http://finance.yahoo.com/news/store-charges-customers-5-just-234300072.html There are some things I would pay $5 to look at. A nude Jessica Alba being one of them. However, I wonder how the store is going to enforce this? Are they gonna sell tickets to come into their store? What if the item you want ends up not being available?
I really don't blame them. I often will write down the titles of books in Barnes & Noble and see if I can get a better deal on Amazon.com.
Not surprising, though. Just the completely wrong strategy. Make them want the stuff, like clothing or electronics chains do. You browse. You know the stuff is cheaper elsewhere. You buy because you want it now. My, how much money I have wasted like that...
Stupid on just about every level. This WILL probably keep "showroomers" out...but it will also keep A LOT OF OTHERS out as well.
These people have it completely wrong. They should look at what Restoration Hardware is doing, which uses the stores to drive Internet sales. Give a discount to people who stopped by the showroom and then order on-line from the same company's website. And don't sweat the people who are just browsing.
So if I want something from this store, the moment I walk in I'm going to be charged $5 regardless of what I buy, simply because I walked in the store. That's absurd.
I have a loose business code. Go to Mom and Pop first. Any item that I learned about only b/c of the staff I will under no circumstances buy online. This was tested when a board game an employee suggested we try out (game store is colocated with a pub, they've got hundreds of games you can take next door) was out of print but available on Amazon. But I stayed strong and am on the list for when it comes back in print. My thinking was that if it wasn't for the store and their knowledgeable staff I wouldn't even known the game existed, so what is waiting a year or two? Luckily my game store has an online presence so I was able to direct out of towners there for games on my b-day and Xmas list. If I just see it on the aisle then after a quick Amazon review review, I'll compare prices. If there is not much difference I buy from store, if it is big enough I buy online (this is a sliding scale, will spend more in Mom and Pop than chain). Anything I learn about only through Amazon reviews (needed accessories/better product from competition, etc) I will buy from Amazon.
I shop almost exclusively online. I refuse to give my business to the big boxmarts that run this fucking country.
Aside from food and medicine, I mostly shop online. Amazon carries just about everything I've ever needed. I'll go to Walmart when I have to have it now, but otherwise, online only.
This, and, if it weren't for "showrooming", I wouldn't get out at all. Shit, there's nothing to DO. I don't drink, I don't dance, and I think most people are stupid, and annoying. Think? Know. Most people are a bunch of fuckin' Sokars. Gawking at products is about all I can stand. Frankly, I can't wait for holographic monitors/TVs, then I can showroom "in", Amazon.
How is this any different from Sam's Warehouse? Sam's is worse because you don't get the money deducted from a purchase. Sam's used to be free to the military when I was in, but when they started charging they can hang it in their ass. You might charge someone else to shop, but you are not going to charge me to shop. Fuck that right in the ear.
I was curious about what kinds of deals you'd get at one of those members-only warehouses so I snuck in with another family (sometimes it's good to still look like a teenager!). If I were pinching every penny or absolutely opposed to grocery shopping every week it might make financial sense for me to be a member, but otherwise as a single guy with an extremely varied diet I'm better off without it.
I predict this store doesn't last long. The key to retail sales is to not piss off your customers because if you do then they just take their money else where.
This isn't the sort of policy you bring in when people aren't buying. This is the sort of policy you bring in when you've got a lot of serious customers waiting to buy, but your staff is too occupied with people just browsing to serve them properly. Idiots.
What if someone wants to compare televisions, or cameras, or some other electronics with the intention of coming back later once they've saved enough money to make the purchase? Stupid policy.
A cover charge for a retail store is incredibly retarded. Unless all of the employees are attractive, topless women. So I have an idea for a store and I need investors....
My guess is that they're done for. Even if they back off on the policy now, they will look like petty, whining losers and their amount of customers will decline anyway. And they deserve it.
I just want one person to say they would pay! A restaurant/gift shop on the way to the mountain charges $1 to use the restroom if you don't buy anything.
Good challenge! OK, I would pay the five bucks ... BUT ... Regarding the bathroom issue, in recent times I've noticed more & more places stressing RESTROOM FOR CUSTOMERS ONLY, even posting signs up in the front door or window telling passersby that. But not charging to use the bathroom if you're not a customer. I'm not the least bit surprised in other places non-customer bathroom users are being charged for restroom usage.
