Retail stores just physically cannot compete on choice. There's only so much stock that you can hold at a walk-in store and they all seem to become necessarily

Retail stores just physically cannot compete on choice. There's only so much stock that you can hold at a walk-in store and they all seem to become necessarily limited to the 'popular and generic items'. The smaller niche stores meanwhile get squeezed out by rising costs. There have been times I've gone into the city with the intention of buying something from a retail store, because I want it that day. I spend hours walking around trying to find the particular thing that I know I want, but to no avail. Everyone seems to carry the same stuff and more often than not it isn't the stuff that's generally recommended as excellent. One example that comes to mind - I went out once looking for an iPhone/Android compatible game controller (specifically it was the MOGA Power Pro but I would have taken anything similar at the time). Went to the only big game store chain we have (EB Games), couldn't find it. Went to the two big electronics store chains we have; couldn't find it. Went to two different big-box department store chains we have; couldn't find it. I think I even went to the Apple store and they didn't have the one I was looking for. Ended up just ordering it online. Another example - one day I felt like getting some physical books. Went out to the local mall and to the physical bookstore they have there. Worse situation. Out of the whole store, I think only two shelves were computer/IT books. Nearly all of which were "Teach yourself X in Y hours" or "Microsoft Office something or other". Figured this was a lost cause; I could take the nearly hour commute into the CBD and go to one of the big shops but at that point I thought, why bother? Ordered from Amazon, just waited for the international shipping. At least I got what I was looking for without feeling like I wasted my time. For an educated consumer, there is just no reason to go retail other than the social experience. I don't remember it always being like this, but maybe it's because I was young and without the ubiquitous Internet you actually went to a store to browse and discover new products. It used to be different and exciting to go to a big electronics/music/book store and see all the new things that you didn't know about before walking in the store. That just isn't the world we live in anymore.