Not to mention that brick and mortar retail always has to worry about online retail nipping at their heels. It's hard to compete on price with an Amazon warehou

Not to mention that brick and mortar retail always has to worry about online retail nipping at their heels. It's hard to compete on price with an Amazon warehouse in a cheap-rent area, staffed with robots and overworked staff when you have to maintain a building in a retail area, keep it clean/nice enough that people aren't totally appalled, and then staff it with people that are able to do their job and interact with customers. The original b&m retail game was to keep the big ticket items comparable in price, but to add high margins on the ancellary items like HDMI cables. Now, however, everyone knows the game and things like Prime shipping can get it to you fast enough to avoid impulse buying in a retail store.