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Shooting Themselves in the Foot (Are Retailers) Certain retailers are calling for GST (goods and services tax) to be added to purchases made by consumers on products bought online from overseas businesses. The rational: the retailers are losing business as people are not purchasing from them in their retail outlets rather they are going online and buying. The "buying overseas is a red herring" people would willingly buy online in New Zealand from NZ retailers and they do, the problem is the lack of Main Street retailers willing to take on the Web, this mindset is supported by the retail industry support groups. It is a matter of public record that when a TV reporter asked a National Retailers spokesperson about the Web and the retail possibilities, the spokesperson gave a very curt reply of "People will always buy retail" A mind closed to the realities of the Internet Age, people go online to find information about a purchasing option. If the only information online is from an overseas website it is most likely the purchase will be made there. As to the comment "people will always buy retail" there is a truth to this statement but in order to buy retail as in visiting the retailers shop, the customer or potential customer must be made aware of the products available, but are the retailers interested in advising the customer online, I think not. Take a look at the websites of the Main Street retailers, do they met the requirements of the searching customer How can they expect custom, if they don't get with the program? We are now in the Internet Age; the Mass Media age is passing, if customer purchasing habits are changing perhaps the retailers should change their marketing habits Contact Firstsearch

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