Headline FeedsE-Commerce Times Talkback
|
|
Re: Cyber Shoppers Beware! Those Juicy Deals May Be Hot Air
Posted by: Erika Morphy 2013-12-07 08:01:39
See Full Story
This Cyber Monday, retailers of every stripe ran countless ads proclaiming the big shopping day's special deals -- including this one: A Nikon D3200 Two Lens Zoom Kit, originally priced at $799.95, marked down to $499.95. Sounds good, right? We thought so too, but try as we might, we couldn't secure the camera at the deal price. And we tried. The ad was one of several Cyber Monday Deals advertised on the Nikon USA website, but it was "out of stock" or "discontinued by the manufacturer" at all of the retailers designated by NikonUSA.
Re: Cyber Shoppers Beware! Those Juicy Deals May Be Hot Air
Posted by: Carlosruben84 2013-12-07 12:27:15 In reply to: Erika Morphy
I was able to secure the deal on 11/28... Before Black Friday or cyber Monday. I saw an ad on it through 9to5toys that Thursday morning and jumped on it. :) Glad I did now! If it wasn't for the snow storm throughout the Midwest it would already be delivered. As the other comment states, this article seems winey and wanted to confirm that it was a real deal through B&H and not just hot air as your article states.
Re: Cyber Shoppers Beware! Those Juicy Deals May Be Hot Air
Posted by: josephmartins 2013-12-07 08:27:45 In reply to: Erika Morphy
Erika,
I am quite possibly the most skeptical person most have ever met.
I do question most sales/marketing tactics. This article is, frankly, just whiney.
There was a time long long long ago that I ran computer inventory for a very small chain of stores with perhaps less than 25k SKUs. Occasionally mistakes or miscalculations were made. And back then it was impossible to claw back printed ads if inventory ran out due to demand. The Friday early birds won. The Sunday stragglers were out of luck.
The amount of inventory marked for the specials was limited. And we did either post "while supplies last" or "limited to the first X customers".
These days retailers have gone digital but logistics aren't much easier and continue to make it virtually impossible to be both prepared (with ads prepared and distributed well in advance) and predictive (guessing what demand might be, earmarking an adequate percentage of inventory for those savvy shoppers).
On the face of it, your story suggests that perhaps manufacturers and retailers should have some system - RFID even - that allows ads to be dropped at each online retailers POS the moment inventory is no longer available to that retailer. Good luck with that. It's a very complex issue not easily resolved today. Perhaps some day, but not currently.
The skeptic in me says this is just a whiney story from someone who saw a Cyber Monday ad, did zero advance research to discover the deal began a few days prior --as quite a few savvy shoppers clearly discovered--and that the deal included Cyber Monday if any earmarked inventory remained (a.k.a while supplies last).
It wouldn't matter if Nikon had a half million more D3200 kits ready to sell Tuesday at full retail price. If they designated X to be sold at a discount and you're the X+1 straggler walking through the Cyber Door you're out of luck. Nikon owes you nothing.
Some well-meaning parents may choose to raise their kids on the notion that everybody is a winner, but real life simply doesn't work that way.
I am quite possibly the most skeptical person most have ever met.
I do question most sales/marketing tactics. This article is, frankly, just whiney.
There was a time long long long ago that I ran computer inventory for a very small chain of stores with perhaps less than 25k SKUs. Occasionally mistakes or miscalculations were made. And back then it was impossible to claw back printed ads if inventory ran out due to demand. The Friday early birds won. The Sunday stragglers were out of luck.
The amount of inventory marked for the specials was limited. And we did either post "while supplies last" or "limited to the first X customers".
These days retailers have gone digital but logistics aren't much easier and continue to make it virtually impossible to be both prepared (with ads prepared and distributed well in advance) and predictive (guessing what demand might be, earmarking an adequate percentage of inventory for those savvy shoppers).
On the face of it, your story suggests that perhaps manufacturers and retailers should have some system - RFID even - that allows ads to be dropped at each online retailers POS the moment inventory is no longer available to that retailer. Good luck with that. It's a very complex issue not easily resolved today. Perhaps some day, but not currently.
The skeptic in me says this is just a whiney story from someone who saw a Cyber Monday ad, did zero advance research to discover the deal began a few days prior --as quite a few savvy shoppers clearly discovered--and that the deal included Cyber Monday if any earmarked inventory remained (a.k.a while supplies last).
It wouldn't matter if Nikon had a half million more D3200 kits ready to sell Tuesday at full retail price. If they designated X to be sold at a discount and you're the X+1 straggler walking through the Cyber Door you're out of luck. Nikon owes you nothing.
Some well-meaning parents may choose to raise their kids on the notion that everybody is a winner, but real life simply doesn't work that way.
