The mood on the British high street appears to be lower by the day. On Monday, Carphone Warehouse announced that it will close 92 stores, joining a long list of familiar names shuttering outlets: Marks & Spencer, which last week expanded its closure programme to 100 sites; Carpetright; New Look. Debenhams is cutting the size of shops. Mothercare is vacating 50 stores as part of a desperately needed rescue plan; House of Fraser is also seeking a company voluntary arrangement to slash its rents. Other chains – like Maplin and Toys R Us – have simply collapsed. Next’s chief executive described last year, which saw an 8% slide in profits, as the “toughest in 25 years”.

Thanks to e-commerce, many buyers skip the trip into town, or go there to assess the product and then buy it cheaper from the comfort of their sofa. Big online retailers whose operations are spread across countries thrive not only thanks to their convenience but because they save on costs such as business rates – which have risen substantially in the south of the UK this year. Worse still, they can realise their profits in the country where the tax is lowest, instead of facing British corporation tax. And most rely on the gig economy model, outsourcing delivery to supposedly self-employed workers who lack the protections staff would enjoy. Both these factors are to society’s detriment – and both allow them to offer lower prices to consumers, perpetuating and extending their reach.

That isn’t the whole story. The squeeze in spending reflects a squeeze in household incomes; Carphone Warehouse puts part of its woes down to customers holding on to handsets for longer. While online sales will continue to grow, the rate of growth is expected to fall to single digits this year. People are less likely to buy things than before, and more likely to purchase experiences and services: meal deliveries, gym memberships and trips to the pub. UK fashion purchases are expected to fall for a second year. Just Eat entered the FTSE 100 at the end of last year, while M&S is expected to lose its place.

Many wonder if we have reached “peak stuff”, due more to years of high consumption and the state of the housing market than environmental concerns. A boom in rented storage units has not fully compensated for a lack of space at home. The increasing number of renters may be reluctant to keep acquiring objects that they could soon have to shift somewhere new. Those who have bought are likely to be in a smaller home, already overflowing.

And retailers have brought some of their troubles on themselves. Shabby, outdated stores with unfriendly service and uninspiring stock don’t lure in shoppers. Some companies are too strapped to afford an overhaul, but others have been too quick to send profits to shareholders instead of investing for the future. The danger is that high street decline becomes self-perpetuating, as sites are left empty or bargain bin retailers and yet more charity shops move in – encouraging consumers to turn to a slick app or a glossy out-of-town complex instead.

That is bad news for communities as well as shopkeepers because high streets fill a social function as well as a commercial one. The EU commission has proposed a tax on the online turnover of big tech firms; Conservative MP Neil O’Brien argues that the proceeds of such a levy could be spent to cut taxes for small businesses. More useful might be a fund to help places adopt imaginative and diverse responses to the new environment, with businesses, local authorities and communities working together. That might mean the mixing in of leisure facilities in one town, pop-up shops in another or an overhauled market in a third.

It is easy to forget that the vast majority of sales – at least four-fifths – are still made in stores, as e-commerce giants have noted. In the US, Amazon bought grocer Whole Foods and its 460 stores; in China, online behemoth Alibaba and its rival JD.com are snapping up bricks-and-mortar. Meanwhile, Walmart is buying e-commerce businesses. The two worlds are converging. That is another reason why high street decline is not inevitable. But without a fairer tax system, and investment in support of offline retailers, it will be much more likely.