

Stores Confront New World of Reduced Shopper Traffic - prostoalex
http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702304419104579325100372435802-lMyQjAxMTA0MDEwNTExNDUyWj

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kps

      [people] seem to be figuring out what they want online then making
      targeted trips to pick it up from retailers that offer the best price.
    

Partly. Price can be a factor, but for me, time is often more important.
Specifically, if I can't readily determine that a store _has what I want in
stock_ , I'm not going to make the trip.

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rbritton
Agreed. I tend to frequent stores more that have a web-based interface to a
store's inventory. The best of these that I go to semi-regularly are Home
Depot and Lowe's, but there are a surprising number of other stores that have
no way to check availability.

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logn
Stores are confronting the reality that they lose when they don't offer
anything the online experience lacks. Best Buy complains of reduced shoppers.
But the MicroCenter near me is always packed. I think it's because they have
really outstanding sales people and have a wide array of products that even
online aren't easy to find. If I wanted to shop at Best Buy I face limited
selection and apathetic and unskilled sales staff (which is a worse experience
than Newegg or Amazon).

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mikestew
If Best Buy staff were merely apathetic and unskilled I might still shop
there. Instead, they seem to actively go out their way to piss me off. But
maybe that's what you mean by unskilled. :-) I used to go there when I needed
something that day. Then I decided that there's nothing I need so quickly that
I'm willing to put up with Best Buy. So Amazon or Newegg it is.

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swang
I'll just comment on Best Buy specifically.

1\. Person ringing up your items would ask you if you wanted to subscribe to
magazines for free but they never told you it was actually for 6 months before
they start charging you.

2\. Selling older TV models and other stuff when they could get away with
that. Most laptops were semi-new but otherwise I would never go to BB to buy
(for example) a refrigerator because the people there don't know shit about it
and are probably trying to sell me last year's model at this year's prices.

3\. Geek Squad is terrible and I don't want to look it up but I'm betting
there are hundreds of, "please don't reformat my laptop HD" stories where they
end up doing it anyways.

4\. UPSELLING ME ON EXTENDED WARRANTIES... for a USB cable (while back but
just replace it now with HDMI cable) that I had to buy because I needed it
immediately.

So I can either get something on Amazon, maybe lookup reviews from another
site, and then click buy and get it within 2-3 days, _OR_ I can go through
with the above. Yeah, No thanks. That's why you lose customers Best Buy, not
just because of online. Your stores are run like shit and then you treat most
of your customers like shit.

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babby
>for a USB cable

And selling it to you for literally +2000% on cost. Seems these days things
like cables or headphones are ridiculously marked up. You visit dealextreme
and suddenly you realize; yeah, I've been doing it critically wrong.

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csense
The article talks about customers who "showroom" \-- use the physical store to
learn more about a product, then buy it from an online retailer.

I often go to an online store to learn more about a product (pricing, reviews,
pictures), then buy it in person from a B&M (brick & mortar). I call this
"reverse showroom" [1]. Does anyone else do this?

Benefits include:

\- B&M retailers accept cash which is convenient and maximizes my privacy

\- I can get the product right away

\- I don't have to worry about goods left outside suffering from the elements
or theft

\- Returning a non-functioning product is usually simple and free

B&M marketing should stress these benefits.

[1] A term I just made up.

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jinushaun
Online still can't compete with shoppers that once something same day. That's
where they should focus, not price.

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rahimnathwani
Here in China, at least in tier-1 cities, same-day delivery is common for
groceries and, to a lesser extent, for electronics and books.

IIRC one of the large multiple-category online retailers promises delivery
within 4 hours if you order by 11am.

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thaumasiotes
Where do you order groceries? I live in Shanghai, if it matters.

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rahimnathwani
1号店 ([http://www.yhd.com/](http://www.yhd.com/)) and Amazon
([http://z.cn/](http://z.cn/))

(Disclaimer: I work at Amazon)

