Amazon are a part of the problem and will also paly a major role in book stores closing down. I Wouldn't buy anything from amazon.
As I said above, governments are getting wise to Amazon and Google et al and are starting to look for ways to shut down their current model and force them into the tax system.
We are getting lots of consultancy requests from governments about this sort of thing, they have no choice but to act as Amazon etc are not only not paying tax but are putting lots of tax paying companies out of business.
Amazon are a part of the problem and will also paly a major role in book stores closing down. I Wouldn't buy anything from amazon.
As I said above, governments are getting wise to Amazon and Google et al and are starting to look for ways to shut down their current model and force them into the tax system.
We are getting lots of consultancy requests from governments about this sort of thing, they have no choice but to act as Amazon etc are not only not paying tax but are putting lots of tax paying companies out of business.
Whereas the government in Luxembourg have bent over backwards to make life as easy for them as possible - and nobody seems prepared to do anything about it any time soon!
Amazon are a part of the problem and will also paly a major role in book stores closing down. I Wouldn't buy anything from amazon.
As I said above, governments are getting wise to Amazon and Google et al and are starting to look for ways to shut down their current model and force them into the tax system.
We are getting lots of consultancy requests from governments about this sort of thing, they have no choice but to act as Amazon etc are not only not paying tax but are putting lots of tax paying companies out of business.
They also know exactly which palms to grease, and can afford to grease them a damn sight more than they currently are. Still, consultancies on how to avoid bricks & mortar businesses being put out of business look good to the voters, so it'll continue until every last one of them has gone the way of the passenger pigeon.
Government is definitely the game to be in. Playing both ends against the the middle - It's like the protection racket that keeps on giving.
HMV are around 15% of my company's turnover in the UK. I dodged a bullet in only just starting out when EUK went bust, Zavvi too. With play.com changing and now HMV going, it's a tough world of film distribution. Most of us indies were on "consignment" too, so I reckon myself and the film labels we represent are in the hole for a ton of money.
It means staff reviews, calls to the administrator and not the kind of pain you want after you've just grown 200% year on year and staffed yourself accordingly.
We sold our products to HMV at around the same price as the Supermarkets, yet HMV would always be the most expensive retailer around.
They lost their actual business plan and focus about three years ago. Fuckers even asked us, as late as Thursday last week to join the blue cross sale, which we agreed to and now every unit sold in that is going to the banks too!
I've been aware it could happen for ages but you pray to god it isn't going to.
But now it has .....
And I'll have to deal with the fall out tomorrow morning with worried staff, creditors and the like
Amazon are a part of the problem and will also paly a major role in book stores closing down. I Wouldn't buy anything from amazon.
As I said above, governments are getting wise to Amazon and Google et al and are starting to look for ways to shut down their current model and force them into the tax system.
We are getting lots of consultancy requests from governments about this sort of thing, they have no choice but to act as Amazon etc are not only not paying tax but are putting lots of tax paying companies out of business.
They also know exactly which palms to grease, and can afford to grease them a damn sight more than they currently are. Still, consultancies on how to avoid bricks & mortar businesses being put out of business look good to the voters, so it'll continue until every last one of them has gone the way of the passenger pigeon.
Government is definitely the game to be in. Playing both ends against the the middle - It's like the protection racket that keeps on giving.
That's true to an extent but this is getting very, very serious now even in countries like Australia (probably one of the wealthiest countries in the world per capita at the moment) are seeing massive declines in the tax takes because of the ongoing decline in retail sales.
I am on good terms with a couple of very senior federal MP's here and this is something that both political parties are starting to look at much more closely, they turned a blind eye for a while as it was in the 'too hard' basket but now they have to do something.
Amazon are really starting to take the piss now, they are building their distribution hubs closer and closer to customers and moving towards - as incredible as it sounds - a 'one hour delivery' model, and yet they are still operating as an off-shore company with few tax obligations.
The big retailers here are pig sick of it and people like Gerry Harvey and the big institutional shareholders of Coles/Woolworths are putting serious pressure on the federal government to level the playing field, with one suggestion being that GST (VAT) be applied to all web purchases over $1,000.
Amazon are a part of the problem and will also paly a major role in book stores closing down. I Wouldn't buy anything from amazon.
I said above, governments are getting wise to Amazon and Google et al and are starting to look for ways to shut down their current model and force them into the tax system.
