IMPORTANT NOTE:
You do NOT have to register to read, post, listen or contribute. If you simply wish to remain fully anonymous, you can still contribute.
|
Home  Forums |
|
|
|
|
Topic History of: My solution for 2009
Max. showing the last 5 posts - (Last post first)
|
MC MC |
There are no impulse buys if a customer has to make orders.
Argh, yes, I realised the paradox approx. one second after I submitted my post *dunce's cap MC MC check your posts before you actually post them*...
The thing about major record shop chains is that they seem intrinsically hostile to what used to be known as the "customer experience."
I went to my local Zavvi last week to look for sale bargains and it was a total mess - lots of misspellings of browser markers and misfiling of CDs, items still being sold at full price (why?), and an environment which could charitably be described as dead.
But if you go into your average HMV you're immediately faced with a bottleneck of people milling about at the front because of stacks of loss leader DVDs and Guitar Hero boxes.
To attract impulse buyers it's ridiculous to price potentially interesting items out of their comfort zone and confine discounts to the same, boring got-to-get-rid-of-it stuff (stock oldies compilations, overhyped/overstocked pseudo-indie underperformers) that we've all heard a thousand times before.
Clearly DVDs are now vastly outselling CDs and there's not much anyone can do about that but I do think there's still a viable, if substantially reduced, CD market which shops would still do well to optimise.
As a regular Rough Trade Shop customer I'm a bit baffled as to what they think their specialist market is at the moment - again, the stock seems to be all over the place and priced way too high. If I have to choose between paying £50 in Rough Trade for three potentially good CDs and a total of £10-15 for the same ones in Music & Video Exchange a couple of months later then, as the parlance goes, it's a no brainer. |
|
emmapeelfanclub |
DJones wrote:
Browsing through the racks (and finding records I never looked for) was the fun part of record shopping.
It most certainly was and it saddens me that over the last ten years that pleasure has become almost extinct.
I'm surprised there has been no mention of eBay here because that I think has also helped kill off browsing. In the 80's I used to travel to various towns with a "wants" list and try and track those items down. Part of the fun was the thrill of the chase and eventually finding an item you wanted in an unlikely place when you least expected it. eBay though... you go there, type in what you want, and boom... there it is. Same goes for downloading. No fun in it. No passion.
And THAT'S what's missing - Passion for music. It's become far too disposable. |
|
DJones |
MC MC wrote:
"so that impulse buyers don't have to negotiate their way through bottleneck alleyways of CDs - and you just order them on the terminal at the front or, more crucially, you can download tracks directly onto your mp3 player."
Browsing through the racks (and finding records I never looked for) was the fun part of record shopping.
There are no impulse buys if a customer has to make orders. If you make an order, you know already what you want. And to download tracks you don't have to leave the house.
The retail experience is important, but with the current music scene (too many styles/genres) only shops that target a specific market have a chance to prosper. That is the reason why the Rough-Trade-Shop is still open, and mega stores have too close. |
|
BR |
I used to have a specialist record store and Woolies on my High Street.
Today I have none. Therefore I need to drive to a big shopping centre to find an HMV.
So I now use a combination of PLAY and the ingenious 7 DIGITAL download system ( which gives you a locker !! and therefore protects you purchases ) to get my music.
I do miss the "going out" to buy and "chats" aspect of the indie retailer.....but this is how it is now.
Very sad but this is progress. |
|
MC MC |
OK, here - strictly as a layman - are my thoughts.
(a) Music stores to follow the Argos model as well as the Apple one. By this I mean somewhere you can go where all the CDs are kept behind the desk - so that impulse buyers don't have to negotiate their way through bottleneck alleyways of CDs - and you just order them on the terminal at the front or, more crucially, you can download tracks directly onto your mp3 player.
(b) Unlike Argos, though, they need to be places that people want to come to, where they can hang out. Something like Waterstones or Borders was originally meant to be but with music - events, happenings, coffee mornings even for those who want them. Somewhere where music is available rather than sealed off for security reasons.
(c) For those of us in the minority, still buying CDs, what about making them all the same affordable mid-range price - say, £8? That would encourage casual buyers to delve deeper into the store, try new things, take chances which they can't necessarily take if CDs cost £14-15 a throw, and thereby do more to actively promote new music.
I'm sure there are many sound economic reasons why any or all of the above can't happen but businesses collapsing for fear of embracing the new isn't exactly sound economics either. |
|
|
|
|
