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I still like stores if I'm in a hurry. You can get the product the same day. I don't live in a major city that does same day delivery(That'd be super cool thoug

by Keverw 10y ago

I still like stores if I'm in a hurry. You can get the product the same day. I don't live in a major city that does same day delivery(That'd be super cool though to have a service like that!). Only thing I hate about brick and mortar is slow checkout, and people aren't really knowledgeable. But it's nice that stores like Walmart are open early. I love going earlier, less people and faster checkout. It feels like somthing straight out of a zombie movie when going to a big store early. It's like that mall movie once they cleared out the zombies, and had the whole mall to themselves. Amazon Go sounds nice, but having people around for assistance would be nice. (But I don't think Amazon Go is going to sell electronics, just food, and stuff so not like your going to ask an employee for help for cooking supplies) I remember CompUSA being one of my favorite computer stores, knowledgeable people, plenty of parts, rebates, etc. Now it seems like most stores just sell the same thing already together, same shoe fits all type of thing. Was disappointed when they went out of business.

Analemma_ 10y ago
B&M stores still have use cases, but the question is, after online retail has gobbled up all it can and people only go into a store for one of these edge cases, whether what's left is enough to sustain the fixed overhead of running a business like WalMart. I don't think so, and apparently Buffett doesn't think so either.
- Keverw 10y ago
  Yeah, I think pretty much once online gobbles up offline retail. There will be better and faster shipping networks, etc. Like having warehouses with products closer to people. But unsure how much they'd really want to invest into smaller cities. Well I'm about an hour away from two major cities... Maybe if automation is used, drones maybe or self driving delivery trucks making multiple stops. Maybe same day shipping would be possible everywhere. Our city recently upgraded their garbage trucks and it looks like it's pretty much all automated other than someone driving it. Used to be like 3 people on a truck, one driving and two other people loading it. We didn't have trash cans and actually just put bags out on the curve. Way behind most cities, but rural farm area. So on the other side of things, less jobs for the garbage man. I guess with automation, you have a handful of people maintaining the machines and the rest of the cost is fuel and just upgrading your fleet. No sick days really unless it breaks down(but maybe faster to swap a part out then heal a human if you keep spares on hand). Or not worrying about them not liking their job and doing poorly at it. Same result every time with automation in theory. But automation is surely the future. Maybe some day basic income and universal income will be a reality as things are more automated. Maybe less cancer will result in automation. I see ads on TV for lawyers advertising to factory workers, people in the military, etc who got cancer while working. Also maybe less people with back or knee problems. So maybe people will be healthier with automation, and lower health care costs. I am all for automation, as long as people are taken care of. Just seems more convenience and people can enjoy life more. Have more freedom. I think will be strange though to have vehicles, robots and drones without any humans operating them to be a bit strange though at first.
glenneroo 10y ago
I have the same issue - if you want it the same day (or in less than 1-2 weeks in many cases), you have to get it in-store. As a result I've come to find out that many retail stores (at least Walmart and Best Buy in California, Media Markt and Saturn in Austria) often list prices competitively with other online stores, but in-store prices are marked up considerably higher (in my cases ~15-30%). I almost walked out of a couple stores paying considerably more than the price I was expecting to pay, only at the cash register when they rang me up did I notice a discrepancy. On top of this, each store required verification by at least one manager, and in some cases I had to show them the price listed on their website on my phone (which incidentally gave me the idea to edit the values on their website with fake prices). I suppose this is their sneaky way of trying to stay competitive with online retailers?
- BrandoElFollito 10y ago
  If I remember correctly, Saturn and Media Markt have online purchase you can pick up at the store the same day? This is what I do with some purchases in France (Darty or Boulanger) - this gives me the extra advantage of online purchase protection (I can return the article in n days, n being 14 iirc), something you do not have in France for classical purchases (except if the store wants to)

by Keverw 10y ago

Analemma_ 10y ago

B&M stores still have use cases, but the question is, after online retail has gobbled up all it can and people only go into a store for one of these edge cases, whether what's left is enough to sustain the fixed overhead of running a business like WalMart. I don't think so, and apparently Buffett doesn't think so either.

Keverw 10y ago
Yeah, I think pretty much once online gobbles up offline retail. There will be better and faster shipping networks, etc. Like having warehouses with products closer to people. But unsure how much they'd really want to invest into smaller cities. Well I'm about an hour away from two major cities... Maybe if automation is used, drones maybe or self driving delivery trucks making multiple stops. Maybe same day shipping would be possible everywhere. Our city recently upgraded their garbage trucks and it looks like it's pretty much all automated other than someone driving it. Used to be like 3 people on a truck, one driving and two other people loading it. We didn't have trash cans and actually just put bags out on the curve. Way behind most cities, but rural farm area. So on the other side of things, less jobs for the garbage man. I guess with automation, you have a handful of people maintaining the machines and the rest of the cost is fuel and just upgrading your fleet. No sick days really unless it breaks down(but maybe faster to swap a part out then heal a human if you keep spares on hand). Or not worrying about them not liking their job and doing poorly at it. Same result every time with automation in theory. But automation is surely the future. Maybe some day basic income and universal income will be a reality as things are more automated. Maybe less cancer will result in automation. I see ads on TV for lawyers advertising to factory workers, people in the military, etc who got cancer while working. Also maybe less people with back or knee problems. So maybe people will be healthier with automation, and lower health care costs. I am all for automation, as long as people are taken care of. Just seems more convenience and people can enjoy life more. Have more freedom. I think will be strange though to have vehicles, robots and drones without any humans operating them to be a bit strange though at first.

glenneroo 10y ago

I have the same issue - if you want it the same day (or in less than 1-2 weeks in many cases), you have to get it in-store. As a result I've come to find out that many retail stores (at least Walmart and Best Buy in California, Media Markt and Saturn in Austria) often list prices competitively with other online stores, but in-store prices are marked up considerably higher (in my cases ~15-30%). I almost walked out of a couple stores paying considerably more than the price I was expecting to pay, only at the cash register when they rang me up did I notice a discrepancy. On top of this, each store required verification by at least one manager, and in some cases I had to show them the price listed on their website on my phone (which incidentally gave me the idea to edit the values on their website with fake prices). I suppose this is their sneaky way of trying to stay competitive with online retailers?

BrandoElFollito 10y ago
If I remember correctly, Saturn and Media Markt have online purchase you can pick up at the store the same day? This is what I do with some purchases in France (Darty or Boulanger) - this gives me the extra advantage of online purchase protection (I can return the article in n days, n being 14 iirc), something you do not have in France for classical purchases (except if the store wants to)