On-Line sales .......... here we go again !!!
02-01-2006, 10:14 AM
#1
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I know there's been lots of talk about online sales. Just wondering as to the level of manufacturer and Canadian distributor(??) support for this here in Canada now?!?!!?
Competition is healthy but someone without a store front......... hey, you know the rest of that story. Thoughts on this and where it's going!?!? Maybe this is the future....... just cold hard sales of product and the consumer is on their own for install. Big Box install outlet. Man-in-a-van mobile install.
Here's an example of pure Canadian Online Stuff.
Online sales in Canada brought to you by SMARTAZZ
Looks like they are authorized to carry:
AUDIOPIPE . XXX . JBL . INFINITY . QUEST . ULTIMATE . RODIAC . MA AUDIO . VISONIK . POLK . CLARION . MAX SPEAKERS . USAMPS . LANZAR . LEGACY . PYRAMID . PYLE . METRA
They also can special order products from the following companies and come with a 1 Year warranty through them, not the manufacturer.
ALPINE . ALPHASONIK . ABSOLUTE . AUDIOBAHN . BAZOOKA . BLAUPUNKT . BOSS . CRUNCH . HIFONICS . JLAUDIO . KENWOOD . KENWOOD EXCELON . KICKER . MBQUART . MTX . NAKAMICHI . ORION . PHOENIXGOLD . PANASONIC . PIONEER . PIONEER PREMIER . PPI . ROCKFORD FOSGATE . SANYO . SONY . SOUNDSTREAM . JENSEN . STINGER . MOBILE SPEC . DIRECTED AUDIO . JVC . ADRENALIN . AL AUDIO . SPL . SOUNDSTORM . PHASE LINEAR . VOLFENHAG . AMERICAN PRO . KOLE AUDIO . LOGIC SOUNDLABS . PHOENIX DIGITAL . QPOWER . TECVOX . XACT . POWER ACOUSTIK . POWERBASS . SOLID AUDIO . SOUNDSTORM
Anyone working with these brands in their store for 2006 and beyond. How do you feel about this........ ?!?!?! Can you compete ??? Do you care????
BTW, KANKAR does not allow any internet sales of our products anyhere in Canada. If you ever see anything that we carry being sold from here in Canada, I'd appreciate that you contact me immediately. We do not support this sort of business activity.
Cheers
[ February 01, 2006, 11:25 AM: Message edited by: dawgsbreakfast ]
Competition is healthy but someone without a store front......... hey, you know the rest of that story. Thoughts on this and where it's going!?!? Maybe this is the future....... just cold hard sales of product and the consumer is on their own for install. Big Box install outlet. Man-in-a-van mobile install.
Here's an example of pure Canadian Online Stuff.
Online sales in Canada brought to you by SMARTAZZ
Looks like they are authorized to carry:
AUDIOPIPE . XXX . JBL . INFINITY . QUEST . ULTIMATE . RODIAC . MA AUDIO . VISONIK . POLK . CLARION . MAX SPEAKERS . USAMPS . LANZAR . LEGACY . PYRAMID . PYLE . METRA
They also can special order products from the following companies and come with a 1 Year warranty through them, not the manufacturer.
ALPINE . ALPHASONIK . ABSOLUTE . AUDIOBAHN . BAZOOKA . BLAUPUNKT . BOSS . CRUNCH . HIFONICS . JLAUDIO . KENWOOD . KENWOOD EXCELON . KICKER . MBQUART . MTX . NAKAMICHI . ORION . PHOENIXGOLD . PANASONIC . PIONEER . PIONEER PREMIER . PPI . ROCKFORD FOSGATE . SANYO . SONY . SOUNDSTREAM . JENSEN . STINGER . MOBILE SPEC . DIRECTED AUDIO . JVC . ADRENALIN . AL AUDIO . SPL . SOUNDSTORM . PHASE LINEAR . VOLFENHAG . AMERICAN PRO . KOLE AUDIO . LOGIC SOUNDLABS . PHOENIX DIGITAL . QPOWER . TECVOX . XACT . POWER ACOUSTIK . POWERBASS . SOLID AUDIO . SOUNDSTORM
Anyone working with these brands in their store for 2006 and beyond. How do you feel about this........ ?!?!?! Can you compete ??? Do you care????
