The recent holiday shopping season continued to show an increase in online shopping. Millions of us spent billions of dollars by eschewing the mall and the big box stores, choosing instead the convenience of shopping on line. Studies show that, even among the 55+ year old market segment, more than 70% purchased at least one item via the Internet. It is interesting to note that this is just about the same percentage of Internet customers found in the 18 – 32 year old demographic. Shopping online is something that is being embraced by young and old alike.
A deeper investigation shows that it is not just holiday shopping that is migrating to online stores. It is a trend showing that many use the Internet for most every purchase, even groceries. It is easy to come to the conclusion that the driving force for this trend is our desire to sit in our kitchen, dressed in our PJs, drinking our own coffee and still shop. So, is convenience the big draw of online shopping? A closer look might indicate it is not.
Online shopping allows for easy comparison shopping. Many online sites allow you to choose two or three similar products and compare each feature. Some actually set up a grid that makes it very easy to compare. If you are looking for a new digital camera, the grid might contain the resolution of the camera measured in megapixels, battery life, ease of use, as well as price. Many also have a place for customers to share their experiences with the products. These ratings are helpful since they are based on actual use. While on some of these sites there have been reviews that were placed by people posing as customers that were actually hired by a company selling one of the products, for the most part the reviews seem to be honest.
Another aspect of online shopping that is very attractive to the consumer is the customer service. Amazon.com and other mega online retailers often have much better support and are more customer friendly than the big box retailers. For example, the return policy of Amazon.com is extraordinary. Most of the time it is a “no questions asked” process. A trip to Best Buy after Christmas with a return in hand will reinforce how good Amazon.com really is.
Are brick and mortar stores soon to be relics of a bygone age? Not necessarily. A trip to the Apple Store demonstrates that a pleasant environment and superior customer service still appeals to shoppers. Nothing takes the place of intelligent, informed salespeople. This is especially true when buying an expensive and complicated device.
More and more the big box retailers have a cadre of sales staff that seems to be reading from a script rather than listening to what the customer wants. So if traditional retailers want to fend off their cyberspace rivals they better invest in customer service. The new lap top computer on the store shelf today is just like the one that FedEx can have on my front porch tomorrow, often with less hassle and, because the online seller doesn’t have a big store to pay for, it will be less expensive.
Showing posts with label Best Buy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Best Buy. Show all posts
Monday, January 16, 2012
Monday, January 28, 2008
I Don't Care What Time It is In Katmandu!
A few weeks back there was an interesting segment broadcast on 60 Minutes discussing the increased complexity of technology. David Pogue, a respected and articulate technology columnist for the New York Times was featured in the segment. The discussion centered around the popularity of new services launched to help Joe and Mary Consumer deal with new home computers, appliances and entertainment systems. David was challenging the interviewer to find the on and off button, volume control and channel change button on a new remote control. As you might guess, the intelligent educated reporter could not easily find any of these basic functions. All I could think of is “been there, bought the tee shirt.”
The 60 Minutes segment related that service companies like “Geek Squad®” and “Firedog” have developed quickly to fill a need. Technicians from these companies come to your house and can fix your PC or teach you how to use your remote control. We shouldn’t need them for the latter. For sure some companies do a better job of friendly intuitive designs. Apple, for example, seems to be able to have powerful devices with easy to use interfaces. They remain one of the few.
While I am not an engineer, I have more than a passing knowledge of new technology and I have to admit some of the controls and instructions for these devices leave me clueless. Why is it that we can design and build a vast array of truly marvelous devices and can’t make them easy to use?
I think there are two main reasons. First of all designers seem to want to make every electronic device a sort of Swiss Army Knife. It is not enough for the refrigerator to keep food cold, someone wants to put a TV on the door. A simple wrist watch not only tells you the current time but must be able to tell you what time it is in Katmandu and what time sunrise happens in Timbuktu. Don’t even get me started on cell phones. The classic has to be the much maligned BMW and Lexis controls that required you to use a menu system on a flat panel display to control the AC and other basic functions. Why do they do this? Because they can. The use of microprocessors makes the incremental cost to add these functions minimal so engineers keep pushing the envelope.
