Online Sales - The importance of buying from local businesses

[tridacna]

when you talk of online retailers who sell knock-offs, grey market stuff, etc, you must be talking about Leisure Pro.

That's a load of malarkey. "Knockoffs"? Are you still hung over after New Year? Cut the LP bashing. Most divers on this board have had nothing but good experiences with them.

 

[almitywife]

Have you ever been told that you get what you pay for? Most of us have, yet some people seem to prefer buying from online retailers rather than to buy from someone local. We all love our conveniences and in some respects if you do not have time, or just do not like crowded malls then online shopping is quick and convenient. If you shop online because you think you always get a better price then think again. What seems to be a good deal sometimes is not. In business there are reasons why some items can be sold cheaper than others for example, overstocks, discontinued items and blemished merchandise. If you are looking for bargins and you can save money by buying last years model so to speak then great you have saved yourself some money but bottom line, if there is a problem and you bought the merchandise locally, you have a brick and mortar building to go to get immediate help. Local retailers represent the manufacturers they buy from and meet all the requirments set by the manufacturer for selling a given product line. The retailer has been trained by the manufacturer and has that company backing them. Most online retailers however, get their merchandise from stores going out of business, from the grey market and yes in some cases knockoffs from China. In any case this type of merchandise has no warranty because they are not factory authorized to sell that particular brand and a local retailer is not usually willing to do anything for you because of a liability issue. All you can do at that point is send the merchandise back to where you bought it, at your expense, and wait for a long time to get results. Is this type of aggravation worth any savings? In the scuba industry, we think of certain types of gear as life support equipment like regulators for example. I have asked many people this question, if you were taking sky diving lessons would you buy a parachute online and usually they say no. I then ask why, and their answer usuall is because it is life support. Don't trust your life to something if you do not know for sure where it came from. In closing all I can say is, we all have been conditioned to look at only a price tag instead of looking outside the box at what we really get for the money. Buying anything is based strickly on emotional responses not on logic. Local business are the life blood of the community. They are the ones who have the investment in expensive equipment to do air fills, the online retailers do not. The local retailer has the expertise for education in the sport, the online retailer does not. The local retailer has expensive liability insurance which is required in order to do business, and the online retailer does not. We need to do what we can to keep the local dollars local instead of sending money off to other cities that are not concerned about your local economy. If local businesses are not supported then they will go away and that hurts everyone. Local businesses can not survive on air fills alone. When businesses go under then jobs are lost.

craig, im curious to know.....

if i came into your store, pricing up gear - what would your reponse be if i was to mention that i was also pricing up gear on scubatoys or leisurepro?

would you rubbish the onliners and state that the sky is falling and they wont cover my warranties?

if i was to come into your store for a OW class with online purchased gear, would you allow me to continue my class with my purchases?

if i was to come into your store with my online purchased gear for servicing - what would be your response?

im curious as i have heard many stories from SB'ers but now i get the chance to hear from a LDS owner himself

cheers

 

[NorthWoodsDiver]

Everyone would rather support the local man, and my LDS is great

but when the LDS has low stock on items cause its the slow season or your LDS is actually 100 miles away or your LDS doesn't sell certain brands than we are left to online options.

Another reason is people are used to the LDS being more salesman than fellow diver, That is how I ended up with $2000 in scubapro stuff I never use. That is why my first bcd cost almost $600 and worked great til I realized a bp/w suited my needs much better but that LDS wont stock tech gear.

My new LDS is great and has bent over backwards for me and if I spend big $$$ they do the best they can about prices but usually the manufactures control that so I get free shirts or training or something. My biggest problem has been having to drive 200miles round trip to go to the LDS and then they dont have something in stock. Dive shops should never run out of snaps or aquaseal or hoses or whatever. I would be glad to throw my cash at them if they had what I wanted when I wanted it but often times its cheaper, easier, and faster to just order it myself.

 

[PinkPADIgal]

Wow.

Threads like this seem to pop up every so often.

The reality is that LDS that live in the past will not make it. There is now too too many other things that vie for customer's attention. People are busy with jobs and family so their time and money becomes more valuable. They either get what they need locally, go on line or get out of the sport. LDS need to not worry about the interent. They should be looking for ways to keep their customers happy and diving. As almost everyone has said, it is treating every person that walking into the store like family and giving them the best service. The customer is king and if they chose to shop somewhere else, then let them and invite them to come back anytime.

Most customers are like Rick and they support their local shop but their LDS can't always give them what they need in a timely manner, or just don't carry a particular brand. That is a good thing because that means the divers are diving and LDS will actually see them more often.

So many people mention price is the main reason for shopping on line and it is a good excuse to give your LDS or anyone else that asks where your purchased something. The reality is that price was only part of the reason. Selection, conviencence and customer service were also other driving forces in that purchase. If price was the main reason people bought stuff, how come stores like Nordstroms stay in business? It is all about having what the customer wants, and the service to back it up.

For example, you decide to purchase a pair of fins. You talk to the LDS, they do not have the brand you were interested in, the brand they have didn't fit, didn't feel right etc. You go home, go on line and online scuba store has them in stock, and can ship them tomorrow. How awesome do you feel when you realize that they were cheaper than you thought? Of course you are going to buy them. What do you tell your LDS when they see you with them later? Oh, I found them cheaper on line.

