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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.
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I don't believe that B&M shops like BB are really providing free showrooms for Amazon. I bought two HDTVs through Amazon, and for both of them I relied on reviews, both from enthusiast sites and from Amazon itself. These are a lot more reliable IMO than looking at a screen calibrated to look good in a showroom for 10 minutes.
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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.
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Some online reviews are very reliable; I'm not sure why you think they aren't. Or that you can make up for a detailed review by asking the BB employee a question.
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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.
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No. BB's floor experience has always sucked. That's their whole business model and it always has been. Because BB succeeded by outcompeting specialty electronics dealers (who actually did have knowledgeable sales people on staff, although at the cost of a 40% upcharge). BB beat out specialty retailers through low prices, wide selection, and no knowledgeable customer service. BB is suffering because Amazon is doing the same thing that BB did, only better.
And probably the biggest advantage to Amazon is that you really can get what you want. One of the frustrations of going to a place like BB with the intention of purchasing a particular model that you read a great review of is that they don't have that particular model in stock. (Although they often, conveniently, have the next model up in stock.) Shopping online means you can get exactly what you want. Even if you live in the sticks.
And it also means that you can get an HDMI cable for $5 instead of $30.
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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'm not sure that's any more efficient. In the end, the product has to come to your house, and it's probably more efficient for it to come via the UPS truck (which is delivering three other products to your street and 20 other products to your neighborhood) than for the 20 people in your neighborhood to all make separate trips to wherever they are going.