wierd new business strategy I've developed

[mizzou]

I'm going to own a huge store, that sells PC equipment. And in this store, I'm only going to stock parts that consist of the following:

1. Reasonably priced (bang for the buck type of equipment)
2. Solidly built equipment (not so cheap it breaks)
3. A limitation in variety. Let's not have 50 different types/brands of CDR discs and only the kind that the greater population will reasonably use.


This means

No crap like Monster Cables
No crap like Printing Paper
No crap like 100s of ancient worthless software programs or demo CD's with 1000's of demos.

This is the experience.


"Hi I'm a customer, where are the DVD drives?"

I say, "right over there."

Customer walks over and says, Holy shit, there are like 50 different DVD drives and manufacturers here. Just kidding, customer says,
"Oh look, a @#%@! dvd drive, exactly what I was looking for"

Customer grabs the DVD drive and checks out, have a nice day.



From working in retail< I never got the whole point of stocking worthless crap nobody buys and then over-blowing the loadout of where you make the biggest bang for the buck (TVs, home theatre equipment, PC equipment)

I say a store specialized in the "middle" equipment and keeping away the cheap crap or over-expensive jewelry will succeed

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Oh, you're going to open and Apple store? Cool!

 

[Woosta]

s/wierd/weird

 

[dartworth]

 

[drebo]

They already exist. They're called locally owned, private businesses--or "Mom & Pop" shops. There's usually one in every town. Support them.

 

[Regs]

Yeah, where are you going to buy these products to sell? Newegg ?

 

[God Mode]

Most private mom and pop stores I go to have garbage, over msrp new products and outdated stuff that they charge msrp for.

 

[drebo]

Yeah, where are you going to buy these products to sell? Newegg ?

From the same place that Newegg and most other wholesalers get their stuff: nation-wide distributors like Ingram Micro, Techdata, and D&H.

 

[StageLeft]

Most private mom and pop stores I go to have garbage, over msrp new products and outdated stuff that they charge msrp for.

And that's why they are dying.

 

[ultimatebob]

You're aware that the big online retailers like Newegg, Dell, and Amazon would kick your ass on price, right? They get huge volume discounts (think 10 to 20% better than you'll do) and special vendor incentives that you simply can't get as a little guy.

The only chance you'll have is if you're the only computer store in a fairly large populated area... where you can profit off of impulse buys and emergency computer repairs that can't wait a few days for shipping.

 

[Regs]

From the same place that Newegg and most other wholesalers get their stuff: nation-wide distributors like Ingram Micro, Techdata, and D&H.

Well, if you can manage to cut out all the middle men while keeping it economical, you should have no problem.

 

[Regs]

And that's why they are dying.

I imagine the inventory turnover rate is not that good.

 

[mizzou]

You're aware that the big online retailers like Newegg, Dell, and Amazon would kick your ass on price, right? They get huge volume discounts (think 10 to 20% better than you'll do) and special vendor incentives that you simply can't get as a little guy.

The only chance you'll have is if you're the only computer store in a fairly large populated area... where you can profit off of impulse buys and emergency computer repairs that can't wait a few days for shipping.

I could beat them on service easily. No hassle returns, repairs, etc. You'd be surprised how many people can't stand ordering equipment online due to the pain of RMA'ing.

I've RMA'd tons of times and unless it's bigger then a video card I don't want to deal w/ it.

 

[thepd7]

I'm going to own a huge store, that sells PC equipment. And in this store, I'm only going to stock parts that consist of the following:

1. Reasonably priced (bang for the buck type of equipment)
2. Solidly built equipment (not so cheap it breaks)
3. A limitation in variety. Let's not have 50 different types/brands of CDR discs and only the kind that the greater population will reasonably use.


This means

No crap like Monster Cables
No crap like Printing Paper
No crap like 100s of ancient worthless software programs or demo CD's with 1000's of demos.

This is the experience.


"Hi I'm a customer, where are the DVD drives?"

I say, "right over there."

Customer walks over and says, Holy shit, there are like 50 different DVD drives and manufacturers here. Just kidding, customer says,
"Oh look, a @#%@! dvd drive, exactly what I was looking for"

Customer grabs the DVD drive and checks out, have a nice day.



From working in retail< I never got the whole point of stocking worthless crap nobody buys and then over-blowing the loadout of where you make the biggest bang for the buck (TVs, home theatre equipment, PC equipment)

I say a store specialized in the "middle" equipment and keeping away the cheap crap or over-expensive jewelry will succeed

So you want to start Fry's?

 

[ultimatebob]

I could beat them on service easily. No hassle returns, repairs, etc. You'd be surprised how many people can't stand ordering equipment online due to the pain of RMA'ing. They just can't compete on price, when folks like Dell is pumping out $299 PC's end up costing more that to build in parts once you include a legit OEM copy of Windows.

I've RMA'd tons of times and unless it's bigger then a video card I don't want to deal w/ it.

I wish ya luck, man... but I've seen at least half a dozen small computer shops open up in my area over the past few years, only to see them all fail within six months. Remember that Dell can crank out thousands of $299 entry level PC's a day... less that what you would pay in parts to build them once you include a legit OEM copy of Windows.

