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Case study: Can retailers win back shoppers who browse then buy online?

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Re: Case study: Can retailers win back shoppers who browse then buy online?

#41
post #37
post #4

Heh. They're dead right about the difficulty of cutting through a million options. I feel lame every time, but I find myself just going to thesweethome.com or thewirecutter.com, and then buying whatever they tell me to :-/ Either online or locally, whichever is more convenient and/or cheaper.

tl;dr - My best isn't necessarily your best. We're different people with (likely) different needs. That seems pretty foreign to me. While I would definitely look at something like that (although I've never heard of either of those sites until now, thanks), it seems weird to me that people would assume what some website thinks is "best" is so accurate as to accept their recommendation without doing any research whatso…

TL;DR: there are products that fulfill your, mine and everyone elses needs simultaneously quite well.

Products in a given category aren't usually trading off their features and price perfectly. There are some products that are significantly better than their competitors in all metrics at the same time; then most of the products in any given category are a mix of weird attempts at market segmentation and companies trying to simply scam you. Therefore it's not surprising one can often select a product that is objectively the best for vast majority of potential buyers.

Re: Case study: Can retailers win back shoppers who browse then buy online?

#42
post #37
post #4

Heh. They're dead right about the difficulty of cutting through a million options. I feel lame every time, but I find myself just going to thesweethome.com or thewirecutter.com, and then buying whatever they tell me to :-/ Either online or locally, whichever is more convenient and/or cheaper.

tl;dr - My best isn't necessarily your best. We're different people with (likely) different needs. That seems pretty foreign to me. While I would definitely look at something like that (although I've never heard of either of those sites until now, thanks), it seems weird to me that people would assume what some website thinks is "best" is so accurate as to accept their recommendation without doing any research whatso…

Most people aren't looking for the best. Most are looking for good enough at a decent price. Trying to find the best everything (and mix that in with the best price sometimes) is a tiring experience that isn't worth it to most people. Asking an impartial third party to narrow it down for you is a huge asset. A small minority of people want to spend a significant time researching every product they buy.

The key is impartial though.

Re: Case study: Can retailers win back shoppers who browse then buy online?

#43
post #27

Here's one thing brick-and-mortar stores could try learning from online retailers: stop bugging your customers. If I need help looking for a TV, I'll ask. I promise, I'm not shy. But if I want to just LOOK at some TV's and see what's available, please stop hovering over my shoulder and asking me if I have any questions. I don't, really. I can read the specs. If you want me to spend $400 or more on something, you're g…

...and yet some people report feeling ignored by shop staff. Is there any research into the ideal balance between asking people if they need help and not bugging them?

Yes, it's called a button, many pharmacies have it beside the electric shaver or other expensive items. Just put buttons next to items that call for staff.

Re: Case study: Can retailers win back shoppers who browse then buy online?

#44
post #19

Its interesting that none of the case study results faced reality; you're obsolete, pivot or close. Lots of long winded meandering that boils down to fiddling while rome burns. You've got legacy revenue for awhile, real estate, and employees, take advantage of it and pivot. "I know, we'll try to undercut the entire internet" LOL "We'll just work harder than everyone else" LOL "We'll sell only the most expensive produ…

Yeah, I can't help but scream at every one of their lame proposals: This is what drives people to buy online in the first place!

What's never mentioned is simply having their every day price match the online prices. But this is so glaringly obvious I assume it's simply financially impractical. I've really got to wonder what kind of margins they have to bridge?

Lobbying their state to drop sales tax and being 5-10% higher than online, but being open about it and marketing based on immediate service might work. Then again if it's a 30% chasm the situation seems quite hopeless.

As an aside, I wonder if they could get manufacturers to supply floor models gratis, or even paying a little for exhibition. After all, a brick and mortar store is essentially a giant billboard. Much better than some "minimum advertised price" anti-competitive bullshit.

Re: Case study: Can retailers win back shoppers who browse then buy online?

#45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah for something like a tv or monitor, you have to see it in person or you're rolling the dice. How's the glare? How does it look from other angles beside straight on? Hows this 4K res compare to the one next to it? Even if Amazon could provide a Hololens sessions for me to look at the product (which maybe they should do at some future Amazon retail location) alongside all the specs and reviews, it's still not goin…

Amazon could integrate that into Amazon Prime Now (1 hour delivery service). They could charge a small showroom fee and have a driver go out with a "floor model" they keep at the warehouse and an unopened box model for if you want to buy it on the spot.

