Is the internet killing the economy?

2015-03-01T20:45:27-05:00

I was at work today, thinking about this a bit... buying and selling on the internet is a huge business, and anyone can do it. I was thinking that it's killing the economy because it's putting stores out of business, retailers needing employees less. Usually economy is created by tech but in the case of the internet its the reverse. I have to wonder a bit how this trend will turn out.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 1 at 2015 8:57 PM

2015-03-01T20:57:46-05:00

I think it empowers consumers to take out the middle-man (pawn shops, thrift stores, etc.) and get maximum possible return from their used items. With new or created products, I think it could be good for the economy. It will likely mean more money is coming from inside the country and less to outside the country. That's all a personal opinion, though.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 1 at 2015 9:06 PM

2015-03-01T21:06:09-05:00

Well, it could be. But some items are cheaper, even with shipping, than if you drove to the store and picked it up off the shelf.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 1 at 2015 9:16 PM

2015-03-01T21:16:57-05:00

It is not killing the economy, it's changing it. Some changes for the better and some for the worse.
My maternal grandfather has been a businessman since the early 1960s. His last venture was a struggling Ben Franklin store. He bought it, turned it around and built a very successful shop. During the later part of the '90s however times changed. Walmart and the internet decimated his business. My Grandparents retired some years ago, but they kept the store, simply because nobody wanted to buy it! Over time they adapted, and unlike many other mom and pop stores their stayed afloat. They were able to sell recently and completely retire.

On the other side of that, a lot of internet businesses are family run small time operations. Of course many aren't too. Amazon, Netflix and the like are huge forces to be reckoned with, when you're trying to do your own thing!

But my wife recently bought me a tomahawk for Christmas from this guy (he offers a military discount by the way.) http://www.2hawks.net/tomahawks/ When was the last time a guy could make a living as a blacksmith? The village blacksmith has been gone for over a 100 years. But this guy is able to make a living because of the internet. I believe that the internet is going to help bring ma an pa type outfits back. The village is now the entire world. A niche market that is never going to be big enough for Walmart to enter and drive you out of business is there for the taking because of the internet.

Hawks

Hardened Handmade Tomahawks

Response by COL Charles Williams made Mar 1 at 2015 9:38 PM

2015-03-01T21:38:52-05:00

With the amount of online shopping I/we do, and with the assumption we are not the only ones... I have to believe it is helping, changing, and enhancing it.

Response by SGT Jim Z. made Mar 1 at 2015 10:15 PM

2015-03-01T22:15:30-05:00

It is not killing the economy as SSgt Private RallyPoint Member mentioned it is evolving the economy. Business can reach more consumers without brick and mortar buildings thus eliminating positions but on the backend they have to take security of transactions and still have to ship the merchandise therefore they still have to employ people. Some of those people are going to be more than minimum wage but others not.

It assists the consumer in making sound purchases because they can research prices and sales and the best part if a consumer wants to make a purchase at 3AM they can because there are no "hours" on the Internet.

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Mar 1 at 2015 10:27 PM

2015-03-01T22:27:59-05:00

It's modifying one of the tenets of capitalism.

Capitalism works under the assumption that the man on the ground has the most information, and can make the best informed decision.

For example:

Let's take a bustling city, and a guy with a coffee stand. You pick up and move your coffee stand to where the people are. You adjust your marketing and your pricing based on what the people are doing. You react to the market. If someone opens up another coffee stand across the street from you, you can see him, and you either compete or you move. Now think about that with brick and mortar stores, etc. Having information of the local area makes you powerful.

Now, the internet changes that, it makes your (local) information so much less powerful. It makes rare, but non time dependent items easier to get, since people can instantly look "across the street at everyone else's store" (the internet). You have to compete constantly, which means margins are going to be a hell of a lot lower.

It also means that places don't have to "stock" things anywhere near as much as they used to. Especially media. Books, magazines, CDs, DVD's. All of that can be ordered quickly, and quite honestly more conveniently than going to a store. Since everything has a know release date, we just order it in advance and have it delivered.

