It’s 2012 and the internet should no longer be a mystery to us as we’re buying more and more things on it.

It’s 2012 and the internet should no longer be a mystery to us as we’re buying more and more things on it.

Apple has changed the way we buy music: it has introduced a whole new category that didn’t exist just a few years ago – the mobile app. Amazon is changing the way books are bought with the introduction of the Kindle, and companies such as Netflix are pioneering how we download films.

So how are our great electricals retailers doing, the very companies that sell the computers, phones and tablet devices that allow us to get onto the internet?

A few weeks ago I was in the Dixons duty free store in Manchester Airport where I noticed a Philips electric toothbrush for sale at £111.41. I was drawn to it because I bought the same model the month before from Amazon for £45.99, including VAT.

So why the big difference in price and how much do they charge landside? I checked the Currys website – its price for the same toothbrush is £119.99, which is £99.99 excluding VAT. This is cheaper than the duty free store and worse still the product is not available for home delivery, it’s only available for in-store collection. So what about Pixmania? It’s price is £89.90 with £6 shipping.

So if it’s a matter of one company, three different prices and no home delivery, or go to Amazon with a current price of £60 and free shipping, where would you buy it from?

Customers use smartphones and they are getting smarter. Apps such as Red Laser can scan a barcode within a few seconds to give you the cheapest price.

The Dixons corporate site states: “Did you know, we won’t be beaten on price, our price promise means that if you do find it cheaper we will refund you the difference plus 10%.”

But if you ask a salesperson in-store to price match Amazon, the response is: “Sorry, but we don’t price match the internet”. How do I know? I’ve tried it.

The Dixons, Currys, Comet and Argos websites are not in the same league as Amazon for design and ease of use, but the bigger issue is that, after all this time, they have yet to address how to deal with the big price difference between the pure-play internet retailers and themselves.

The other bigger question is, why have these big retailers not diversified and become players in the MP3 market, the video download market, the ebook market and the app market?

After all, they sell the devices that allow customers to download these apps, but they are letting other companies make money from their customers – the simple answer is because they still don’t get the internet.

In 2006 I phoned John Clare, then group chief executive of Dixons, and told him that it needed to improve the internet offering because Amazon was going to eat its lunch.

He got one of his guys to talk to me and his response was ‘we are not worried about Amazon because they don’t have a sustainable business model’. That says it all.