Brian L. Frank for The Wall Street Journal
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Tri Tang, a 25-year-old marketer, walked into a Best Buy Co. store in Sunnyvale, Calif., this past weekend and spotted the perfect gift for his girlfriend.
Last year, he might have just dropped the $184.85 Garmin global positioning system into his cart. This time, he took out his Android phone and typed the model number into an app that instantly compared the Best Buy price to those of other retailers. He found that he could get the same item on Amazon.com Inc.’s website for only $106.75, no shipping, no tax.
Mr. Tang bought the Garmin from Amazon right on the spot.
Mr. Tang’s smartphone reckoning represents a revolution in retailing—what Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Chief Executive Mike Duke has dubbed a “new era of price transparency”—and its arrival is threatening to upend the business models of the biggest store chains in America.
I find lower prices on line all the time.
A bit like wiki for consumers.
If retailers want to charge a premium – then advertise the premium benefits alongside the product. Local staffing, 7-day return policy, warranty exchange etc.etc
Consumers will buy & return to buy more if you stand by decent principles.
When it genuinely costs more to run bricks & mortar on a true cost basis – very few will will walk away, but if you’re milking 50% or more – then expect what you get.
Animby–I’m less employed/active than you are. Glad to hear you did not burn those novels, or that they are electronically safe.
My life experience has been more of an editor/critic than anyone of original talent. Let those drafts sit for a while and go back to them with a fresh eye==or move on to what gives you greater pleasure now.
Choices, the joy of an informed self actualized person with interests.
Hmmm. I bloviate all over the place on practically anything and define words like FREEDOM and PRIVACY and SELF INTEREST as any good polymath will. But I don’t consider myself a philosopher or having a philosophy. Maybe I’m making such activity out to be more than it is? Para pathetic?
Brick and mortar retailers have to accept that most of their sales are about impulse buying and the convenience of having product in hand at time of purchase. Not days later, and in unknown condition. But I agree that the prices, shouldn’t be so different from online, at the big box stores. They save a ton of money having so few sales personnel per unit sales, compared to smaller stores. AKA, they sell more with less salesmen. Any yet they still don’t pass much of that saving on to the costumers. So the online sellers anyways beat the big boxes’ asses.
The question is, will they change with the times (trends), or choose to get legislation to protect their current pricing model? Like some kind of surcharge of online sales.
Glen,
there is a Format that CAN be made and used. BUT only a few Stores have tried it.
A distribution/storefront.
All items are setup to be Ordered and SHIPPED OUT.
1 each of the items in stock in On the shelf to be bought by walk-in customers.
A few front people, abit of security.
The problem MANY corps have is they want a STOREFRONT, in 1 spot, where everyone can SEE IT. NOT a BIG warehouse.
IF an item isnt in STOCK, its shipped Store to store, FREE.. or shipped to your HOME at a cost.
This is great until retail is killed then the real fun begins.
Where do you start your search then?
Take a look at Items that are currently only available on the WEB were WEB retailers don’t have to compete with pay this price and take it home.
Case in point, I was looking for a Jeff Dunham talking Peanut doll for my daughter, available in 1 of 2 places, inline at Jeffdunham.com or at one of his shows. I went on line the doll was $50.00 + S&H, I am in Canada so I had a choice of shipping by US Post $30.75 (60% of retail) with no guarantee that the item would even be delivered, or UPS $80 (160% of the retail cost). Once on line has killed the local store all your deals will be like this the items will be cheap but S&H will be marked up through the roof.
Soon to combat this practice you will see the Apple model deployed, Items will be priced by the manufacturer, no longer a suggested retail price but a charge this or we aren’t going to let you sell it price, and we all know what the suggested retail prices look like.