

From Retail Palace to Zombie Mall: How Efficiency Killed the Department Store - samclemens
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/how-efficiency-killed-the-department-store/

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bsg75
> “We have different ideas of efficiency now,” Wood says. “We want to shop
> with as little intrusion by anyone else as possible. Self-checkout is one
> of, in my opinion, the least efficient tools in the world, yet everyone is
> obsessed with using self-checkout at the grocery store. It’s so much faster
> to just wait in line and have someone check out for you.”

There seem to be contradictory statements there. No wonder online vendors are
killing the retail outlet.

Self checkout appears to be a way to lower both employee costs and customer
satisfaction. These systems often don't work well, and with the cashier staff
reduced to minimums, often it takes longer to un-wedge the self checkout
process than to wait for the one or two human cashiers among the 20+ unused
registers. My local Target and Home Depot stores come to mind.

> In actuality, I think Amazon is highly inefficient if you don’t know what
> you’re buying because you don’t have anyone to help you and say, ‘No,
> actually, this is better than that.’

That service died with the management ilk of chains like Circuit City in the
US that replaced experienced, knowledgable salespeople with underpaid "ad
pushers", trained in nothing more than moving the hot item of the week. In
some cases I found it most efficient to order online for pickup at the local
store, and bypass all the unhelpful "help".

With Amazon, I can at least read reviews, attempt to pick out those that are
informed, and get some actual information. Modern retail does _not_ have a
current or past equivalent.

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meatysnapper
Amazon had a nice tax dodge for a while too. Lower price for the same thing;
not bad.

~~~
toomuchtodo
Amazon is frequently more expensive on some items I buy; I _still_ buy from
Amazon because the experience is better, cost savings be damned.

Drive to the store, have to talk to someone, grab item, checkout, drive home?
NOPE.

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Fr0styMatt88
Retail stores just physically cannot compete on choice. There's only so much
stock that you can hold at a walk-in store and they all seem to become
necessarily limited to the 'popular and generic items'. The smaller niche
stores meanwhile get squeezed out by rising costs.

There have been times I've gone into the city with the intention of buying
something from a retail store, because I want it that day. I spend hours
walking around trying to find the particular thing that I know I want, but to
no avail. Everyone seems to carry the same stuff and more often than not it
isn't the stuff that's generally recommended as excellent.

One example that comes to mind - I went out once looking for an iPhone/Android
compatible game controller (specifically it was the MOGA Power Pro but I would
have taken anything similar at the time). Went to the only big game store
chain we have (EB Games), couldn't find it. Went to the two big electronics
store chains we have; couldn't find it. Went to two different big-box
department store chains we have; couldn't find it. I think I even went to the
Apple store and they didn't have the one I was looking for. Ended up just
ordering it online.

Another example - one day I felt like getting some physical books. Went out to
the local mall and to the physical bookstore they have there. Worse situation.
Out of the whole store, I think only two shelves were computer/IT books.
Nearly all of which were "Teach yourself X in Y hours" or "Microsoft Office
something or other". Figured this was a lost cause; I could take the nearly
hour commute into the CBD and go to one of the big shops but at that point I
thought, why bother? Ordered from Amazon, just waited for the international
shipping. At least I got what I was looking for without feeling like I wasted
my time.

For an educated consumer, there is just no reason to go retail other than the
social experience. I don't remember it always being like this, but maybe it's
because I was young and without the ubiquitous Internet you actually went to a
store to browse and discover new products.

It used to be different and exciting to go to a big electronics/music/book
store and see all the new things that you didn't know about before walking in
the store. That just isn't the world we live in anymore.

~~~
shirro
Maybe it is more of an Australian thing but limited choice is a big thing for
me. I currently live in a rural area and the last few times I have travelled
to the nearest city to do shopping I have left disappointed and swore I would
just shop online in future.

It used to be there would be many different stores offering specialised stock
but now it is all identical franchises nationwide. People drive to the nearest
big box store that has the same severely limited range as the next big box
store a 20 minute drive away. You can travel from one side of the country to
the other and every store is the same. Useless.

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npsimons
Good riddance. I've never liked shopping, and these days, if I can't find
something in 10 minutes, I'll go home and buy it online in 5. Note that I'm
more than willing to try buying local first, support local businesses, etc,
but malls have always been a blight.

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slr555
I wonder why the flagship department stores seem to have perished in the USA
but not as much in Europe. Of course Harrods comes to mind. KaDeWe in Berlin
is an amazing store the recalls and even surpasses the main Marshall Fields in
Chicago 50 years ago. KaDeWe is always packed with locals and tourists alike.
The author of the article seems solely focused on the USA.

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Retric
Nordstroms in the US seems to be doing fine using the classic department store
setup. I think the difference is they don't sell electronics or home
appliances and target upmarket.

IMO, while everyone blames online shopping it's arguably the death of the
middle class that's really at fault.

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eitally
I don't need to visit frequently, but when I do, I am always surprised and
delighted by the customer service at Nordstrom. They seem to be the only
national brick & mortar chain [I've encountered] that has a Zappo's level of
service.

