Brian L. Frank for The Wall Street Journal
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Tri Tang, a 25-year-old marketer, walked into a Best Buy Co. store in Sunnyvale, Calif., this past weekend and spotted the perfect gift for his girlfriend.
Last year, he might have just dropped the $184.85 Garmin global positioning system into his cart. This time, he took out his Android phone and typed the model number into an app that instantly compared the Best Buy price to those of other retailers. He found that he could get the same item on Amazon.com Inc.’s website for only $106.75, no shipping, no tax.
Mr. Tang bought the Garmin from Amazon right on the spot.
Mr. Tang’s smartphone reckoning represents a revolution in retailing—what Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Chief Executive Mike Duke has dubbed a “new era of price transparency”—and its arrival is threatening to upend the business models of the biggest store chains in America.
I find lower prices on line all the time.
The free market at work. Innovation and competition, with the best ideas winning out.
I can’t wait to see the Wikileaks for Dummies book.
bobbo said “So much for standards?”
Um, this is how links work on the information super highway.
[Yes, that's the slick way to do it. - ed.]
Special Ed. The government has a secret plot to wipe out WikiLeaks by having Yahoo take it over.
Damn that printing press, putting all those monks and scribes out of work, hurting our local economy.
I wish I could buy from local retailers sometimes. Sometimes I need something right away. But I’m not going to pay Best Buy $50 for a $6 HDMI cable. That’s not variation based on store overhead, that’s gouging.
Barnes&Noble figured out a long time a go that making your store a place people wanted to be reaps benefits. Cursing them for reading the books or price checking with mobile apps just drives away business. I love Amazon, but still buy from B&N frequently.
This is a link to Man’s Finger
If it works: sure, more than one way to skin a cat.
Thanks foobar.
[You did it correctly... your link is just crap. It gives you the same thing if you paste it in. - ed.]
Ha, ha. Didn’t work. Must be something about the website address itself? Overseas? UK? Some kind of interfering proprietary interest.
This wouldn’t happen if the web only worked locally.
Hey Bobbo – I don’t want to point a (non-working) finger but, as far as white minks, I don’t even know what a “muddle” is! As for “doc, poet, novelist, and philosopher” I don’t know which two you have me pegged for. My MD is hand printed on real sheepskin, I am a published poet (oh, so long ago), I have written two novels (both of which were so bad I burned them rather than submit them) and am working on a third (which, I have to say ain’t so bad). No matter what you might think, I have a philosophy. So, I think he and I have a lot in common … except he’s successful.
Leads to NO STORES, only websites and warehouses next to UPS Depots !!!
Some “Shopping Experience” !!!
Animby–yes, I’m sure 90% of my imagined insights are lost to typo’s: muddy. Only context, imagination, and word power necessary to finger that one out.
I was giving you credit for being a doc and a poet both per your evidenced experienced on this blog.
Novel. I should google for whoever said that EVERY ONE OF US has a great novel within us: our own life story. I think that is true for me. My own self imposed limitation like yours: just not good enough. Layer that with I can’t see writing a dirge. I want the novel to be life affirming, and what I have to say is “not.” I wonder if that attitude can be sublimated into the characters/plot/theme and then at the end just do a mechanical flip. Or like Assarian, (Catch-22) just paddle off into the horizon?
Burned them? Really? Thats very sad. Like all art, I think it is worthy just to have your own effort expressed. Not even any need to submit for publication. What is that? Ego. I can’t even think of a commercial success that is not trash. The novel is for exploration, meditation. I will assume you are LYING! and may have burned a copy? I hope so.
Everyone has a philosophy. Does that make us philosophers? Everyone has applied a band-aid, has that made us physicians? All in life is definitional, with no one taking the time to define. There’s a novel in that. And in fact, thats even the first chapter of my life: how I defined myself and my happiness but then failed to achieve it on those terms. I failed. A matter of luck of course, but also a failure of insight/honesty with myself. and thats the middle of the novel. The end, yet to be written: but I’m sure the Beast will leap. ((William James–seminal in my personal development.))
Yes, its all definitional.
If you don’t like using tags, use bit.ly or some other URL shortening service.
foobar–whats got your engine running? Taking off the www. has worked for me every other time until this thread/that address. I did the html coding exercise and it didn’t work again. As stated, that makes me think its some glitch in the address itself.
