I shop a lot at amazon.com and I rent movies through netflix.com. Those two sites know me. They know what I look at, what I buy, and what I watch. Subsequently, when I go back they’re able to suggest other things I may like as well.
Once upon a time our town had a comic book store and the people who worked their knew their comics. They knew them to the point they could, if I bought MongoDROID Issue 17 they could suggest that I might also like Mongopolypse Issues 12-16: The Chubby Rain* mini-series. This sort of product knowledge that they had was what kept me coming back to their store.
When I used to go to GameStop here in town the staff there was able to help me pick Nintendo DS games based on what I’d bought in the past and subsequently returned. They knew what I’d bought and kept and were able to suggest games that I might not otherwise have considered (anything with an animal in it I would never choose to buy on my own). Their expertise in their area was what kept me coming back as a customer. It wasn’t great prices or anything like that. I wanted to talk to someone about something that interested me and get feedback and suggestions. (the staff now isn’t as good as what they had before so I don’t shop there. I went in yesterday while waiting for a hair appointment and they ignored me while I looked at a game system, not a game, the system… that’s a big sale they didn’t even try for. It’s why they get no more of my gaming dollars.)
I don’t make any purchase over a hundred dollars without first finding out if there are amazon reviews on the product. Seriously. I use the wisdom of the masses to help me buy things. I was looking at car stereos today at a local car stereo shop and got some part numbers. I’ll look them up for reviews before I buy. Not because I don’t trust the guy. He was pretty helpful and the information he had on my old stereo matched up with mine. But we don’t have a relationship yet. I don’t know if he’s motivated by commission or trying to sell out old product or trying to help me, so I’ll consult Amazon.com
When you’re in retail, and I am… if you’re a smaller specialty shop this is what your employees have to do. They have to know the product in the store. They have to engage the customer and find out what they’re looking for, what they’ve tried, what they liked and didn’t like about previous purchases, and try to figure out what is in stock at that moment that will help the customer right then. If it’s not something that’s in stock at the time the sales person needs to be VERY good to have the customer come back to them. If I tell the customer, “Oh, you mean the widgetmaster 2000? That’s EXACTLY what you’re describing and sadly, we’re out of stock but should have some by next Thursday for the low low price of something reasonable,” the customer is now armed and able to go to Internet.storefront.not.me.com and order it there… and I lose out. It’s not their fault. It’s my fault as a retailer for being out of stock.
This is a clarion call for all those boutique type stores out there, those one-shot type stores that do one thing… if you’re not going to do it well, you’re not going to do it long. That comic book store I was talking about? I thought they did things REALLY well. Knowledgeable staff, big selection, no competition within 100 miles to speak of, and plenty of local events to keep people coming in. They went out of business anyway. So, if you’re NOT doing it not just good, but really good, you’re not going to be doing it for long. Sometimes, even if you are doing it really well the ball bounces the wrong way and places go out of business. There’s no reason to be in retail if you don’t like retail. Honestly. There are so many other jobs out there, why do one you don’t like?
*Two points if you know the reference and give it in the comments.
PS: What’s the picture of the bowl of Trix have to do with anything? Nothing, but isn’t it bright and colorful?
The “May I help you?” isn’t enough. by Rich Griffith, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
In defense of your Gamestop, game systems, especially new game systems, have a very low profit margin. Even among the big retail chains the profit margin is still abysmal.
The stores stock these for two reasons. One, they know if the retail chains aren’t creating a system base they won’t sell any games period. Two it’s assumed that if you buy a system, you’ll more than likely pick up a couple extras too (like maybe another controller and a game or two).
I used to have a really good Gamestop near me, unfortunately it closed down last year. I’m actually surprised it stayed open so long. There is a mall right next to this Gamestop with a Gamestop in it. It is literally about as far from the Gamestop to the mall as it is from one side of the mall to the other.
Gamestop also has one of the best marketing tactics I’ve ever seen. Each store hires one hot girl that is into video games. She then flirts with customers. These customers in turn develop crushes and come into the store to ask her out, but being too shy to ask her out will chicken out and end up buying something instead, to cover up their true intentions. They’ll repeat this every week or two. Pure genius.
I totally agree with everything you said. I’d started that shopping trip looking at DS games, then 360 games, and finally the systems (Still want a PS3) and was ignored in all those places.
You kidding? They USED to hire like that here. They had the token hot gamer girl who was good, the cute metro guy who was good, and in the words of Gilligan’s Island, “and the rest” and all of the employees were good at at least two gaming systems and they were all helpful. Some more so for me depending on their system of choice and how it overlapped with mine. Now the employees don’t appear to have as much gaming knowledge. They sound like they’re telling me what they’ve heard or read in magazines. I never hear, “I did this…” or “I really liked…”
And let’s be serious… I only ever pre-ordered games so Ashley would call me.
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