'Mrs MSE's a Robo-shopper!' blog discussion

bassitt74

i do this all the time. doing it at the moment for my seasonal clothes and replacements. i take my list of what i need to buy and then go to the shops offline first and try on what i'm looking for. if i don't like it on or it doesn't fit then i know to look for it in another shop.

i end up with a list of items (sometimes duplicated) from several stores, but because i've tried them all on i know what to work from. i then go online and fill my basket with the items from each store to see if i qualify for any discounts or free delivery.

its a little fiddly but so far i had a £100 shop at wallis and qualified for 20% off with free delivery and 10% off a £60 shop at matalan with free delivery because i had the min spend. plus because i've already tried them on i know theres a good chance i'll keep them, saving me the time to package them all up and take a trip to the post office.

still go some more to go. if anyone wants a list of what you should have in your wardrobe so you can check what you need to buy Vs what you want to buy, just PM me.

DettaWalker

musicmonkey1 wrote: »

Take this process to a logical conclusion and we will have shops where you cannot actually buy anything. You will be able to go in, look touch and feel the goods etc and then go home and buy them online. There will be a charge for access to these shops of course!

What's the alternative? A big reduction in high street stores who can no longer afford the high costs associated with a bricks and mortar business and therefore move on line.

The future is coming and we might not like it very much!

If the customer doesn't like that future, then it won't come. Consumer behaviour drives the way companies act.

Once the first "showroom" with an entering fee goes live, customers will go to the ones that are free.

Lexis200

Before the internet came along we all used to go round shops hunting for the best deal meaning that shop A would lose out to shop B because shop A was more expensive - what's the difference in hunting round a shop then seeing if you can get it cheaper online?

Unless you want to specifically buy from the local shop who offers good service, most people will choose the cheapest way to shop. After all, who honestly will knowingly overpay for an item unless there is something extra (in this example the service you get from a small/local dealer) included? Personally I don't have the money to do that!

There may well be an increasing number of people ROBO shopping, but tbh, unless that increasing number is a significant proportion of the population I just can't see that it's going to cause massive closures of shops left right and centre.

People will always need actual bricks and mortar shops - for those of us who do shop online it may just be for those emergencies like when the kettle blows up (because who's going to wait 3 days before having a cuppa?!), but for other people who are not comfortable/don't have the first clue about internet shopping it will still be an everyday occurrence.

A.Jones

lewisa wrote: »

That sort of thing happens to small on-line companies who are faced with the compatition of bigger online players.

Customer phones you, asks lots of questions about a product, then says 'Amazon are £10 cheaper can you match them?

They generally get told... "No, call Amazon and ask them the questions next time, oh yeah, you cant call them can you. Buy it from Amazon and good luck when you need help in the future, bye."

I regularly look in independents (or chains) at goods, ask questions, then buy online from someone else if they don't price match. If they disappear, then that's their problem. If I can get it cheaper elsewhere, then I will buy elsewhere. If they disappear, then I will rely on online reviews. I spent a hour or so last week trying out camera lenses in Jessops with no intention of buying from them, since they are significant savings online.

JimmyTheWig

Lexis200 wrote: »

Before the internet came along we all used to go round shops hunting for the best deal meaning that shop A would lose out to shop B because shop A was more expensive - what's the difference in hunting round a shop then seeing if you can get it cheaper online?

I used to work in a local computer shop. It was quite a common occurence for people to come to us, have a discussion and demonstration and receive lots of advice. They'd then go away to have a think about it and come back a week later looking at software or wanting training after buying what we recomended cheaper at Dixons.
The shop closed down 17 years ago!

I agree. ROBO-shopping is exactly the same as that.

minerva_windsong

I already am a robo-shopper, but for clothes and entertainment rather than furnishings - that is, I go to a shop, look at things, and then order it over the internet as usually I can get it cheaper. The general exception would be somewhere where an in-store only points deal is involved, such as buying beauty products in Debenhams who don't currently offer their Beauty Club points online, but that's a fairly rare occurence as generally Boots undercuts it. There are also some online stores where (I think) the choice is limited by comparison to the physical shop, such as Uniqlo in terms of the range of available colours online for instance.

At £4-5 shipping is normally cheaper than the return bus ticket to the shops, and for some stores (eg Amazon) there's no shipping fee. However I don't think it'll replace high street shopping due to the fact there are still some places where you can't buy over the internet although they're becoming fewer and further between, and also because some age groups (older people for instance) won't shop online.

Stampede_2

I try to 'price in £'s ' & 'value in further knowledge' the information and service I get from a real shop. Eg when looking for a new fridge/freezer a local independant didn't rush us out the door even though it was closing time, he demonstrated the various real capacities with various containers, explained which 'badged' products were the same as other names etc. all info I could never have gleaned on line. It would have been totally immoral to have then gone on line, and no he wouldn't / perhaps couldn't price match but he did deliver, take away the old one etc.

I'm presently waiting for a local bookstore to get me a book, yes there's Amazon etc. but he researched the proper title, listened to a play back of the radio prog I'd heard about it on, phoned me back etc.

Yes I could do all that but I think about the reality of jobs and unemployment as I've been so lucky in my life to never have been unemployed, paid of my mortgage, & still despite the banks & Govt got savings/ investments. For specialist hard to find things and esp. CD's which are a rip off that's a different story and even buying in $ / C$ can save £'s.

:jtotally debt free and money in the bank for that rainy day should the roof needs fixing.

MSE_Martin

I think Stampede's attitude is interesting - I too place a value on service if its been good - or they've pulled out all the stops

Recently we were looking for an object for the home - told the man in store who was being very helpful that we wanted to let him know that we were planning to perchase it online (from the same company as it was cheapest anyway) and he said "if you buy it from me, I will give you the same price and guarantee in writing you can return it if its unsuitable"

At which point we would happily have bought it from him - both due to the facts - and as another example of exemplarary service. (In teh end though we decided we didnt want to product at all)

midgetmax

I'm a small independent retailer with a shop and a web site, not high street based and very much internet reliant. The internet is a perfect market, much better than the High Street which relies on which shop is available in your town. Therefore we have to do something very special to attract customers.

I do it by differentiating products from our competitors. Different suppliers, own brands etc each offering a slightly different solution to the shopper's requirements. If I sold the same as the industry leaders, it would be just a mouse click to find someone selling at a cheaper price than I can buy at. So I look for something different, keep moving, keep changing, try and stay ahead of the game.

That's what will happen to the High Street, and it's happening in our local Wiltshire towns already. One town has become big-chain orientated and the empty independent shops have been filled up with coffee shops and mobile phone retailers. The town IMO is declining. Another has a warren of little specialist shops; knick-knacks, niche markets, a definite "browsing" destination. The big chains don't seem to bother and the independents are seeming to thrive.

No doubt about it, retailing's changing and like other posters say ROBO shopping isn't new and it's here to stay. The only problem I have is that Martin's excellent prompting makes *some* customers demand discounts of more than I get from the suppliers! :rotfl:

horse54101

We usually research on-line, take ourselves off to the showroom (usually a large 'pile it high' store overcharging!!) to see which products have withstood the abuse they get in the showroom, then buy on-line!!