An online store doesn't have bills to pay? Are you retarded? They still require warehouses or some sort of real property in which to store their stock. They obviously have electricity bills etc. to pay... they have to spend time and money to develop the site. Sure their costs aren't high, they don't have "salespeople" to pay. Fuck salespeople though. They piss me off. I hate going into a store "hey buddy, can I help you?" NO, you can't help me, because you are most likely a retard that doesn't know shit, and you are gonna pressure me to buy something. I would rather walk around the store comfortably and have a laid back shopping experience and not have some asshat breathing down my neck, telling me what I should and shouldn't ride.
Warranty is a problem when you buy online? Ok. perhaps but in my experience, not really. When I had a problem with my Armadas I just called Armada, Tyson gave me an R.A. number I shipped him the product and I got new skis, and some free clothing. What a hassle... I didn't have to go to the shop and have some guy give me grief about what happened to my boards.
The only ski shop I like to go into is Jibij, Josh kicks ass, but from a financial standpoint I can't afford to really shop their. They only carry the latest and most expensive gear, and I simply cannot afford this luxury.
Online shopping is only going to get more popular in the future. REAL shops will never be completely phased out, but in the next 15 years I predict at least half of ski dedicated shops will be out of business, and replaced by online exclusive distribution, which may be a good thing cause there are some really awful shops...