MirkoBoeddecker
sputnik
But this isn’t going to be another one of those things like in 2006, is it? :mrgreen:
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http://forum.phototec.de/read.php?3,150930,page=1
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Scroll down!
sputnik
I see.
So unwelcome posts are simply deleted?
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Well done!
AchimBauer
Hello everyone,
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I’m a bit unclear as to the message our host is trying to get across here.
Is FOTOIMPEX now closing its online shop to focus on its high-street store?
Or does ADOX now also want to distribute its range through specialist retailers?
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I’m also not sure what the point of the frustrated letter from the retailer in question is, because if he’s fed up with advising customers who buy cheaper elsewhere, why did he even start a business in the first place?
After all, this discussion was already taking place 25 years ago; it’s just that back then the enemy wasn’t the internet but mail order.
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And the decline of specialist photography retailers has nothing to do with competition from the internet, but with digital photography!
With digital photography, a large part of the print business disappeared, as people sometimes printed their own photos, but the vast majority of images were no longer printed at all; instead, they were sent by email or uploaded to Facebook, YouTube, etc.
On top of that, the number of specialist retailers suddenly tripled! Because people were no longer just buying cameras from Foto Huber and Foto Pfleiderer – no, they were also buying them from Fernseh Hurlebaus, Elektro Stempfle and Computer Immel. Whilst for the latter, cameras were a side business, the traditional photo shops stuck to photos and only photos.
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Regards, Achim
sputnik
Well, to me, the message of this post is crystal clear.
AchimBauer
Hi Sputnik,
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Please explain it to me!
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Regards, Achim
sputnik
Well, I suppose the aim is to show customers where things will end up if, for example, they continue to buy their paper where it’s cheap rather than where they’re treated well.
I can’t really see any other message in it either.
Because I can’t really imagine that it’s meant to be a call to order from the local specialist photography shop in future rather than here in the shop. ;)
Rolf-Werner
My brother-in-law has noticed the same thing in his shop: some customers come in several times, spend ages each time (more than 30 minutes, sometimes as long as two hours) getting advice and a quote, and then say, “We’ll think about it” or – even worse – start haggling over a few euros.
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This is a new phenomenon and wasn’t common 25 years ago.
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It has only a marginal connection to online retail. Customers haven’t become any less intelligent and know that the only reason they buy cheaper online is because the whole warranty business and advice aren’t included.
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In my opinion, it has more to do with the constant whisperings of the big chain stores, which advertise with fake discount promotions.
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It’s all about emotions here. ‘The customer’ today wants to have the ‘feeling’ of having made a good purchase. Advice is part of the package, part of the whole experience, but as there are almost exclusively retail giants left, people are used to seeing bored sales assistants standing around everywhere, ready to jump in and help. What’s far more important today is the feeling of having bagged a bargain. A retailer isn’t perceived as such; most people can no longer tell the difference.
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The only "workaround" here would be to go along with the big players’ percentage-based nonsense and also boast about fake discounts. But my brother-in-law has no plans to do that yet; he doesn’t want to stoop that low. Fortunately, in my own shop, the whole thing isn’t an issue.
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Rolf
Urnes
Right, I’ve done the maths. Eighteen years ago, there were 12 specialist camera shops in Stuttgart city centre within a half-square-mile area between the station and Marienstraße – not counting electronics stores, department stores or specialist wholesalers. Of those, two went into administration, three retired, and two closed because their other branches were more profitable. So five shops in that area are more than enough. Incidentally, I only ever received proper expert advice from the specialist wholesalers, who also offer the lower prices. Otherwise, I’m happy to pay for service and advice. By the way, the prices for second-hand goods and the associated service were very often better at the retailers than online. However, many retailers no longer know how analogue equipment works.
TR
These days, you don’t even need a proper camera to take photos. What I mean is, most people who used to rush into shops like that to be shown how to load film into their camera now just use their smartphone and are happy with that.
What will remain is the market for interchangeable-lens cameras, and there will certainly only be room for a handful of retailers in this sector.
