The direct tactile experience satisfies a need on Maslow’s hierarchy only when there is craftsmanship. The beauty of the act.

Malta, for all its bullshit talk on hub of this and that, and Baroque, and value added, and bladibla, has killed craftsmanship.

You think a “modern” economy is about e-hubs and e-commerce? Rubbish. Savile Row is buzzing with young apprentices. Right in the heart of the most ultra-globalised financial centre of Europe. Copenhagen turns out more bespoke, one-of-a-kind objects than anywhere else. Would anyone think of Denmark as a presepju economy?

Craftsmanship requires aesthetic values. This isn’t about “dynamic” Vision 2015 presentations by fawning MZPN lawyers, under the uninterested gaze of Lawrence Gonzi, or “Singapore in the Med” presentations by some young, impressionable “gradwat” under the enthusiastic gaze of Joseph Muscat.

It’s about the national narrative. You kill beauty, you kill craftsmanship, you make Xarabank the gold standard, and you forfeit forever the ability to compete with Amazon.

I cannot order a bespoke suit on Amazon. How many new Maltese tailors are there to fill that gaping niche? A grand total of zero.

I feel like Louis Nolan trying to make myself heard over the din, pointing and shouting “There, there are your business opportunities, Prime Minister.”

Exactly.

Freedom5 thinks the economy is strictly homo economicus.

The fact s/he can’t even engage the argument, too outlandish for his/her orthodox tastes one of the basic axioms to turn on their heads in this place.

Self-proclaimed experts who’ll stick to ‘common’ knowledge. Experts who, it has to be said, will always have a conflict of interest in a place as intimate as this one.

Virtual space, different perspective, no way. Denigrate and patronise the person to stifle the concept.

Because Baxxter’s isn’t an opinion, it’s an idea.

Tell me, Freedom5, do you have data revealing a consistent decrease in the turnover of commercial enterprises, shops changing hands every other month to us unversed, per location?

And do you have comparative data with managed malls in their never ending quest for catchment?

Does the data fit other criteria, dunno, value introduction, core experience, location qualities, etc.?

Of course not. Stuck in the 90’s High Street paradigm.

Pontius,

Amazon can never provide the direct tactile experience.

Now if Republic Street has to have a jeweller’s every other shop, you tell me what I’m supposed to do.

Why should I find the same shops in Plaza and The Point? And if it’s different shops, why do they have to sell the same identical stuff?

Call me biased, but our propensity to adopt everything done the protestant way, thinking Regent Street, only with approximate tendencies, reduces everything to permanent mid-west convenience malls.

Call it il-ftit minn kollox. One of the main reasons being the vitiated idea of shopping as stocking up, ergo parking an essential part of the experience. Qadja, xirja, girja, tibdila, ir-rigali.

What about the rest, indeed, is there anything else?

And this follows from the same attitude, can’t have vans trying to replenish blocking traffic, so just load the place.

Even toy shops have become a drab affair, piled to the ceiling with boxes displaying the toys inside. And that’s your shopping ‘malls’.

All I know is that we’ve been blabbing away at catchment, mix and urban regeneration, when all we do is bicker on parking.

Take the worst habits and turn them into needs, then grumble Malta can’t have any better. On with the one size fits all then.

I’m not interested in driving to Mosta because parking is better, albeit the same identical mix. What I want is to mix my browsing with the Saturday afternoon passeggiata, maybe take it to the Saturday night out.

Ever seen dog friendly, locker providing music clubs? Or the aperitivo phenomenon? It’s about knowing which market.

And no, Malta’s isn’t too small, not when visitors are over the one and a half million, it’s just the market that’s restricted.

And yes, get the tour guide racket out of the way.

It seems to me that a lot of Maltese businesses want to actively ignore the internet. I could cite many examples of conversations with business owners that say something like, “We don’t need the internet here”.

On one level, it is fine to take that approach, but your clients, they do want the internet. They want it on their smartphones, tablets, laptops and work stations.

If you decide to not go where your clients are so that you can communicate, market and sell to them, what is the likely outcome going to be? Sooner or later you will be left behind and it is just a matter of time until your doors close.

When they do want to do something, they mostly demand the absolute cheapest (as business owners everywhere do). The days when you could get a website that was passable in your marketplace for 100 euros are long gone.

However, if I were to make suggestions to business owners, I would say that they need to spend more time, effort and resources on marketing. Most (certainly not all though) of the companies I have met here are not great at marketing and many firms do none at all.

They have been in business so long that they don’t feel they need to do anything. Simply existing is not enough to compete these days, no matter what your pricing may be.

There are probably 1000 things that a company could be doing, but if all they do is open their doors and hope, what can they really expect?

And isn’t that a reciprocal process, an interface?

As for binge shopping, and the attitude that shoppers are there exclusively to turn stock over, maybe that’s part of the problem.

Maltese retailers can never compete with Amazon, but at least they can try to offer a decent service and be honest with the customer.

I can mention some memorable experiences like buying a new coffee machine and going home only to realise it is has been used.

A furniture shop which never came back to replace a scratched dining-table even though I never paid them. You wonder why so many people are getting IKEA.

The list is endless.

Pontius, I am not a retailer. In fact I have a congenital disability in anything involving business or making money. But I am a consumer.

Even if an item is cheaper at a particular shop in Malta, I would first have to find the shop. On your side, it means you have to advertise the product, with the price, with the address of the shop. With Amazon, you get everything.

I would also need to know exactly which product I want. Amazon allows you to compare among a vast range of products within the same category.

Then there’s the physical strain of getting to your shop. And here my interests and those of yours, the retailers, converge. And it is you who must make your voice heard. Because the government listens to you.

I’m talking about transport networks and urban planning.

If it takes me an hour and a half to cover, say, ten kilometres from my home to your shop, in scorching heat, consuming petrol on the way, and leaking spinal fluid with the strain of finding a parking spot, then the few extra Euros that I spend for the same product on Amazon are worth it. It’s as simple and as physical as that.

There is no pleasure in shopping in Malta. I think I can safely say that, because I’m old enough to have done some of my shopping in the pre-internet years.

I’m sorry I am unable to offer any suggestions on competitiveness. But my suggestion would be to pull strings and twist knobs and set up a retailers’ lobby for proper transport and urban planning. That is the key to negating Amazon’s advantage.

The adrenalin rush buying online is because we all get a thrill buying cheaper items (incl shipping) online.

Why don’t you get into the online trade and try and sell your items online then.

If you are not selling then you are not good at marketing.