Topic: Are fast-fashion shopping apps hurting local economy? - page 3. (Read 414 times)

Maybe we are talking about e-commerce, which is an application that provides many of the needs of the community online and anyone can shop easily and cheaply, this also happens in my country.

And if I notice that the market is indeed changing, especially in open e-commerce and with export merchandise, of course I think the local economy will lose, for example in home goods, of course export goods from China are much cheaper, and local products can lose if you look at this side, in this case the government must move to limit export products and give more importance to local products, or at least provide regulations so that market price competition can be competitive and not kill the local economy.

Yes if we look at it from one side then obviously there are negative impacts as you mentioned, lowering the purchasing power of local markets, reduced employment, the consequences of waste and excessive pollution due to the large stock of goods that are not sold in local markets, but on the other hand this is the digital era, the times are modern and everything has become very easy, especially in shopping, people no longer need to go to the market to buy something because obviously there are some allocations or expenditures of money that are not needed, such as the cost of public transportation to commute or the cost of fuel oil in the vehicle they have.

So obviously people will definitely prefer something that is more accessible, economical and the quality of the goods is not much different from those in the local market. Of course that's from my personal point of view, and maybe one way for traders not to experience a decline in purchasing power that is not too significant then maybe they should keep up with the times such as becoming one of the traders who are also engaged in online sales and not just in physical markets.

I don’t have any stats to back this up, it’s all just my opinion. I think fashion shopping apps can have negative impacts on local economies. These apps promote cheap and disposable clothing which leads to a decrease in demand for locally produced and possibly higher quality garments. As a result of this, local businesses and artisans suffer which can lead to job losses & reduced economic growth. The environmental consequences of fast fashion such as excessive waste & pollution harm local ecosystems & communities. By prioritising convenience & low prices over sustainable & locally made products fast fashion shopping apps contribute to the erosion of local economies & hinder the development of sustainable & ethical fashion industries.

Therefore, we must be able to review residential trade policies. The government usually makes laws regarding certain limits where it is allowed to operate around 5-10% of foreign products including imported goods and prioritize local products to advance the economy and increase state treasury revenues. Regarding competition in the world of trade society is also required to be able to adapt to technological  advances and little by little  expand the trade sector not only offline but must also be able to migrate to online trade. There's nothing wrong with why fast delivery is now prioritized rather than having  to take a car or motorbike just to buy a dozen cups. If you can buy online why not? that's our current habit, looking for practical options that save transportation costs, just waiting in  front of the house until the package comes to you.

I can assume that by "fast-fashion shopping apps" you mean the big Chinese platforms like Aliexpress, Wish, Temu, Shein and a bunch of others. I don't know where did you come up with the term "fast-fashion shopping"? Do you mean impulsive buying?
No, I don't think that they are hurting the local economies, because if you want to buy the same stuff and it's manufactured in your local economy, the price would be higher. There's a reason why those Chinese platforms are selling cheap stuff. All this cheap stuff has been produced by using cheap labor and cheap raw materials. Labor exploitation and slavery are the hidden problems of China.
Those apps are really good at marketing. Temu is brutal, when it comes to getting new customers. They seem more like a ponzi scheme, rather than a shopping website/app.

I think it has an impact, but if we look realistically at the changing society, the e-commerce trend is bringing more job opportunities, and in terms of scale, the change may cause some difficulties in the beginning, but in the long run, I see them having many benefits.

Even in the area where I live in the countryside, many years ago most people only bought and sold through traditional markets, but the change in many different products has caused the developing locality to change according to the trend common in society, sometimes the price of change of traditional things also requires adaptation. Although I personally am not a frequent shopper, I fully support the popularization of e-commerce to reach localities, which is partly contributing to promoting economic development and also brings balance to the process of social change.

I believe that it does. I've seen an ad from temu before and that promising discount first purchase of a mechanical keyboard is what made me interested. But after downloading the app, it was too hectic as there's a lot of information that needed to be filled so I just quit it and it made me uncomfortable. Whilst for Shein, I've been seeing them lately that there are a lot of supply of their tees in the local market. But regardless of these apps, I still buy in the local market, no brand, not fake but just plain tees and plain colors. I just like wearing those and I always get to check if it fits me and as well as the fabric if it's cotton or comfortable for me. I have never bought from any of those apps but with aliexpress, I used to see ecom people that gets their supplies there together with alibaba.

