the house and then planting some vegetables for consumption is a very good alternative to save costs. By farming yourself, it will save more on your needs, especially in terms of food. So the point is that in the midst of a bad economy, we must think hard and smart to find solutions to the problems of living needs.

I think for those who don't have a problem with price, they certainly don't have problems with their finances, so if they want to buy something, of course they buy something that is expensive because if the price of an item is high, the quality is certainly good too. For every quality product, the price will of course be more expensive than for a low quality item, this is because the production process is different. It is true that in every shopping place sellers who are friendly with their customers make more sales than sellers who are less friendly with their customers, but there are also shopping places where the sellers are not friendly but their merchandise sells because there is no other place that sells goods like what they sell.

I also experienced the same thing, buying something from a local seller only to find the same products being sold by an international seller for a cheaper price (and we're not talking about 10-20$ less, we're talking half the price) and ever since then I first look at international sellers before local ones especially when I already have an idea of how expensive that product can be. As much as I want to help local sellers there are just some instances when the price different is ridiculous and I am not a millionaire who can't just turn a blind eye to that. I'm sure a lot of people understands and relates to that, I wanna help but I firstly need to consider my own financial situation.

You also have to explain who hasn't been able to adapt to the current market, because I don't think that happens to people who have been very experienced in the market for a long time. Because this is only possible for those who are still very new to the market so they still need adaptation, but for shop owners and traders who operate as retailers, they must already be very used to current market conditions. And even they always have quite mature calculations when they are in the market.

Not only inflation, yeah that might also one of the factor, but the more significant one is the disruption of the online marketplaces. Aside from a food product and other product that can be produced locally, online marketplace definitely is more interesting for buyers. Big company that produce the product can sell directly on that marketplace, if we compared to the local shop who buys the product from distributor, the price on online marketplace for certain product is much cheaper.

As someone who lives in a big city, I live the worst version of this for sure. I do not have any land to plant anything because I live in a small apartment, it's less than 1000 square feet where I live, and there is no land here, I on the third floor.

On top of that, there are no people who sell stuff at the side of the road here, I have to buy everything at the market, which takes it from those farmers by paying very cheap amount, and not only that but they also charge a lot for us, all because they took the crop from the farmer and moved it here, and say that the driver and the truck and the gas to bring that food cost this much, which we all know didn't. So I earn less, and spend a lot more because of this and have no way out.

That's true, but price competition makes consumers prefer to shop online, causing the local economy or local shops to continue to experience a decline in buyers. I also feel that where I live now, but again, everyone wants to buy in a place that is cheap and easy. and online purchases now make everything easier, making the surrounding economy worse because the circulation of money around is getting smaller.
I think this solution must be implemented by sellers who want to compete on price so that things like this don't happen again.

All of this comes back to price competition and when traders are not ready for that, there is a high possibility that they will go bankrupt.
I think here there is no role for anyone except the trader himself who can understand and comprehend the market situation.

Nowadays, every trader or businessman can no longer play with prices like before the emergence of online media such as online shops and the like. So price competition is currently very tight. And yes, traders who are able to compete on price are the traders who will survive. Currently, to become a successful trader, we even have to have the courage to charge cheaper prices than other traders. Even a small difference will be enough to attract consumer attention towards us. There is no need to make a sharp price difference. But yeah, make the price difference a little cheaper while still maintaining the quality that we offer. If we make a price difference that is too large, it will also be detrimental to ourselves.

I agree with you. The competition in the market skyrocketed due to the sudden boom of online shopping, especially amidst and after the COVID-19 lockdown. A big percentage of consumers started to be reliant on online merchants for their needs, not only does it provide a convinient door-to-door shipping service, online shopping also (for most of the time) posts lower product price compared to brick and mortar merchants.

To be honest, it was quite sad, my thoughts at that time were very concerned about the state of the shops that were very crowded and then became very quiet and by forced the shop owner to close his business because of losing consumers.
Only the culinary and vegetable business that I notice to this day can still survive, although there is indeed an online shop but it is not very influential, because usually people buy food in the closest place, and I also pay attention to culinary MSMEs and vegetables also already have services Order delivery via mobile apps.

But for shops such as home furniture and personal needs such as clothing, skincare, etc. consumers have chosen to use online stores.

Because they are unable to compete on price with others, there is no other choice for them but to close it if we can adapt to the current situation where shops that used to sell their goods in the market also sell them online so they can survive to this day. I think what makes the culinary or vegetable business survive is because consumers prefer to shop directly for food and vegetables directly from traders because if they order online they can't see the goods they are going to buy directly because these types of goods cannot last long so the consumers more satisfied to shop directly from the merchant.

Yes, you are right, the type of goods you mentioned is that many people prefer to buy them online, perhaps the goods they are looking for can't be found near where they live or the goods they are looking for are more expensive.

The problem is stores nearer to us are more likely to exploit you thinking you are paying for convenience, but we the customers know dame too well that buying items online usually means getting good deals that you can not pass and if this means saving a buck then online it is!!!

