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Going to brick-and-mortar stores, but buying online
A shopper at a Lowe's home improvement store walks by a display of artificial Christmas trees San Francisco.
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Kai Ryssdal: I'm Kai Ryssdal, with an apology to the e-shoppers among you who might be listening. I took a swipe at online gift-giving the other day. Said there's not much effort or emotion involved in just clicking and gifting. But then the weekend's retail numbers came out. Foot traffic in stores was up, but the actual sales figures didn't quite match. At the same time, online purchases rose as much as 19 percent over a year ago. So, could that all mean shoppers did take the time and energy to go to stores and finger the actual merchandise, then go home to search out a cheaper price online?
Our senior business correspondent Bob Moon has been testing the theory.
Bob Moon: I didn't have to look far to find one of these cheapskates -- just a few steps, to the office of Betsy Streisand, one of our Marketplace editors. She wanted to buy some flat screens for her new home.
Betsy Streisand: I didn't want to buy a TV without actually looking at the TV, and seeing the picture. So I went to Best Buy.
Where she apologized to the salesman for spending a half hour of his busy Black Friday learning about flat screens.
Streisand: He even pulled the little cards they give you that describe the TV, that you use to pay for it, and he made me a copy of them. And I left, I drove home, plugged in the numbers from the paper he gave me and I bought three televisions from Amazon. I was really happy I saved money, but I feel bad about it.
Britt Beamer: The number of consumers over Black Friday weekend that said that they did this was about 6.3 percent.
Britt Beamer tracks consumer behavior at America's Research Group. He says in these tight times for retailers, even such a small but growing number of "see it in person, buy it online" shoppers could mean the difference between make-or-break sales.
So why didn't salesperson Jackie Martinez sound all that concerned when I got her on the phone at an L.A.-area Best Buy store?
Jackie Martinez: We're actually flattered that, you know, people come to Best Buy to get our information. You can't get everybody, right?
Martinez says you get what you pay for: Real stores offer more services, support and the quick return of a purchase if you're not happy.
Still, there are signs that brick-and-mortar retailers are taking note of the growing competition. Industry consultant Britt Beamer points to the bargain TVs Wal-Mart offered Black Friday. Through a deal with the manufacturer of one particular model was available nowhere else.
Beamer: So Wal-Mart could have an exclusive product that could not be shopped easily, unless you could find out everything about that TV set and compare it all to specs from TV to TV, and that's very difficult to do.
But the competition might not be as cagey as shoppers like our editor Betsy.
Streisand: Probably, the other things I buy at Best Buy -- and I do buy other things at Best Buy -- I'm probably paying for the time for that salesperson to educate me in televisions which I do not buy at Best Buy.
What do you think? Which buy is best?
I'm Bob Moon for Marketplace.
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I am actually jealous of Betsy that she was able to find a person at Best Buy who would actually talk to her knowledgeably about Best Buy's products. But, I will admit, the worst in-store customer service prize belongs to Fry's for me; if you don't want any help, go there.
Your bit about e-shopping with Betsy Streisand troubled me. She deceived the clerk, expropriated a half hour of time during which the clerk couldn't earn commission, rationalized her duplicity by suggesting that she'd already paid for the time through other purchases (RUBBISH! Her other purchases paid for her other purchases-since when does she get to stockpile overhead?) Finally, if we all shop like Sweet Betsy, the brick and mortar stores go away.
And Sweet Betsy will have no one to exploit.
And you stood by without comment. Is this business ethics at their best?
It is one thing to go to BestBuy to get a firsthand look at the picture quality of a TV and then find the lowest price online. It is entirely another to solicit information about a product from a BestBuy salesperson--not only are you taking that salesperson's time away from a paying customer, you are also taking the benefit of their knowledge without paying for it. That's theft of service. There is a reason why BestBuy's prices may be slightly higher than some online retailer.
About ten years ago we saw a leather living room set in a store. I found it online for much less and went back to the bricks and mortar store suggesting they compete. I would have paid a small premium based on their higher cost of delivering a showroom for my benefit but they refused to counter-offer and so we bought online. Nowadays, the big box stores all have online; the whole system is more transparent and competitive. The limitation is items requiring touching and feeling but doing online research is usually more accurate than asking a biased or ignorant store worker.
I am a blind consumer and as my local best buy is not at all accessible via public transportation, not only do I have to wait for a ride, then take a cab back etc.
But by the time its all said and done with taxes, extra guarantee etc. online shopping is the best since sliced bread.
This despite not being able to have hands on the equipment I may be trying to purchase.
Even at the risk of having to organize for a return which means a trip to the local UPS office; or paying the cost for a pick up.
These days the only things I shop in person for are food, groceries, foot wear, and clothing.
This touching, seeing, feeling a product in a brick & mortar shop, then going off to buy it online, is not a new thing. I first noticed it in my little housewares shop in 2006, and it became common in 2007, just about the time gas prices went up and the recession was beginning.
Many people who loved my store didn't understand how important their purchase was to keeping my shop open. They'd come in, enjoy a nice time browsing and chatting, then go home, find it online, and without the pain of seeing their money change hands, or having to carry the thing home, click click and it would be at their door soon enough.
I truly believe most of them didn't have a clue that it made a difference, but for those who would rather have an empty shop in town than pay 25 cents more for something, well, they got what they wanted. I could compete with WalMart because I had what they didn't have, but the internet was impossible. I began to feel like a display case for online businesses. And a little shop cannot win in the volume game, which is the price game, and while people adore the little shops, in the end they just want their stuff to come cheap and easy. I don't blame anyone really. People are tired from working hard for not enough money, myself included, and everyone needs a break. But still, you get what you pay for.
During my closing sale many people came in and said "Gee, I guess I should've bought something..." and while I wanted to scream "damn right!" I just shrugged and said "Oh well. Thanks for coming in to say goodbye." It was pretty sad.
But that's retail; figure out how to change to accommodate your market, or be gone. I closed about a year ago, but I'll open another shop some day. I will sell things you absolutely cannot get online, just as soon as I figure out what that is. (And it's not "personal service." People love it, yes, but they won't pay for it.)
Betsy Streisand said that she felt badly about buying online after pumping a local salesman for a half-hour's free consultation. She should. I have owned a shop since the 1980s, and have so far successfully survived the Big Box stores, the local competition, and the recession. However, college students come in armed with IPhones in order to photograph my merchandise and price check it against similar goods online while looking up at me occasionally to ask a few more questions before leaving to order the same item on Amazon. They don't seem to care that Jeff Bezos does not need their business like a little mom-and-pop does. But, they might miss us if one day we can't afford to stay open and they have to shop online and only guess which ironic plush animal hat will help them score the most hipster points without trying it on first.
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