The second reason has to do with the fast pace of change. Products are coming off the production line and into the store in record time. With the attitude first adopted by software developers, i.e. “we’ll fix it in version two,” there just is not time for “real” people to use the product and find the design flaws before it is shipped. In other words, products never get to the mature level.
On another topic, I got the following email from a reader in West Harrison:
I read your article printed in the January 16, 2008, Harrison Press regarding DTV converter coupons. Apparently the information I obtained when I called DTV-2009 was different from the information you obtained. I was told the coupons would not be mailed until the converters were available in the stores, and the expiration date would be 90 days from when they were mailed.
I was also told only 2 coupons would be mailed to each household, so if you let your coupons expire before using, you cannot have any additional ones mailed to the same address. Therefore, reapplying for coupons will not be an option, unless you have them mailed to someone else’s address.
I look forward to your advice on which converter to buy and where to find the best deals.
Nancy
Nancy asks some good questions. I also have read several versions of how the program is rolling out. I have read several different interpretations from NTIA, the government office in charge of the program. The most recent NTIA release stated that coupons would begin to be sent out Feb 17, 2007. How they will know if the tuners are in our local stores is beyond me. A recent discussion with one of the sales people at Best Buy™ gave me even more pause, as he not only did not know when converters would be available at Best Buy™, but I had to explain to him what a converter was, what it was used for, and that there would be coupons. Not a good sign.
The government has some 22 million coupons to send out in the first round. Another 11 million will be available after the first round is used up. In the second round though, you will only be eligible for coupons if you DO NOT have cable or satellite.
All this being said, I still think that since we have more than a year before we need converters, waiting to send for the coupons until the devices are available in local outlets is the better way to go. Also, I am not sure that I want a first generation model anyway.
The 60 Minutes segment related that service companies like “Geek Squad®” and “Firedog” have developed quickly to fill a need. Technicians from these companies come to your house and can fix your PC or teach you how to use your remote control. We shouldn’t need them for the latter. For sure some companies do a better job of friendly intuitive designs. Apple, for example, seems to be able to have powerful devices with easy to use interfaces. They remain one of the few.
While I am not an engineer, I have more than a passing knowledge of new technology and I have to admit some of the controls and instructions for these devices leave me clueless. Why is it that we can design and build a vast array of truly marvelous devices and can’t make them easy to use?
I think there are two main reasons. First of all designers seem to want to make every electronic device a sort of Swiss Army Knife. It is not enough for the refrigerator to keep food cold, someone wants to put a TV on the door. A simple wrist watch not only tells you the current time but must be able to tell you what time it is in Katmandu and what time sunrise happens in Timbuktu. Don’t even get me started on cell phones. The classic has to be the much maligned BMW and Lexis controls that required you to use a menu system on a flat panel display to control the AC and other basic functions. Why do they do this? Because they can. The use of microprocessors makes the incremental cost to add these functions minimal so engineers keep pushing the envelope.
The second reason has to do with the fast pace of change. Products are coming off the production line and into the store in record time. With the attitude first adopted by software developers, i.e. “we’ll fix it in version two,” there just is not time for “real” people to use the product and find the design flaws before it is shipped. In other words, products never get to the mature level.
On another topic, I got the following email from a reader in West Harrison:
I read your article printed in the January 16, 2008, Harrison Press regarding DTV converter coupons. Apparently the information I obtained when I called DTV-2009 was different from the information you obtained. I was told the coupons would not be mailed until the converters were available in the stores, and the expiration date would be 90 days from when they were mailed.
I was also told only 2 coupons would be mailed to each household, so if you let your coupons expire before using, you cannot have any additional ones mailed to the same address. Therefore, reapplying for coupons will not be an option, unless you have them mailed to someone else’s address.
I look forward to your advice on which converter to buy and where to find the best deals.
Nancy
Nancy asks some good questions. I also have read several versions of how the program is rolling out. I have read several different interpretations from NTIA, the government office in charge of the program. The most recent NTIA release stated that coupons would begin to be sent out Feb 17, 2007. How they will know if the tuners are in our local stores is beyond me. A recent discussion with one of the sales people at Best Buy™ gave me even more pause, as he not only did not know when converters would be available at Best Buy™, but I had to explain to him what a converter was, what it was used for, and that there would be coupons. Not a good sign.
