End to online bargains as Sony forces prices higher

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1872549,00.html

A bit controversial but I quite like this idea. We all know the dealers have higher overheads because buyers like us like to audition before we buy. So why not level the playing field a bit and reward the dealer who have to invest in such facilities. Of course it won't last, but support your dealer for as long as you can I say

 

I don't think I have bought a single one of my HIFI separetes from a mail order or internet company. It has all been from dealers.

I am sure Sony will get critisied for it but its a good idea in my opinion. A lot of these internet companies don't give a stuff about the items they are selling, dealers on the other hand do.

 

Surely if it was about rewarding rather than penalising, they could just drop prices to stores rather than rising prices to sites?

 

I think the only thing they'll happen is people will just not buy Sony, so they'll loose in the end, I don't like high street shops, get some jumped up sales guy on you case the second you walk in the store and then get the hard sell on their warranty, ya no thanks.

 

Not the experience I have had with Superfi I just avoid the shops where they are like that. My family will never buy anything from Curry's for that exact reason.

 

Curry's, Dixsons, pcworld, comet, etc,

 

who'd buy sony anyway?

 

Sony are taking the **** and will lose.

What with their insistence on proprietary MP3 formats, Root Kit CD protection, ****e music and now this, you wonder if they just want to ditch music all together. The only saving grace appears to be this:

http://www.sony-europe.com/PageView...906542&site=odw_en_EU&page=PressReleaseDetail

But with the amount of **** taking they do, I won't be buying one.

 

I don't know why anyone should give a toss. Sony stuff does not seem to be any better than other Japanese stuff but they charge as if it is.

Rod

 

Wonder who the other manufacturers are and why only Sony was mentioned in name. Could we be facing a blanket price increase including virtually every Japanese and Brits manufacturers? Hmmm.....

 

I thought they really out did themselves with 'its for the consumers benefit' Yeah F'in right. After that route kits thing I won't knowingly buy sony anymore. I think I only have my in ear headphones by them anyway. Not sure what music I have though

 

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=2241992005

Scotsman offer some suggestion who the other manufacturers might be.

Well to be honest if it is the likes of Dixon and Comet who are going to benefit from this then I don't think how consumers nor the manufacturers are going to benefit. The staffs get next to nothing no training about the products they are trying to demonstrate. Most of the time I find people like us who use the internet to do a bit of reseach and participate in hifi forums know much more then these staffs any day.

High street stores like these are also giving bad advices and don't have decent demo rooms to show off the goods. If you go to have a look at how they set up the TVs they are crap and totally useless. I think manufacturers really should offer more support for smaller independent stores with helpful staffs like people here rather them the those chains stores.

This is really a idiotic story to be honest. Maybe what they should really be doing is spend more time listening to their own consumers. Find out why people like to buy from Amazon.com etc. If the online stores are really the one who are responsible to cause their goods to fly off the factories faster then ever before then if I am the Sony CEO I know who are the one I would rather do business with.

 

Free market? Seems to me the Dixon group and others have got together to raise internet prices.

 

DSG should be ilegal. It took us 1 hour to get a refund on a fualty dish washer he had for 7 days. It took an hour of technical jargon (we got from an engineer who told us it was crap so get a refund but they won't like it). After threats of going to the MEN and Trading Standards we finally got our money back.

Back on topic Sony have stopped making that protection thing.

I am not a Sony fan but they do make some very nice things, my K300 phone for example it feels very solid and expensive, it has 12MB RAM, midi, MP3, Java, a nice colour screen, video etc all for £60 on Orange pay as you.

The operating system is very nice as well.

 

...and now for the other side of the coin (a bit long, I apologise)...

Until very recently I worked for a major European electronics manufacturer. In April this year that company adopted the same approach to Internet vs Retail. In fact I think it was the first Consumer Electronics company to do this. Sony are playing catch up and I know that other Japanese mainstream brands are considering the same thing.

The reason for this shift isn't to kill internet sales. The internet is a vital part of the sales strategy for most electronics manufacturers. Nor is it to 'rip off' consumers. The market is competitive enough just between brands without a manufacturer commiting commercial suicide by introducing substantial price rises. The reason for the change in policy becomes clear once you can see how retailers choose the products they will sell and what that does to the manufacturing chain and how it ultimately affects costs and new product development.

Although an internet retailer may list all of a manufacturers product they will rarely hold stock. Because there's no stock holding they don't see a reason to forward plan their buying. They trade on price and usually gravitate towards the entry level products in each range. It's pot luck if the product will be available. There's no consistency in the ordering pattern. If a product gets a good review then demand goes through the roof. If it goes cold then demand plummets. This is a logistics nightmare for a manufacturer and it increases the invisible cost of supply.

Independant retailers on the other hand will hold stock, and they also commit to a wider range of product; they'll take the good, better and best models in a range to give the consumer a wider choice. They'll also work with a manufacturer to put in a 6 month rolling forecast. The cost to serve is still relatively high because of the number of delivery points, but consistency and range depth & breadth are worth the extra cost. What puts a spanner in the works is the internet retailer under-cutting the independant without adding any value to the sale.

The effect over time is that the independant starts to cherry pick from a manufacturers range. They choose the mid range models when next planning their stock. Production of high end models gets cut back, development budgets are cut, new designs are built to a price and in the end quality suffers.

By leveling the playing field the independant retailers have a fighting chance to compete on price and win the sale on service.

The big sheds (Dixon's etc) are insulated from all this competition. Their buying power means they could wipe out all their competitors if they wished. They complain louder than anyone about the internet, but it isn't in their interest to start a price war even if they would be last man standing.

 

Interesting insight. From my experience none of the hifi shops in the Glasgow even hold any stock of other then one for demo. In the past if I like something after a good demo they send an order from some way else. It could take a few days to weeks for the actual delivery. However, if you go online most good internet stores display the actual number of stock that are available for immeadiate dispatch.

 

Can't they be honest about it then? The internet traders possibly now have no advantage at all, they cost the same and you have to wait for delivery. If its for consumers benefit blah blah then they should make sure places like dixons train their staff, none of them seem to know anything about anything they sell, they just seem to push whatever they have too much stock of, then try to sell you an extended warranty etc. Their refund policy is awful- after 2 weeks they basically tell you its your problem and won't do anything to help. Cheers Sony, I really appreciate that.

 

What I don't understand is everybody on the planet seems to hate DSG so why are they still here and expanding?

 

Dixons are the chav's choice - that's why. I actually admit to owning ONE item in my system which came from them - but it was a total steal! (My DAB tuner).

As for Sony, almost every product i've had from them has been faulty. Their TVs and MD players are the only things that get house room now - and both TVs of theirs I've had have had critical faults, although my current Sony 25 incher is 8 years old now and still solid.

Their DVD players from yore (I bought a 525, and a mate a 325, based on reviews) were SHOCKING for reliabity and firmware - absolutely shocking. I got through 2 VHS machines on Radio Rentals' Option2Own, and let's not even go NEAR their 1991 range of CD players.

Compromise? That's Sony.

 

Damn just realised my phone is sorny but hey its broken after about 2 months so thats going back.