AchimBauer
Hi Urmes,
Who’s number 5?
Well, if I’ve counted correctly, there are only four of the old ones still running a shop in the civil war zone. Let’s start at the station, which is still above ground – there’s Planet, then I’m not sure? Well, if you walk the way I do when I look at the second-hand shop windows, you come to Hirrlinger, then on to Bergmeister and then to Sänger, and since Topfoto disappeared, that’s all there is. A new addition is the big Calumet opposite the sex shop.
Or is there another one?
But the decline started a long time ago, and the last four managed to hang on for a while – and there’s more going on there than at the Big Calumet, which looks a bit dead.
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Regards, Achim
Urnes
Hi Achim,
I’ve finally decided to include the little shop on Nadlerstraße. It’s sort of what’s left of Weizsäcker. On the other hand, the shop that was opposite Breuninger for a short while – but only lasted six months – isn’t included in the list. Calumet isn’t included because they’re more of a professional shop, like Universal in Fellbach. There’s also a pro shop in the old Geno building on Heilbronner Straße, but I haven’t been there yet.
Regards, Sven
bernhardmangelsgmxde
The story of the customer who spends 30 minutes getting advice only to buy the same thing online for 5 euros less is truly heartbreaking. What the retailer fails to see is that, from the customer’s perspective, those 30 minutes of ‘advice’ may well have felt more like a 30-minute attempt to get them to buy something they didn’t actually want in the first place... Advice is nice, but the retailer simply has different interests to a customer. As a customer, I cannot expect a retailer to ignore their own interests. Nor can a retailer expect me, as a customer, to ignore my own interests.
Customers must see an advantage in shopping at a particular retailer rather than another. Anything else won’t work in the long run. The retailer should perhaps have asked himself what he can offer the customer that the internet cannot. If he concludes that he cannot compete, he needs to come up with something. Put a coffee machine in the shop, sell stylish bags, do something to ensure enough people come into the shop so that he isn’t left in the lurch having to spend hours dealing with individual customers. If he concludes that the best thing to do is to close the shop and let it out, then that could also be an option. Ranting about the customers... well, if it helps him in some way...
AchimBauer
Hello Namir,
I, too, once spent two and a half hours getting advice from a retailer (not a camera shop) only to end up buying elsewhere online, because it was much the same as you described.
I wanted to buy a device as part of a set, and as there were various options available, I wanted to have a look at them in a shop. The retailer also has an online shop, so I was already aware of their prices. I chose this retailer because it’s easily accessible on my way home from work.
However, I didn’t go to the shop just to get advice, but also to have a point of contact after the purchase for accessories and so on.
After 20 minutes, the actual consultation was over. Then he explained to me that he didn’t have the item in stock. I then asked when he would have the item back in stock or how long it would take if he ordered it for me.
I didn’t get an answer to that for the remaining 2 hours and 10 minutes! I found out that he didn’t know when the item would be back in stock, and he doesn’t order it; he only places an order once he has gathered goods worth 16,000 euros so that he gets a sufficient discount from the supplier. Then he told me at least ten times that people spend hours getting advice and then say they can get the item 5 euros cheaper elsewhere. In between, he dragged out all sorts of dead stock and made suggestions about how I could build what I wanted from various old, dusty bits and bobs, or something like that. In the end, he brought out a second-hand item that a customer had traded in, which was 2,000 euros over my budget; I couldn’t even have a look at it because it was in its carrying case and the key was still with the customer.
At the first opportunity, I made a quick getaway and ordered from a competitor online; it arrived after three days.
And yet I supported the first dealer more than the one I actually bought from. Because the first one had 1,720 hours to sell me what I wanted. Where I made the purchase, the dealer only had three minutes to do so.
So advice can only be appreciated if sufficient attention is paid to the customer’s interests.
And since our host started this thread: you can’t sell roll films if you want to convince the customer that winding roll films isn’t worth it when a competitor has three new ones cast on acetate backing at a special roll film thickness and even wants to offer them as 4x4. And he certainly won’t be subsidising every roll of film.
Regards, Achim
