Advertisers are slow to find out that we are inundated with pitches and refusing to see that the honesty of their media is shot. Nobody with means believes what’s presented.
No mention of Target stores and their embracing transgender bathroom policy contributing to sales falloff.
Their bankruptcy can’t come fast enough.
We are also undergoing a transition from a consumption driven New Deal economy to a production-driven late 1800s style industrialized economy.
This has been going on for several years because everyone’s trying to be frugal. Most people still don’t have lots of disposable income, thanks to Zero. People aren’t going out as much, so less fancy clothes and cars. When they are buying stuff, it’s for DIY and fixing up homes.
The only reason we’re suddenly hearing about “The sky is falling! What a disaster the economy is in!” at this very late stage is to make President Trump look bad, when anyone with half a brain can see this is the result of years of damage from a bunch of leftists driving the bus.
One of the bigger reasons I’m mostly shopping online - other than price and convenience - is the downgraded quality of customer service/sales personnel in brick-and-mortar stores.
We have a large, fancy, mall nearby...but NOBODY will go there after dark, and you never go alone. It took about three years for it to go from “new”, to dangerous.
The low-brow, mouth-breathers they hire are rude, condescending, and have no idea what they’re doing. No discernable product knowledge, with their claim-to-fame being able to run the cash register.
Attitudes, not the Internet, are ruining American business...specifically in chain, big box, and fast food outlets.
So, I order on line, and seldom eat fast food anymore. They want to “overcome”, but they’ll eventually be overcoming failed and bankrupt businesses.
The shame of it is, businesses can no longer pick and hire the most capable, they’ve got to use a color quota chart and follow government rules to hire people around whom you have to walk on eggshells lest there will be lawsuits.
I like Amazon. It is easy to use, I don’t have to sort through stacks of clothes in a store to find my size, and the prices are good. And, their reviews are reliable.
Every few days Walmart sends me an email touting something, but when I click on the link, their website doesn’t work with the browser that came with my Mac. Maybe they didn’t get the memo, but customer service starts with making things easy for the customer...
Avoiding malls lets me avoid the feral youts that hang out there.
People used to be able to go to the mall and have an enjoyable day window shopping, buying some stuff, eating in the food court. Now, it’s hoodied thugs all over the place and, yes, teens have always been at the mall but today a certain percentage are armed and genuinely dangerous to the level of Clockwork Orange.
So, shopping becomes a “get in, get what you need, get out” experience. Once it is that, you might as well shop online.
And other, there is also the reality that real income after bills is still declining.
Take Bezos out of the equation and Macy’s would be doing fine.
Besides being able to compare products on Amazon's website, you can also read customer reviews for each product, too. That's why I ended up with the Asus RT-AC68U wireless router--it was highly-rated by the vast majority of cusotmers of the product.
Clothing, however, will still stay heavily brick and mortar, since people need to try out the clothing before buying it. This is especially true in the case of shoes.
There are several factors that have me out of traditional department stores. I have learned how to pick for maximum use and have less, but nicer, clothing. Amazon and even retailers websites allow for customers who are outside normal sizing to have more options. I have small feet and online retail has been a godsend. Online shops like e-shakti, which allow me to have a dress cut to order, pick the neckline, hemline and sleeve are much more efficient to use than getting through a traditional department store. There are also multi level marketing companies now catered to women’s clothing. Trust me, it’s much more fun to have wine and turn a friend’s dining room into a dressing room than it is to shuffle over to the mall.
People have enough stuff. In fact, people are trying to get rid of their stuff.
Retail is down because selection and availability at retail is down. It is becoming rare to find anything I am looking for on a shelf. Retail execs think having left over stock is bad so they have little in the first place. Wholesalers have raised prices to the point that retail has little incentive to have left over stock. Wholesale once was no more than 50% of retail, not it is as high as 96%. Retailers cannot afford to have inventory.
On-line purchasing is also an outgrowth of instant gratification, and touch screen access.
It seems that going to a store and bringing something home would be more ‘instant’, but I would argue that on-line ordering - - Search, add to cart, Paypal - - is perceived as a conquest and a completed process. Waiting for delivery is ignored, and immediate dealing with the product is avoided. When the object arrives it is a surprise, a second conquest. The wait is not a problem when one has ordered multiple items frequently; there is always something in the pipeline. The delivery man has a never ending supply. As a bonus, my neighbor always has a stack of empty Amazon boxes if I need one.
