Silverwing, since you don't have an E-mail address, I'll ask you here. You are in my area. You say you have had some bad experiances in knife stores. If any of those have been in my shop I would like to hear about it, if you don't mind. If we have a problem, I want to fix it, ASAP. I would appreciate a response either via E-mail, here, by phone (619) 465-6905 or in person. Thanks.
Lizabelle, Hey! I have read most of these posts with great interest over the past few days and I would like to add my perspective as a "brick-and-mortar" dealer.
Of course the internet has affected my business, as well as every other business. In my case, I am having the best year ever. I have just moved into a new, larger store and am expanding my inventory. Sales are up considerably and I see new customers almost every day. The largest portion of my sales come from the store and gun and knife shows. Show sales are booming.
The thing is, I don't even have a web site. I have picked up some sales from BF by letting it be known that I have some items in stock that others don't have and my prices don't even begin to compete with many of the 'net dealers.(I couldn't survive in business if they did.)
I believe that the net has helped my sales by exposing more people to the products who, even though they own computers and surf the net are not comfortable buying online. There could be many reasons for that and I don't pretend to know them all but I would say they range from distrust of unknown, faceless vendors to a desire to see and handle products before they buy. Also, lots of people just like to go shopping.
I also believe that this somewhat deflates the theory that many espouse that the 'net will destroy all of us who insist on remaining in our storefronts and continue to "defy the future". We aren't going away and, I believe will continue to benefit from the 'net.
It basically amounts to a sort of advertizing that is out there for free. After all, how would I be able to extoll the virtues of any product that I stock without spending big advertizing bucks? With the web I don't have to. There are plenty of folks doing that for me. Every site that advertizes their goods advertizes for me too.
Also, by observing the other sites and reading comments here and elsewhere, I can get a pretty good feel for what the market is doing and which products are "hot" and which manufacturers are having trouble with product reliability and customer service.
All that information is readily available to anyone who is willing to get it and that information can be invaluable to any business that wants to thrive.
As I mentioned earlier, I also sell at gunshows and knife shows and sales there are booming right now. Part of that may be because of the public's perception that the days of the shows are numbered but not all of it can be attributed to that.
I have talked to a lot of people and they tell me things that I find very interesting. First off they are better informed about the products and have a better idea of what they want. Many come in looking for specific items rather than browsing.
Price is not as important to many of them as selection and service. My prices at the shows are, for the most part, higher than almost all of the other dealers yet my sales are up. In fact, some of the other dealers have started to raise their prices to match mine, reversing a trend to try and compete by lowering prices to the point they would lose money at some shows. They finally realized that they actually needed to make a profit if they wanted to stay in business.
Not all of them have done that but several have and they are finding that their sales haven't suffered and they are actually doing better.
Price alone isn't enough to keep many people buying online. Many have related stories of disappointment and disatisfaction with various net transactions. I have heard stories of merchandise received that appeared to be used or damaged, long delays in delivery, exorbitant "shipping and handling" charges and other problems that discouraged many from online shopping. One person told me that he had ordered several knives from a well known online dealer and received four empty boxes. He called the vendor and got replacements but it took 2 months to get them. He said that he was done with online buying. I guess you could say that, in that aspect, the 'net has helped my business too.
So, has the internet affected my business? You bet! Is it going to take ofer the world? I don't think so.
Think about this: about this time last century, Sears and Roebuck came along with their catalog and made it easy to shop from home. Everyone was going to use this new service and the local general store just wouldn't be able to match the selection and service. They were going to take over the retail world. What happened? Most of the catalogs ended up in the outhouses and Sears is now one of the biggest "brick-and-mortar" businesses in the world. In the 80s home shopping on TV came along. I don't know of any stores that have closed up because of them. They didn't take over the world either.
I have heard that by next year there will be around 36 million people shopping online. Since the population of the U.S. is around 350 million that means about 10% online. It also means about 90% in the stores. I'll take those odds.
There's enough room for everyone out here and I believe there will be a symbiotic relationship between the internet and the storefronts.
Will I get a web site? Probably. It will be a good way to promote my store and advertize my existence. Will I go totally online? No. I like my store and I like dealing face to face with my customers.
I didn't intend for this to become so long winded but I hope it helps to get another view. It seems that almost everyone else out there seems to think that the 'net is the only way to go. Of course when such a question is asked of a group of netizens like this the answers are likely to be skewed toward the domination of the market by the internet. I just don't happen to agree with that and, so far, my experiances seem to support my views.
Take care.
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Dennis Wright
Wright Knife & Sporting Goods
(Buy a knife...confuse a liberal)
La Mesa, CA
wrightknife@ixpres.com
