I think it works both ways quite frankly. Some years ago I purchased a Uvex helmet from a well known shop, I think it was 1500 bucks or something, cant remember, anyway, a year or so later I damaged it, but I liked the fit and so went back to the same store, they told me they dont sell them anymore and they didnt know who did. I forgot about it and bought another brand, then one day I was strolling through Princess crossing and I saw literally hundreds of Uvex helmets in the store, I went in and asked how much,.... R850.00 was the answer. So yah, works both ways I think. Personally I dont buy much so seldom visit any stores, I service my bike twice a year and whatever parts need replacing gets done then, other than that I just buy tyres and tubes, but my impression is that if you want something Cajees will have it, on the shelf, and you could walk out with it, I dont know much about pricing but they appear to carry an inordinate amount of stock and that has cost implications, so its a trade off in my opinion, order it maybe a little cheaper and wait, or walk in, pay a bit more and walk out with the goods, or at least, thats the way I see it.
