Is What I Did Wrong?

Recently, I did the very thing I HATE our clients doing. I shopped online to save a significant amount of money. Using this real world example, I wanted to share the dilemma we face and our customers face when purchasing products.

So...ask the question, what would you do?

For some time I had been lusting for a particular camera. Business starting picking up and I felt the time was right to buy it. I found the camera online at $150.00 less than my local store. The price included free shipping. I enjoy working with my local camera shop, where I have a good relationship. They help educate me and help me be successful in my photography efforts. (Does this parallel what we do for our clients?)

I WANT to give them the business...but I will save $150.00. By saving money, I'm not supporting my local business, sales tax is not going back into my community and I have done what many of us consider to be a terrible thing. We HATE when WE lose business to online merchants due to price. I've done the very thing I detest.

Should I feel bad about this purchase?
Is it better to have paid $150.00 more?
Do our clients even consider this is right or wrong?
Is saving money a bad thing?

In our industry, there are ways we CAN win at this price game. There is much to said about the ways we as promotional marketing "consultants" can bring additional value to our clients. We will continue to address this concept in future FreePromoTips issues.

So...what would you do? Shop online to save money...or support your local merchant? Is what I did horrible or would you do the same thing? This is your opportunity to help me feel better or make me feel worse. We welcome your comments below.

Comments

0 #30 2010-07-08 17:09

Congrats on your Nikon dSLR. I purchased my D80 three and half years ago from a local dealer. I had attended a number of events at their camera store over the years. It allowed me to handle various models. When they had an with the D80 on sale, I purchased it from them without any hesitation. My next lense(worked with me on price) and flash purchase was from them too.

0 #29 2010-07-08 14:55

In my business the online guys are actually my best salesman. Buy this I mean unless my customer knows how to handle artwork, the difference in garment or product quality, understands colors, and is willing to wait for a long time for the deliver( with their fingers crossed) I don't consider them competition. I cannot tell you how many people come to me after their first online experience of buying logo attire, or logo promo products on their own. With me they get personal attention, can touch and feel what they are buying, and can go over the srtwork with us to insure it is exactly what they want. If they are not willing to pay for that service I wish them well, and good luck knowing that 90% of them will be back after their first online experience or after they just try to place the order on line and give up.
The key is service, service, service beyond their expectations. Also never over promise and under deliver. Always under promise and over deliver !

0 #28 John Juneau 2010-06-23 17:32

For $150, I would go online (after checking with my local dealer to see if they could come close). For about $30 or less, I would likely go with my local independent dealer. I stress independent because if the local source was KMart or Staples or such, I would just as soon go to Amazon or other online source.

0 #27 2010-06-18 16:03

"You shouldn't feel bad. You shouldn't feel bad when one of your customers takes your time, experience and advice and saves a few dollars by taking your work and effort to an internet seller to save some money.

This is a valuable lesson to you for the future when your business bites you in the ass. Suck it up and don't complain."

I'm assuming you meant this tongue-in-cheek, Nowell. If not, please explain your comment.

0 #26 2010-06-18 15:40

I have a strong relationship with my local camera store. I have purchased thousands of dollars of equipment from them at their normally good price. I pay about 12 percent more than on-line because I believe that they deserve to be compensated for their time and effort to help me.

You shouldn't feel bad. You shouldn't feel bad when one of your customers takes your time, experience and advice and saves a few dollars by taking your work and effort to an internet seller to save some money.

This is a valuable lesson to you for the future when your business bites you in the ass. Suck it up and don't complain.

0 #25 2010-06-18 03:19

I rather save serious money buying on line,

0 #24 2010-06-17 21:00

In case where used BOTH resources (online and salesperson's time/overhead), I would see if they would meet price or meet in middle. Maybe go down on their price $75.

0 #23 2010-06-17 20:57

Jeff
If you did all research yourself to decide what camera you wanted, then it is fine to buy online.
If you used salesperson's time to decide, then best to buy from them since they could have been helping someone else.
Now tricky part is when research online BUT go in store to look at (for color, size, etc)...now you have used online's resources AND salesperson in store/overhead.

0 #22 2010-06-17 17:37

I would suggest going back to the retailer, NOT to get a reduced price, but to allow him or her the opportunity to convince you of the extra value he or she will provide. If they cannot communicate the value proposition for the price charged, there is none. If they can, you may find that the higher price is, in fact, the greater overall bargain. Happy shopping!

+1 #21 2010-06-17 17:12

Here's the key phrase: "They educate me and help me with my photography..." Well, they can't do that kind of support for free. They need the reciprocal sales in order to be present to give you the advice you seek. So your on-line purchase is a betrayal of their support to you. I hope you do not take advantage of them for advice in using the camera you did not buy from them. Over the long run, the $150 might be worth the loyalty you have with a local supplier.

We tell clients who buy from the Internet to call the on-line companies when they want donations or support of their favorite associations and charities.

We operate a retail-type store of three store spaces in a shopping center. When someone comes in with a picture they printed from an on-line source, or a page from a mail-order catalog, they are on their own. They can hunt and find the products themselves. We tell them that if they are planning to purchase from those sites, they need to ask advice from them, too.