We are getting lots of consultancy requests from governments about this sort of thing, they have no choice but to act as Amazon etc are not only not paying tax but are putting lots of tax paying companies out of business.
They also know exactly which palms to grease, and can afford to grease them a damn sight more than they currently are. Still, consultancies on how to avoid bricks & mortar businesses being put out of business look good to the voters, so it'll continue until every last one of them has gone the way of the passenger pigeon.
Government is definitely the game to be in. Playing both ends against the the middle - It's like the protection racket that keeps on giving.
The big retailers here are pig sick of it and people like Gerry Harvey and the big institutional shareholders of Coles/Woolworths are putting serious pressure on the federal government to level the playing field, with one suggestion being that GST (VAT) be applied to all web purchases over $1,000.
That sounds a bit high. What are the rules now if you buy stuff online from Amazon - is there an existing limit above which you have to pay import GST?
HMV are around 15% of my company's turnover in the UK. I dodged a bullet in only just starting out when EUK went bust, Zavvi too. With play.com changing and now HMV going, it's a tough world of film distribution. Most of us indies were on "consignment" too, so I reckon myself and the film labels we represent are in the hole for a ton of money.
It means staff reviews, calls to the administrator and not the kind of pain you want after you've just grown 200% year on year and staffed yourself accordingly.
We sold our products to HMV at around the same price as the Supermarkets, yet HMV would always be the most expensive retailer around.
They lost their actual business plan and focus about three years ago. Fuckers even asked us, as late as Thursday last week to join the blue cross sale, which we agreed to and now every unit sold in that is going to the banks too!
I've been aware it could happen for ages but you pray to god it isn't going to.
But now it has .....
And I'll have to deal with the fall out tomorrow morning with worried staff, creditors and the like
Arse
Blimey, that's tough for you Supaclive. I feel for you.
I know Amazon haven't helped, and the high Street rents also contribute but from my perspective HMV and Zavvi and Jessops have struggled because they specialise in a market that has just disappeared.
I know CDs and DVDs are cheaper online but the number of people that buy them, at all, has reduced significantly. iTunes, Netflix, SkyTV, BBC/ITV iPlayer have all reduced the total market for the optical media. Digital media (and I'm including photos) have made the major markets that those shops specialise in redundant. I haven't even mentioned the pirating and the torrents that have reduced the demand for buying media that can be secured for nothing. Also let's remember that HMV started selling vinyl, something that actually needed replacing.
Jessops have gone, so have Kodak. The huge cash cow that was photo film and developing went years ago. Jessops were never going to be able to replace that income. The 'spend' has gone on computers, printers and 'photo paper'. Either Jessops senior managers should have divested into the replacement industries or they deserve what they get. Dell, for example, have sold more and more PCs and laptops. It's evolution. In the end the jobs move as the public spend their money on other things.
Even if one doesn't approve of downloading media (both legally and pirating) the companies selling broadband are generating millions each year, as are SkyTV.
People's desires change and what they do with their money changes. It is, in my view, a lack of foresight that prevented HMV from coming up with a better plan for the reduction in demand for optical media than rising prices, so as to rip off those that were unable to get their stuff online. It was never going to save them.
The High Streets will survive but will have to change. I think society is spending more and more time on 'at home' entertainment so there will be a shift in mega shopping centres. In the end I suspect they will all become more and more like Bluewater and offer more and more clothes stores - something that most people still prefer to buy in person.
It is terrible that 4,000 jobs might be lost but it is just evolution. It reminds me of a 'funny' story that a lecturer told on my MBA about a group of men watching a digger prepare the ground for railway lines. One chap says that the digger is taking away the job of twenty men with shovels and the chap next to him says or 5,000 with tea spoons.
The technology has moved on and the consumer has found a better way to get what he needs/wants so we have to find another product or service to supply.
No, there are no rules in place at present, you can buy whatever you like on the Web with no taxes.
Part of the problem in Oz is that we have quite a high minimum wage, so retail workers are (relatively) well paid with the huge size of the country also making it expensive to ship goods from port to stores.
This is why Aussies have embraced Internet shopping so enthusiastically, they are able to buy things at huge discounts from what they pay locally.
Amazon are a part of the problem and will also paly a major role in book stores closing down. I Wouldn't buy anything from amazon.
