There was a time when the corner shop reigned supreme, with all the local residents relying on it for general supplies and in many cases it was used as a daily top-up to the weekly shop at one of the larger supermarkets, for things like milk, eggs and bread. Our corner shop was only a few houses away from ours and I remember being sent out by my mother before school to buy bread for the packed lunch sandwiches and always trying to buy a chocolate for myself with the change. These small and usually friendly shops were very much at the heart of the community with the local housewives often meeting up to exchange gossip, children spending their pocket money and men popping in every morning to pick up their morning newspaper.

A lot of people blame the demise of so many of these local shops on the onslaught of the large supermarket chains and franchises. This is true to an extent, since the widespread growth of these large shopping centres and markets led to many customers deserting the friendly service of the small retailer in favour of the cheaper bargains and variety available under the roofs of the giant superstores. The few shops which weathered this difficult time now face a new enemy- online shopping.

The internet has changed the face of shopping as it used to be, with the advent of discount online stores offering free online coupons and promo codes. Words like coupon codes and overstock coupons are used by almost everybody with a home computer and online coupons are even given as gifts. The fact is that online shopping is now simple and even easy to avail by the older generation, for many of whom it is a godsend as they are unable to leave the home as much as they would like to. Added to this convenience factor is the way that savings are available on almost every object or service that you can think of, due to discount vouchers and overstock promo codes, making online shopping hard to resist.