http://www.thegazette.com/subj...t-40-stores-20171116

A fella mentioned at breakfast that over 190 retail stores have closed since january 1.

so I am wondering when retailers will see the proverbial light and start changing their ways ,
so that customers will actually prefer to go in to a brick and mortar store.

I think the some of the family owned stores are already starting to embrace the old time "customer comes first" mentality .

but these stores with two board members for every sales floor employee , are done for

You can't shop at Amazon and then wonder where all the local stores went.

When I worked my way through college as, among other things, a dance band musician, I learned that if you want to dance, you have to pay the band.

The consumer doesn’t any longer value brick and mortar with sales force.

They believe, apparently, that you have to be stupid to pay $4,000 for a huge TV functionally and operationally identical, if not the exact model, to the TV sold by Costco, Walmart or Amazon for $2500.

when was the last time you made a big purchase without doing any research?

who needs a salesman who's only somewhat familiar with the product you're interested in?

quote:

who needs a salesman who's only somewhat familiar with the product you're interested in?

This is also a result of people demanding the lowest price possible.

Once upon a time you had stores with very knowledgeable salespeople. Then the store down the street determined they could hire somewhat knowledgeable salespeople for a lower wage. So now people would shop at the first store to get their information, then go down the street and buy from the lower priced store.

Then another store came along. They decided they could just hire an idiot to stock the shelves. He doesn't know anything about anything, but they can now sell their products for less than the second guy.

The first guy is now out of business, so people find out whatever they can from the second guy, then buy from the third. Second guy will be out of business soon.

Enter the internet. No salespeople at all. No retail lease payments either. So now people will go to the third guy to see the product first hand, and then buy online. Want to guess who'll be out of business next?

Consumers demand knowledge. They demand access to the product. But then they refuse to spend money with those who offer it.

I already experience this with hardware stores. There used to be several small places that had all sorts of specialty stuff that I used. Along came Home Depot, Lowes, and Menards, none of which sell the things I need. The small guys are long gone, so they are no longer an option.

This will only get worse.

You're gonna have to find a lot more people who care about what they're selling and can learn customer relations.

As others have stated, the problem is not customer service. You still have niche retail boutiques, but even those are feeling pressure. The problem is no one wants to hassle with retail salespeople or crowds of people when they can get a lower price online and have it delivered to their door or office in a day or 2. The retail game has changed completely and it's not going to go back to the way it was.

I'm one of those people who don't like to hassle with retail when I don't have to - all Christmas shopping for years has been done online. I wouldn't care if the workers were dressed in tuxedos and pushed me around the store in a cart, I don't want to hassle with it.

Paying a premium for excellent customer service may or may not be worth it depending on the purchase. Home Depot vs. the local hardware store is a wonderful example. I go to HD and have to look for the help and then hope I find one of the employees that actually knows anything about anything. I save money but the aggravation level might not be worth it. The local hardware store has higher prices but the employees are knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful. Add online to the mix and I don't have to leave the house and can shop for the best price from my couch. No parking hassles, no beggars, no disinterested clerks, no hassle.


Not gonna get better with the nonsense the business owner has to deal with. I 'm no math whiz but $15/hr plus benefits to stock shelves can only mean less staff trying to do more work.

The problem is people want to get priority high level customer service and pay no service no contact no overhead prices of online retailers.

Funny though driving around the past few days there are a ton of people going shopping now for the holidays, stores seem to have quite a few shoppers, at least the ones I go to.

In most cases I despise and work diligently to avoid in-person customer service and other sales related interactions, with the associated salesmanship, upsells, and the rest.

I know what I want, I can operate a computer and google, and I can have it delivered to my door without wasting a single second in a store, in some line, and the rest, 99% of the time.

I suspect variations of this attitude are vastly more popular than regular/older models, and aside from various boutiques and other edge cases I suspect its never going back.

A lot of retail stores have turned into nothing but showroom for people looking to buy stuff online.

Declining sales have made it very difficult for may retail stores to make a profit. Historically retail pays crap and IMO that is not about to change. While there are many people who provide good customer service even while being not much a whole lot won't and are simply biding their time to find a better paying job. Turnover is huge in retail businesses.

In general Americans vastly prefer lower prices over service as has been shown time and time again as Walmarts come into town and devastate the smaller retail businesses even though Walmart has probably the worst retail customer service that can be found.

I try to shop locally whenever possible. Recently I went to Ace Hardware down the road for vacuum cleaner bags and the price was $7.50. I thought that was high and went to Walmart where the same package was $2.99.
Sorry, but my ability to support local business only goes so far.