Wow. The value of human time is incredibly low, if that can be made to work.

I have this thought every time I see a sign waiver.

Re: Case study: Can retailers win back shoppers who browse then buy online?

#46
For what its worth I basically use a two axis model for my likelihood to buy online vs. retail one axis is time frame (do i need that bathing suit right now or can i wait two weeks) this is really product agnostic - basically I'll pay a (potential) time/money premium to get something now.

the second axis is commodity vs. customization/fit on one end of the spectrum are standardized things (AA batteries, a DVD, part #12345) that i'll pretty much always buy online, the middle of that spectrum is stuff that you'd like to see in person you but would be willing to buy online (i.e. showroom): a watch (see it on your wrist first) furniture (how big is that couch). At the other end of the spectrum are things with a value added service that retailer does that i will buy in the store, something like ski boots or hockey skates where i want to try on a few, the salesman are more knowledgeable, and there is a customization/fitting process (custom footbeds or heat treatment)

Re: Case study: Can retailers win back shoppers who browse then buy online?

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am like this also... I wish I could just type into a search engine what I'm looking for and it comes up with "Hey, this thing is available at these local retailers for these prices, all within 5km of your house. Here are the returns policies for those places. Here are the caveats to their warranty programs. These places have free parking. Caution: Place X, Y or Z only takes cash. Here's a list of ATMs enroute." I r…

You wait 4-6 weeks for delivery?

Wow. I routinely wait 3 weeks for stuff from China. The few things that I can get locally, the Chinese are 1/4 the price, if not less.

And then there's things that are hard/impossible to get. Laser modules, radio boards, high velocity GPS boards. Those sorts of things.

Re: Case study: Can retailers win back shoppers who browse then buy online?

#48
post #6
post #4

Heh. They're dead right about the difficulty of cutting through a million options. I feel lame every time, but I find myself just going to thesweethome.com or thewirecutter.com, and then buying whatever they tell me to :-/ Either online or locally, whichever is more convenient and/or cheaper.

Knowing next to nothing about cameras, I just bought my wife a DSLR (the Nikon D3300) based on the recommendation of thewirecutter.com, and she loves it. I don't think there's a need to feel "lame" about it -- there's a limited number of decisions I can make in a day[1] and an even smaller number that I can truly be well informed on. For all the rest, I'm totally happy to outsource my decision making to online review…

Absolutely. I pick out one or two key features I want beyond the basics and then see if any of the highly rated models have those. If I'm shopping for a point and click that can take a picture only when it detects everyone's eyes open, then trying to make a decision on megapixels as well is pretty much waste of my time. I might as well flip a coin or choose the highest rated model with that feature (or give up on the feature if no models rate well!).

Re: Case study: Can retailers win back shoppers who browse then buy online?

#49

Sometimes I wonder why nobody opens a showroom that doesn't sell products, but only shows stuff. (At a fee of course.) But it might cost too much to finance all the products you wish/have to show. Manufactures can help and donate demo gear :)

It's called a trade show, and pretty much every type of product has some. I agree that there could be a room between them and shops, i.e. small-scale displays, but at this point why not just let one buy the stuff?

Trade shows are temporary. The advantage of a permanent showroom is that people know they can always go look at things right now.

> why not just let one buy the stuff?

Because then the store needs inventory, and all the overhead that entails. It is much cheaper to keep a single copy of everything.

But the perhaps bigger issue is one of incentives. I hate that when I'm at Best Buy looking at things, I know I'm being an annoying "showroomer", rather than a customer doing the correct and desired thing. Removing on-site sales from the equation aligns the incentives. Now the showroom will want to do whatever they can to make it easier for me to buy online, so that they get credit (and presumably commission) for the sale. Instead of trickery to confuse object recognition apps, maybe they'll make a really good augmented reality app that makes it stupidly easy to one-click order the exact thing they're looking at.

Re: Case study: Can retailers win back shoppers who browse then buy online?

#50
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...and yet some people report feeling ignored by shop staff. Is there any research into the ideal balance between asking people if they need help and not bugging them?

Is there room for an app here, where you can declare your need for help, and the store can respond (by queuing it or whatever)?

An app? The solution has existed for decades without being more complex than a lightbulb.. hit a button that turns on a light in the area so staff can come help you.

The specific case I'm thinking of was buying a graphing calculator that was locked in a case. Hit the button and someone will come by to get you one. Same concept on airplanes too, though.

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