No wonder major retailers are succumbing to Amazon

seadoug

seadoug

Well-known Member
Location
Texas
Let me start by saying that I know most of us hate the fact that Amazon is causing the closure of major retailers. However, I will share a story with you that has changed my mind.

I have shopped at Office Depot for years. I've purchased printers there when I was working. I bought my office chair there. I've purchased paper/ink there. I've used their services with my laptop. I've been a loyal customer.

However, I was there a couple of days ago to buy a USB connector for my iPhone. I found the connector I needed. It was $17.99 and it was behind a lock. There was only one person with a line at the register but I found someone else and asked if she had a key. She kind of brushed me off and said she would help but she opened the second register and never came to unlock what I needed. I walked out of the store. In my view, the only thing the major retailers have over Amazon is personalized service and it didn't exist in this case.

I then went on Amazon's site and found the same connector for $8.99 and it was shipped to me within 2 days. So why should I shop at a store-front retailer?
 

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I agree..I have the same feeling as you about Amazons' master take over, but I've had similar experiences with big box stores here that I've shopped in for 50 years...

Latest one which is a Huge chain of DiY stores.. I thought instead of buying from Amazon I'll buy from B&Q... so I looked online to see if they had it..they did, altho' my nearest store 10 miles away didn't have it but the store 20 mies away did have it in stock..so i drove , might not sound far but 20 miles in the Uk is full of congested traffic.. in most places , and especially here..so it wasn't just a matter of dropping into a nearby store.
When I got there I couldn't see it on the shelves.. so I asked at the customer services.. and she irritated me right from the get go . a youngster talking to me in a. s. l. o. w. patronising manner ...saying.. ''You ..know how you can order online with Amazon?... well you can do the same with this store now, so you'll have to order online !!

I told her their website told me they had it in stock........ that was too much info, she wasn't programmed to hear that !!

I came home and ordered it from Amazon !
 
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When I was little, all the stores were within a few blocks. Just a short walk and you were waited on by the store owner. My mother never had a drivers license. My father did any driving necessary.
The idea of dealing with a disinterested employee still rubs me the wrong way.
There are things that you have to visit a store to buy correctly, like clothes. When you go, you're basically on your own.
 

seadoug said:
Let me start by saying that I know most of us hate the fact that Amazon is causing the closure of major retailers. However, I will share a story with you that has changed my mind.

I have shopped at Office Depot for years. I've purchased printers there when I was working. I bought my office chair there. I've purchased paper/ink there. I've used their services with my laptop. I've been a loyal customer.

However, I was there a couple of days ago to buy a USB connector for my iPhone. I found the connector I needed. It was $17.99 and it was behind a lock. There was only one person with a line at the register but I found someone else and asked if she had a key. She kind of brushed me off and said she would help but she opened the second register and never came to unlock what I needed. I walked out of the store. In my view, the only thing the major retailers have over Amazon is personalized service and it didn't exist in this case.

I then went on Amazon's site and found the same connector for $8.99 and it was shipped to me within 2 days. So why should I shop at a store-front retailer?
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I have Walmart Plus and this is one of the reasons why. A lot of times, the things I need are locked up now. So if I want things such as razor blades, batteries and other items I order them online instead of waiting at a case. I can easily come up with the $35 minimum order for the free delivery. And I don't buy extra things like I usually do when I do shop at a store such as Walmart.
 
seadoug said:
However, I was their a couple of days ago to buy a USB connector for my iPhone. I found the connector I needed. It was $17.99 and it was behind a lock. There was only one person with a line at the register but I found someone else and asked if she had a key. She kind of brushed me off and said she would help but she opened the second register and never came to unlock what I needed. I walked out of the store. In my view, the only thing the major retailers have over Amazon is personalized service and it didn't exist in this case.
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Well, then you win at one end, lose at the other. In my opinion. Almost unnoticeably lose, the process can be so gradual at times.

The pattern is pervasive. Local business generally employs locals. But if some retail giant like Amazon undercuts local businesses too much, the local ones then cut staff as much as they can in order to financially keep their heads above water. When staff is cut to a large extent, there is less personnel on the floor... most staff are behind tills, with a few in the office, and some janitorial staff (etc). Check-out staff tend to have little knowledge.

Eventually, you may wind up with dying urban districts, and even dying towns. Populations become underemployed, even if the Amazons, Alibabas, Shopify's, etc are doing a bang-up business, with huge locations elsewhere.
And I personally do value personalized service. (E.g., we have a great family-run hardware store in my community... proprietors & employees there can advise about plumbing, carpentry, electrical, kitchen supplies, garden equipment and much more from experience.)
 
I've noticed the same thing, @seadoug. I'm in a small town (well, in this state, some people think it's a big city—these are mostly people who have never ventured beyond North Dakota's borders), and the stores here simply do not carry the products, or have the same level of service, that can be found elsewhere.

Luckily, this is a relatively low-crime area, so I haven't had to deal with items being locked up because that sounds incredibly frustrating. However, I have been forced to buy anything beyond even very basic items from Amazon or other online retailers.

I do rue the fact that Amazon seems to be obliterating local businesses, but until the businesses in my area step up their game in terms of products and personal service, I'll keep shopping online. I don't see any alternative save driving 8 hours to a "real" big city.
 
When Amazon first started selling books online in the 90s I thought it was crazy and it kept becoming crazier and crazier as it evolved.

Bezos built a better mousetrap and the world beat a path to Amazon’s door, grumbling and complaining all the way.

Now that I’m old, I welcome the easy availability of the various online retailers that help me to maintain my independence.

It will be interesting to see what, if anything, eventually replaces the Amazons of the world.

“The growth of a large business is merely a
survival of the fittest.” - John D. Rockefeller
 
I love Amazon. I can purchase just about anything I can imagine off Amazon with a full money back guarantee that I’ll like it. I don’t have to deal with whether the store is open or not or whether Susie has a cold . If I don’t like the idea I can easily and effortlessly ship it back with no questions asked. What’s not to like about it? Costco and Amazon are my favourite places to shop and the prices is usually great.
 
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seadoug said:
Let me start by saying that I know most of us hate the fact that Amazon is causing the closure of major retailers.
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Let me add something else.... I believe that its also helping small private retailers out. We have a local old time country store... You can get bread milk and eggs, Boots socks and shirt, Plumbing Electric and building supplies....Order about anything. You cant hardly get in the door without someone asking what they can help you with, Prices compatible or cheaper than big box stores 20+ miles away.
 

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