Dot.BOMBS and Retailers going KAPUT!

[Namuna]

What in the HELL is going on!!!???

They're dropping like FLIES! Bradless, CompUSA, Etoys.com and a bunch of others it seems everyday!

And the others are Mergering to stay afloat.

It's CHAOS I tell you!...CHAOS!

I get the feeling that part of their problems is the growing AWARENESS us consumers have in getting better deals on the Internet.

 

[sparkle]

Tell me about it. I work for Gateway (well kinda, if you consider 10hours/week working) and I totally need a new job

 

[ViRGE]

It's sad really; instead of there being room for everyone online, there's room for just one.

 

[AndrewR]

I am not quite sure what happened to Etoys because I really liked that site. Good customer service, excellent search function, fast shipment, good prices -- just didn't reach profitability soon enough.

CompUSA is an easy one though. They are the poster child for why a store fails for lack of customer service. They hire MORONS, and if they hire a non-moron, they sh|t on them and make them leave with idiotic management. Employees and customers are commodities to be replaced at a whim. Absolutely stupid product selection (WTF do they have CDs and DVDs there???) and confusing layouts with far too many stores since their Computer City acquisition. They bank everything on those stupid TAPs (Technology Assistance Plan, or something like that -- the extra warranties) which they should abandon in favor of standard warranties and true hardware sales. If they could establish themselves as a niche computer store WITH NO EQUAL (ie, they stock everything for computers, should probably dump Apple, too) AND focus on customer service to build a loyal client base, they can survive and prosper.

My opinion of them went to the absolute lowest when they switched to the 15% restocking fee. That's reserved for crappy online vendors, not a B&M store. That amazed me.

 

[Stark]

Russ had a good quote last week:

"If you sell on price alone, you will eventually fail."

 

[Namuna]

AndrewR,

I agree wholeheartedly about CompUSA!...CompUSA was the first place of employment for me in Technology and was a good place to learn (ON MY OWN)...At a starting hourly rate just barely more than working at a retail clothing store, they don't exactly draw the cream of the crop.

I guess 'lean and mean' is gonna be what to expect from technology type stores in our new Millenium.

 

[Dameon]

Yep... CompUSA is the last major retail bastion of Macintrash and Crapintosh products. If it goes down, Crapple better get ready to crumble.