What, surely not?
" in some instances demanding up-front payments from retailers before the goods are even shipped"
Those pesky wholesalers, demanding that someone pay for something before they'll send it out. I just can't imagine how the retailers will survive now that they're going to have to have made some profit before they can buy something else to sell...
I wonder if we can reverse the whole situation : local supermarkets let me take as much shopping as I like and then I only have to pay for it when I use it.
Or, Christmas presents that I give out now and only have to pay for when the bill comes in, after the 25th December.
That would solve the credit crunch!