
Electronics Stores Fight for Survival - taytus
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444772804577621581739401906.html?mod=WSJ_article_comments#articleTabs%3Dcomments
======
lutusp
A quote: "RadioShack, whose stock is down 75% this year, is playing down
cables and connectors and refashioning itself as a convenience store for
smartphone buyers."

So sad. I can remember when Radio Shack was ... I don't know how else to say
this ... a literal radio shack. I was a pre-teenage ham radio operator, and
Radio Shack had pretty much everything I needed to build the radio equipment I
needed for my ham station.

This was back when people built their own electronic equipment. Yes, I know
that's hard to believe in the context of modern times, but when people wanted
a radio transmitter or receiver, they would build one.

My first designs were based on vacuum tubes because ... again, I don't know
how else to say this ... transistors were just a laboratory curiosity. Later,
when Radio Shack started carrying transistors instead of tubes, I began
designing transistor circuits.

An early Radio Shack store was a small warehouse of electronic parts, and
almost no finished products. Now it's struggling to compete with all the other
me-too finished-goods outlets. Even though the name "Radio Shack" sounds like
a clever marketing slogan for modern times, originally it was a simple
statement of fact -- they were a radio shack. And the employees actually knew
something about electronics.

Later I designed electronics for the NASA Space Shuttle, so Radio Shack was
part of my unorthodox education. I'll be sorry to seem them go.

------
atpaino
The only way I can really see a big-box chain like Best Buy surviving
alongside Amazon and the other online retailers is if they were to focus
heavily on training their employees to be knowledgeable on all the products
they are selling, similar to Apple's "Geniuses". I think the original problem
stores like Best Buy were created to solve no longer exists - namely, a
_physical_ one-stop shop for all your electronic needs. Amazon is clearly
better for this.

Where I see opportunity for Best Buy to differentiate is in customer
experience. When the typical consumer decides they want to buy a new laptop,
and don't want a mac, they basically have a couple of options. They can either
research laptops on their own (through Amazon, Engadget, et al) or they can
just drive to a Best Buy store and buy whatever the employee tells them. The
thing is, the Best Buy option really isn't much better currently because their
average employee isn't very knowledgeable on the laptops they carry.

For this to work, Best Buy would have to both pay employees more and spend
more time/money training them. Not to mention the costs associated with re-
branding the company as a whole. However, IMHO I think something this drastic
needs to be done for them to survive.

~~~
suresk
One potential problem with that approach - a lot of people would utilize more
knowledgeable salespeople like they currently utilize brick and mortar stores:
Do the research there, then buy online to save money. This is fine for Apple,
since most of the products they are educating people on are their own.

~~~
agumonkey
Yes, this is a common reflex (guilty of this myself). It's hard to build a
loyal customer crowd. Maybe with copious rebates for regulars.

------
logn
I've found that electronics stores which employ really smart people have no
problem finding business (e.g., Fry's, MicroCenter). A lot of people need
computer guidance from smart store employees. Even as a tech savvy developer,
I am confused by hardware a lot. Like, what hard drive will fit in my Mac
Mini?

~~~
lotsofpulp
Your example problem is solved cheaper, faster, and more reliably by searching
online.

[https://www.google.com/search?q=what+hard+drive+will+fit+in+...](https://www.google.com/search?q=what+hard+drive+will+fit+in+my+Mac+Mini&sugexp=chrome,mod=13&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8)

------
squonk
Retail is not going away. It is evolving.

Big box stores killed the mom & pops. Online retailers killed the big box
stores: Circuit City, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Blockbuster, Tower Records.

WalMart is right to be concerned.

Consumers benefit from online shopping: \- Skip the ride to the store and back
\- Seemingly limitless selection in a few searches \- Confidence in pricing by
comparing

Brick & mortars need to do their homework and understand the psychology of
shopping in an Internet world.

There will always be those who: \- Want it right now \- Enjoy the social
interaction of shopping with friends \- Want to talk to someone who knows what
they are talking about \- Want to be 'seen'

They need to wind down and market to that segment of the population. That is
where they are headed anyway.

~~~
drstewart
>Big box stores killed the mom & pops.

I think the internet will kill big box stores and bring back mom & pops.
There's no point in going to Best Buy/Walmart/etc. to buy something I can get
on Amazon for a fraction of the price, but I will browse local stores for
unique and interesting goods that are harder to find online if you're not
looking for them.

It will bring back browsing as a legitimate activity, something which big box
stores completely killed imo.

~~~
cshesse
Physical stores may be able to offer expertise as well as seeing and trying
out things in person. I imagine they might not even stock multiple copies of a
single product to save space, and you just order the product to be delivered.

------
SlipperySlope
Given current trends and the aggressiveness of online retailers, its clear to
me that increasing value percentages of the goods that we buy will be
delivered to our door and not from physical stores.

So infrequently purchased items will be relatively harder to find at physical
stores, and need-it-now items will be priced at a high markup in order to pay
the rent and labor costs born by physical stores.

Another trend affecting all retail is the recycling of used goods via
craigslist, eBay, and so forth. When such an item is purchased used, then its
very possible that a retail purchase was lost.

Many people do not need to go to a physical store to learn about desirable
goods, rather they observe what their friends have, maybe try it out, then buy
online - with no physical store comparison or impulse shopping.

------
Zarathust
I would pay for quality counselling in store. What I get instead is highly
pressured, commission driven employees who have low level knowledge of their
products.

I must admit that I could buy it for cheaper online anyway, but there is
currently a negative incentive to go to those shops

------
Sharma
I think its otherwise now. I will mention just one example and same thing will
apply to many. I always preferred to buy from amazon(picking just one name)
because of no tax and so always better than those stores.But now Amazon is
charging sales tax in many states and plan is to charge in more and more
states.That will be followed by other online stores and then it will always be
more convenient to go to local store(because price is same) feel the item and
return it hassle free if you don't like it!

~~~
jlarocco
In the United States that isn't technically true. Most states require people
to pay a "use tax" [1] on the stuff they buy from Amazon.

    
    
       [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_tax

~~~
maxerickson
The structure of the use tax in my state sort of encourages online purchasing.
For purchases less than $1,000, there is an option to pay an income based lump
sum (rather than itemizing the purchases and paying a calculated tax). Someone
who doesn't care to keep track of the individual purchases saves a bit of tax
by making sure they make sufficient purchases (for an AGI of $100,000, the
savings kick in at ~$100 a month).

