Quote:
Originally Posted by Ekaros
Depends on the fee, for relatively low one, one might go in and pick something up as the already paid part of it and there is no point losing money, so you would have sale for the fee or bit more just then.
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While I can imagine a scenario where a 'retail cover charge' showroom browsing model might work (see the Naughty Librarian(©®
TM) idea above...), the fallacy that will make this a suicidal move is the thinking that people go in to browse because they like the showroom feature and therefore will pay for it, and that will save the store.
The reality is, the stores NEED people to come in so that the store has a chance to sell them something. Enticing people to come in is the number one critical first step for the survival of a brick and mortor retail store. That's why the have sales, giveaways, in-store events, and fancy window displays.
People want a good value and they LEAVE the store without buying because they can get better value elsewhere. They will not pay MORE and reduce their value further. They will simply forgo the browsing, rely on the online merchant's return polices, and hasten the store's trip to bankruptcy.
Unless handled with some new value-added model, the stores will be throwing the baby out with the bath water, killing their number-one get'em-in-the-door feature: browsing the showroom.
ApK