1258 Eating The Big Box(‘s) Lunch
Amazon could be ready to do to Wal-Mart what Wal-Mart did to downtown. And they’re going to do it by meeting a desire the big box boys can’t and won’t.
Wal-Mart rose to the top of the retail world by cutting prices, squeezing the help and squeezing the vendors. The net result: slave nation goods, long lines, crowded aisles and the relocation of the Eternal Light to register 28. Oh, and the eternal wait.
Bring on the wrecking ball (with or without Miley.)
Not tomorrow. But look at the trends and your own habits.
In some cases you just can’t avoid the discounters.
If you need groceries or lumber, you need to be there, feet on the ground.
Anything else? Not so much.
Many online retailers match the discounters’ prices or come close to them. But the bigger ones often are the kings of customer service. Not equal to the old mom and pops of downtown… better.
Easy and sometimes free returns, your questions answered on line or by email or by telephone. And your bones don’t ache from standing at register 28, then heading back to the car and putting the stuff away once home.
Oh sure, the people at Macy’s are helpful. When you can find them. Same goes for Nordstrom or Neiman-Marcus if you’re the type who thinks nothing of dropping $260 for an Ermenegildo Zegna tie. Most of us aren’t and wouldn’t be if we could.
Many of these stores have their own websites. But they tend to be clunky, badly organized, slow and complicated.
Compare that with Amazon or QVC or Newegg or Overstock or any of the computer manufacturers: Dell, Toshiba, HP and Apple.
Talk about slick! You can be on and off the LLBean or Eddiebauer websites in no time flat. Compare that to visiting the mall. Try that on the Target.com website and you’ll still be poring through tons of irrelevant data and considering yourself lucky if you actually find what you’re looking for.
Not to pick on Target… their hearts are in the right place. It’s just that their code writers aren’t.
Shrapnel:
--Got our first oil delivery the other day, about 200 gallons, all of it on the lawn. We keep telling them to stop. That's because we have no tank and we heat with gas.
---Don’t look for Lara Logan on TV anytime soon. The rightwing Benghazi Honey is suspended along with her producer for that shockingly wrong and wrong-headed report for 60 minutes. Look for a Dan Rather solution at CBS… where they bring back a suspended correspondent and assign no duties, usually forcing them out.
--Wessays™ reader survey... Which news site do you consider the most trustworthy and why? We’ll crunch the numbers and report to you.
Grapeshot:
-Jos. A Bank wanted to buy competitor Men’s Wearhouse which turned around and offered to buy out Bank which means the war is in the boardroom not the battlefield to the detriment of both.
I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®
Please address comments to wesrichards@gmail.co
© WJR 2013
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