I Wonder Why Brick and Mortar Stores are Losing Customers?

[meleana]

I am an on line person all the way. Mostly Amazon. If Walmart has something cheaper via store pick up I will order there and drive the 10 minutes to the store and park in the order pick up spot and in less than 5 minutes an employee comes out to my car with it.

 

[RetMD21]

Macy got my store pickup order to me ahead of schedule last week. Three days vs the 5-7 estimated. Things happen. I have had issues with Amazon orders from time to time

 

[Redbugdave]

I mostly get my stuff on-line. I don't like driving around and going to stores to find what I want. What a hassle. When you consider the time spent driving, gas, as well as the risk of an accident it is well worth ordering on-line. That opens up more time for to be doing the things I really enjoy.

 

[Countdown To Freedom]

Amazon rewrote "The Book" on how a lot of mail-order businesses must operate to remain competitive. Evidently Macy's didn't get the memo on that and will soon die if they don't turn that around and fast.

That reminds me of another once-major company: Kodak. They sat fat dumb and happy on their laurels because they were top in the field of film and ignored digital cameras (which a Kodak engineer invented). Digital ate not only their lunch, but them too.

So true! Don't forget Sears, too. Another mainstay company that refused to change with the times and got beaten to a pulp by competition (looking at you, Amazon).

 

[Koolau]

I mostly get my stuff on-line. I don't like driving around and going to stores to find what I want. What a hassle. When you consider the time spent driving, gas, as well as the risk of an accident it is well worth ordering on-line. That opens up more time for to be doing the things I really enjoy.

I kinda like going out to get stuff.

 

[zippy2020]

... Now that Louisiana won't renew my driver's license (due to my aging vision), it's really nice to know that I can buy things without having to be driven across town to a store to look at them and try them on. I can order online instead, no driving necessary. This change in how we buy things, has happened just in time for people my age (75).

LOL, isn't that the truth! When my spouse finally took early retirement in Jan 2010, we started to do some driving trips that we had always wanted to do. We were just in time for the affordable portable GPS units - Magellan, Garmin, et.al. - and for a long time I teased him that if we still had to depend on him to read maps, we would have never found our way out of town!

 

[Sanstar]

LOL, isn't that the truth! When my spouse finally took early retirement in Jan 2010, we started to do some driving trips that we had always wanted to do. We were just in time for the affordable portable GPS units - Magellan, Garmin, et.al. - and for a long time I teased him that if we still had to depend on him to read maps, we would have never found our way out of town!

^^I’m counting on safe, effective self-driving cars are available and affordable by the time I’m too old to drive

 

[athena53]

I see Amazon, now giving me the option to pick up my order at a location about 3 miles from my house. I didn't understand, and wondered do they really have a warehouse near me? No, they ship to a local storage facility and you can pick it up there. The rep at the storage facility told me this helps avoid porch pirates.

I have a PO Box and it's always a toss-up whether Amazon needs my street address or my PO Box since they tend to use the USPS for "last mile" service. This eliminates the confusion as well as the porch prate problem.

And another thought: so much brick-and-mortar merchandise is now locked up in cases or you have to bring a card to the register. I understand that it's to deter the increasing theft rates but it also eliminates the opportunity to pick up the item and look at it, compare alternatives, etc., which should be one of the advantages of in-person shopping.

 

[Koolau]

I have a PO Box and it's always a toss-up whether Amazon needs my street address or my PO Box since they tend to use the USPS for "last mile" service. This eliminates the confusion as well as the porch prate problem.

And another thought: so much brick-and-mortar merchandise is now locked up in cases or you have to bring a card to the register. I understand that it's to deter the increasing theft rates but it also eliminates the opportunity to pick up the item and look at it, compare alternatives, etc., which should be one of the advantages of in-person shopping.

Fortunately, we're not seeing the "lock-up" thing in the heartland (nor even in Hawaii.) I do expect it in Honolulu soon.

 

[Badger]

LOL, isn't that the truth! When my spouse finally took early retirement in Jan 2010, we started to do some driving trips that we had always wanted to do. We were just in time for the affordable portable GPS units - Magellan, Garmin, et.al. - and for a long time I teased him that if we still had to depend on him to read maps, we would have never found our way out of town!

Like many of us I used a map for decades to get around the country and never got lost. But it was much easier then and there were less people on the roads. It might have helped that for 20 years of that time it was in a VW bus that only went about 55-60 mph on a level road. Good luck if you were behind me in the mountains.

^^I’m counting on safe, effective self-driving cars are available and affordable by the time I’m too old to drive

I'm hoping for the same thing but by the time those cars are available I may even be past "too old to drive". Back in the 60's I was hoping to have a vehicle like in the Jetsons. That's not going to happen now.

