Online Shopping Vs Bricks&Mortor

[Mauldor]

I wish to tell you about a recent trip to the Shops and my lack of understanding on this subject :-

I wanted to Buy Battlefield 2 and Call of Duty : United Offensive
My Choice here is to Buy online or go out to the Shops and get the product then and there. Now I Understand that a Online retailers do not have as many Staff to carry out the task, no Shop + Electricity costs + Staff etc to manage and so forth.

The first port of call lets say is GAME Online - Now they had BF:2 for £27.99 - I went off to the Town to the SAME SHOP and they had the same game for £34.99. I question the person behind the counter and he said "we will price match" - Soon as I said "Online" he said we will not price match with anything Online - fair enough. I asked him why the same company (*GAME*) can charge cheaper online then it can it is shop - "they do not have Staff etc to pay - which is why they can do it cheaper then us" - But one second there - they do have to pay Staff, the people I am speaking to riht now.

My Next Point, Price matching then from same shop - what is the point of this? If I was to walk around town and find it cheaper, why would I then trudge back to that Shop and do this "Price Match" - surely I would just buy it from the Cheaper shop yes?

My Question / Observation is thus:
More and more People will shop Online, as they can get Items (not just computer stuff) a LOT cheaper online from the SAME SHOP then actually going out - driving to the shop and picking up the item. The End result I see of this is that Shops are not seen as making much Profit, Staff get Cut - less shops in the high street and so forth. In my Town alone I keep seeing shops (even big name chains) closing down the branches as less and less people are shopping there..

What can be done?
Why do they not Price match the Price online + P&P and add say £1 to the price, for the convenice of picking up the item there and then? Certain Items do not change much over time - I can fully underdtand say Dixons holding computer parts which they paid XXX for and now the price dropped drasticly - this is where Online Shops can get the better pricing but other things - such as my example with the Said Games do not cost anything different and in this example they lost out to a REAL shop - one around the cornor who were selling the same games £5 cheaper - much closer to the Online Price in fact.

Any thoughts on this?

[Raistlin]

You will most likely find that (in the Game example) where a company has an online and a highstreet presence their budgets are treated completely seperately.

Thus the price pointing for their online merchandise would reflect the fact that there are little/no overheads related to the operation of supplying the game to you through their online store.
Whereas the price pointing for the highstreet stores would reflect the fact that their budgets have to include a line for resources costs (staff, facilities, rates, etc).

[MovedGoalPosts]

Online shopping is much cehaper for the retailer. All they need is a few bods to pick the stuff from the warehouse shelves, virtually everything else is automated. Even the premises needed are vastly cheaper, a warehouse on an industrial estate will need far less rent than a high street shop.

Remember in a shop you are paying for the customer service. Ok, that can be variable from appalling, indifferent through to excellent. In theory though you can ask for advice and all sorts. You just can't do that online.

[Martin]

Originally Posted by Mauldor

My Next Point, Price matching then from same shop - what is the point of this? If I was to walk around town and find it cheaper, why would I then trudge back to that Shop and do this "Price Match" - surely I would just buy it from the Cheaper shop yes?

Say you had already bought it, some shops allow you to go back and get a refund of the difference!

[Gareth]

Yep, you find this with loads of retailers... even Tesco is cheaper online for books and games, for example, than they are if you go to one of their stores. I put it down to lower expeditures (like Rob C says) and economies of scale.

[Angua]

There is also the "I want it Now" pressure/attitue that companies will take advantage of.

The latest game I am getting is not released until August 16th so I am quite happy to pre-order on line probably saving around £13 just for waiting a day or so for the postman.

[cookie_365]

Not only separate budgets; the online version of the store is probably a separate company (though they obviously work together very closely to ensure they present the same 'face' to the public).

As other posters have said, the product may be the same but they're offering completely different services.

But I do agree that clicks will gradually drive out most of the mortars.

By the way, am I the only one to get irritated by people Randomly putting capital Letters in their sentences For no appparant Reason?

[ntl customer]

One thing that puts me off online buying is delivery charges for small items.

Take for example, you want to go and buy something low value, such as, for example, a 2m ethernet patch cable from Ebuyer. Great, it's only 67p (for anyone interested, item# 022588).

