"Cash allows people to spend as they chose, whether it's on food or medicine, or many of them accumulate debt at local stores and use this money to repay part of it, which enables them to keep borrowing, " says Oxfam media officer Caroline Gluck.
Many consumers, in the market for big-ticket electronic items, shop Best Buy stores and then use the information and advice received to make informed on-line purchases at lower prices from retailers with less overhead than Best Buy.