Are Tesco’s and online shopping are taking over the world



Are Tesco’s and online shopping are taking over the world?

Remember the days where the library was the place to go for a book to read? Remember the days where the butcher, the grocers and the bakery were the places for the week’s supply of meals? Remember when it was not possible purchase everything you could need by the click of a mouse of a trip to Tesco? No. This is because the internet and supermarkets have become so deep-rooted in everyday life that it’s like looking back into Victorian times. With everybody revolving their lives around the screen, nobody is in the little newsagent shop, which is soon closing down due to bankruptcy. Tesco is stealing the profits of the town they dominate, resulting in the loss of small businesses and of community spirit.

For most people, Tesco is seen as an extremely successful superstore that provides the nation with anything ranging from a TV to a paper clip. It’s true, a week’s supply of every kind of food and other household facilities can be stocked up; a new shirt could even be purchased to replace the one ruined by the morning’s coffee spill. This perceived convenience however has a massive negative impact on every other shop and business in the UK. Some high-street shops that have been an asset to their town for over one hundred years have been forced to shut down under the impenitent hands of Tesco and other supermarkets. Nigel Dowdy claims that “Tesco basically sucked the life out of the town” when describing a typical British location; an accurate statement. The UKs second largest electronic company “Comet” are currently undergoing the process of closing their 243 stores and the book shop “Borders” shut down the year before. The public can get all the things these shops offer online or at their nearest Tesco so they do not even bother walking inside these places. It’s a disgrace to see these businesses fall at the feet of the ominous red sign that is Tesco. Tesco is taking advantage of the recession with their cheap prices and gobbling up profits that would 10 years ago have been distributed over the wide range of high street shops. Arguably this may have been inevitable. Many people cannot afford these days to pay the price of a loaf of bread from a bakery compared to Tesco’s price. But the prices are so much higher for a lot of items compared to supermarkets because the single shop profits are too small whereas Tesco has profits from all over the UK and beyond. It’s because of Tesco’s high profits and credibility that small businesses have to raise their own prices. The country is losing the battle to red, blue and white at the cost of variety that was life before internet shopping and Tesco.

The growth of Tesco and online shopping is also socially corrupting the nation to an extent of drawing communities apart. The high street was a place where neighbours met and conversations were invoked. Now however, Tesco is the place where neighbours meet. Communities are clearly not as close as they were before Tesco and online shopping. Groceries can be delivered to the front door- avoiding civilisation on another level. Do people not have time or is it sheer laziness? Walking into town would take most residents approximately an hour yet the availability of what the internet offers acts like a barrier to the front door of every house hold. The worrying factor is that it is physically possible to live adequately through staying at home and shopping online. The unnerving concern is who would notice? Aren’t people only seen these days in cars or hectically flashing through the scene in Tesco with a trolley? Staying at home with no sunlight deprives the skin of vitamin D, an essential attribute. This lack of sunlight may cause bones to become brittle and may bring back diseases such as rickets: that causes bone deformity usually within children. It was a disease that was eradicated in the UK approximately 80 years ago but the lifestyle that too many people are adapting could restart the illness as researchers are predicting. The growing litharge to go out of the house to socialise within the community could therefore cause major health problems for the future.

It’s so concerning to see so many businesses fall down is because of how many people are out of jobs. Many of these people could be highly qualified businessmen who may have devoted years into building up a stable company. The rise of the internet and supermarkets has played a major part in stripping them of their success and hard work. There is little job opportunity available as it is and big names like Tesco are securing their place in economy. It foreshadows a time that will come where every town consists of an empty high street with tumbleweeds drifting along the road; maybe a pond here or there and obviously, a Tesco. Some may argue that there is no harm done in this, as for all, we are getting the necessities of life and more from Tesco and online. There is more to a town than shops as there are historical monuments, parks, ponds and other facilities that bring people together. The point is that the high street is the heart and soul of a town and without it, where is the individuality? How is the country unique? Every inch would be the same; the prospects for Britain are dull.

At the spate of the country, the future will unravel more and more names crumbling apart due to Tesco and online shopping. We will all be eating Tesco produced food, with our Tesco bought cutlery, sitting on our Tesco made furniture, wearing the clothes we bought online that were delivered to the doorstep. Perhaps we need to look at ourselves and the situation because we all shop at Tesco and many of us shop online too. Is it all worth it for cheap products at our own convenience?

999 words

16/01/13

16/01/13

17/01/13

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