The government has some 22 million coupons to send out in the first round. Another 11 million will be available after the first round is used up. In the second round though, you will only be eligible for coupons if you DO NOT have cable or satellite.
All this being said, I still think that since we have more than a year before we need converters, waiting to send for the coupons until the devices are available in local outlets is the better way to go. Also, I am not sure that I want a first generation model anyway.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Better wait to send for those DTV Converter coupons
Now that the new year is well underway we find ourselves just about thirteen months from the end of analog TV broadcasting. I have written several times about this transition and will certainly continue to do so in future columns all year. You may have seen some spots on TV discussing the various options you have in order to make sure that you continue to receive your favorite TV programs after February 17, 2009. Look for cable companies and satellite services to run advertisements that lead you to believe that you will need to subscribe to one of their services to continue to use you old TV. You don’t need to use them. In fact, you don’t even need a new TV set. You can purchase a converter that will receive the new digital channels and convert them to channels that your old TV can display.
In my column last week I briefly mentioned the beginning of the Federal program that will provide up to two $40 coupons for use in purchasing DTV converters. Over the past few weeks there have been several articles in the newspaper and some news reports on TV and radio urging people to request the coupons as soon as possible. While the program officially began January 1, 2008, and more than 800,000 households have already requested coupons, I would suggest that you wait to send for your coupon.
There is a one detail about the coupon program that has not received much discussion in most of the reports in the news. The coupons have an expiration date. They expire 90 days from date of issue. If you request the coupons now, they will expire in April. I have been watching the stores and have yet to see any converters for sale. Since there have been only a few manufacturers that have been approved to make the devices and those approvals have been issued by the FCC in the last few months, it may well be spring or even summer before the devices can be purchased in local stores. I don’t know about you, but I am not too excited about re-applying to the Federal Government for two additional coupons when the ones I first received expire.
Waiting till summer or even fall should not be a problem. Congress has indicated that if the first appropriation to fund the coupon program is not sufficient to handle the demand, they will increase the funding. No congressperson wants his constituents calling and complaining that they can no longer watch TV.
I will continue to monitor the various local electronic stores and report when the converters are available. A spokesperson for Best Buy® was quoted in a recent Associated Press article that his stores would be getting the converters soon after the first of the coupons were mailed to consumers. Once that happens I will see what models are available. Since there will be several “flavors” of these converters, each with special features and options. I’ll try to cut through the “technobabble.” In the meantime you can get more information by going to my blog or by calling 888 DTV-2009 (888-388-2009) or go to the DTV information website http://www.ntia.doc.gov/dtvcoupon/PreparingForTheDTVTransition.pdf
In my column last week I briefly mentioned the beginning of the Federal program that will provide up to two $40 coupons for use in purchasing DTV converters. Over the past few weeks there have been several articles in the newspaper and some news reports on TV and radio urging people to request the coupons as soon as possible. While the program officially began January 1, 2008, and more than 800,000 households have already requested coupons, I would suggest that you wait to send for your coupon.
There is a one detail about the coupon program that has not received much discussion in most of the reports in the news. The coupons have an expiration date. They expire 90 days from date of issue. If you request the coupons now, they will expire in April. I have been watching the stores and have yet to see any converters for sale. Since there have been only a few manufacturers that have been approved to make the devices and those approvals have been issued by the FCC in the last few months, it may well be spring or even summer before the devices can be purchased in local stores. I don’t know about you, but I am not too excited about re-applying to the Federal Government for two additional coupons when the ones I first received expire.
Waiting till summer or even fall should not be a problem. Congress has indicated that if the first appropriation to fund the coupon program is not sufficient to handle the demand, they will increase the funding. No congressperson wants his constituents calling and complaining that they can no longer watch TV.
I will continue to monitor the various local electronic stores and report when the converters are available. A spokesperson for Best Buy® was quoted in a recent Associated Press article that his stores would be getting the converters soon after the first of the coupons were mailed to consumers. Once that happens I will see what models are available. Since there will be several “flavors” of these converters, each with special features and options. I’ll try to cut through the “technobabble.” In the meantime you can get more information by going to my blog or by calling 888 DTV-2009 (888-388-2009) or go to the DTV information website http://www.ntia.doc.gov/dtvcoupon/PreparingForTheDTVTransition.pdf
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