It is a bit sad commentary on the evolution of retail commerce.
Unfortunately, it is the way of the world.

Having gown up in retail and before the Internet they were dramatically different.
I was an Audio (then came Video) salesman where we actually went through a "real" sales process with the customer from greeting to close.
You had to know something > about your product, industry, competition and yes even business and selling.
We didn't have the Internet for confusion and competition but there was mail-order.


You can't always blame the brick and mortar store owners as they are in a rock and a hard place.
Can't afford someone that is smart, sharp, educated and knowledgeable just to get shot down by an Internet asshole shopper.

Additionally you complicate it with these entitled Millennial's in the workforce > you have a recipe for disaster.
Furthermore the B&M's actually NEED to make a higher profit percentage to pay for overhead > all squeezed by the Internet.

Sorry to see this evolution but I value my experience greatly in that era.
YMMV

Everyday people have no idea of overhead. If they do walk into a brick & mortar store, they want a very knowledgeable staff member to bend over backwards to answer every single question, no matter how inane. Then they want free delivery, setup, and product training.
They also want all of this for the same, if not lower price of the Internet “competition”.
They have no inkling what it takes to pay staff, TRAIN staff, keep an inventory, and keep the lights on.
And honestly, they don’t care.
They honestly do NOT care if you are there for the next purchase, or for support/service down the line, as long as they got “a deal”.

They will absolutely come in, ask questions of the staff (keeping said staff from possibly helping PAYING customers) and then go home and jump on Amazon. All in their twisted rendition of “The Art of the Deal”.

I think that ship has sailed. Gun stores too. I stop in to brick and mortar stores and watch people getting raked over the coals by salesman that don’t know their asses from their elbows. There’s a local store here that claims they are the biggest in the country or some such shit. I needed a Glock trigger housing for a build and called to see if they had one. Sure did...$27. These cost $7 from brownells or midway. Go fuck yourselves. I got one on eBay and had it at my door in 3 days for $9 shipped.

quote:

Originally posted by hudr:
Everyday people have no idea of overhead. If they do walk into a brick & mortar store, they want a very knowledgeable staff member to bend over backwards to answer every single question, no matter how inane. Then they want free delivery, setup, and product training.
They also want all of this for the same, if not lower price of the Internet “competition”.
They have no inkling what it takes to pay staff, TRAIN staff, keep an inventory, and keep the lights on.
And honestly, they don’t care.
They honestly do NOT care if you are there for the next purchase, or for support/service down the line, as long as they got “a deal”.

They will absolutely come in, ask questions of the staff (keeping said staff from possibly helping PAYING customers) and then go home and jump on Amazon. All in their twisted rendition of “The Art of the Deal”.

I’m the opposite. I already probably know more about the item then the salesperson so all I want you to do is point me to the item, then to the cash register without making any inane small talk. Nothing is more infuriating then walking into a store and every 3 feet being asked by someone if “there’s anything they can do to help you.” Why yes...you can let me buy what I came for without the constant interruptions.

Have you guys been to a mall lately? Its just sad.

Welcome to the new world folks. Skills and information can be found at the touch of a screen. Everything is a commodity. The only thing left you cant get more of is TIME. Therefore, things that save you time, like uber, amazon,etc... are here to stay. More of a perception of time really. If you are in the retail business of any kind, i would be exiting ASAP.

Quite a few industrys changed by ecommerce

Taxi industry
Book industry
Mattress industry(soon to be devasted)
Hotel industry
Toys r us - gone
Guns
Cable tv

The closest city to me that has any big box stores has a sales tax of 8.375% and they just passed another .5%
I refuse to pay that much tax into a city that one, I do not live in and two, wastes money terribly.

I shop Amazon. A lot. Sure I pay some tax on Amazon but it's nowhere near 8.375% and I get 5% back on my Amazon Prime card for everything I buy on Amazon.

There is a fleet/farm store in my hometown that I do shop quite often. Sales tax here is 6.875% which is still somewhat reasonable and I do after all live here and use city services etc.

If I do have to shop the local Wal Mart or grocery for things I go first thing in the morning which for me is about 5am to avoid as many shoppers as possible.

I don't mind paying for helpful service. But not a 50 - 75% premium for it. And most times if you do just a little research on a product, you'll be far better informed than 99% of the retail sales people you'll run in to.

For some reason Costco and BJs seem to be getting by.