Saturday, September 09, 2017

BadBusiness: "I'm just looking" (Part II of ?)

Part I: Luxury Demands, Commodity Pocketbooks

In part one I discussed American's wanting the allusion of luxury at a low price.  Today I want to discuss how this, in part, has led to the death of retail.  I'm not suggesting what follows 100% killed the industry, but it was a big contributing factor.

As Americans have gone for "cheap at all costs" in retail, automobiles, airfares etc. two things have happened.

1. Customer service has died.
2. Pride in ownership has faded.

I want to take a minute to discuss issue 1 here, because it's been something that I've especially noticed both living in Houston and traveling.

The WORST trend in retail is price matching.  The person who invented the price match should be drawn, quartered and have their brain examined for signs of CTE.

The problem with price matching is that not all goods are created equal, and not all stores are created equal either. A boutique store selling Polo shirts should provide a higher level of customer service than would Wal-Mart selling made in Mumblistan knock-offs. As well they should. But when that store decides they have to compete on price with said retail giant, they then have to cut their staffing budget and Henri the tailor is replaced by Stephen the 18 year-old who could take it or leave it whether you buy that shirt.

When customer service goes the way of the Dodo, there's no reason for Marcus' Haberdashery to continue to exist. Contrary to popular belief, it wasn't online shopping that did in retailers such as JC Penney and Sears, it was the rise of Marshall's and Ross and other off-price retailers, and outlet malls. The simple fact of the matter is that JC Penney still offers a good line of store-label clothing, but they have chosen to price it as though it's being sold at Wal-Mart or other discount retailers. As a result of this their customer service is atrocious.  As a matter of fact, it can be worse than atrocious during busy hours.  And I say that as a fan.

Other industries have followed suit.  Airlines have stripped their planes bare, cut down on food choices (including in First Class) and have generally made the flying experience a pathetic one in an effort to offer the lowest fare possible, in many cases this is the only fare they can offer.

It used to be that you could find a nice wine store, complete with a licensed Sommelier, who could assist you in navigating the weird world of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and *shudder* Sauvignon Blanc. Now you probably purchase most of your wine at the grocery store.  Have a question about a wine-growing region or a certain vintage?  Yeah good luck.  And don't count on those bottles having been properly stored either.  Not that many Americans know, sweet wines still being the number one seller.

Even liquor and beer fall into the trap.  Total Wine & More has just moved into the Houston area. They are widely considered to be the Wal-Mart of the liquor industry, moving in, offering certain high-demand items at bargain prices (they have tremendous buying power due to their national footprint) and running existing stores out of business because they cannot compete on price.

Once upon a time, they could compete on service (The customer service at TW&M is horrible FWIW) but now they can't because the customer doesn't care.  Americans have allowed themselves to become a commodity themselves.  Sure we throw up airs, post on social media, feign outrage when we feel we've been slighted, but in reality what people are really looking for in this case is a few moments attention and (hopefully) a bucket of free shit.

This idea has caused several companies to pack it in. It used to be that, when you entered a store, a sales rep was immediately there offering assistance.  After years of being angrily shouted at "I'm just looking!" most companies have abandoned this tactic and now only employ some cashier and stock personnel, whose job it is to clean up the messes that customers leave behind.  If you think things look bad after a hurricane, walk into a clothing store during a holiday sale.  It's bad enough that they should be declared disaster areas.

The take-away from this is that, while it's hip and trendy to blame Wal-Mart, or the airlines, or the "Internet" for ruining things the fact is that we brought all of this on ourselves. We demanded, through our buying habits, that companies race-to-the-bottom and offer less and less and less in the way of customer experience.

After they cut out any semblance of service, the next step was to decrease the quality, which is something I'll discuss next.