I think it's depends on the Platform, in my country the popular online marketplace platform is local platform, only few people shop on international marketplace like AliExpress, Temu, or Amazon, they only use those when there is no other alternative local product.

These local online marketplace were User Generated and totally autonomous, and most of the merchant is local business, the platform only act as moderators and escrow so scam and fraud could be minimized and the scammers could be banned. Each merchant were totally indepenndent and fully in control of what product they sell, the price, and how they ship their products. As I said that most of the merchant were local brands, it really helps those local brands to grow, before the trend of this online marketplace there are only less 10 local fashion brand, but after this online marketplace emerge many local brands were become popular because it usually cheaper, since it's produced locally less shipping and no custom and import fee.

On one hand, you, me, we're getting items at a steal. But consider the real cost. It's terribly obvious? Local enterprises are weakened by these platforms. Every time we buy a €5 item over a €20 locally manufactured one, we say, "Hey, I don't care about local economies." It's brutal, but it's the truth. Cheap imports are a tsunami smashing on our local markets

Discussing quality now. All of us have experienced these apps' hit-or-miss nature. Anybody remember a semester-long rucksack or earbuds that die like mayflies? Our greed for discounts is blinding us to environmental waste, quality compromise, and local artists and companies being slowly strangled. Numbers are reliable. Greece alone: €250,000/day? A wake-up call, not just a statistic. We are giving food to a huge animal that doesn't care about quality or the environment. Are we clever shoppers or part of the problem?

1) One of the things that makes me prefer paying in cash and from a local store is that paying with cash is more painless than using banking services, so having to count $200 to buy something from a store is more painful than paying with a card.

This research study describes that cash payment represents a stronger tool for self-regulation, these findings could be relevant to those interested in regulating compulsive shopping or digital gambling. So I advise you to read it.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6856651/

digital services give you alternatives such as discounts, free delivery, or buy now and pay later, all of this to push you not to buy with cash and enhance your remorse.

2) The ability to pack many purchases: In the store, when you buy one or two products, you feel that this is enough and that the shopping bags have become heavy and that I must stop spending, but when you buy a number, this feeling is less. On the contrary, you will try to fill the shopping cart due to the presence of discounts.

Of course, such things harm the local economy, because most people look for cheap things, even if they are of lower quality, which means harm to the local economy that is associated with this type of services provided.

If all people buy these cheap materials from electronic stores without shopping online, it is certain that local industries will be greatly harmed because this will cause the recession of these products and they will not find a good market to sell their products, or they will be forced to reduce prices and this may cause them to stop in the end.

I've read news about how traditional stores or big shopping center, in general, is losing money due to e-commerce apps in my country. So yeah, some of them definitely hurt. On the other hand, nothing is stopping these sellers from opening their own store on the app too. The beginning is probably difficult since they need to compete with tons of other stores, but it is not like they won't find customers as long as their price is competitive. Most of the time, distance and shopping fee is the biggest factor why people choose one store over the other.

Personally, though, I never use Alibaba for fashion, etc since most of them require overseas shipping. I can easily find most of the stuff you tell me in my city, which is just a 30-minute trip at most. Not a bad trade for me, and even if I need to buy new shirts, I'd rather use other apps. What I tend to use them for is for electricity, like batteries and stuff like that. There is no option if nobody can provide me with the product that I need. It is always a gamble though, since what I bought might be a dead product on arrival too.

I don't think so. The whole world is getting digital over time. These e-shopping platforms weren't as widespread as they are today a couple of years back. When COVID-19 took the world by surprise, people were using these platforms to do their shopping, they would even buy their groceries from these online stores which isn't what someone would normally do because you would generally just go to a supermarket and buy groceries and other necessary stuff but since every public place was closed during the pandemic, these platforms were useful.

Now when things are back to normal, some people still use those platform, maybe more than some because they have a lot of customers around the globe, but the quantity of people making online purchases have decreased drastically after the pandemic was over.

So, local stores and markets are operating normally once again, and these platforms are useful as well based on how advanced the world is becoming with time, we need all sorts of conveniences.