However, if the LDS had the brand you wanted, or showed you the pair they carried had more features and things that you liked and they had them in your size, and maybe threw in a free air fill or other goodie for you, would you have purchased there?

Look at this another way. When their are big box stores or the interent, why would anyone want to shop at a small mom/pop retailer? It is about being taken care of, service and feeling of being part of the family. That is what keeps the good LDS in business.

When business is bad, it is easy to try to blame someone else. The interent is a good scapegoat. The internet isn't the enemy. They are just trying to make a buck like the rest of us.

 

[116fire]

If you want a friend, get a dog. If you want to invest your life savings, read a book by Warren Buffet (or buy BH stock). If you find a way to make some kind of a living, doing something you love, you're lucky. Based on past experiences, I generally go out of my way to avoid LDS's, they are over priced and never have what I am looking for. They sell a lot of stuff to people that they don't need or doesn't suit their purposes. That said there are a few DS, that unfortunately are not local that I patronize and enjoy. You know who you are, keep up the good work.
The last three things I bought: Anti fog stuff, freediving fins, and a WA 10W bulb...

 

[scubamax]

Lead, follow, or get out of the way. One thing the OP seems to ignore is the convergence of globalization and disintermediation. Now that e-commerce is a part of our economy and lives, the barriors to entry for a more efficient way to deliver a product (and sometime service), has decreased significantly. Based on this reality, middlemen in the supply chain are forced to become more efficient. Efficiency can be measured not only on the basis of cost savings. Consumers will always be willing to pay (more) for (added) value, and that can be in many forms, ie price, quality service, ease of transaction, etc. (Case in point: Amazon.com. Its not known to be the least expensive, but the ease of use,cutting edge technology and other features keeps people going back again and again).

The "typical" LDS that is characterized on SB seems to be one of the last bastions of specialty retail which has not fully evolved into the 21st century. Some of these places are run by nice, well meaning people, but at the end of the day the survivors will be those who can demonstrate the ability to overcome, adapt and change. Those who complain about it without doing anything to adapt and change will become marginalized. I would not bet the farm on that business model.

Scubamax

 

[Stu S.]

"Buy from me, or be sad later" does not motivate. It turns into an eraser for the qualities that a merchant such as Craig may have.

How about:

"Happiness flows wherever Craig goes... come on up to Ocala!"

 

[Cacia]

Stupid question---why is it better to support a dive shop closer to you than one further away, exactly?

I always feel like I am a few fries short of a happy meal reading these debates.

The biggest problem for me is that they try and sell what they have, not what I need. Yesterday, JB and I go into a shop on base looking for the black TUSA mask he wants and the owner says "no...but there are many others just like it and pulls out every black mask he has, all kinds of styles, but none remotely like the model he is searching for. ??? Then we wanted a pair of freediving fins and he told us we did not need them unless we were freediving over 100 ft.

Finally I just gave up and told him I wanted JB to have them so he would look good in pictures, that booties and SP jetfins just look stupid freediving. Then he was really tweaked and said he doesn't care what he looks like. I was just messing with him, but he did not get it.

OH---and I had my tanks filled there and left them for three weeks and he wanted to charge us 3 dollars per tank per day. His compressor room is huge, no crowd issues.

 

[GeorgeC]

Craig maybe it is time to step back and do a little introspection on your business and your personal happiness with the direction it is heading. I know, owning a business myself, you can get burnt out due to a variety of things like dealing with people, income, hours worked, family and etc. I also know in sales my attitude can and does affect my income.

Why did you get into the business? Did you want to make tons of money? If so, ramp up the online presence, increase volume and drop prices. Did you get into this for the love of SCUBA? If you did the love is fading and shown in your post.

Let’s face it does anyone want to spend money in a place that does not make them feel warm and cozy? Yes and no!

Yes ~ People don’t mind bad service or attitude if the price is the cheapest around. I have called a major online scuba dealer and the person on the phone was curt with an attitude “Do you want to by it or not? No! Ok thank you for calling. Click!” Of course I will by from them when I know exactly what I need, don’t need advice or need to see it. “Ahh..I got the best deal so I made myself feel warm and cozy”.

No ~ People will not buy if the price is too high and the service is horrible. “No warm and cozy feeling to be had”

So if you plan to charge a “little more” and I mean a little then make sure the person feels ok with spending more for the service you provide like great advice, not worrying about charging them for the o-ring, giving them your time, making them feel comfortable and etc. “Warm and cozy through service”

Think about dropping your prices so the customer says “I don’t mind paying 10% more to support my shop and for all of the hard work they put into satisfying me.

I hate going to my LDS and knowing I am expected to pay 35% more for the same item online and the item they are pushing is because they carry it and not that it fits my needs. I don’t mind spending a little more for service/advice however, I want genuine advice. I would love to walk into my LDS ask them for a product and they say “The best product to satisfy your need is brand X and I only carry brand Y!”

 

[Couv]

snip ... but he did not get it.

Catherine, I think this pretty much sums it up.

Are you listening LDS?