This in turn reduces physical footprint needed of retail stores, as well as staffing requirements.

Retail has to revolve around the information age.

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 1 at 2015 10:28 PM

2015-03-01T22:28:39-05:00

I actually think the internet has expanded the economy. Now you can buy things that cannot be purchased locally. Stay at home moms have turned to work at home moms by selling crafts over the internet. Information markets have opened, teens make a killing selling how to guides for games online, authors can self publish, the hobby photographers license photos, etc...There are tons of new ideas constantly popping up with new ways to make money.

The only one I cannot stand is the ebay hoarder, goes out and buys as much stuff they can and then marks the price up way over retail once the general public cannot find it. There is nothing ethical in this and you are not providing a service to anyone but yourself.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 1 at 2015 10:38 PM

2015-03-01T22:38:38-05:00

LCpl Mark Lefler Yes and no. Some people still prefer to visit a physical store to shop for certain merchandises. While a physical store may have to compete with an online one, the shipping companies are getting more businesses from the online stores. As a matter of fact, a lot of the physical stores have an online component as well. E-commerce also needs professionals to maintain and providing solution to it. While you may lose some conventional jobs such as sales associate, cashier, etc, you demand more of the information technology professionals.

Do we want our economy remain to depend on agriculture or low technology manufacturing? Or we want to become something more advanced?

Response by CSM Michael J. Uhlig made Mar 1 at 2015 11:15 PM

2015-03-01T23:15:59-05:00

We might see a need for more warehouse & regional delivery services now than before so the demand to be able to shop while watching your favorite game in a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant has changed the in store experience......I've changed, I used to refuse to use a self checkout because I said it was taking away jobs....

Response by SPC David Shaffer made Mar 2 at 2015 2:45 PM

2015-03-02T14:45:06-05:00

Most merchandise is found online at a much cheaper cost and this is great, but people seem to overspend when they quit using cash. I agree with most of the other comments though. The economy is just evolving. Did anyone really think it would stay the same forever? One thing you can't change is in fact CHANGE! It will happen regardless of what we do.

Response by GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad made Mar 2 at 2015 2:49 PM

2015-03-02T14:49:57-05:00

It has definitely had a major impact on the economy ... and not always for the better. How many small businesses have gone under because they can't compete with outfits like amazon.com?

Response by Capt Richard I P. made Mar 2 at 2015 3:06 PM

2015-03-02T15:06:04-05:00

Economies can't be killed anymore than the weather can. Only changed, and survived.

Response by Cpl Jeff N. made Mar 2 at 2015 3:22 PM

2015-03-02T15:22:01-05:00

We used to buy everything from the general store 100 years ago. Then came shopping centers and malls. Now on line ordering/shipping. Companies like UPS and FedEx are winning big time. Brick and mortar retailers are taking it on the chin to some degree. They need to adapt. The buggy whip used to be a big item in it's day. Things change, retailers are adapting, the economyh isn't being killed, only changing again.

When we have drones dropping stuff off at our house, then UPS and FedEx will lose the volume and will have to adapt.

We all have access to more products and services than ever on line. We can shop for a better deal or still visit a store. I'd say we are doing okay.

Response by Cpl Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 2 at 2015 3:52 PM

2015-03-02T15:52:26-05:00

As a Marine, the phrase "Adapt and Overcome" comes to mind. As SSgt Private RallyPoint Member stated, "It is not killing the economy, it's changing it." People need to accept that as technology changes, people need to adapt or become obsolete. Brick and Mortar stores need to accept that they have competition and to stay competitive, they need to adapt.

Response by SFC Eric Hendrickson made Mar 2 at 2015 11:29 PM

2015-03-02T23:29:24-05:00

Funny, we run in circles, the printing press put the book copier out of business, poor monks with no jobs, the automobile put the carriage maker out of business and most all associated tack shops and horse sellers lost out too. The industrial age put lots of small mom and pop producers out, small farm owners and the like had to sell out and work in factories, poor furniture makers closing, mass production put them out of business. Polaroid and digital film put film stores out of business.

We adapt, we grow, we find new ways to work and survive, we always have