Purchasing via credit card also kicks the ‘payment’ can down the road. This whole process is kind of like Socialism even.
The retail model needs to be changed. I think in 20 years, someone will challenge Amazon...
They are leaving out the safety and security that has been a problem for years.
* Teens and young adults that are allowed to roam, whether harassing people, asking for money, shop lifting or selling drugs - and security isn’t allowed to kick them out or disperse them because that’s considered racist
* Flash mob fights for entertainment
* Shootings at some locations
This security issue is mostly limited to large indoor malls where adults send their children for a day as entertainment but without the money for a day of movies and entertainment. Or a bunch of people looking for fun bothering others or committing fun have an excuse - we were just going to the mall!
This doesn’t happen nearly as much at outdoor strip malls because people have to drive in and are dispersed.
High taxes and regulations have a cost.
We have become on line people for our news (like here), bill paying, banking, managing our retirement IRAs, coordinating our family functions via text versus a lot of phone talking, and setting up our other social activities from bridge to Mexican Train, our duties/functions at our church and charities.
About 6+ years ago I gave up shopping at Macy’s, Nordstroms and mall stores. If I bought anything from them, it was on line.
My wife used to kid me about Amazon and using its Prime. Now when she needs something this no longer carried where she shops, she asks me to find it on Amazon Prime.
We have family members from the East Coast, Midwest, Southwest to the West Coast. We no longer go through the hassle of shopping and then sending the presents to them.
We use, Amazon and other stores that offer delivery to where ever is how we buy and send gifts. Recently, one of our SILs wanted a copy of our church cookbook. We got one and went to the UPS store to ship it. The UPS experience took close to 10 minutes besides taking 5 minutes to find a parking place.
The UPS clerk said that was due to post 9/11 security even for a Church cookbook. We bought and sent a birthday present to that DIL’s husband, my wife’s brother, from my Lazy Boy in our family room to his home via Prime in a few minutes. He got the present in two days. It took 7 days for the Church Cookbook to arrive.
I was an empty nester, single, then my daughter, hubby & 2 kids moved in with me.
My house has become a shipping/receiving center. They buy almost everything online. They ship it right back if it’s wrong or doesn’t fit.
It’s rubbed off on me too. I now have an Amazon Prime membership.
When something breaks, I make a decision: do I fix this? Replace this? Do I need this?
The majority of the time I'm able to fix what's broken. If I'm not able to, I seriously question whether or not I need that item. The majority of the time I DO NOT so it goes to some form of recycling center and I live without it.
I have a lot less clutter, I have more money in savings (and investments) and not surprisingly, I'm actually happier.
I'm 54, in the final stages of divorce from a 30 year marriage, downsizing everything and I'm finding that the millenials are actually right about ONE THING: material things don't matter. Life Experiences do.
I don't think I'm unique in my "discovery" here and I think to a large degree that's why retail is failing. Amazon and sites like them are incredibly convenient and yes, we're seeing a major shift to online shopping and convenience but what's really happening here is a CONSOLIDATION of the "shopping experience." When someone comes along and figures out how to compete with Amazon, they'll suffer the same fate. That might take awhile but it'll happen --- it always does.
One last comment: the Millenials are also right about SERVICE being the key to the shopping experience. I frequent smaller places (family owned, local places/locally owned, owner works the store, etc..) and I tend to go back to where I receive PERSONALIZED service and am remembered. The Millenials, much as I malign them are right about that too. They shun the large retail establishments and go on Amazon for example because their shopping experience is personalized for them. Small mom and pop shops have learned this lesson pretty well from Amazon. I recently saw a small coffee shop doing free refills and a "points" system for customers simply by tapping their phones using every mobile phone system payment imagineable including ApplePay, Samsungs payment system, Google Pay, etc.. The place is constantly packed and beats the Starbucks down the road.
Maybe those millenials aren't as stupid as I thought after all. Still think they're lazy as shit though.
A couple months ago, I purposefully went to a large online site to place an order rather than give it to Amazon. Surprise! The item came in an Amazon box with Amazon tape.