Unhappy Shopper…

22 10 2009

This might sound like a silly question and I guess it is, but whilst sat here wondering about stuff I don’t think anyone even cares about it occurred to me that most shops are open all day, closing between 17:00 and 17:30 each night. My question is why??

After some brief musing it does seem quite illogical really. Surely the target audience for shops is those with an money and preferably an income, the white whale of these being young professionals with no dependents bring with them that awesome treasure trove the retail lords know as “disposable income”.

As the name implies, this most bountiful of quarries have jobs, usually reasonably well paying jobs that require nine to five attendance at some form of office or singular location. This very fact means that they are almost certainly not available to peruse for their next purchase during the hours the retail outlets deem they should be open. Where is the logic in this??

Surely it follows that the majority of people any shop would play host to during week days are those of either the unemployed or too old to be employed. The later have earned the right to spend money on whatever they want but generally have little motivation to spend and the former shouldn’t really be encouraged to spend their money on consumer goods, by having the sotres open whilst they have little to do.

I can see why shops would open during such hours on weekends, as that time slot would likely be the most preferable for those wanting to fulfil their economic responsibility as a consumer. However, even this is curtailed by Sunday trading regulations. I happen to agree with Sunday trading being restricted, but it would be remiss of me not to mention it, as it does seem to exacerbate the situation we find ourselves in.

In any case, would it not be better to simply open at 14:00 and close about 22:00 throughout the week??

Thank you. This has been my plan for saving the failing economy. I am Adrian Cooper and I am your next Prime Minister of these United Kingdoms of Great Britain…

Tags: consumer, disposable income, economic plan, logic, opening hours, retail, shopping

3 Comments to Unhappy Shopper…

1. 

   Wait, I’ve got the answer!
   http://meadowhall.com
   http://amazon.co.uk

   Reply – Quote
Neil on October 22nd, 2009
2. 

   Whilst this was quite tounge in cheek (yes, really) it does make sense. I can see your point but Meadowhall is not the kind of place I want to have to go to shop.

   Amazon is a fine service and I use it a lot, but online shopping doesn’t work for some things, clothes and groceries being two examples of things I wouldn’t want to by online more than occationally online. Plus Online shopping obviously takes money away from highstreet stores, leading to cascading down to lower employment generally which also = Bad.

   Reply – Quote
Ado on October 22nd, 2009
3. 

   Shops work like you’ve suggested in quite a few countries, open late, close late.

   Reply – Quote
Owen on October 26th, 2009

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