BTW, KANKAR does not allow any internet sales of our products anyhere in Canada. If you ever see anything that we carry being sold from here in Canada, I'd appreciate that you contact me immediately. We do not support this sort of business activity.
Cheers
[ February 01, 2006, 11:25 AM: Message edited by: dawgsbreakfast ]
02-01-2006, 11:32 AM
#2
I agree and disagree, if an item is not available in your area. For example, PET wire protection, then online sales are great. But when it comes to basic head units and subwoofers, I think online sales are bad. Now that being said, in the remote starter business, I have retailers are too lazy to order a remote for a customer or are just too busy. Then online sales have a place. If a retailer goes online to order a remote or whatever on a online store, this idea seems to make sense. In this case the retailer would get some sort of kick back for the referal, this seems to make more sense. Bad this idea is hard to regulate unless the person ordering has to have some sort of id before ordering. Just my two cents worth...
02-01-2006, 01:43 PM
#3
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 90
It's a blessing, and a curse.
If the customer is in a remote area that does not have easy access to typical brick and mortar (say, Red Lake Ontario for example) and wants that new deck for his/her truck, then yeah, great idea. Do I, as a brick and mortar retailer want to compete with an unbeatable price that someone can get online? Not really.... doesn't really pay the bills. Bad enough when the large chains are dropping their pants on product, an online retailer shouldn't be allowed to do the same.
But hey, whatever works.... it is capitalism and all.
Gus
If the customer is in a remote area that does not have easy access to typical brick and mortar (say, Red Lake Ontario for example) and wants that new deck for his/her truck, then yeah, great idea. Do I, as a brick and mortar retailer want to compete with an unbeatable price that someone can get online? Not really.... doesn't really pay the bills. Bad enough when the large chains are dropping their pants on product, an online retailer shouldn't be allowed to do the same.
But hey, whatever works.... it is capitalism and all.
Gus
02-01-2006, 02:01 PM
#4
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Posts: n/a
You can order almost any car part you can imagine online. Last I checked, Lordco, Napa, etc were all doing fine. There will always be people who want to see and feel the item and take it home that day.
I'm not saying that one can ignore the online sales end of the industry but a specialty retailer should be able to work around it.
IMO the biggest competition is still the guy that opens up across the street..
I'm not saying that one can ignore the online sales end of the industry but a specialty retailer should be able to work around it.
IMO the biggest competition is still the guy that opens up across the street..
02-01-2006, 02:10 PM
#5
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Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 1,692
they might be a branch of a usa company that opened here. they might be getting thier warranty thru the states. Either way, mb quart pg and bazooka have no internet companies here in canada. if they offer manufacturers warranty it isnt canadian warranty.
02-01-2006, 06:34 PM
#6
As hard as it might be for some of you guys to believe, I'm actually against online sales as well. In principle that is.
The problem is that, as others have mentioned, the product isn't always available. So 0either you make your product available to customers or they just buy something else.
There's so many different lines of product out there that cater to so many different people that they will find a way to get what they want and do it in a way that they want.
(here's the part where I'll get flammed) .. I also find that a lot of retailers aren't exactly helping themselves.
During the past few months that I've tried getting DD and Kinetik set up in Eastern Canada I've run in to a problem where dealers are (almost) all interested in the line but none of them want to stock anything.
I've spoken to some of them about it and the way they explain it is that they order it as the customers come in and ask for it.
To me this doesn't help differentiate you from the Internet at all. They go in to see you and have to go based purely on your word without seeing the product when seeing it in person is SO important. Even on here when people argue about b&m's vs Internet the biggest argument is that you can't see/hear what you're buying off the web but that seems like it's becoming more and more the norm in local shops as well.
I've been contacted a bunch of times by customers that are interested in the product, but it's hard for me to send them to a shop if I know there isn't anything for them to see.
The problem is that, as others have mentioned, the product isn't always available. So 0either you make your product available to customers or they just buy something else.
There's so many different lines of product out there that cater to so many different people that they will find a way to get what they want and do it in a way that they want.
(here's the part where I'll get flammed) .. I also find that a lot of retailers aren't exactly helping themselves.
During the past few months that I've tried getting DD and Kinetik set up in Eastern Canada I've run in to a problem where dealers are (almost) all interested in the line but none of them want to stock anything.
I've spoken to some of them about it and the way they explain it is that they order it as the customers come in and ask for it.