Cheers!

 

[Walt34]

Fortunately, we're not seeing the "lock-up" thing in the heartland (nor even in Hawaii.) I do expect it in Honolulu soon.

We're not seeing it in WV either, except maybe the more expensive and portable tools in Home Depot. But I'm not seeing any of it in drugstores or grocery stores.

 

[Out of Steam]

My history with online shopping for clothes has been quite poor. I'll never get used to the idea of buying five items and returning three that seems routine, but don't do any better than 50/50 success unless I'm re-buying something familiar.

My best luck in recent years has been at brick and mortar outlet malls.

 

[Koolau]

My history with online shopping for clothes has been quite poor. I'll never get used to the idea of buying five items and returning three that seems routine, but don't do any better than 50/50 success unless I'm re-buying something familiar.

My best luck in recent years has been at brick and mortar outlet malls.

DW picks out my clothes - the very few I own - at Goodwill or other resale shops. She'll bring them home for me to try on. Any I reject just get cycled back into the resale shop! No fuss, no muss, and still a real bargain.

 

[audreyh1]

LOL, isn't that the truth! When my spouse finally took early retirement in Jan 2010, we started to do some driving trips that we had always wanted to do. We were just in time for the affordable portable GPS units - Magellan, Garmin, et.al. - and for a long time I teased him that if we still had to depend on him to read maps, we would have never found our way out of town!

Ha ha, when we retired I gave DH (copilot) the job to track navigation. He promptly bought a car GPS!

 

[W2R]

My history with online shopping for clothes has been quite poor. I'll never get used to the idea of buying five items and returning three that seems routine, but don't do any better than 50/50 success unless I'm re-buying something familiar.

My best luck in recent years has been at brick and mortar outlet malls.

I buy my clothes online. I buy clothes of the same brands and sizes as always so they fit and look reasonable, just like they did the last time I bought them. I stick to standard, normal styles that most people are used to seeing. I never have to return anything but if I did, the UPS store is half a block from my house so it's not a big deal.

I don't miss brick'n'mortar stores, I guess because I never really got much of a thrill out of shopping for clothes at those stores.

 

[Ronstar]

I haven't bought any clothes except hiking pants/ boots, jeans, T shirts and underwear/socks in the last 10 years. No need for decent clothes since I kept almost all of my work clothes. I buy almost all clothes online, since brick and mortar stores rarely have what I want in my size.

I do go to Menards or Ace Hardware 4 or 5 times a week for hobby/ home/yard maintenance things that I need in a hurry. Otherwise I'll order this stuff online too.

Part of choosing between brick/mortar and online for me is based on driving distance to the stores. Menards/ Ace Hardware are 15 minutes away. Closest clothes store is an hour. And I hate shopping in stores for anything but hobby/ home/yard maintenance things, so online is a lot less stressful.

 

[Koolau]

I haven't bought any clothes except hiking pants/ boots, jeans, T shirts and underwear/socks in the last 10 years. No need for decent clothes since I kept almost all of my work clothes. I buy almost all clothes online, since brick and mortar stores rarely have what I want in my size.

I do go to Menards or Ace Hardware 4 or 5 times a week for hobby/ home/yard maintenance things that I need in a hurry. Otherwise I'll order this stuff online too.

Part of choosing between brick/mortar and online for me is based on driving distance to the stores. Menards/ Ace Hardware are 15 minutes away. Closest clothes store is an hour. And I hate shopping in stores for anything but hobby/ home/yard maintenance things, so online is a lot less stressful.

I don't notice these stores losing a lot of business. I think the assistance of the staff is a big reason. Another reason is that, when you need a washer or a bolt - you probably need it right now. You don't want to wait for it to be delivered.


BUT went to the mall yesterday because DW "needed" shoes. She knew there were several places there to find shoes (no luck.) But the mall was just dead. Probably 15% of their stores were shuttered. Sad, really, but not unexpected with all the online shopping and the mall rats using cell phones instead of hanging out at the mall.

 

[Midpack]

I used to buy clothes at Lands End, because prices were reasonable, quality was decent, and everything I ever bought from them ran true to size. But I agree buying online from many merchants can be a total crapshoot WRT sizing. e.g. I bought a golf shirt from TravisMathew that I (initially) liked, so I bought another, same named line and same size and it was way too small. Turned out they didn't wash/wear well either, so I'll never buy their garbage again.

 

[aja8888]

Since I lost 30 pounds + in the last year, I had to buy some new clothes. I did a mix of online and Costco buying. I did well with pull over tee shirts, golf shirts, and shorts buying at either source. I only had to return a couple of shirts to Amazon that didn't feel good on me.

A few things I bought at Lands End were right on!

