Ive noticed lots more retailers going online. .. didnt know you can now buy from Bigw.com.au and binglee.com.au until recently..

Will be interesting to see how their online shops go in the future and how many other retailers go online

I know corporate express ce.com.au has set up a new online shop also here under then name www.staples.com.au

oh no...poor Gerry

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more competition and online exposure is a good thing

Cheers
Corey

If Binglee.com.au Bigw.com.au colesonline.com.au homeshop.com.au ( woolworths) ....... can successfully go online whats Gerry Harvey complaining about?

The internet works Gerry Harvey.. get with the times or keep losing business to more competitors from within Australia! The GST has nothing to do with it and just shows you have no clue whats happening in the retail, online and consumer world!

I'm pretty sure Gerry Harvey would know much more about retail than anyone else in this forum.

It has everything to do with GST. Most of the retailers fighting for this are already online.

Have a read of http://www.crikey.com.au/2011/01/11/...gst-exemption/

"Myer announced it was considering building a Myer-branded website in Shenzhen, China, to exploit the GST-free loophole."

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I'm Jamison Banham - Freelance Web Designer - Find me on Twitter!

Gerry Harvey's business model has a franchise framework

Cheers
Corey

I'm pretty ignorant to the entire argument and most of it goes over my head - but +1 on this!

I think Gerry should be commended. Like it or not, someone needs to raise these issues it seems. I applaud anyone who employs that many Australian's. I'm pretty sure Gerry doesn't need the money, but if everything goes online - what happens to the jobs?

Whether it's relevant to me or not - good on him for bringing the debate so much publicity.

There's a big reason why Harvey Norman can't do the same.

Businesses like Coles, Woolworths, and Myer all operate company owned stores, so cannibalising their store profits through online isn't a big deal, because the money still ends up in the same place.

But Harvey Norman is very different, with each department in each store being individually franchised. If the Harvey Norman online store was to start taking business away from the physical stores, it would hurt the franchisees who are mainly small business owners like the rest of us.

If you were a Harvey Norman franchisee would you be happy to see your profits eaten away by a company owned website taking advantage of overseas GST exemptions?

With all due respect to people on this forum, Gerry Harvey has probably forgotten more about retail and marketing than the rest of us could ever hope to know. You don't build a business worth over $3b without being a little bright.

PS. It's funny how people are ranting on these forums about why domain rules should be changed and be brought into line with overseas rules, but when some wealthy retailers do the same for their industry you start attacking them...

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SMSF

I was going to say the exact same thing...

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I'm Jamison Banham - Freelance Web Designer - Find me on Twitter!

I think Gerry would know a fair bit about the Offline traditional business model but I highly doubt he knows a lot about the online world.

I have actually done work on some of the biggest clients in Australia for e-commerce based websites. I know a fair bit about the Australian market but you can not compare it to overseas markets like the US and UK you think you know a bit till their is a new hire at work who has come from the UK and is a expert over their in e-commerce.

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