Ann: 10 mths to 30-4-2017 agg sales by hn, dm & jm franchisees, page-225

Don't forget, online shopping wasn't invented by Amazon, and price transparency wasn't brought to us by Amazon. The internet threat has loomed large for many years now. It's not new. We seem to forget.

What has happened is that the industry has continued to evolve. Those with the competitive advantage of scale, have grown bigger (proportionately). Those without that advantage, or some differentiating feature (such as high levels of service) have continued to decline.

Retail is a complex landscape with many constantly shifting parts. Remember, if you believe that in some segments there is value in a showroom (which many suppliers do), then there is no substantial reason to believe that all will shift online. And even if there was a further substantial shift online (which there is a very good chance there will be, I concede), then the industry will shift to suit. For instance, lower rents will make showrooms cheaper to run (though admittedly this will lower property prices, perhaps).

I'm far from convinced that all will move online, and that Amazon will conquer the world. Retail is more complex than that. The trick, I think, is to not try to compete head on with Amazon. Ultimately it's a question of how much the market has reacted to this very visible threat, versus the value of the business.

I personally, am more concerned about the more about more pedestrian things, such as the consumer spending and property cycles.