As I said above, governments are getting wise to Amazon and Google et al and are starting to look for ways to shut down their current model and force them into the tax system.
We are getting lots of consultancy requests from governments about this sort of thing, they have no choice but to act as Amazon etc are not only not paying tax but are putting lots of tax paying companies out of business.
They also know exactly which palms to grease, and can afford to grease them a damn sight more than they currently are. Still, consultancies on how to avoid bricks & mortar businesses being put out of business look good to the voters, so it'll continue until every last one of them has gone the way of the passenger pigeon.
Government is definitely the game to be in. Playing both ends against the the middle - It's like the protection racket that keeps on giving.
That's true to an extent but this is getting very, very serious now even in countries like Australia (probably one of the wealthiest countries in the world per capita at the moment) are seeing massive declines in the tax takes because of the ongoing decline in retail sales.
I am on good terms with a couple of very senior federal MP's here and this is something that both political parties are starting to look at much more closely, they turned a blind eye for a while as it was in the 'too hard' basket but now they have to do something.
Amazon are really starting to take the piss now, they are building their distribution hubs closer and closer to customers and moving towards - as incredible as it sounds - a 'one hour delivery' model, and yet they are still operating as an off-shore company with few tax obligations.
The big retailers here are pig sick of it and people like Gerry Harvey and the big institutional shareholders of Coles/Woolworths are putting serious pressure on the federal government to level the playing field, with one suggestion being that GST (VAT) be applied to all web purchases over $1,000.
The sad truth is that by the time the rules have changed and a more level playing field exists Amazon will have killed off all their competitors.
However, the supermarkets have also been a threat to these retailers. On the day of release of a big film/game/book it is cheaper in the Supermarket (assuming you spend £50 on food and booze) than Amazon. This is key. I don't know how many of the latest FIFA games are sold on the opening weekend but I bet it's a lot!
Ormy - purchases over AUS$1000? That wouldn't save anyone except high-end electrical and furniture retailers. Unless they're looking at higher taxes simply because they operate online (impossible to enforce anyway, but just theoretically speaking) then anything like that amount is pissing in the wind.
You know who's REALLY scared of Amazon, don't you? Supermarkets.
No, there are no rules in place at present, you can buy whatever you like on the Web with no taxes.
Part of the problem in Oz is that we have quite a high minimum wage, so retail workers are (relatively) well paid with the huge size of the country also making it expensive to ship goods from port to stores.
This is why Aussies have embraced Internet shopping so enthusiastically, they are able to buy things at huge discounts from what they pay locally.
Cheers for the info.
Amazon must be licking their lips at the thought of getting further stuck in over there. They are well known for packaging things up and send them individually if it means saving tax, as it still works out cheaper with the extra packaging and postal costs - but with no limit (or a high limit) they don't even have to worry about that.
Wouldn't be surprised if you see that change sometime soon.
Ormy - purchases over AUS$1000? That wouldn't save anyone except high-end electrical and furniture retailers. Unless they're looking at higher taxes simply because they operate online (impossible to enforce anyway, but just theoretically speaking) then anything like that amount is pissing in the wind.
You know who's REALLY scared of Amazon, don't you? Supermarkets.
The $1,000 tax was suggested by Gerry Harvey - owner of the Harvey Norman retail chain of electronics/white goods stores - because his stores were getting killed in Oz by this guy....
....Kogan is very popular and far cheaper than the bricks and mortar people.
Important to remember that in Oz both Labour and the Conservative parties are heavily influenced by big retailers.
For the Conservative side of politics the big retailers (like Gerry Harvey) give them plenty of donations and for the Labour side the influence is secured by the fact that workers at big retailers such as Coles/Woolworths/Myer are unionised and in the 'Shoppies' trade union - one of the most powerful unions in the country.
As a result, politicians of both stripes are getting in the neck to clamp down on online retailers.
Play.com are only ceasing to sell directly themselves. A marketplace will still exist. By selling products through jersey, play and hmv, were able to sell products cheaper online, at similar prices to amazon. The government are closing the loophole. Play do not have stores so can still survive. Hmv would struggle as a going concern even without their massive debt. Their own website is cheaper than instore prices. When the loophole is closed hmv would have had no chance to compete on price.
I know Amazon haven't helped, and the high Street rents also contribute but from my perspective HMV and Zavvi and Jessops have struggled because they specialise in a market that has just disappeared.
