Some of the comic publishers are coming up with schemes to lure readers into comic stores so they can qualify for online comics, and pay the retailers a small fee.
Hmmmmm.....
I think I will skip that part.
The figure I'm currently hearing is about a .20 kickback.
Thanks but no thanks.
I don't see this as working from either side: the customer can skip the entire trip if he's so inclined, and it is an extra step for little return for the retailer.
How long did Tower Records last after MP3's, anyway?
I'm still doubting that my customers are going to move wholesale -- wholesale, eh? -- into digital comics. But I leave open the possibility that I'm wrong, because I've already witnessed the collapse of manga and anime in my own store, as well as the ongoing destruction of the record and video stores.
I'm fortunate in that my career is going to last, I believe, just about long enough that I can spin out the various scenarios and adapt my product lines accordingly.
I'm extremely doubtful of book stores being able to have machines in their stores which can manufacture books on demand. That seems just silly to me -- and extremely non-cost effective. Red Box doesn't need an entire video store surrounding it, after all.
However, I do believe, after all is said and done, that there will be specialty game, toy, card, comic, and book stores. And record stores and even video stores. Just not as many, and 1.) supported by the owners or 2.) little tiny shops or 3.) located in major metro areas where they can scoop up a small percentage of customers.
I'm a firm believer that stores work by having inventory on shelves that customers want.
Everything else -- all the schemes and promotions and bullshit that manufacturers want to load onto the work load of the retailers -- is extra. It won't save a faltering shop, and not doing it won't destroy a viable shop.
But I'm an extreme minority here. Most retailers are convinced they have to do all kinds of extra services -- signings, giveaways, advertising, play space, coffee and crumpets, whatever....or they won't make it.
This whole digital online / brick and mortar retailer partnership that is being foisted upon us appears to me to be complete nonsense. It takes us away from what we do best -- the physical curation and presentation of books (or games or toys or whatever; and puts us into the realm of what we can't do as well -- online sales.
It's playing their game, not ours.
Hmmmmm.....
I think I will skip that part.
The figure I'm currently hearing is about a .20 kickback.
Thanks but no thanks.
I don't see this as working from either side: the customer can skip the entire trip if he's so inclined, and it is an extra step for little return for the retailer.
How long did Tower Records last after MP3's, anyway?
I'm still doubting that my customers are going to move wholesale -- wholesale, eh? -- into digital comics. But I leave open the possibility that I'm wrong, because I've already witnessed the collapse of manga and anime in my own store, as well as the ongoing destruction of the record and video stores.
I'm fortunate in that my career is going to last, I believe, just about long enough that I can spin out the various scenarios and adapt my product lines accordingly.
I'm extremely doubtful of book stores being able to have machines in their stores which can manufacture books on demand. That seems just silly to me -- and extremely non-cost effective. Red Box doesn't need an entire video store surrounding it, after all.
However, I do believe, after all is said and done, that there will be specialty game, toy, card, comic, and book stores. And record stores and even video stores. Just not as many, and 1.) supported by the owners or 2.) little tiny shops or 3.) located in major metro areas where they can scoop up a small percentage of customers.
I'm a firm believer that stores work by having inventory on shelves that customers want.
Everything else -- all the schemes and promotions and bullshit that manufacturers want to load onto the work load of the retailers -- is extra. It won't save a faltering shop, and not doing it won't destroy a viable shop.
But I'm an extreme minority here. Most retailers are convinced they have to do all kinds of extra services -- signings, giveaways, advertising, play space, coffee and crumpets, whatever....or they won't make it.
This whole digital online / brick and mortar retailer partnership that is being foisted upon us appears to me to be complete nonsense. It takes us away from what we do best -- the physical curation and presentation of books (or games or toys or whatever; and puts us into the realm of what we can't do as well -- online sales.
It's playing their game, not ours.