The emergence of teleshopping as a mainstream arrangement opens up the prospect of a change in the pattern of household task with potential for more women-friendly household organisation.
There is a need to ensure that teleshopping does not develop simply as a facility for the wealthy or the middle income groups in society but that it also develops as an option for low income groups.
Historically low income groups have made use of home delivery services such as those provided by catalogue companies on the basis of local agents and weekly repayment arrangements. Given this history there is no reason too suppose that low income groups would not benefit from on line shopping arrangements.
As with the traditional catalogue companies, there may be need for the development of specialised payment systems to enable low income households to make use of teleshopping facilities: government social service agencies, supermarket chains and the banking institutions may need to devise appropriate forms of access cards outside of the high interest credit card systems.
An electronic welfare payment card could enable the online purchase of groceries by those on low income with severe mobility constraints.
Such electronic payment cards are in use in the USA but are used within stores rather than across the internet.
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Margaret Grieco
Professor of Transport and Society
Transport Research Institute, Napier University
66 Spylaw Road, Edinburgh EH10 5BR
e-mail at m.grieco@napier.ac.uk