I know CDs and DVDs are cheaper online but the number of people that buy them, at all, has reduced significantly. iTunes, Netflix, SkyTV, BBC/ITV iPlayer have all reduced the total market for the optical media. Digital media (and I'm including photos) have made the major markets that those shops specialise in redundant. I haven't even mentioned the pirating and the torrents that have reduced the demand for buying media that can be secured for nothing. Also let's remember that HMV started selling vinyl, something that actually needed replacing.
Jessops have gone, so have Kodak. The huge cash cow that was photo film and developing went years ago. Jessops were never going to be able to replace that income. The 'spend' has gone on computers, printers and 'photo paper'. Either Jessops senior managers should have divested into the replacement industries or they deserve what they get. Dell, for example, have sold more and more PCs and laptops. It's evolution. In the end the jobs move as the public spend their money on other things.
Even if one doesn't approve of downloading media (both legally and pirating) the companies selling broadband are generating millions each year, as are SkyTV.
People's desires change and what they do with their money changes. It is, in my view, a lack of foresight that prevented HMV from coming up with a better plan for the reduction in demand for optical media than rising prices, so as to rip off those that were unable to get their stuff online. It was never going to save them.
The High Streets will survive but will have to change. I think society is spending more and more time on 'at home' entertainment so there will be a shift in mega shopping centres. In the end I suspect they will all become more and more like Bluewater and offer more and more clothes stores - something that most people still prefer to buy in person.
It is terrible that 4,000 jobs might be lost but it is just evolution. It reminds me of a 'funny' story that a lecturer told on my MBA about a group of men watching a digger prepare the ground for railway lines. One chap says that the digger is taking away the job of twenty men with shovels and the chap next to him says or 5,000 with tea spoons.
The technology has moved on and the consumer has found a better way to get what he needs/wants so we have to find another product or service to supply.
This is an excellent post but you are forgetting one key point, Amazon (and others) are paying no or very little tax but then benefiting enormously from the road, rail and other infrastructure in developed markets that has been paid for by other corporate and personal tax payers - this is a real problem.
I cover the telecom industry for a living and the biggest single issue right now is that of "Over the Top" (OTT) content providers using fixed or mobile telecom networks to sell their services, these include companies like Netflix or What's App.
I cannot tell you how pissed off the telcos in countries like South Korea are who have spent billions building state-of-the-art fiber-to-the-home broadband networks (having been encouraged to do so by their government) and they now have these OTT players selling content to their subscribers and the telcos don't get a penny for it.
Korea Telecom has already had a massive dispute with Samsung because Samsung's connected TV's in Korea carry an OTT movie streaming service which was in direct competition with KT's own pay TV services, KT wanted Samsung to pay carriage fees for the service but Samsung refused and the issue is still simmering.
As one Keith Rupert Murdoch once observed, "The Internet will destroy a lot more jobs than it will create."
BBC Breaking News @BBCBreaking #HMV no longer accepting or issuing gift #vouchers - UK entertainment retailer appointing administrator http://bbc.in/ZS0mpD
BBC Breaking News @BBCBreaking #HMV no longer accepting or issuing gift #vouchers - UK entertainment retailer appointing administrator http://bbc.in/ZS0mpD
Bo!!ocks! i have lost out big time have been ill since xmas was going to have a spend up this weekend...how unlucky!! However does anyone know if this is legal and the chances of re instatement of the vouchers?
Feel sorry for the staff, but thinking of all my favourite recrod shops over the years, none of them is an HMV
Derek's Records in Eltham was my favourite.
I do remember getting totally blown away by my first vivist to The Virgin Megastore in Oxford St as a 14 year old.
I do find some peoples comments on here and the Jessops thread quite ridiculous. This is simply business and consumer evolution. It's always happened.
Fopp and Avalanche in Edinburgh, and Slipped disks in Chelmsford for me. Shops have always come and gone. there will be something else totake its place hopefully. If enough people still enjoy buying CDs and DVDs, browsing and shopping in a nice environment, maybe some smaller independent shops (like the ones that closed down when HMV came to town) will pop up? I'd shop in a place that specialised in my sort of music, espeically if it has a decent second hand section
5p in the pound at best! Surely they must have known this was coming? While in there getting Xmas gifts pressies I looked up online wot I could for and every thing was cheaper else where some games were as much as 20 pound cheaper! They lost lost out on over 500/700 pounds for being so overpriced Still a shame though as its not just the hmv staff to lose jobs the whole supply chain will suffer. They had a chance to rebrand and compete when zavvi went but didn't open their eyes and take it?