I do prefer NOT using a shortening service because the web address gives a clue as to what the link is which provides into to the reader.
I did save the web site you provided. A few years back I learned how to code various items of presentation, but forgot it thru lack of use.
Let me check you other entries herein: xxx Ok: #19–”On-line services, such as Amazon, are an area where America (or any western country) could actually dominate.” /// That makes no sense at all. In the next 10 years if not now China will have more Christians, More English Speakers, more GDP, than the USA. What besides jingoism makes you think the USA has a natural advantage in this economic activity????
I can see the USA dominating the USA market ((until our collapse)) but the whole deal is that China/India are RISING. Seems to me a Chinese Yangtse in Mandarin/Cantonese/50 other Dialects would easily out compete the USA in those markets? Now is the time for a good link to a fortune cookie: “Your time is doomed.” and “in bed” doesn’t even work.
Ha, ha. Silly American Consumers. Seems the only thing localized in our economy is failure.
A bit like wiki for consumers.
If retailers want to charge a premium – then advertise the premium benefits alongside the product. Local staffing, 7-day return policy, warranty exchange etc.etc
Consumers will buy & return to buy more if you stand by decent principles.
When it genuinely costs more to run bricks & mortar on a true cost basis – very few will will walk away, but if you’re milking 50% or more – then expect what you get.
Bobbbboo – I fear due to the number of posts and the fact I’m ~12 off the mainstream, you may not get this little note. Burning the novels was metaphorical. They sit, silent and digitally miserable, in two widely separated backup locations, their only company a bunch of short stories.
I do have a philosophy and I have expressed this philosophy to others (though seldom). I once wrote an essay that was published in my medical school’s monthly periodical. I am, ergo, a philosopher.
Ain’t tags grand?
And now, I, too, will abandon this thread.
Animby–I’m less employed/active than you are. Glad to hear you did not burn those novels, or that they are electronically safe.
My life experience has been more of an editor/critic than anyone of original talent. Let those drafts sit for a while and go back to them with a fresh eye==or move on to what gives you greater pleasure now.
Choices, the joy of an informed self actualized person with interests.
Hmmm. I bloviate all over the place on practically anything and define words like FREEDOM and PRIVACY and SELF INTEREST as any good polymath will. But I don’t consider myself a philosopher or having a philosophy. Maybe I’m making such activity out to be more than it is? Para pathetic?
Brick and mortar retailers have to accept that most of their sales are about impulse buying and the convenience of having product in hand at time of purchase. Not days later, and in unknown condition. But I agree that the prices, shouldn’t be so different from online, at the big box stores. They save a ton of money having so few sales personnel per unit sales, compared to smaller stores. AKA, they sell more with less salesmen. Any yet they still don’t pass much of that saving on to the costumers. So the online sellers anyways beat the big boxes’ asses.
The question is, will they change with the times (trends), or choose to get legislation to protect their current pricing model? Like some kind of surcharge of online sales.
Glen,
there is a Format that CAN be made and used. BUT only a few Stores have tried it.
A distribution/storefront.
All items are setup to be Ordered and SHIPPED OUT.
1 each of the items in stock in On the shelf to be bought by walk-in customers.
A few front people, abit of security.
The problem MANY corps have is they want a STOREFRONT, in 1 spot, where everyone can SEE IT. NOT a BIG warehouse.
IF an item isnt in STOCK, its shipped Store to store, FREE.. or shipped to your HOME at a cost.
This is great until retail is killed then the real fun begins.
Where do you start your search then?
Take a look at Items that are currently only available on the WEB were WEB retailers don’t have to compete with pay this price and take it home.
Case in point, I was looking for a Jeff Dunham talking Peanut doll for my daughter, available in 1 of 2 places, inline at Jeffdunham.com or at one of his shows. I went on line the doll was $50.00 + S&H, I am in Canada so I had a choice of shipping by US Post $30.75 (60% of retail) with no guarantee that the item would even be delivered, or UPS $80 (160% of the retail cost). Once on line has killed the local store all your deals will be like this the items will be cheap but S&H will be marked up through the roof.
Soon to combat this practice you will see the Apple model deployed, Items will be priced by the manufacturer, no longer a suggested retail price but a charge this or we aren’t going to let you sell it price, and we all know what the suggested retail prices look like.