Forum Moderators: buckworks
I had to pick up a last minute gift at a major toy retailer (Toys "R" Us) this morning, so when I stopped in, I looked for the game. They did not have it. It wasn't a stock issue, either - they simply didn't carry that game. Now, I'm on a mission to get this game. Today. So I hop online, and check the website of a major all-in-one retailer (Target). They don't carry it either. Damn.
My next idea: shopping search. So, I hop on shopping.com, and start looking. Then, I hop on froogle.com, and start looking. Both point me to a pontential B&M store that might have the game in stock (Wal-Mart).
Great... but it's Christmas Eve. So, now, I have to use the store locator and call ten different stores and find one that has the game in stock. This is very time consuming on any day of the year, let alone Christmas eve.
Which brings me to my question:
How many of you actually go online and see if a shopping search engine or a store .com site actually carries a product? I find myself doing this relatively frequently, especially for must-have-now items, such as music, gifts, etc. I also find myself doing the same routine - locate the stores (via shopping search or store .com sites) that carry the product, calling the store, seeing if they have the product in stock, then racing to the store later that afternoon because they only have 2 or 3 left.
IMHO, the next step for shopping search is to attract impulsive buyers. Enter your zip code, and we'll tell you how many stores have the product in your area, the amount that they have, store hours, and the price.
Thoughts? Or am I the only impulsive geek out there?
It would be great for sale items...just so you would not have to travel to the store to find out that they are sold out of the item or not.
How many of you actually go online and see if a shopping search engine or a store .com site actually carries a product?
I don't, because I don't trust that the web site accurately reflects everything on the physical store shelves.
In the case of the game you're looking for, I swear I've seen it at both our local ToysRUs and Target. The Target web site -- I know that doesn't carry anything close to a full representation of what's in the stores.
As for Wal-Mart -- individual store managers (or regional managers) are actually given permission to make purchasing/stocking decisions independent of the HQ directives. Our local Wal-Marts carry a fair amount of products you'd only find in this region, and certainly not on the corporate shopping web site.
My point with all this is that until the web sites match the store shelves, an online shopping search tool is incomplete at best, and useless at worst.
until the web sites match the store shelves
Exactly my point. The shopping search needs to interface with store inventory. :)
Right now, shopping search has done nothing, for me, the impulsive buyer. Heck, even none of the store .com sites have done anything for me. If one, just one, of the sites I checked today said "Hey, we've got 30, they're $45.99, and we're open until 6.", I wouldn't be here talking to you. :)
(btw - Every Toys R Us in Cleveland is sold out of the game I'm looking for. Target is next on my phone list)
Edited: Grammar, yo.
[edited by: bakedjake at 9:38 pm (utc) on Dec. 24, 2003]
Enter your zip code, and we'll tell you how many stores have the product in your area, the amount that they have, store hours, and the price.
I've been somewhat flabbergasted that this doesn't already exist, it leads to a lot of wasted time and frustration.
Going to a big box store for me is a bit of a chore -- they don't exist in Manhattan. So, do I go to this large home center in Queens? Or try the other one, in Brooklyn? I've wasted a heck of a lot of subway time and come home empty handed.
And in the 'burbs, do you drive 20 miles <<this way? Or that way>>?
One odd thing about such integration is that the used books industry can already achieve such results. Try abebooks: because of companies like those, used book sellers have been making money online for a long time- they were financially lucrative well before new book sellers such as Amazon.
Do you suppose one day we'll have affiliate schemes for referring people to real life stores? :)
Background: I see this new Trivial Pursuit Pop Culture edition on TV this morning while having breakfast. Being a Trivial Pursuit junkie, I said to myself "Wow, that would be nice to have over the holidays to play with the family!".
bakedjake-
I was just browsing over the past few weeks of posts and saw yours...funny...I received this game for Xmas from a family member. We opened it and proceeded to play back to back games. It is a lot of fun and the questions are much easier than the standard trival pursuit. Guess I know more about "pop culture" rather than "17th century art culture"...ha!
If you haven't already purchased it...I recommend it.
Todd