Am I right in saying if you buy a CD/DVD there is no VAT. Is this correct? Corporation tax is a big red herring v HMV as HMV would not have paid any anyway as they were losing money. However the big thing is their costs are always going to be far higher than Amazon or the supermarkets. Amazon just need a warehouse, while for the supermarkets they are "add ons", not their core business and they are used to much lower mark ups.
Although I click for Britain as far as shopping goes I suppose one thing I will miss from shops like HMV is the Geek. You know the fat beardy guy who knew the whole stores stock, DVD or CD, all release dates for albums and singles, and the title of that film that you couldn't remember of but starred Denholm Elliot and the woman from Tenko.
Interesting albeit incredibly harsh to hear a point of view on BBC radio this a.m. Basically, regeneration and recovery can't start until all the 'dead wood' i.e. failing companies are cleared out of the system. When companies linger on and then go into admin., they are bailed out for a while by the banks cobbling together rescue packages i.e. longer loan repayment times at very much cheaper rates. This in turn disadvantages other existing companies and prevents new businessesand ideas from starting up. He wanted to see the failure rate going up or, at least, accelerated. He didn't like the propping up bit.
Am I right in saying if you buy a CD/DVD there is no VAT. Is this correct? Corporation tax is a big red herring v HMV as HMV would not have paid any anyway as they were losing money. However the big thing is their costs are always going to be far higher than Amazon or the supermarkets. Amazon just need a warehouse, while for the supermarkets they are "add ons", not their core business and they are used to much lower mark ups.
No, you're not. That's why HMV's on-line business was run from the Channel Islands so that sales could benefit from lower tax rates, so they were at it as well as Amazon.
Comments
;-)
We are getting lots of consultancy requests from governments about this sort of thing, they have no choice but to act as Amazon etc are not only not paying tax but are putting lots of tax paying companies out of business.
Government is definitely the game to be in. Playing both ends against the the middle - It's like the protection racket that keeps on giving.
It means staff reviews, calls to the administrator and not the kind of pain you want after you've just grown 200% year on year and staffed yourself accordingly.
We sold our products to HMV at around the same price as the Supermarkets, yet HMV would always be the most expensive retailer around.
They lost their actual business plan and focus about three years ago. Fuckers even asked us, as late as Thursday last week to join the blue cross sale, which we agreed to and now every unit sold in that is going to the banks too!
I've been aware it could happen for ages but you pray to god it isn't going to.
But now it has .....
And I'll have to deal with the fall out tomorrow morning with worried staff, creditors and the like
Arse
I am on good terms with a couple of very senior federal MP's here and this is something that both political parties are starting to look at much more closely, they turned a blind eye for a while as it was in the 'too hard' basket but now they have to do something.
Amazon are really starting to take the piss now, they are building their distribution hubs closer and closer to customers and moving towards - as incredible as it sounds - a 'one hour delivery' model, and yet they are still operating as an off-shore company with few tax obligations.
The big retailers here are pig sick of it and people like Gerry Harvey and the big institutional shareholders of Coles/Woolworths are putting serious pressure on the federal government to level the playing field, with one suggestion being that GST (VAT) be applied to all web purchases over $1,000.
I know CDs and DVDs are cheaper online but the number of people that buy them, at all, has reduced significantly. iTunes, Netflix, SkyTV, BBC/ITV iPlayer have all reduced the total market for the optical media. Digital media (and I'm including photos) have made the major markets that those shops specialise in redundant. I haven't even mentioned the pirating and the torrents that have reduced the demand for buying media that can be secured for nothing. Also let's remember that HMV started selling vinyl, something that actually needed replacing.
Jessops have gone, so have Kodak. The huge cash cow that was photo film and developing went years ago. Jessops were never going to be able to replace that income. The 'spend' has gone on computers, printers and 'photo paper'. Either Jessops senior managers should have divested into the replacement industries or they deserve what they get. Dell, for example, have sold more and more PCs and laptops. It's evolution. In the end the jobs move as the public spend their money on other things.
Even if one doesn't approve of downloading media (both legally and pirating) the companies selling broadband are generating millions each year, as are SkyTV.