I don't want to buy too much right now as I have about ten pounds to go to get back to what I call my desired weight and that is ten pounds over where I was when I was a serious long distance runner years ago. When (if) I get to that weight (170), I will be looking at some new clothes again, mostly pants and shorts.

I have two nice suits.....only worn at weddings and funerals. Both suits will need alteration, and I will check that out this Fall. If it's going to cost too much, I'll buy a new sport coat and call it even.

I don't think I am ready for velcro shoes quite yet!

 

[athena53]

I know self-checkout has been brought up before, but I was at CVS this afternoon to get an on-line order to be picked up in-store. I'd forgotten that it's nearly impossible to get a human to check out your order at that store. Both registers have a "This Register is Closed- Please use Next Register" sign on them and there was a young man whose job seemed to be leading customers over to the self-checkouts and walking them through it. He had to interrupt helping a customer to fetch my order and then went back to helping her. I've tried their self-checkout registers and they always make something difficult with the loyalty cards, applying discounts, etc.

If I needed someone to sell me the extensive collection of stuff in locked cases I think I'd just give up.

 

[Qs Laptop]

athena53's story reminded me of something. Not exactly retail store, but grocery store self-checkout lanes. What a PITA. By now we all know how to operate these things and know the rules about placing your scanned items in the bagging area, keying in produce and weighing it, etc.. So why is it that four out of five times I use one of these things something always hangs up the process? It's uncanny how many times I fail at this supposedly simple thing.

The largest food chain in my area, Cub Foods, just got new scanners/checkout machines installed and they are fantastic! Intuitive to use, super fast and less dumb rules. My success rate has climbed to about 90%. They must have some new AI implementation from data they've gathered over the previous years of observing people checking out.

Now when I go to other stores I lament the fact they don't have the new checkout machines like the ones at Cub foods.

And when did we accept the idea that we were going to do the job of the grocery store for them by scanning and bagging our food?

 

[W2R]

And when did we accept the idea that we were going to do the job of the grocery store for them by scanning and bagging our food?

+100

I think it was a few years after we all accepted that we were going to do the job of the gas station attendant, by pumping our own gas and checking our own oil, water, and so on. I really do not like having to do that either. Back in the day, we were treated like royalty but now we are treated like unpaid part time employees.

 

[Qs Laptop]

+100

I think it was a few years after we all accepted that we were going to do the job of the gas station attendant, by pumping our own gas and checking our own oil, water, and so on. I really do not like having to do that either. Back in the day, we were treated like royalty but now we are treated like unpaid part time employees.

Treated like royalty at the gas station? Reminds me of that scene near the beginning of "Back to the Future" when Marty first walks into 1955 Mill Valley and a guy pulls into the Texaco station and 3 or 4 uniformed attendants run out to his car, immediately check the oil, fill up his gas tank, clean the windshield, etc. Marty is awestruck.

 

[athena53]

So why is it that four out of five times I use one of these things something always hangs up the process? It's uncanny how many times I fail at this supposedly simple thing.

The largest food chain in my area, Cub Foods, just got new scanners/checkout machines installed and they are fantastic! Intuitive to use, super fast and less dumb rules. My success rate has climbed to about 90%.

Yes, that's an improvement but to me 90% isn't that great. One out of every ten times a human has to come over and help.

I wonder how the "order on-line, pickup in store" model is working. I suppose it cuts down on theft and for me it's a great convenience, but it also means that I don't wander through the store looking for marked-down merchandise and buying things on impulse. Why would I? I'd just have to go to the checkout again.

 

[JoeWras]

Witnessed a theft last week - it was unnerving

I was walking up to my local Lowe's Home Improvement, entering through the garden area, and I got pushed aside by a man with a cart heading out. The tag alarm went off, and it was slowly dawning on me what was happening. His cart was piled high with small garden power tools.

I proceeded in and took a turn away from the activity. An employee calmly followed him and took a few pictures of the thief loading his car. He came back and another employee yelled something at him like "that was dangerous, you shouldn't have done that."

I witnessed what they are calling "shrink." It is my first go around on this, although it is apparently common in other cities.

To say I was disappointed doesn't capture how I feel. It is deeper than that. This behavior is real, and in my opinion a statement on our society and more that we are not allow to speak of on this board.

Dick's and Target both recently reported severe issues with shrink. (Oh what a quaint word to use. When did "theft" leave our lexicon?) Dick's shares slumped 24% yesterday when they reported their problems with shrink.

Yeah, brick and mortar has a problem. This is part of it. I am now a little more wary of going to these stores. I don't know what's next. The thieves burnishing weapons?

Worse yet, Amazon may be raking it in, but I have a bad feeling some of these products are finding their way back to Amazon, and especially Ebay. I don't want to be buying stolen goods, but it is likely that I have.