That said, there are a few people who've started successful traveling "computer doctor" gigs like Geek Squad around here lately. The main difference is that they have more reasonable rates, and will do things that GS won't do like office VoIP setup and basic website development work.

 

[Kaido]

From working in retail< I never got the whole point of stocking worthless crap nobody buys and then over-blowing the loadout of where you make the biggest bang for the buck (TVs, home theatre equipment, PC equipment)

I say a store specialized in the "middle" equipment and keeping away the cheap crap or over-expensive jewelry will succeed

It's a good idea, but it won't fly in reality. First, you'll have a hard time making a profit, so you're not really going to make much of a living. If you're the owner and sole employee, you can probably making a decent living if you fix computers as well. Second, there's a lot of psychology involved in how things are laid out in stores. One principle of sales psychology is the middle product.

The reason that there are 50 different variations of the same product is to get the consumer to buy something, and buy it at a mid-pricerange - most people don't want the most expensive, nor the least expensive - they want the "good one in the middle" so they can feel good about their purchase. Then they don't feel like they got the cheapest thing available, but they also weren't stupid and bought the most expensive thing. It sounds silly, but take a look at your behavior the next time you go shopping. Most people are either tuned that way, or tuned for "cheapest possible" if you're on a tight budget.

You would probably be better doing local advertising, like on Craigslist. The overhead of running a B&M store would be difficult to make it cost-effective to keep up - most people get supplies already from Staples & Best Buy, both of which already have computer parts, computer salesmen, and computer repair techs. Both have techs who will drive to your house and fix your computer. Both are big names. All of the mom & pop stores in my area struggle big time, and we're down to 2 in about a 50-mile radius.

Again, it's a good idea, but the point of a store is to make a profit, first and foremost - and most stores do that by tapping into consumer psychology to create an environment to foster certain purchases. A profit is required first, over the purpose of the business, because you can't continue with the purpose of a business unless you are profitable and can pay your bills and your people.

 

[nerp]

So you have hundreds of thousands of dollars to start this shop? Have you ever run your own business before?

 

[mizzou]

So you have hundreds of thousands of dollars to start this shop? Have you ever run your own business before?

no, this is just a rant about how I can't believe BB stores run their operations. Same goes for those huge stores like Macy's and Sears. Those are so overloaded with worthless crap I can't believe they are still around.....well sears for that matter.

 

[Kaido]

no, this is just a rant about how I can't believe BB stores run their operations. Same goes for those huge stores like Macy's and Sears. Those are so overloaded with worthless crap I can't believe they are still around.....well sears for that matter.

Consumer psychology, and availability. They're everywhere, and they have enough crap there to buy from that you feel like you're really making a choice. Every detail in these stores is planned out to a T. I worked at Staples for a number of years and their planograms (regularly-updated corporate-mandated store layout for products & advertising) were just about down to the inch, complete with color images. The analysts have planned out how to shepard customers throughout the store, where exactly to place advertising and when to do it, and so on. Overkill for sales success...it actually works, believe it or not. It's very calculated, too.

 

[Cogman]

One mans worthless crap is another mans gold. As well, people like variety. The ability to choose, even if the choices are crappy, is better then just having one choice that is decent.

One other thing, How do you know what is going to be popular? By the time you know that it is popular, it is already too late to jump aboard, that ship has sailed.

 

[biggestmuff]

Oh, you're going to open and Apple store? Cool!

1. Reasonably priced (bang for the buck type of equipment)

 

[mizzou]

Consumer psychology, and availability. They're everywhere, and they have enough crap there to buy from that you feel like you're really making a choice. Every detail in these stores is planned out to a T. I worked at Staples for a number of years and their planograms (regularly-updated corporate-mandated store layout for products & advertising) were just about down to the inch, complete with color images. The analysts have planned out how to shepard customers throughout the store, where exactly to place advertising and when to do it, and so on. Overkill for sales success...it actually works, believe it or not. It's very calculated, too.

I think sometimes it's an overemphasis on book psychology and not reality. I totally get the idea of it, but it still doesn't explain why there has to be a rack of totally worthless CD games (you know those single rack things?) EVERY big retailer has them, it has crap like jet fighter IV and all those games you can download online for free. I never saw anyone buy those ever, they just sit there like some sort of empty SKU # to take up space

 

[nerp]

They don't just toss "worthless crap" out there. Inventory management is taken seriously by large companies and they generally know what they're doing.

 

[coxmaster]

I think sometimes it's an overemphasis on book psychology and not reality. I totally get the idea of it, but it still doesn't explain why there has to be a rack of totally worthless CD games (you know those single rack things?) EVERY big retailer has them, it has crap like jet fighter IV and all those games you can download online for free. I never saw anyone buy those ever, they just sit there like some sort of empty SKU # to take up space

They are cheap.. And some people with little-ish kids like to buy them.

I work at an Office Max, and we sold atleast a few daily.

 

[SandEagle]

Oh, you're going to open and Apple store? Cool!

hello, mcfly? he said reasonably priced.