People's desires change and what they do with their money changes. It is, in my view, a lack of foresight that prevented HMV from coming up with a better plan for the reduction in demand for optical media than rising prices, so as to rip off those that were unable to get their stuff online. It was never going to save them.
The High Streets will survive but will have to change. I think society is spending more and more time on 'at home' entertainment so there will be a shift in mega shopping centres. In the end I suspect they will all become more and more like Bluewater and offer more and more clothes stores - something that most people still prefer to buy in person.
It is terrible that 4,000 jobs might be lost but it is just evolution. It reminds me of a 'funny' story that a lecturer told on my MBA about a group of men watching a digger prepare the ground for railway lines. One chap says that the digger is taking away the job of twenty men with shovels and the chap next to him says or 5,000 with tea spoons.
The technology has moved on and the consumer has found a better way to get what he needs/wants so we have to find another product or service to supply.
No, there are no rules in place at present, you can buy whatever you like on the Web with no taxes.
Part of the problem in Oz is that we have quite a high minimum wage, so retail workers are (relatively) well paid with the huge size of the country also making it expensive to ship goods from port to stores.
This is why Aussies have embraced Internet shopping so enthusiastically, they are able to buy things at huge discounts from what they pay locally.
However, the supermarkets have also been a threat to these retailers. On the day of release of a big film/game/book it is cheaper in the Supermarket (assuming you spend £50 on food and booze) than Amazon. This is key. I don't know how many of the latest FIFA games are sold on the opening weekend but I bet it's a lot!
You know who's REALLY scared of Amazon, don't you? Supermarkets.
Amazon must be licking their lips at the thought of getting further stuck in over there. They are well known for packaging things up and send them individually if it means saving tax, as it still works out cheaper with the extra packaging and postal costs - but with no limit (or a high limit) they don't even have to worry about that.
Wouldn't be surprised if you see that change sometime soon.
http://www.kogan.com/au/
....Kogan is very popular and far cheaper than the bricks and mortar people.
Important to remember that in Oz both Labour and the Conservative parties are heavily influenced by big retailers.
For the Conservative side of politics the big retailers (like Gerry Harvey) give them plenty of donations and for the Labour side the influence is secured by the fact that workers at big retailers such as Coles/Woolworths/Myer are unionised and in the 'Shoppies' trade union - one of the most powerful unions in the country.
As a result, politicians of both stripes are getting in the neck to clamp down on online retailers.
I cover the telecom industry for a living and the biggest single issue right now is that of "Over the Top" (OTT) content providers using fixed or mobile telecom networks to sell their services, these include companies like Netflix or What's App.
I cannot tell you how pissed off the telcos in countries like South Korea are who have spent billions building state-of-the-art fiber-to-the-home broadband networks (having been encouraged to do so by their government) and they now have these OTT players selling content to their subscribers and the telcos don't get a penny for it.
Korea Telecom has already had a massive dispute with Samsung because Samsung's connected TV's in Korea carry an OTT movie streaming service which was in direct competition with KT's own pay TV services, KT wanted Samsung to pay carriage fees for the service but Samsung refused and the issue is still simmering.
As one Keith Rupert Murdoch once observed, "The Internet will destroy a lot more jobs than it will create."
Swop ?
news.sky.com/story/1038182/hmv-collapse-gift-cards-and-vouchers-invalid
#HMV no longer accepting or issuing gift #vouchers - UK entertainment retailer appointing administrator http://bbc.in/ZS0mpD
I do remember getting totally blown away by my first vivist to The Virgin Megastore in Oxford St as a 14 year old.
I do find some peoples comments on here and the Jessops thread quite ridiculous. This is simply business and consumer evolution. It's always happened.
Surely they must have known this was coming?
While in there getting Xmas gifts pressies I looked up online wot I could for and every thing was cheaper else where some games were as much as 20 pound cheaper! They lost lost out on over 500/700 pounds for being so overpriced
Still a shame though as its not just the hmv staff to lose jobs the whole supply chain will suffer.
They had a chance to rebrand and compete when zavvi went but didn't open their eyes and take it?
Corporation tax is a big red herring v HMV as HMV would not have paid any anyway as they were losing money.
However the big thing is their costs are always going to be far higher than Amazon or the supermarkets. Amazon just need a warehouse, while for the supermarkets they are "add ons", not their core business and they are used to much lower mark ups.