I Wonder Why Brick and Mortar Stores are Losing Customers?

[Aerides]

I haven't bought any clothing, shoes, or much of anything else in a bricks'n'mortar store in this century. I used to do that back in the 1990's.

Shoe shopping was always terrible in B&M, way before the internet. Oh, I see these shoes I like? Now I have to find some 27 year old guy to go "to the back" to find them, who wants to sit on the floor in front of me and have me try them on for him? Ugghhhhhhh

NEVER liked doing that. And it was always someone a little creepy. And what, pray tell, might he suggest I try instead? Like I care, just gimme the shoes in my size already.

Clothing I will still look locally, for anything where fit matters. Same brand can be wildly different in size from one style to the next when it comes to Women's clothing.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

The ONLY retail shops we frequent are Costco, Lowes and Home Depot. Oh, and every 4 - years a car dealer. We love Amazon and any online shopping really. DW likes Marshalls and Ross. DW buys some of her shoes online (She particularly likes Vionics and they are 50% or more less than the stores), if she needs to try she goes to a store, gets the correct size then orders online. I particularly like not having to deal with salespeople who for the most part do not know what they are talking about and are just an annoyance.

 

[Dawg52]

Just yesterday I bought a pair of tennis shoes in a store. In a discount mall near my condo. They always have a good variety and I do like to try shoes on before buying. And I buy the occasional beach T shirt down here. But other than that I buy most clothes online. Occasionally I have to return something when buying online but normally have pretty good luck.

 

[Time2]

Join me on a nostalgic trip back to the '50s.

When I was a boy, our town was "the hub" for about 5 counties servicing the mail-order business of (let me see if I can remember them all) Sears-Roebuck, Montgomery-Ward, JC Pennys. Maybe I've forgotten one. In any case, one could order from the catalog, pick up at the store, return to the store, probably see the item (and purchase direct) at the store. They were department stores and had everything.

In addition we had the 5 and 10 cent stores like SS Kresge, FW Woolworth and others.

There must have been 4 or 5 independent department stores as well.

Finally, there were "specialty" shops (high fashion attire for women, haberdashery shop, "w*rk" wear for men, shoe stores on every corner, etc.

From that to "most?" (many?) retail sales on line now - all in a single life time. What these eyes have seen in such a short time. Not all good and not all bad - but never to be the same as it was.

Returning you now.

I don't know if they were around in the 50s, but there was a mail order auto parts company called JC Whitney.
Hmm, looks like they were around in the 50s. "In 1934...Roy proposed expanding from the Chicago area with a nationwide catalog and placed an ad in Popular Mechanics for sixty dollars. The ad offered readers a "giant auto parts catalog" for 25¢. Response to the ad was huge"


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JC_Whitney

 

[JoeWras]

Shoe shopping was always terrible in B&M, way before the internet. Oh, I see these shoes I like? Now I have to find some 27 year old guy to go "to the back" to find them, who wants to sit on the floor in front of me and have me try them on for him? Ugghhhhhhh

NEVER liked doing that. And it was always someone a little creepy. And what, pray tell, might he suggest I try instead? Like I care, just gimme the shoes in my size already.

Clothing I will still look locally, for anything where fit matters. Same brand can be wildly different in size from one style to the next when it comes to Women's clothing.

There was a reason the TV character Al Bundy was a shoe salesman.

 

[Badger]

The ONLY retail shops we frequent are Costco, Lowes and Home Depot. Oh, and every 4 - years a car dealer. We love Amazon and any online shopping really. DW likes Marshalls and Ross. DW buys some of her shoes online (She particularly likes Vionics and they are 50% or more less than the stores), if she needs to try she goes to a store, gets the correct size then orders online. I particularly like not having to deal with salespeople who for the most part do not know what they are talking about and are just an annoyance.

This sounds so much like us except for the car. Most of what we buy are groceries at Costco and an occasional bit of lumber at HD or Lowes. Anything else we can have delivered and/or returned for free from Amazon at the same or cheaper price. UPS is only a mile from home and I can stop by the pet store next door when I make the return. Occasionally my wife will go shopping at Marshalls or Ross only to return with little or nothing to show for it. I think she just needs to wander through the stores by herself or with a girlfriend and then she is good for a month.

Cheers!

