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K-Mart and online shoppng
Jul. 18th, 2013 10:27 amBusiness Week has an interesting article explaining the internal business philosophy of K-Mart/Sears and how this has not been great for the company.
To be fair, though, I don't think that's a complete explanation for the demise of the local K-Mart, currently in the last sad dregs of its closing sale. This surprised no one; the main question was how the hell it had stayed open this long, given the proximity of rival Wal-mart and Target, the general dinginess and overall aura of depression that lingered over the store, the non-existent customer service, the road construction that made it difficult to get to for a couple years, and the sad truth that more than once I went in to get something (I use a trike, so going to Target or Wal-mart is not always an option for me, especially in the summer) only to find out that the cash registers wouldn't let me purchase it. (Seriously.) I popped by, thinking I might try to get a dutch oven or a microwave; neither are exactly necessities at this point, but I don't have a dutch oven (I have a pyrex casserole dish) and my microwave is disintegrating into its last days. So I figured I'd stop by.
A few sad scattered shoppers were wandering listlessly around, mostly in the clothing section. A few were looking at the jewelry section, questioning why a pair of 1/2 carat diamond earrings in 10 kt gold with low quality diamonds still cost $599. It was a valid question, and the K-Mart person shrugged. Over to the last of the housing goods, which still had about twenty dutch ovens left. It did not take me long to figure out why: someone else in that aisle had out a smart phone and was comparing the firesale prices to current online prices at Target and Wal-mart. At 40%, with half the store empty, K-Mart's dutch ovens were still more expensive than Wal-mart's and were only slightly under Target's.
Dutch ovens are probably not something the average shopper spent time doing price comparisons before pre-internet. Unless you're buying the Williams-Somona type, they're not that expensive. They also aren't a must-have item, though, and they aren't something you have to buy frequently, or at that very moment. So it only makes sense that with a cell phone, people would check prices before purchasing.
And that, in the end, was the other thing that doomed K-Mart: the prices were never that good. It didn't help that the Goodwill right next door was brighter and cleaner and had better quality clothing. For people like me and others in the immediate surrounding area, the convenience was probably worth it (well, it was worth it for me). But that wasn't enough to keep things going, and when you add in a dingy, unpleasant shopping experience, and the ability to check prices instantly on a small device in your hand, that was it for the store, especially with a problematic corporate structure that called for change, but had no way to deliver it.
To be fair, though, I don't think that's a complete explanation for the demise of the local K-Mart, currently in the last sad dregs of its closing sale. This surprised no one; the main question was how the hell it had stayed open this long, given the proximity of rival Wal-mart and Target, the general dinginess and overall aura of depression that lingered over the store, the non-existent customer service, the road construction that made it difficult to get to for a couple years, and the sad truth that more than once I went in to get something (I use a trike, so going to Target or Wal-mart is not always an option for me, especially in the summer) only to find out that the cash registers wouldn't let me purchase it. (Seriously.) I popped by, thinking I might try to get a dutch oven or a microwave; neither are exactly necessities at this point, but I don't have a dutch oven (I have a pyrex casserole dish) and my microwave is disintegrating into its last days. So I figured I'd stop by.
A few sad scattered shoppers were wandering listlessly around, mostly in the clothing section. A few were looking at the jewelry section, questioning why a pair of 1/2 carat diamond earrings in 10 kt gold with low quality diamonds still cost $599. It was a valid question, and the K-Mart person shrugged. Over to the last of the housing goods, which still had about twenty dutch ovens left. It did not take me long to figure out why: someone else in that aisle had out a smart phone and was comparing the firesale prices to current online prices at Target and Wal-mart. At 40%, with half the store empty, K-Mart's dutch ovens were still more expensive than Wal-mart's and were only slightly under Target's.
Dutch ovens are probably not something the average shopper spent time doing price comparisons before pre-internet. Unless you're buying the Williams-Somona type, they're not that expensive. They also aren't a must-have item, though, and they aren't something you have to buy frequently, or at that very moment. So it only makes sense that with a cell phone, people would check prices before purchasing.
And that, in the end, was the other thing that doomed K-Mart: the prices were never that good. It didn't help that the Goodwill right next door was brighter and cleaner and had better quality clothing. For people like me and others in the immediate surrounding area, the convenience was probably worth it (well, it was worth it for me). But that wasn't enough to keep things going, and when you add in a dingy, unpleasant shopping experience, and the ability to check prices instantly on a small device in your hand, that was it for the store, especially with a problematic corporate structure that called for change, but had no way to deliver it.
