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I WANT TO BELIEVE but I seriously doubt that retail's obsession with 'experiences"' is going to cut it; it didn't work 10 years ago and it won't work now (other

I WANT TO BELIEVE but I seriously doubt that retail's obsession with 'experiences"' is going to cut it; it didn't work 10 years ago and it won't work now (other than a place to dump your kids for an hour while you go shop groceries or whatever). Retail thinks that better service and experiences is enough but when it comes down to it, parents want to buy toys in a toy store and they want to buy them as cheaply as possible. Physical stores also keep ignoring that Amazon actually offers really good service with cheap (or free shipping) and fast shipping, and a great return policy.

pmorici 7y ago
Best Buy made a come back by offering price matching.
- sdegutis 7y ago
  They've always done price matching, that's how they got their name when they came out in the 90s. But they still don't have a great selection and in my experience it's rarely worth it to shop there compared to Amazon for all the reasons stated above.
  - pmorici 7y ago
    They originally wouldn't match online retailers only brick and mortar competitors as I understand it. As part of the turnaround, implemented in 2012 they started matching Amazon and a few select online retailers. [0] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/18/business/best-buy-amazon.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/18/business/best-buy-amazon....
    - learc83 7y ago
      Worked there in college. You are correct--they definitely did not match Amazon prices when I worked there. They wouldn't even match their own online prices at first.
- leetcrew 7y ago
  maybe I'm just unlucky, but the few times I've gone to best buy I looked up the price on Amazon first and then went to best buy expecting them to price match. every time they had a slightly different sku from the item on Amazon and charged significantly more money. the sample is too small to say for sure, but I suspect they commission custom runs of things like flash drives that would be too cheap to profit off of if they were actually exposed to matching Amazon prices.
  - StudentStuff 7y ago
    Best Bu, Target & Walmart all do lower prices online, and higher in-store prices. The former two have repeatedly refused to match their own website's prices for me.
    - plushpuffin 7y ago
      Also, Best Buy used to have an internal website at their stores with higher prices so they could claim their in-store prices were the same as their website prices https://consumerist.com/2007/02/best-buys-secret-employee-only-in-store-website-shows-different-prices-than-public-website.html https://consumerist.com/2007/02/best-buys-secret-employee-on...
PhasmaFelis 7y ago
My understanding was that the main thing that killed Toys'R'Us was mismanagement, not online competition.
- smileysteve 7y ago
  Not even mismanagement; They were a private equity purchase, that was then saddled with the debt of their purchase to pay the private equity group. In some ways this is exactly what the Private Equity company is designed to do. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/15/business/toys-r-us-bankruptcy.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/15/business/toys-r-us-bankru... also see: Pretty Woman
  - PhasmaFelis 7y ago
    Malicious management, then.
  - bradknowles 7y ago
    It's called a "Leveraged Buyout". Then couple that with liquidating all the valuable assets with all the profits going to the private equity group. Meanwhile, your private equity group is also your landlord, and they charge outrageous property rental prices. Once all value to the property has been extracted and transferred to the private equity group, and the only thing left is liabilities, you then go bankrupt and try to flog off the liabilities to the highest bidder (who is stupid enough to pay money for something that has negative value). That's the history of Bain Capital, Blackrock, and all the other Private Equity Groups.
logfromblammo 7y ago
I also rankle at the "sell experiences" trend. It pegs my bogon detector from the moment I walk in until the instant I leave. If I want a memorable experience, it's not going to have a prominent, obvious cash register in it, thanks. Having demonstration models in the store is a normal retail thing to do for selling the product in question, and does not need to be relabeled as an experience. Real experience-sellers already have their exit through their gift shop. The advantages [New] Toys 'R' Us will probably have to leverage over Amazon will have to include lower per-unit shipping costs (in both time and money), in-person inspection and demonstration, search/discovery of well-curated product lines, no-hassle replacements with low-hassle returns, and counterfeits/defects protection. And it's still going to need website sales and some way for kids (who may be COPPA-aged) to browse the catalog, engage, and build up a wish list. But in all likelihood, they'll probably just try throwing more money at brand marketing, rather than actually being better toy retailers. I shall be preemptively disappointed until my dearth of faith is invalidated.

pmorici 7y ago

Best Buy made a come back by offering price matching.

sdegutis 7y ago
They've always done price matching, that's how they got their name when they came out in the 90s. But they still don't have a great selection and in my experience it's rarely worth it to shop there compared to Amazon for all the reasons stated above.
- pmorici 7y ago
  They originally wouldn't match online retailers only brick and mortar competitors as I understand it. As part of the turnaround, implemented in 2012 they started matching Amazon and a few select online retailers. [0] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/18/business/best-buy-amazon.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/18/business/best-buy-amazon....
  - learc83 7y ago
    Worked there in college. You are correct--they definitely did not match Amazon prices when I worked there. They wouldn't even match their own online prices at first.
leetcrew 7y ago
maybe I'm just unlucky, but the few times I've gone to best buy I looked up the price on Amazon first and then went to best buy expecting them to price match. every time they had a slightly different sku from the item on Amazon and charged significantly more money. the sample is too small to say for sure, but I suspect they commission custom runs of things like flash drives that would be too cheap to profit off of if they were actually exposed to matching Amazon prices.
- StudentStuff 7y ago
  Best Bu, Target & Walmart all do lower prices online, and higher in-store prices. The former two have repeatedly refused to match their own website's prices for me.
  - plushpuffin 7y ago
    Also, Best Buy used to have an internal website at their stores with higher prices so they could claim their in-store prices were the same as their website prices https://consumerist.com/2007/02/best-buys-secret-employee-only-in-store-website-shows-different-prices-than-public-website.html https://consumerist.com/2007/02/best-buys-secret-employee-on...

PhasmaFelis 7y ago

My understanding was that the main thing that killed Toys'R'Us was mismanagement, not online competition.

smileysteve 7y ago
Not even mismanagement; They were a private equity purchase, that was then saddled with the debt of their purchase to pay the private equity group. In some ways this is exactly what the Private Equity company is designed to do. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/15/business/toys-r-us-bankruptcy.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/15/business/toys-r-us-bankru... also see: Pretty Woman
- PhasmaFelis 7y ago
  Malicious management, then.
- bradknowles 7y ago
  It's called a "Leveraged Buyout". Then couple that with liquidating all the valuable assets with all the profits going to the private equity group. Meanwhile, your private equity group is also your landlord, and they charge outrageous property rental prices. Once all value to the property has been extracted and transferred to the private equity group, and the only thing left is liabilities, you then go bankrupt and try to flog off the liabilities to the highest bidder (who is stupid enough to pay money for something that has negative value). That's the history of Bain Capital, Blackrock, and all the other Private Equity Groups.

logfromblammo 7y ago

I also rankle at the "sell experiences" trend. It pegs my bogon detector from the moment I walk in until the instant I leave. If I want a memorable experience, it's not going to have a prominent, obvious cash register in it, thanks. Having demonstration models in the store is a normal retail thing to do for selling the product in question, and does not need to be relabeled as an experience. Real experience-sellers already have their exit through their gift shop. The advantages [New] Toys 'R' Us will probably have to leverage over Amazon will have to include lower per-unit shipping costs (in both time and money), in-person inspection and demonstration, search/discovery of well-curated product lines, no-hassle replacements with low-hassle returns, and counterfeits/defects protection. And it's still going to need website sales and some way for kids (who may be COPPA-aged) to browse the catalog, engage, and build up a wish list. But in all likelihood, they'll probably just try throwing more money at brand marketing, rather than actually being better toy retailers. I shall be preemptively disappointed until my dearth of faith is invalidated.