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Loyalty programs don't necessarily mean higher prices. Our hardware store uses a loyalty program in order to offer special prices and rebates to our top customers. Our prices did not go up when we started the program, and we still run occasional sales that don't require a loyalty card. We ask for an address on the card application so we can mail the rebate check. We ask for a birthday (month only, and it's optional) so we can send a $10 certificate redeemable that month. Yes, if we wanted to we could discover who bought a plunger to clear their stopped up toilet, or who bought paint chemicals that could be used to make drugs. However, we also can look up your sale so you can return something even if you lost the receipt. We can reprint a receipt quickly if you need it for your taxes or a warranty repair.

Obviously you give up a bit of information to gain some benefit, and that's the case in a myriad of things we do each day. You provide info for credit card applications, job applications, drivers license applications, purchasing items online, etc.

You're correct for the most part. There are very few retail experiences that require human interaction. Probably the best example of a retail store that still requires a good deal of human interaction is a hardware store. Whether it's a replacement part for a toilet, choosing the proper nut or bolt, or matching some paint colors, the shopper depends on one-to-one interaction with an intelligent human being.

Unfortunately, consumers in many areas chose big box stores over local hardware stores and now they have nowhere to go to try and match that rusty, wet part they yanked out of the toilet. Sure they can wander the aisles of Home Depot looking for help, but good luck.

John

Disclaimer - I own a hardware store so I have a vested interest in the future of retail technology.

The manufacturer's plants are built to package and distribute cases and pallets of materials via truck freight, not individual sales units via UPS. They rely on retailers to break down the product to individual selling units and present the product for sale. Online retail has evolved to bring the costs down (expansion of UPS and other carriers, centralized distribution, computerized inventory control) so a manufacturer can effectively become a retailer.

However, there are still kinks to be worked out with returns. We offer UPS shipping services at our hardware store, and unhappy consumers are constantly returning stuff to Amazon, QVC, etc., griping about what a hassle it is. It's much more convenient to return a product to a local retail store...quick exchange, no return shipping fees, and potentially the opportunity for the retailer to sell additional product while the customer is back in the store. Local retail stores still have a big advantage by offering convenient returns, so there is still hope for the middle man.

John
Cornell's True Value

He owned one televison station (WTCG, channel 17 in Atlanta) which became a Superstation (WTBS) through distribution on cable networks that he did not own. He owned one news station (CNN) that became a national/internation news station because it was distributed through systems that he did not own. Turner, although rich, was at the mercy of Time/Warner, Cablevision, etc. as they controlled the distribution network. He never controlled the media distribution, and in fact he was bought out by the media conglomerates. Probably the only irony here is that he's complaining even though he made tons of money by selling to the very folks he is complaining about.

Great to hear a media "mogul" weigh in against the further consolidation of media in America. I had some dealings with Ted during my college radio days and he's a straight shooter. Back in those days he was battling to make a mark with his "Superstation" via cable distribution. Now, people like Murdoch just buy more stations if they want to reach new markets.

So true...three of my former customers (we sell homebrew supplies in my hardware store) are now professional brewers. Two brew for brewpubs, and one has his own microbrewery and sells to about 200 bars in the local area.

Yes, I think you're on to something there. Not only do I brew beer, but we also sell homebrew supplies in my hardware store. My informal observations of the customers who shop for home brew supplies leads me to the conclusion that most hombrewers are geeks (That's a compliment!).

Getting back to my subject, I've also discovered that my passion for pinball (started at MIT in 1977) is shared with numerous folks on the net and around the world, and there is definitely a connection between the lost art of pinball (face it, pinball is dying, especially electromechanical machines) and geeks. I own an old Faces EM pinball machine myself which I've been restoring to it's former glory, in between brewing batches of homebrew and playing Asheron's Call. :-)

I'm not so sure that voicerec is the way to go except for simple tasks like "Lights, on".

Oh, great--and this right after I ordered The Clapper®!

Seriously, though, I can't imagine ever saying "are emm dash are eff asterisk" to make room, or "cursor right, cursor right, select, cut, damn it, undo, copy, cursor down . . ."

I've no doubt we're on our way to some cool input technology for general use (e.g. chord keyboards, gesture recognition)--voice is not it.