Whether we like it or not, eCommerce is the future. Convenience, of course, is the primary reason. But a lower price is also very attractive to consumers. Of course, online stores can offer much lower prices for their products because they don't spend much on expenses that brick-and-mortar stores will have to bear. This could significantly affect the local economy if the majority of the population shifts almost completely to online shopping, ordering cheap products from abroad, and avoid malls and shops and stores.

In terms of fast-fashion shopping, it might kill local products which are more expensive and probably less fashionable or trendy. Especially with the trend nowadays in which people seem to prefer fashion over quality or even comfort, mass produced cheap products could sell more. Fast-fashion affords young consumers to easily shift to new trends, buying new clothes, for example, while quickly disposing the old ones. This cheap products feed the consumerists in them.

it does hurt local economy otherwise it wouldnt be raised as a concern in many media, i've seen many media raising this problem to their platform few years ago and its only getting worst.
the only thing that could stop this is the government with their taxing towards imports of such products otherwise it will just gonna be some people trying to import product from 3rd world country where everything is cheaper to the 1st world country and get that margin in between, i mean thats just how it is with import business in general just finding cheaper high quality goods oversea and then import it hoping to make some good profit by taking advantage of the gap of prices between the domestic product and the imported ones.
moreover, these fast fashion are leaving so many trash behind that honestly it should be among the thing that urgently need to be solved but somehow people in general just ignore it because its cheap.

online shopping actually gives a lot of convenience to people these days. you can easily browse things that you need at the comfort of your home. get good deals, discounts, free shipping and all. because if you are a busy person, hard to find time to roam around malls, or physical shops and still ended up nothing.

so am not against with online commerce. i am actually one of their avid buyer especially those items that you can't easily find in your local store.

no country has equal economics.
one country that pays the farmer to grow cotton and the seamstress to stitch fabric $15 an hour may make that end clothing for $60
one country that pays the farmer to grow cotton and the seamstress to stitch fabric $1.50 an hour may make that end clothing for $6
one country that pays the farmer to grow cotton and the seamstress to stitch fabric $0.50 an hour may make that end clothing for $2

its same material, same skill, same quality but different cost.
no one can help that because no world economies will ever be on the same equal pay

this does end up converting the developed high income country to become net importers rather than domestic producers.

the issue becomes when the developed countries retailers get greedy and want to sell developed country priced goods($60) but at "75% discount" ($15) by using the $2 countries (still good quality) goods..

this then makes developed countries domestic goods unable to compete as a $60 genuine domestic clothing cant be sold if a nearby retail is selling similar things for $15 imported

..
the next thing is these online stores (temu, shien) then approach the $2 countries offering quality and.. then imploring that the $2 country make the same clothing for $1 by skipping a few quality steps.. which then makes even the quality $15 import retailer not be able to compete

..
the only way we can defy these economics. is by the consumers(customers) making responsible choices which can only be done if the supply chain of farm to retailer is transparent. so people can make an informed choice about what they are buying, and only buy from local sources or sources that ethically pay locals for their skills

I heard about wish, even saw people download and use it but I never liked the sound of the platform so I didn’t use them. Anyways, I do not think nor do I see how the low prices of items on these websites can negatively impact the local currency. I have purchased from aliexpress before and I can say that it is a really good place to buy from. The item normally matches the price you see and I think you’d barely buy something there and think it is overpriced (even if the sellers are independent).

It hurts, but also creates some jobs on the side if you think about it. Here in the Philippines, online shopping apps are more preferred nowadays than people going to the malls to buy stuff. This demand increased the number of delivery men needed to deliver the packages. In turn, it created a huge job opportunity to the people, which will then have their salaries spent back to the local economy to provide the needs of the family. For the first part of the equation, it may seem that online shopping apps are hurting the local economy, but the packages have to be delivered somehow, and that's where the riders come in, and get paid for their service.

In countries with a very high cost of living, this is a big opportunity for them. They have an opportunity to buy what they could have bought for a very high price for almost half the price on AliExpress.
Also, this can help the local economy by giving people an opportunity to buy and sell imported goods without much hassle. People order stuff from AliExpress and resell them in their countries for cheaper prices that the local market. I see this as a healthy form of competition and it has the potential to reduce the cost of living of a region. I know this is long shot though.
Many local vendors get their products from AliExpress. This has created employment for many people. People that ordinarily won't be able to order goods from China.