Oct
27
2006The “Buy Where You Shop” Debate
27
2006
Jason Fried of 37signals started an interesting debate on the Signal vs. Noise blog. His post decried advice from Consumer Reports to research products in a store, then purchase online to get the best price. Jason feels that the brick and mortar store is providing a valuable service, and following Consumer Reports’ advice is exploitative and immoral. I think that’s a valid point, and I’m definitely guilty of this form of exploitation, but what I find more interesting is this question: How can stores change their business models to prevent this behavior?
Company-owned single-brand stores are one semi-solution - Apple doesn’t care where you buy your iPod after you play with one in an Apple Store. But this doesn’t do a customer any good if they want to compare multiple brands.
What if “big box” electronics stores behaved more like permanent trade shows - holding no inventory of their own, but renting space to various product vendors to show off their wares. Customers would see companies’ products in the best possible light (no giant banks of monitors locked at the Windows login screen at the wrong resolution), demonstrated by genuine experts. The exhibiting companies make money no matter where you make your purchase, the “store” is getting paid what it needs to keep the facilities running, and the customer gets help from truly knowledgeable people.
It’s not a 100% solution, but I could see something like this hitting the strip malls in the next decade or so.