Only when you add the (whopping) delivery charge on at £2.74, which when VAT is added on brings the total price of your delivery up to £3.89 - that's nearly £4 in totalfor a 2m length of ethernet cable. OK, better than PC World but still way too pricey.

I think online stores should start offering small item delivery via Royal Mail - and use registered post if desired rather than using a courier. After all, it seems a bit pointless shipping a 67p 2m length of ethernet cable via an insured courier - it's not like it's worth alot, is it?

[Chrysalis]

A few points to think of here.

Retail stores always will charge more then needed simply because there is always someone there to pay it, usually when you see a sale belive it or not they are still making a profit on the item the normal prices tend to be very high markup.
If the vendor has a online presence and retail shops they always have different budgets and treated seperatly, to me this seems dumb since the money ends up in the same bank at the end of the day, but big businesses have been splitting of like this for years now.
With ebuyer I also agree there should be standard royal mail option in fact I prefer that, my doorbell doesnt work and when I order from there it is a nightmare as I often miss the deliveries and the courier they use is very poor and badly priced. As you said a royal mail delivery is better priced for buying small items. But saying that I think expensive delivery prices are deliberate the prices are marked up so they have a profit margin on the delivery.

[marky]

I browse online find what i want make sure its in stock then go to the shop

because i allways change my mind when i get there

[grandmaster]

I dont mind online shopping, sometimes i do prefer it tbh,

I ordered something for my girlfriend on Thursday evening from ASOS.com
Saturday morning it was there ready to give to her (As i'm such a noce bloke she even got breakfast in bed and it was'nt even her birthday).

[Mal]

I use online a lot, mainly cds/dvds, but for larger items, which can't be posted through the letterbox can be a pain, as it needs someone to be in.

[Stuart]

For me, it's a case of Swings and roundabouts. Shops are often more expensive (I say often - I have frequently found things from supermarkets to be cheaper in store than on their own websites).

But, you do get the advantage of taking the goods home with you (usually), there may be somebody in the shop who can give advice (doubtful with some of the high street stores). You also don't have to stay at home to accept the goods (unless you have opted for home delivery).

The main advantage, for me, is that if something goes wrong, you can take it back to the shop and often walk out with a new one (if not then, a couple of days later). If something goes wrong with something you buy on-line, you have to send it back (usually takes a day or so), then the company SHOULD replace or repair it, and send it back to you (this can take several weeks). However, some companies (Dabs, Simply and Letsbuyit.com) will happily fight you if you attempt to return faulty goods.

In fact letsbuyit seriously suggested that when my Telly went wrong (£800 Sony Wega widescreen), that I should take it to their depot and they would sort it out. This TV weighed over 15 stone, and I cannot drive.

[zoombini]

Ditto what Stuart said.

I like to be able to instantly take something back to a shop & get angry if I don't get any joy.

[Chrysalis]

Originally Posted by Stuart C

For me, it's a case of Swings and roundabouts. Shops are often more expensive (I say often - I have frequently found things from supermarkets to be cheaper in store than on their own websites).

But, you do get the advantage of taking the goods home with you (usually), there may be somebody in the shop who can give advice (doubtful with some of the high street stores). You also don't have to stay at home to accept the goods (unless you have opted for home delivery).

The main advantage, for me, is that if something goes wrong, you can take it back to the shop and often walk out with a new one (if not then, a couple of days later). If something goes wrong with something you buy on-line, you have to send it back (usually takes a day or so), then the company SHOULD replace or repair it, and send it back to you (this can take several weeks). However, some companies (Dabs, Simply and Letsbuyit.com) will happily fight you if you attempt to return faulty goods.

In fact letsbuyit seriously suggested that when my Telly went wrong (£800 Sony Wega widescreen), that I should take it to their depot and they would sort it out. This TV weighed over 15 stone, and I cannot drive.

Yes, the main downfall is defenitly when goods need to be returned, every online vendor I have used expects the delivery charges paid by the consumer if they are returning goods and usually RMA authorisation. So if for example you purchase a product worth £15 and it costs £11 shipping each way, you are in limbo since it isnt feasible to send it back.