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Hmmm, interesting discussion.
Much of what I was going to say has been said here, but to reiterate some points that I agree with.
I wouldn't go into a shop and bother a sales-person if I had no intention of buying their products there.
Well, the exception to this is if I have a question relating to products they sell that I'm curious about. But if they're nice about it, I'll make a mental note to come back if I want to purchase something relating to what they sell. I make a special point about telling them how helpful they've been and say I'll be back to their store if I want to buy said product or something related.
If a sales person approached me asking if I needed help and I knew I wasn't going to buy anything, I would probably say "No thanks, just browsing" unless something else caught my eye.
Still, if browsing for something and possibly comparing for an online sale, on many occasions I've spotted something on sale or something that is on an impulse buy price range.
If I felt I shouldn't go into a store if I was going into compare for online prices, I would certainly have not made those other purchases of products that caught my eye whilst comparing or just browsing.
They would have lost a sale in this case.
Also, I'm finding bricks and mortar stores are getting really competitive price-wise anyway these days.
After you factor in delivery charges for goods purchased online, there's often not much difference.
As to specifically book stores. I haven't spotted much in them that interests me on the occasions I have gone in to have a look around. The books are mostly quite mainstream stuff.
I'm pretty comfortable with ebooks and a bricks and mortar bookstore can no way compete with the vast range and easy availability of the online counterparts.
So if mainstream bookstores disappear, I wouldn't be that bothered.
The exception to this is collectible book stores. There's a great collectible book store I regularly go into in town and spend an hour + perusing their vast shelves and often come out with something I wanted or didn't know I wanted until I saw it.
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