 

[folivier]

Well amazon is not as great as it once was. Here in Colorado when I order an item which should have 2 day delivery (maybe a day longer due to our location) amazon will sit on the order for a week before it ships! Why? I understand being remote might take a day or 2 longer for delivery but why not ship it for a week?
When I'm home in Louisiana an order usually gets delivered in 2 days from when I order it.
And yes I only order Prime items.

 

[Qs Laptop]

They had to have time to order it from Amazon, repackage it, and send it to you.

Ha Ha. Good one!

 

[Qs Laptop]

UPDATE: My order has left the facility. Tracking information shows a label was created Tuesday night at 7:18PM and the package, which now says it's being shipped UPS Surepost, left Tulsa, OK, at 4:06AM this morning.

This means it's been 5 1/2 days since the time I ordered and the package was actually sent. That is absolutely unacceptable, embarrassing really, in today's online shopping environment. As an Amazon seller if I took 5 1/2 days to ship an order I'd be ashamed, plus my rating would plummet on Amazon.

Let's see how long it takes to get here. Knowing postal delivery times, and since it's coming from Tulsa and going to Minneapolis, I should have it in Friday's mail. We'll see.

 

[Rianne]

Amazon surprises me. I ordered clothes, Splenda, and a few other small items, but did not like the product. Splenda was in hard-to-open packaging (individual packets). They did not require me to return these items and refunded me completely.

UPS has a brick and mortar within 7 minutes of my house. It is so easy to return things and I get an e-mail, almost instantly that my refund is processed. The only issue I have is when I try to get a person on the phone. It's hard to find but now I know. They call me back within minutes and solve the problem.

It's almost scary how efficient they are. I don't care if a shipment takes longer than a few days. The convenience is amazing. Returns are so easy. I feel guilty even though the packaging is recyclable. The trucks are constantly in my neighborhood.

 

[Koolau]

I don't know if they were around in the 50s, but there was a mail order auto parts company called JC Whitney.
Hmm, looks like they were around in the 50s. "In 1934...Roy proposed expanding from the Chicago area with a nationwide catalog and placed an ad in Popular Mechanics for sixty dollars. The ad offered readers a "giant auto parts catalog" for 25¢. Response to the ad was huge"


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JC_Whitney

Oh, yeah. I think JC Whitney must have been around back then.

There was a Burt Reynolds movie called "Semi-Tough" in which Burt finds a JC Whitney product called (IIRC) "The Motorman's Friend." It's a urinal that can be worn under clothes. Long story - but it ultimately helps him "get the girl."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-Tough

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/motorman's_friend

 

[Teacher Terry]

I do 90% of my shopping online. Sometimes Amazon is fast and sometimes it takes 10 days to arrive. Amazon has a warehouse locally. I like the ability to compare prices online and reviews. Much easier than driving store to store.

 

[Badger]

I don't know if they were around in the 50s, but there was a mail order auto parts company called JC Whitney.
Hmm, looks like they were around in the 50s. "In 1934...Roy proposed expanding from the Chicago area with a nationwide catalog and placed an ad in Popular Mechanics for sixty dollars. The ad offered readers a "giant auto parts catalog" for 25¢. Response to the ad was huge"


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JC_Whitney

I'm pretty sure they were around at that time. I know in the 60's they were real popular with the high school crowd.

Cheers!

 

[Koolau]

I do 90% of my shopping online. Sometimes Amazon is fast and sometimes it takes 10 days to arrive. Amazon has a warehouse locally. I like the ability to compare prices online and reviews. Much easier than driving store to store.

I know I'm "old school" and really like to be able to "see" stuff at a store. The only things I buy at Amazon are things I can't find locally.

 

[Route246]

Although published in 2008 "The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More" is a good book to read to gain insight as to why Amazon, Ebay and others have been very successful with online sales. Brick and mortar stores cannot complete with long tail marketplaces.

It helps that visionaries like Jeff Bezos and Pierre Omiydar had the patience and foresight to see what was possible.

 

[pacergal]

We continue to use both, on line and in store. Some things I really like to see, feel, and, if clothing, try on.
I do like the malls during the Christmas holiday time--I love to "people watch" and see kids as they wait to see Santa. The excitement on their faces is priceless (as long as they are happy-lol).
The last time we were at the mall, it was so crowded! And we went mid day, mid week. Why aren't folks at work?? We try to pick days/times to be around less folks in all of our "running around".