As of the economic cycle, don't you think every product has its life span , and seeing a decline in demand is normal as it could be a seasonal product or died a natural death as it becomes obsolete as a result of new products.

your job is great and instead of selecting fresh vegetables and fruits you are also helping them in selling of their fruits because most of the people prefer only those food which are present in shops.

I think we should help those people who are poor and they put stalls to earn money for their children. In market fruits and vegetables are so expensive that a person belongs to middle class family cannot buy it so if we focus on the seller who Put stalls so it will be beneficial for us to buy in affordable worth and will also be profitable for sellers.

Management of your own land to grow fruits and vegetables is completely advantageous but now a days people are so busy in their jobs that they have no time for gardening and agriculture.

Not just exploitations from this stores nearby but nowadays retail vendors have this mentality of offering their goods as services. What I mean is the threat their businesses as official place of duty sometimes giving out this impression that they are entitled to the buyers money and the buyer don't have a choice but to accept what ever goods they have not minding if the buyer is satisfied or not.

I don't think the economic cycle have much to do with the life span of the product but rather the hike in price of this products. When the price becomes extremely unaffordable people will most likely look for alternatives or the might be forced to reduce their level of demand.

Consumers never disappear and in fact consumers always increase, it's just that the number of competitors is increasing day by day. And you need to know that there is not just one clontong shop but many, so in maintaining a business like this you must always innovate to differentiate your shop from other shops. And what must be prioritized in a business like this is the service provided.


Wet food and vegetables are very risky if you have to sell them online because food like this rots quickly and when customers want to buy food they always want new and still warm ones and the same goes for vegetables, customers always want to choose vegetables that are still fresh, so they have to go directly. come to traditional markets or supermarkets.

Meanwhile, for the items you mentioned, most people choose to buy them online for reasons of time efficiency and practicality.

If we try and resolve, we can certainly help the various businessmen around us to develop their own businesses. We don't need to help them with financial transactions, just by buying and selling products we will be able to take their businesses to a better position. Every one of us has to buy necessary things on the way. If we buy those things from our neighbors, but easily they can earn money by selling products to us and with that earned money, they can improve their business. But when we our neighbors. I will not buy any product from him but slowly he will be weak in business and one time it will be seen that he is closing his business due to lack of customers. So if we try our best and buy the necessary products from our neighbours' shops then surely they will fare well in these difficult times.

Yes, it's true, sometimes the price difference is also one of our considerations to decide which store to shop at, whether it's nearby or far away. The reason is quite simple, in the midst of our difficulties in making money also makes us think of shopping as economically as possible.

Talking about shopping online, now I also see something that is more difficult for online stores that are pioneering from scratch, yes in terms of competitors. In my country, many artists, influencers or more famous people are starting to enter the world of online stores, of course, the arrival of more famous competitors will bring some people to shop at their stores, because some people think they are more trusted, and usually they also dare to slash prices.

Apart from talking about the price offered by a shop which is a consideration for us shopping there, there are other factors that can influence customers so that they (customers) can shop at a particular shop. Namely "service & comfort, where buyers always pay attention to this. So don't be surprised if customers prefer to shop at supermarkets compared to buying something at the market or at the nearest shop. And even though supermarkets provide relatively high prices compared to shops or markets, they will However, supermarkets have the advantage of friendly and excellent service. And apart from that, supermarkets always pay attention to the comfort of their customers, so even though the prices given are relatively high, supermarkets are never empty of visitors.

Price is really important, especially with the current difficult economic situation. But I also won't buy from a cheap store that has a bad service attitude or looks down on customers. I am willing to spend more money to get satisfaction every time I go to the market or shop.

Indeed, customer service and service attitude are sometimes more important than the price of the products we sell. I remember in business there is a saying "we sell what customers need, not what we have", and what any customer needs is kindness and a sales attitude.

yep that's right. But I don't know what the condition of traders in other areas is. It's just that in the area where I work now, everyone is becoming more aware of technology and progress. So traders adopting the internet by opening online stores have become quite common. Although there are still some who have not adopted the online trading system. Well, we can shop more practically and also help the traders near us.

And actually having a physical store combined with an online store will increase the turnover obtained. Because the store's reach has also become wider. Even fast food traders such as processed snacks which are usually served as snacks, currently the majority here use a delivery system and order via applications and social media. Such as traders of cilok, chicken noodles, meatballs and so on.

Service and comfort are important factors for a shop, it really determines whether customers will continue to come there or not. I am one of those people who sees that, when the service is very bad then I will not go back there, unless it is the only shop that has the items I want to buy. certainly will be disturbed when the service is very far from satisfying. And supermarkets do have that service that we need, even though it's like shopping a little bit, but they will still be with their friendly service. It must be different, because they also have SOPs.

If we are interested in venturing into this business world, then we must prioritize this. Because indirectly things like this are factors where the business we run can be more developed or not. Even large companies do not hesitate to pour a lot of money for employee training in order to become an attraction for consumers.

