the end of retail

[doodab]

BBC News - The peril of 'showrooming'

I do feel a bit guilty when I do this, but I think shops have bought it on themselves. Jessops was never a great place to buy stuff.

[nomadd]

BBC News - The peril of 'showrooming'

I do feel a bit guilty when I do this, but I think shops have bought it on themselves. Jessops was never a great place to buy stuff.

I don't.

My own experience...

Went to Comet to look at flat-screen TVs about 7 years ago. There wasn't much HD content around at the time, but I'd heard that certain sets had excellent hardware scalers and would make SD content look pretty good, even on the larger screen size. Ditto my DVD collection would be up-scaled nicely.

The young spiv in the shop laughed at me when I asked if I could see BBC1, BBC2, etc on the set in question, just so I could assess the quality. "It isn't built for that," he expertly informed me. I pointed out that the set actually had dual-SD tuners built into it, "for just that."

I asked could he just speak to the manager and try to get something set-up, after all, the TV was £2,000. At that point he got extremely rude and informed me - very loudly so that the whole shop could hear - "No-one buys a flat-screen TV to watch SD!" I pointed out that, in fact, according to all recent studies most people were doing just that...

I was wasting my time. He just wandered off in a temper with a I don't give a f**k about you attitude written on his face.

I bought the set on-line in the end. Saved £500 in the process. And got a better warranty.

From that day on, I've literally bought every thing I own on-line (apart from my weekly food shop.)

[OwlHoot]

It'll get even worse when online retailers introduce decent 3D images that one can turn round with a mouse and touch screen rather than the pathetic thumbnails they typically use today.

Also, there's a decent Plan B designing a cheap scanning device for the human body - Just use it naked in one's bedroom, or wearing a skin-tight leotard with a suitable pattern the scanner can measure, and email an exact image/measurement file to India or somewhere and they can knock up a made to measure suit or pair of shoes. Or you could install walk in body measurement scanners in shopping malls, like photo booths, and email the data file to an address the punter provides.

[doodab]

It'll get even worse when online retailers introduce decent 3D images that one can turn round with a mouse and touch screen rather than the pathetic thumbnails they typically use today.

Also, there's a decent Plan B designing a cheap scanning device for the human body - Just use it naked in one's bedroom, or wearing a skin-tight leotard with a suitable pattern the scanner can measure, and email an exact image/measurement file to India or somewhere and they can knock up a made to measure suit or pair of shoes. Or you could install walk in body measurement scanners in shopping malls, like photo booths, and email the data file to an address the punter provides.

Imagine the data protection issues associated with sending hi res scans of celebrity baps and buttocks to India. Never mind the possibilities for cgi porn.

[amcdonald]

BBC News - The peril of 'showrooming'

I do feel a bit guilty when I do this, but I think shops have bought it on themselves. Jessops was never a great place to buy stuff.

Jessops used to stock a good selection of second hand gear at reasonable prices, then they started pushing the prices up getting rid of the second hand stuff and narrowing their range of new stuff

They gave you no reason to visit anymore

Whereas with ebay et al charging high fees, and the risk of fraud over expensive purchases like lenses, done right they could still have a market

Specialist camera shops still thrive, they've just upped their game

[doodab]

Jessops used to stock a good selection of second hand gear at reasonable prices, then they started pushing the prices up getting rid of the second hand stuff and narrowing their range of new stuff

They gave you no reason to visit anymore

Whereas with ebay et al charging high fees, and the risk of fraud over expensive purchases like lenses, done right they could still have a market

Specialist camera shops still thrive, they've just upped their game

Very true. Look at London camera exchange or calumet. Jessops targeted the low end consumer electronics shoppers and their market died with the camera phone.

[EternalOptimist]

pretty soon the high street will contain shops that you cannot 'showroom'

greggs, the pub, the poundshop, tescos, the off licence and a million charidee shops.
tumbleweeds, cracked polystrene cups and old newspaper pages will blow around and every closed down shop doorway will host it's own piss-stained tramp


Damn you internet and all your dark works

[istvan]

pretty soon the high street will contain shops that you cannot 'showroom'

greggs, the pub, the poundshop, tescos, the off licence and a million charidee shops.
tumbleweeds, cracked polystrene cups and old newspaper pages will blow around and every closed down shop doorway will host it's own piss-stained tramp


Damn you internet and all your dark works

No, retail is not over yet - transformation is in process. A new dawn is coming. It is not here yet, but surely it is coming in some form or another. You will walk into a store and in a 3-D screen you will choose your product. Then you order it and it will be printed 3-D on site. These will be the sophisticated products requiring a 3-D printer that people will not be able to afford to keep at home. I can hardly wait for my own Guinness printer at home.