 

[Koolau]

Although published in 2008 "The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More" is a good book to read to gain insight as to why Amazon, Ebay and others have been very successful with online sales. Brick and mortar stores cannot complete with long tail marketplaces.

It helps that visionaries like Jeff Bezos and Pierre Omiydar had the patience and foresight to see what was possible.

Yeah, I wonder where this all ends. In 20 years, will there even BE brick and mortar stores. I probably won't be around, but I'd hate to lose the shopping experience. It's too ingrained in my behavior. YMMV

 

[athena53]

I know I'm "old school" and really like to be able to "see" stuff at a store. The only things I buy at Amazon are things I can't find locally.

I feel that way about clothing. I see too many FaceBook ads with beautiful clothing at ridiculously low prices and have read a few horror stories about merchandise that was totally misrepresented and looked nothing like the picture when it arrived. Fortunately, I need very few clothes these days and most that I need are simple items that I can get at Costco. I shop one brand of running shoes and my sandals are from Birkenstock so I know what size I need and don't have to try them on.

This means it's been 5 1/2 days since the time I ordered and the package was actually sent. That is absolutely unacceptable, embarrassing really, in today's online shopping environment.

It's not just Amazon although I've had it happen on Amazon. Promise a reasonable delivery time to get the sale, print the label and.... it sits there. The worst was a Costco laptop purchase, delayed for a month after I got a tracking number. When it arrived it was clear that it had shipped directly from the factory in China.

 

[folivier]

JC Whi*n#y. Oh no, now we'll all start getting catalogs again!

 

[aja8888]

The last time we were at the mall, it was so crowded! And we went mid day, mid week. Why aren't folks at work?? We try to pick days/times to be around less folks in all of our "running around".

Many are at "work" (the work from home crowd). They are on the golf courses too!

 

[TheCaptain67]

UPDATE: …now says it's being shipped UPS Surepost, left Tulsa, OK, at 4:06AM this morning.

Oh brother. Be prepared for at least a 1 day delay for UPS to hand off that package to the Post Office. Surepost always means a SLOW delivery in my experience……

 

[Qs Laptop]

UPDATE: Received the package on Saturday afternoon. The PGA Tour golf shirt fit excellently, but the Docker's shorts were loose in the waist and, even worse, were very long, coming to the top edge of my kneecaps.

I took the shorts back to the closest Macy's store, which is about 8 miles away. After I returned the shorts I went into the Men's department to see if I could find another pair of shorts. I found the exact pair of Dockers shorts but in a 36 waist instead of the 38 waist I had returned. The dressing room was 10 feet away so I tried them on and they fit very well. The length of the 36W was about an 1 1/2" shorter than the 38W and they fit snugly in the waist. I noticed they were priced $2.00 less than the sale price I paid for the 38W online. I bought them.

So, nine days to get the Macy's online order delivered, the shorts didn't fit so I returned them and netted $2.00 on the deal (less the gas and time to go to the physical store, of course.)

 

[folivier]

And my amazon package was delivered to the locker yesterday. That's a 20 minute drive down and 20 minutes back up the mountain. I'll go later today to see if it's actually there. From the day I placed the order on amazon prime it took 13 days to get here! That's enough for me to start looking at b&m stores again.

 

[EastWest Gal]

When I developed plantar fasciitis, I went searching for a particular brand of shoes my doctor recommended. REI did not have them, so I went to a stroke called Fleet Feet near my home. They scanned my feet and made some different recommendations, including a larger shoe size, and had me try on several. I settled on a pair of Hokas, and my foot pain was gone within 3 weeks. I’ll probably continue to get my sneakers there, as long as they are in business.

 

[Koolau]

When I developed plantar fasciitis, I went searching for a particular brand of shoes my doctor recommended. REI did not have them, so I went to a stroke called Fleet Feet near my home. They scanned my feet and made some different recommendations, including a larger shoe size, and had me try on several. I settled on a pair of Hokas, and my foot pain was gone within 3 weeks. I’ll probably continue to get my sneakers there, as long as they are in business.

I went the full route. I went to a foot doctor who made an impression of my feet in what I can only describe as a "shoe box" full of florist's foam. 3 weeks later, I got these inserts for my shoes and (like you said) in about 3 weeks my pain was gone. It was like a miracle. YMMV