So I was sat on the tube the other day, and like many regular London commuters I was staring blankly into the mid-distance and avoiding eye contact with my fellow passengers. It's just something we do.

Anyway, as I glanced up I saw one of the posters that line the carriages and, well, it surprised me a little. Maybe it just shows I've been in this game too long but my first thought was 'ooh, the independent retailers aren't going to like that".

In the Harrod's colours and typefaces, it read like this:

"Get off at Knightsbridge, visit the discerning shopper's fave department store, ascend the exotic staircase and let Piers in the pinstripe suit demonstrate the magic of the latest high-definition flatscreen - then go to dixons.co.uk and buy it."

Ouch.

Now, firstly, if you're going to have a pop at anyone, don't pick Mohammed al Fayed and, secondly, with variations on the theme sticking the boot into John Lewis and Selfridges too, what on earth is Dixons thinking of?

If nothing else, you have to admire their nerve. They've taken a controversial issue, namely consumers using showrooms to touch and feel products and then going home and finding them cheaper online, and turned it into a marketing campaign. Pretty shameless, but fair play to them for actually coming out and saying it.

However, it doesn't make it any easier for your average independent retailer to swallow. This has been a constant source of gripe and grumble from them since the internet first became a viable shopping place and for kitchen studios in particular it stings hard.

Of course, in many ways you can't blame the consumer. If you were thirsty, wanted to buy a Coke, and there were two shops next door to each but one was selling that can for 40% less than the other, what would you do?

No, the blame lies squarely with the suppliers.

If a very good kitchen independent says he's losing appliance sales because customers can order online the same products he's offering for less than he can buy them from his supplier then there's something about the system that's not working.

History, unfortunately, plays its part. The internet has exposed just how much of a variation in trading terms there has always been between different retailers and yet many suppliers have continued to doggedly try and maintain this system.

The internet makes these variations available to the public with a few clicks of a mouse and a credit card. But in terms of getting a cheaper deal, is the information really that much different than a patient consumer could get with a telephone and the Yellow Pages in pre-internet days?

The real issue is not the method by which consumers find these price variations, but the variations themselves and unless some major suppliers change their entire pricing structure then this argument has got a long way to run yet.

We'll be writing about his issue again soon, so it would be very interesting to hear your views. Email me at andrew@kbbreview.com and let me know.

Andrew Davies, editor