Now customers can shop at any store and check to see if Amazon has a cheaper price on the goods before them, in real time.
Specialists might want to sharpen their sales pitches on why its better to buy from an installing specialty shop.
Amazon’s new price comparison app for the iPhone basically gives you a quick, easy price check on thousands of products on Amazon so you can comparison shop, even while you are in a brick and mortar store.
You can scan the bar code of a product with your phone to bring up a price. Or snap a photo of a product to access the product on Amazon. You can also say the product name to do a voice search, or type in the product name. Plus the item comes up as it appears on Amazon with its eligibility for FREE shipping.
As Amazon says, “the customer can then decide whether to purchase the [product] in the store or make a purchase directly through the app…for delivery directly to their doorstep.”
“We’ve worked hard to have low prices at Amazon, and we like it when customers comparison shop so they know they’re getting a good deal,” said Sam Hall, director of Amazon Mobile. “We hope this app will empower customers to shop with confidence this holiday and any other day.”
Users also get access to customer reviews.
PriceGrabber already offers an app that allows users to scan the barcode of a product. It will bring up a list of other stores carrying the product with an instant price comparison.
ThirdAge.com quotes retail analyst Candace Corlett as advising, “We recommend that retailers get over the fact that consumers can compare prices. That horse has left the barn. So go with it and turn it into an advantage.” The president of WSL Strategic Retail recommends that retailers have a store app that will pop up when a shopper enters their stores.
Source: Amazon and ThirdAge.com
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Well said Jeff. The 12v specialist will have a place for years to come and the product lines to ensure survival are available, you just have to choose your vendor relationships carefully. Overdistributed, comoditized sku’s have no business being stocked demonstrated and displayed in a specialty store. Specialists are being used, used, used.
Quote: “Specialists might want to sharpen their sales pitches on why its better to buy from an installing specialty shop.” should read:
“Specialists might want to find brands that actually have margin and aren’t sold on Amazon, if thats even possible today”
I firmly believe that consumer electronic sales for the independent retailer is going to end, as the economies of scale that the big box stores and large online outfits have to use to their advantage outweight what the small niche independent guy has. It’s time for everyone in this game to wake up, selling electronics from your small store is NOT going to make you succeed. Selling niche products that have margin may help you, or changing your game plan to service a sector of the market that is unserviced may help you, but trying to compete with the likes of an Iphone price comparison/direct order application by Amazon is an un-winnable battle. Just my two cents…..