Will brick and mortar stores be obsolete within the next five years?

[diamonddelts]

Recent Best Buy article:http://www.dailyfinance.com/photos/7...nd-in-7-years/


This article sparked multiple thoughts for me today. Do you all think most brick and mortor electronics are going the way of the Dodo bird? I admit I am guilty of always going to places like Bestbuy, Fry's Electronics, or A&B TV(local highend store here in Austin) where I will only go to test certain equipment then I go back online to make the purchase.

Most B&M places do not offer superior customer service, and to add to that many of their employees are not knowleageable. So it makes no sense to me to pay a markup for overhead and employees paychecks which add nothing to my purchase experience.

[craigsub]

DD - I have been playing with some new systems in our place. For our detached garage/man cave, I just got a 70's vintage Marantz preamp/power amp and a pair of Cornwalls.

For the basement "high end" room, I wanted some NAD electronics.

Spearit Sound out of Massachusetts ended up being a great place to get gear.

The conversation with one of the owners was interesting - they sell mostly high end gear, yet 90 percent of their sales are on the internet.

He also checked out our site, and says he knows there are times he will send people our way.

I just hooked up a NAD T775 receiver and BEE565 CD player. It is old school, and sounds great.

[cburbs]

I don't buy stuff locally that often. Frys once in a while as they match online prices and if I want it now that is one place...though most stuff I buy online as it is cheaper.
I did buy my Pioneer elite SC25 from BB but only because I got a great deal on it.
I also bought my 32" LCD locally at costco as it wasn't any cheaper online.

It used to be online was the way to go but alot of places either have there prices already set to match internet prices or they will match them.

I also knew a few people who won't buy anything online....so there is that part of the game but probably only a small amount.

Amazon is somewhat taking over these companies.....

For computer stuff newegg is my go to.....when it comes time for electronics most of the good products are only available thru online companies unless you are local to them.

[tesseract]

The smart B&M stores are proficient in installing the systems they sell. A lot of people are willing to pay to have the gear they read about in the audio rags installed and integrated into their homes.

[phipp01]

I was in Sears picking up some tools and I strolled through the TV section. There was a sales lady that was steering a couple away from plasma to LCD with all sorts of BS info. If B&M wants to survive in todays business climate they need to focus on CS and have INFORMED sales people. I was tempted to butt into the sales lady's pitch but decided to bite my tongue. Thats one of the reasons I hate going into places like BB or Sears. They pounce like used car salesmen and generally are not as well informed as I am on the products I am looking to purchase.

[cburbs]

I was in Sears picking up some tools and I strolled through the TV section. There was a sales lady that was steering a couple away from plasma to LCD with all sorts of BS info. If B&M wants to survive in todays business climate they need to focus on CS and have INFORMED sales people. I was tempted to butt into the sales lady's pitch but decided to bite my tongue. Thats one of the reasons I hate going into places like BB or Sears. They pounce like used car salesmen and generally are not as well informed as I am on the products I am looking to purchase.

If you want to have some fun go pretend you don't know jack about a TV and see where they steer you. I did it a few times....once the guy new what the heck he was talking about...the others :doh! 1: and I was biting my tongue the whole time.

[TWISM]

I believe a few boutique shops will be around but the major players are all dying. The internet is just too powerful and for a lot of people the savings is huge. I also live in a smaller town and have none of the big stores around to shop from, so I have to rely on the internet.

[Wendigo]

Same here. Closest BB to me is about 100 miles and the closest Walmart is 25 but damn its peaceful when I'm not cranking it up.:D

[20nickels]

5 yrs, no, longer maybe. Never stamped out though.

[tthurman]

I stopped in Best Buy yesterday, looking for a closeout item no less. I'm constantly amazed at how packed this store is, and yesterday was no different. For some people it's the thrill of the impulse purchase, take it home and play with it, and for this reason I think we are a ways off of seeing the B&M go away. Perhaps as the internet generation ages it will happen, but the baby boomers, and the X generation crowd still have a lot of attachment to the retail store, at least from what I see. That and many people I know just don't trust buying from the internet. There's the hassle of not being able to return items easily, as if standing in line at Best Buy for hours is easier than dropping it off at UPS. Then the whole, "I don't want my credit card info out there", even though it already is.

I, like many here, purchase most things on the net. I rarely use B&M stores to do my "research", note that I've never purchased a TV off the net, or I probably would have gone picture shopping. It may just be me, but it seems like we spend more, so we look harder for better prices.

[20nickels]

Quoting a respected friend;
"Wal Mart has existed before, it was the Dutch East India trading company, before that it was the Khans silk caravans heading into Persia and then to near east Europe to finally Italy. DONT PANIC. It'll always be around."

[tesseract]

There will probably be a tax on all internet purchases, soon. That will likely return some sales to B&M.

[diamonddelts]

Well this definitely changes things:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/12/technology/amazon-forced-to-collect-sales-tax-aims-to-keep-its-competitive-edge.html

I wonder how the sales landscape is going to change again when everyone has to pay tax plus shipping online. Prices might be slightly lower than B & M stores but ugh. I will admit I will drastically lower my purchases online when it gets to this point. I'm always willing to deal with the risks associated with online purchases because of the tremendous savings.

But that will change once the present price gaps become slimmer due to sales tax.

[tthurman]

Well, it will change things, some, IMO. Tax has been a part of my Newegg purchases for years, yet I still buy from them. Many times their price vs. Amazon is still better, that plus the fact that I would much prefer click and ship vs. driving to some place like Best Buy and deal with the crowds, poor customer service, and that's not even counting the gas or wear on my vehicle. Christmas shopping, I've been doing that for years online, and more and more each year. Wally world ranks right up there too, if I can get it for a similar price then no way am I subjecting myself to the added burden of driving there PLUS dealing with all the other inconveniences.

Now if somebody could actually deliver everything safely.......that is something that escapes the major shippers! It's a roll of the dice with anything large, or delicate.

[phipp01]

Had the day off today and headed to the mall to do some shopping. First stop BB. Panny 55St50 on "sale" for $1299 wont even discuss about lowering the price to get a sale and wouldnt even discuss PM Panasonics EPP price, which is $1025 shipped. If they had been willing I would have paid $1100 just for the convience of taking it home today. Then onto Sears. Not a salesperson in sight. I was there a good 10 minutes and not one in that department. Go to leave and see 5 of them in the aisle having a conversation. Not one of them even asked if I found everything I was looking for. I can see why B&M will go the same way as the DoDo bird.