Shopping is more fun without a computer

May 9 2003 By Nicholas Craig, The Journal

E-tail and retail-tainment. Newly invented words which respectively set out to describe internet shopping and the recommended high street experience.

Internet shopping has been a slow burner despite being trumpeted as the shopping revolution a few years ago.

Last Christmas was the first time it appeared to make an impact on traditional retail sales.

I reckon virtual shopping malls will never dent the perennial popularity of wandering around city streets. The North-East is a shop till you drop region. Shopping equals entertainment.

It's a good day out, complete with coffee, chats, people-watching and bargain-grabbing. All life is there - Peruvian panpipes, born-again Christians, eco-warriors and the occasional lone bagpiper.

MetroCentre was conceived as a day out - with the family. Go along any Bank Holiday and you'll see how many hundreds of families agree. The artificiality of it, always warm, dry, with ice cream and sweets every few hundred yards, reminds me of a theme park. People are encouraged to stay and to spend, and make it a real holiday with a visit to Metroland and the cinema.

The only supermarket to have broken even with internet retailing is Tesco. People save time and money by staying at home to do their weekly shop, and Tesco is way ahead of the competition in gaining a foothold. However, you can't rummage through the `reduced' shelves for bargains, choose your own carrots, change your mind about tonight's dinner menu, or take advantage of a `three for two' offer.

On the other hand, you aren't pummelled and pushed into submission by professional shoppers (beware the over-80s) who elbow, run their trolley into your heels and always manage to choose the right till queue. Your often-regretted impulse buying is kept to a minimum and you don't have to use petrol or even look respectable to get fed.

The advantages of e-tail grocery shopping are obvious. However, donning my Mystic Meg guise, I predict the web will never wipe out the high street. It's a way of life, which we enjoy, moan at, take for granted and always come back for more.

Retailers will reinvent the shopping experience (the tortuously titled retail-tainment) to keep us happily spending on high streets for decades to come. In Newcastle it's already entertaining. Will in-shop cinema, jugglers or funky coffee outlets make any difference? I doubt it. When do the sales start?