today's retail electronics
I agree with (yet another) Noah, Circuit City sucks. The business of retail electronics has changed. And yet, it’s stayed the same as well.
Check out the story behind the Apple retail stores…as people called them crazy for breaking traditional retail models (by putting their equipment out in the open where it can easily handled, for one), Apple went on to make around $1,400 more per square feet than Best Buy did last year. Of course, Apple is selling not just hardware but a full experience of their brand. General retailers suffer by this comparison.
It’s a bizarre point in consumer culture to be in, since the advertising that convinces people they want something they don’t need is what’s driving them into the stores. And yet nowadays people do hours of comparison and research online before entering the store. So do you fight these forces to sell them something that might be cheaper? Do you let them buy something they’re likely to be unhappy with? I don’t envy the electronic stores after the internet boom the same way I don’t envy bookstores or record stores.
But in the same way that some media businesses understand they sell an experience now and not just goods (comfy couches in the bookstores, anyone?) electronics retailers must follow suit or face becoming the supplies shop for people too impatient to order direct off the internet.
Some pull it off: there’s a brilliant salesman at a T-Mobile store near me that I’ve dealt with before. I was just back there recently and overheard him working with a customer who was curious about their MDA phone. He deftly got them talking about why they wanted the MDA without getting them to question their choice in order to make sure that it was what they really needed. In the process, he pointed out different features of the Blackberry phones and the SDA to illustrate why the MDA was going to work better for them. The result is exactly what Noah3 described as the long-term goal: better satisfaction with the purchase, better customer retention and overall spending. Hell, that experience was why I was back there.
This isn’t new. This is what is traditionally called “good salesmanship.” Covering the options, being knowledgeable, giving the customer confidence — this is classic. And traditionally rare at very large retail businesses.