Since the time of Corona pandemic, people have turned to online shopping and it is still going on.  Most people now prefer to shop online.  But there are some special reasons for this.  Online shopping saves our time. Saves travel expenses.  People are now vulnerable to online because of various benefits.  But it is precisely people's over-attention to the virtual world that has become a cause of great loss to our retail traders.  There are many business people who are not aware about the online thing. They are more victims of it.  We should all think about it and buy from these helpless traders.  Again I will say that all people should keep pace with the times. Since now the customer demand is online based so the businessmen should know about online and do business in pace with the times.

Apart from the increasingly strong price competition as you have stated, in the end it is the strong who survive. But there are other things that must be prioritized in the business we run. In my opinion, apart from having to be able to compete on price, we also have to focus on value and communication which must be equally strong and prioritized, otherwise the price will remain fixed.

In my opinion, because in many cases in the field, for marketing, the communication is more exaggerated than the value of the goods, so people actually buy it but don't return it because they think the product communication is too excessive and instead of making a profit they actually make a loss, which is very bad for the future. the business we run.

It is true that communication in marketing is sometimes another important thing that must also be paid attention to. Because I personally sometimes become interested in a product as a result of seeing the way a product is promoted with communication that is very good and easy to understand.

Through communication with customers, we can create better relationships with customers. Like making customers comfortable with our service. And we also shouldn't overestimate our products. It's better to say it as it is, but we have to include the uses of our product that will be very useful for customers.

So that our communication with customers and potential customers runs well. So we must pay attention to several principles in communication such as:

✓ Try to understand the audience / customers / potential customers. Like what kind of audience we are talking to. So that it is easier for us to understand the needs of the audience.
✓ Speak clearly and must be easy for the audience or customers to understand.
✓ Insert a story that can build emotion between us and customers. So that they are comfortable and feel like they have a special relationship with us. Which makes them more interested in becoming regular customers for our business.
✓ Use good ethics in delivery.
✓ Provide any solutions we can offer through the business we have to overcome the problems faced by customers.
✓ Re-evaluate every time we communicate with customers. Because we have to know whether the way we communicate is effective or not. And we need to readjust if we still feel that the way we communicate is not producing good results.
 ✓ And many other principles that are actually generally known.

When countries like Sri Lanka have gone bankrupt, my country (Bangladesh) is currently in a chaotic stage of economic uncertainty, food shortages and economic disaster have arisen due to the daily increase in the prices of essential commodities.  Even almost worldwide, economic problems have become a major factor in many countries.  The government is now failing to maintain economic balance.  It has become very difficult for those who run grocery stores with little capital, because it is not possible to compete with the big stores on price, also supermarkets now offer various discounts for promotions, due to which the situation of small stores is getting worse day by day.

Many countries that have been dealt with economic problems and most of them are having hard time to recover.
Food security problems, inflation, financial crisis and all sort of those problems that are making a lot of noise to their citizens that causes them to rally.
It's not an easy problem that can be gone with just a day or weeks or even months for them to push the government to solve it.

It's true, it's not magic that can easily be solved no matter how powerful and persistent the government can be. Various factors needs to be considered and dealt with, following the capacity and capabilities of the various sector of the government that answers to these problems. Hence, it does take years for plans and projects to counter these issues to even make any progress. While the general public may think that the government isn't doing anything, truth is, most of the time, they are just working in the background and by the time the public is looped in on the actions being taken a lot of steps and decisions were already done.

It is indeed very difficult to recover from the economic situation if the government does not think about the fate of its people. It is important for the government to be able to maintain stable prices of goods so that everyone can afford to buy them and also provide jobs for the community and if this cannot be overcome there will be a lot of commotion. You are right that this cannot be resolved easily the government must really resolve it so that people can easily meet their needs.

Currently we are in a society that is busy with online shopping, they don't realize that by shopping online, they make it difficult for offline traders to survive, but that's natural selection, when you can't keep up with the changing times then don't be sad if you miss out.  i almost never buy things online, i prefer to buy the things i need or want from offline sellers ^{(my reason is simple, i don't trust things sold online)} i know they have a little difficulty generating buyers at the moment, however they need buyers to survive.

  We are currently in the world where literally everything is going digital, you can’t start judging those that choose not to go through the stress of going to the market for using the online market instead. Some would even rather prefer to have everything even the least thing as toilet paper delivered to their doorstep. You can’t blame them it’s their preferred choice of course, no matter how many people want to use the online market, the offline market will still sell cause not every one can go about buying things online. There’s is always a balance to everything in life, I stand to be corrected if getting scammed is to be subjected to just online marketplace, you can get scam literally anywhere regardless of which you’re using.
  Personally I prefer  to do my shopping online, that will ease me the stress of going out, we are currently transiting into the digital world, where you can get literally get anything online and from any part of the world  with just one click from your device. We still have some who are old fashioned which is still very much okay, not everyone can go with the speed of change, some adapt slowly which is still not bad. Everyone has their method which suits them, and should have the right of choice as well. 

The rate at which many businesses is going digital is quite amazing and there is nothing we can do to halt that. Very soon only ok me companies would be the obes that will be making huge profits from consumers because many people would not even care about going places as far as 2km to buy goods when they can order it online without stress. We need to  look at the future of technology because many of the things we do now might not be that interesting to us in years coming.  The digital world is growing very fast and more are yet to come with the help of artificial intelligence.