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'Amazon Effect' Hits Retailers Around the Globe (axios.com)
From a report: U.S. stores have been closing at a faster rate in 2017 than at any time since the recession, an American phenomenon being dubbed "retail apocalypse." Though this has so-far been largely a worry for U.S. retailers, the Wall Street Journal reports that investors in Europe are worried that it is now spreading abroad.
But hiring the cheapest and most clueless idiot to staff your stores is a big part as well. If brick and mortar wants to compete, they have to add value over amazon. A person that can actually answer questions is a big step in that direction.
None of this is really new. Over 100 years ago local general stores were losing business to Sears Roebuck or Wards who had much the same idea of delivering product to customers only they used magazine catalogs instead of webpages.
Somehow the world and economy survived and improved greatly on the whole. You forget that people who save money buying through Amazon instead of at a mall now have additional money to spend into the local economy.
In another century Amazon will be supplanted by something else. Probably local businesses that can 3D print or otherwise fabricate custom goods for consumers.
Major retail stores have been giving a horrible experience and value proposition for longer than Amazon has existed. The difference is that before Amazon came around, there wasn't really any alternative.
I do shop at some retail stores that actually give value and don't present a terrible experience. They tend to be small, sole proprietorships rather than chains. If they don't have what I need, then I go online.
Interestingly, at least in my neck of the woods, those small shops are doing pretty well. It's the larger retailers that are closing. It seems to me they brought it on themselves.
I'm absolutely sick and tired of walking into a physical local store location with cash in hand... only for them to not even stock what I'm looking to purchase. And thus, I return home, order online, and have it in a few days. This isn't a once or twice thing, but an often enough occurrence that I've honestly stopped shopping locally entirely except for groceries.
Its as simple as this: I can't buy what you don't have!
even giants like BestBuy are struggling
Well, in all fairness, Best Buy is one of the worst and has deserved to go out of business for years.