The High Street is on it's death-bed. We soon won't be able to buy anything decent face to face. I prefer to pay a few pounds more and get to see the item, feel it, use it, and then get some value-added service post-purchase. I know Jessops is a bad example of this, but there are a lot of shops which are going under which do offer good after-sales.
You can't compete on price with a couple of blokes with a warehouse, computer and phone-line, so you have to offer brilliant pre and post purchase service and a pleasurable shopping experience to survive.