Hi Claire, Thanks for your report which tends to bring a bit of balance to the topic of how much retail has/is suffering at the hands of online. This is something retailers can be upbeat about...I think? I would not be the first person to think it is the case most Australians, like me, are pessimistic about the resilience of our economy; mass media informs us we have, as the pollies put it, dodged a bullet and we're given a salutary reminder of this fact every night on the news: "Greece, Ireland, Spain, Portugal...which economy will be the next to implode?" If I have quoted any shock jock unfairly here, I apologise. With almost daily reminders of how weak and slow the recovery is from the GFC in the US and the amount of trouble that economy continues to struggle with, from mounting deficits, to the US' almost 10% unemployment, Australians perceive there's plenty of pain to come. Right? I am not so sure about that, but hey, this stuff is not in the news because it is of no importance to an Australian who enjoys a standard of living well above most he/she shares the planet with is it? If these powerful examples of things going horribly wrong, such a long way away from our 'land of plenty' are not enough to paralyse Australians with anxiety about spending a few dollars here and there, we can all think of a number of reasons why a carbon tax is so toxic. So while none us knows how that’s going to affect us, really, none of us can possibly survive that, and even if we do, the NBN will finish us off anyway. My rant ends there. With due consideration for the tragic and devastating consequences being felt by Australians still reeling from a once in one hundred year flood, I find it difficult to think of a time in my life when Australians have seemingly had to grapple with so many reasons to be pessimistic and negative about their future. I cannot remember a time when unemployment has been as low as it is; our balance of trade is in surplus and interest rates relatively neutral, where most Australians have been so pessimistic about their future. I think we are in new territory here. I would be interested in an article which examines that aspect of the retail business in Australia today a bit more closely. Further, I think most retailers and people in a business like mine would like to how much of this lull in the CE market can be attributed to consumer sentiment across various demographic groups. Perhaps Mr Blythe can comment about that? It is my guess online shoppers/buyers and people who are spending (relatively) more at present are both younger and more upscale, people who tend to be more upbeat about the future, and the opposite would be true of people 40 or even 45plus, in the lower to middle and upper middle market demographics. In my opinion, both retailers and suppliers would like to know how long it will be until the Aussie battlers (and those doing a bit better than that, who have pulled their horns in largely because they perceive the end is nigh) decide ‘she'll be right, so just get on with it’? It's only when consumer sentiment starts to swing in a positive direction and more people believe they live in a land offering more promise than the messages they get bombarded with through the mass media would have them believe, will retailers, suppliers and online merchants all start to do better. Keep up the good work!