I agree with Living Proof about the Sales Tax issue. Web stores Shoppers no longer need the advantage of avoiding state/local Sales Tax as an inducement to order online.
Interestingly, when I order from the Performance Bike website, they have to collect Sales Tax on the order because they also have retail stores in Virginia. If I order the same thing from TreeFortBikes or BikeTiresDirect then they don't pay sales tax. So even web sites aren't on a level playing field.
I will say that I try to do as much business through the local Performance Bike store as possible. They have been quite helpful and they will price match web store prices (including their own web).
I have found that most bike stores, in fact, will jump at the opportunity to price match against the web rather than lose the business completely. Perhaps the manufacturers (or distributors) provide back-end relief on such sales. In fact, I found the Sidi MTB shoes Lynn was looking for in a store down here. The store owner actually thanked me and commented to a rep standing next to him how much he appreciated customers giving the local store a chance, and that was at a noticeable discount. We paid tax, but also had the conveniences of being in a store such as being able to try the shoes on before buying.
Are there web pricing and channel control models that work well for the customer other than Amazon? How would it impact the local ski shop if the manufacturer focus was to support the local shop without requiring them to carry complete inventory (and to order it way ahead of time) by simplifying the shopping experience (or the shop re-order experience) using the web?
I like Mike's line. Everything was different before it changed.
Home
Login
Register