0 #20 evelyn cathey 2010-06-17 17:07

Realtionships are more important. If something happens to your camera, it is more likely to be repaired by the person you already have a realtionship with. Online is just a purchase. Have your ever tried to contact someone who can really cares about service online? You are credit card number...........

0 #19 2010-06-17 15:09

I would go back to the local merchant and tell him exactly how you feel about making this decision, giving him an opportunity to provide you with a "compromise" price in order to save the order. If he flat out refuses to work with you, then you must decide just how valuable your business relationship is, but you will have at least involved him in the process.

0 #18 2010-06-17 14:59

Don't disclose line names or item numbers, and don't show catalogs. Just a few ways to discourage internet price shopping...or local shopping for that matter. Customers are becoming too savvy using this information....

+1 #17 2010-06-17 14:45

This is how I feel.... "Joe" knows what he wants, does all the reasearch and finds a great price. Joe calls me and tells me he'd love to do business with me, but the savings is too much to ignore. I check my price and see that I can still make a little money on the item. And the key is that it will only take me 15 minutes to place the order. Even if all I made was $50 for 15 minutes of time, that sounds okay to me. Then there's Lisa. Shes been calling me 2-3 times a week for the last month requesting samples and just can't make up her mind as to what she wants. She finally decides on a t-shirt she likes, I give her a price. Then she goes online to findthe same t-shirt for less and asks me to match the price. Now thats a dilema! I have already spent about 4 hours on the phone with her over the last month and about $30 on sample t-shirts and now she wants me to match someone else's price who hasn't lifted a finger to help her? THATS CRAZY! By the time I match the price and complete the order I made $150, that accumulates to about $30/hour. I would much rather deal with people like Joe and make $200/hour then to deal with ones like Lisa and make $30/hour! But I take them all and try and keep on similing cause at the end of the day I still love my job!

0 #16 Jeff Solomon 2010-06-17 14:43

Responding to Remy's post...yes I did go into our local store, where I do have a good relationship with the manager. The PromoTip was getting a bit long, so I edited that part.

This is a major chain and the manager was blown away by the price and suggested I get it on line...but I tried.

Real world examples like this create excellent discussion points and online shopping is something I never felt threatened by, but now I see like Mary notes, that I have lost some business to online companies...but that business is not from clients where we have a relationship.

There are things we can do to address this, but that's a topic for another PromoTip.

0 #15 2010-06-17 14:41

My clients have shopped on line many times to keep us priced competively. I always ask that they send me the product they are shopping for me so that I can help them compare and interprete their real cost. Often I am able to get them the exact same promotionl product for the same cost. It is a win win for both us as as they get the price and still get to suport a local business who gives Incredible customer service. Sometimes I cannot match the awards and engraving products. Then I let them know about our "extra" services that are included in our pricing. Bottom line, it is okay to shop online, but ALWAYS give your local company a chance to earn your business. Especialy if your already have a working relationship with them. Who will service your camera? Who take the time to explain to you the features and how to use them. Priceless added value you get locally.

+1 #14 2010-06-17 14:40

Time is and always has been all any salesperson for any industry saves for their customer; i.e. the time the salesperson saves the customer in research and choice to fulfill a given need. Cost savings is just a perk when you know what you want. With the Internet, I can do all the research I need to be just as educated as any expert/salesperson who knows his/her product line... but do I have the time or resources?

An expert is someone more familiar with a subject than others and the Internet leverages that as long as the subject is fully understood by the consumer and being a commodity product, while promotional products processes are complex, they are not hard to comprehend.

I said that to say this: if the customer is willing to put in the time or get resources that will do so for them, then they will aim to save money on every transaction... and the Internet is just the easiest conduit toward that end, especially if one knows the name/make/model of the product desired.

To answer your question, since you knew the desired make/model then you did correctly by purchasing online and saving the money. If you want to contribute to your community then make it your choice to do so and do community work and/or donate locally.

0 #13 2010-06-17 14:35

In web shopping and mail order we support each other's markets, and as long as we are buying within the country, we support our own country.
I believe Allan is correct. Don't waste the local guys time, then buy online. Of course, the reverse could also be true. On the other hand, we often gather info from multiple places. Anything wrong with that? I don't think so.

0 #12 2010-06-17 14:33

Jeff,
We have to support the local entrepreneurs, otherwise we cannot complain when our system as we know it ends. Especially if we acquired all of our knowledge and expertise from the local guy. We at World Logo position ourselves greatly as consultative based trusted advisors, but if the paradigm becomes "price only" we are done. Thank you for this great conversation, and taking your lumps like a man!

0 #11 Terry Peak 2010-06-17 14:30

Do we buy on line? YES. Do we shop local? Yes. Give the local shop a chance to match the price, that's all we ask our clients, and we remind them of the added value we add by taking care of all the details from start to delivery. If we can't match or beat a price we tell the client to buy on line and work with the suppliers to get the next order. Call the suppliers to get the same price as on line, it works. Have fun with the new camera.

Refresh comments list
RSS feed for comments to this post.

Add comment

JComments

Member Login

Facebook

Twitter

Comments

Add comment