We are all familiar with that soft thud that we get as our post hits the doormat every morning (more like evening these days) and the usual pile of junk mail spills over the floor. Those of us who glance at it before throwing it into the dustbin they sometimes marvel that the people who stand this rubbish out actually make money from it, because a lot of it looked very expensive to produce and probably is. The fact is that it used to be a very profitable marketing operation for many companies; but no longer. The culprit is flick to click.

What on earth is flick to click you may ask? Simple. An increasing number of people who are interested in the products that are listed in catalogues such as the ones that dropped through our letterbox regularly flicked through the pages, pick out the products that they would like to buy and then instead of popping down to the shop to buy one or posting off an order, they go online, find the cheapest stockist with the best reputation, and click on the order button. So, the term flick to click means to flick through a brochure, then order with a click of the mouse button.

There is a commonly held misconception that the decline of retail in this country has been caused by the recession and whilst this has undoubtedly been a factor the major one for stockists of many products, particularly electrical goods or other expensive items, is the arrival of the Internet and the confidence that many purchasers have developed for buying over the web. And who can blame them, where many of the better companies offer very fast deliveries as well as lower prices than the shops can afford to give considering their higher overheads. If you have any shares in shops or stores that sell products that can easily be sold online, my advice to you is to cash them in as soon as possible!