Quote:
Originally Posted by rkomar
The system is in an unstable state right now. Brick and mortar shops providing free showrooms for lower cost online stores can't work over the long run. Sure, consumers are taking advantage of the battle, but it's not going to be better for them when this shakes out. In the end, you're going to have to rely on word of mouth for making blind online purchases, because online reviews are even less trustworthy than online wikis. If Best Buy's floor experience sucks, it's because they've cheaped out as much as possible to compete with the online vendors. Tech-savvy sales reps and friendly, knowledgeable advice isn't going to help their bottom line, but just make it easier for those who want good advice before shopping at Amazon. God knows where this goes when rising fuel prices put a damper on low-cost shipping. Probably massive central shipping depots where you line up to pick up your orders. I can't really think of anything cheaper than that.
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I wonder if the Apple Store model is an alternative. They do really well.