To me this doesn't help differentiate you from the Internet at all. They go in to see you and have to go based purely on your word without seeing the product when seeing it in person is SO important. Even on here when people argue about b&m's vs Internet the biggest argument is that you can't see/hear what you're buying off the web but that seems like it's becoming more and more the norm in local shops as well.
I've been contacted a bunch of times by customers that are interested in the product, but it's hard for me to send them to a shop if I know there isn't anything for them to see.
02-01-2006, 06:51 PM
#7
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Paul, what do you define as a specialty retailer from a sales point of view ?!?!!
If special means a retailer has exclusivity for a territory for a product line, then none of this discussion would relate to that retailer I'd assume as they should not be affected. There should be no internet sales to compete with. Or....?
[ February 01, 2006, 07:53 PM: Message edited by: dawgsbreakfast ]
If special means a retailer has exclusivity for a territory for a product line, then none of this discussion would relate to that retailer I'd assume as they should not be affected. There should be no internet sales to compete with. Or....?
[ February 01, 2006, 07:53 PM: Message edited by: dawgsbreakfast ]
02-01-2006, 10:34 PM
#8
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Yeah............Pat is correct !!
In fact Phoenix Gold has made it a very strict policy this year that there is no Authorized selling of PG products on the internet.....period !! Every existing or new PG dealer has to sign a dealer agreement stating that if they do sell on the net....they will be pulled from being a dealer, plus face a possible fine for doing so.
No Authorized inernet selling of Bazooka, MB Quart........or anything else that Trends carries (in Canada).
Being from retail myself for 15-years.........I think that the internet selling of car and home gear is b.s. !! Personally I dont buy anything online, but I do feel for the people in outlying areas. But I also really feel for the retail shop that has inventory, that displays a product, that has overhead, staff, etc.....way more !!
Anyone could sell a box from their basement and make a buck !! But thats not what I consider good business practise.....!!
To me ...... the internet is a great source for information........but buying stereo gear from someone you cant see eye to eye.......quite possibly not get any warranty......never mind any service from........!!!!
And for what really.??.....when you price it out at the end of the day......it really boils down to a couple of bucks here or there.....to me, the grief to bulls**t ratio, just isn't worth the hastle.
Its a curse to the business in general.....but, for now its a reality that we all, both wholesale and retail have to deal with....until people stop buying online........there will always be someone willing to sell it online.
It sucks !!
[ February 01, 2006, 11:39 PM: Message edited by: G-MONEY ]
In fact Phoenix Gold has made it a very strict policy this year that there is no Authorized selling of PG products on the internet.....period !! Every existing or new PG dealer has to sign a dealer agreement stating that if they do sell on the net....they will be pulled from being a dealer, plus face a possible fine for doing so.
No Authorized inernet selling of Bazooka, MB Quart........or anything else that Trends carries (in Canada).
Being from retail myself for 15-years.........I think that the internet selling of car and home gear is b.s. !! Personally I dont buy anything online, but I do feel for the people in outlying areas. But I also really feel for the retail shop that has inventory, that displays a product, that has overhead, staff, etc.....way more !!
Anyone could sell a box from their basement and make a buck !! But thats not what I consider good business practise.....!!
To me ...... the internet is a great source for information........but buying stereo gear from someone you cant see eye to eye.......quite possibly not get any warranty......never mind any service from........!!!!
And for what really.??.....when you price it out at the end of the day......it really boils down to a couple of bucks here or there.....to me, the grief to bulls**t ratio, just isn't worth the hastle.
Its a curse to the business in general.....but, for now its a reality that we all, both wholesale and retail have to deal with....until people stop buying online........there will always be someone willing to sell it online.
It sucks !!
[ February 01, 2006, 11:39 PM: Message edited by: G-MONEY ]
02-01-2006, 10:43 PM
#9
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Originally posted by Dukk:
I'm not saying that one can ignore the online sales end of the industry but a specialty retailer should be able to work around it.
I'm not saying that one can ignore the online sales end of the industry but a specialty retailer should be able to work around it.
02-01-2006, 10:46 PM
#10
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Originally posted by JordyO:
During the past few months that I've tried getting DD and Kinetik set up in Eastern Canada I've run in to a problem where dealers are (almost) all interested in the line but none of them want to stock anything.
During the past few months that I've tried getting DD and Kinetik set up in Eastern Canada I've run in to a problem where dealers are (almost) all interested in the line but none of them want to stock anything.
