The real question is, what are you doing about it?

Predictions Wagga’s “spiritual heart” – its main street – could transform from a retail hub to an oversized food court should spark a clarion call for change.

That change must be driven by us. Ever since the emergence of online sites like eBay, many local retailers have watched their market share being eaten away by a flurry of mouse clicks. The end game to this trend is both frightening and real.

Less local sales means less stores, less stores means less jobs, and less jobs means less residents in Wagga – and less essential services for the rest of us.

Of course, online shopping is now part of the retail landscape and it would be both naive and foolhardy to suggest people should refrain from it completely.

In a free market, shoppers have the right to seek out the best price available – whether it be in Baylis Street or Barbados. Despite being at a competitive disadvantage, many of our retailers are furiously trying to compete.

The situation is now critical: only a seismic shift in our shopping culture will save the retail landscape from its unedifying, slow demise. Until we all shop with a conscience and consider the impact of our spend, that “death by a thousand clicks” will continue.

But in the age of rampant materialism, asking shoppers to make decisions on anything but price could be a tough sell.