In SEARS case… just going back to what they originally did. They were Amazon before the internet. You got a catalog in the mail, sent in your order and payment, and they would ship you the product. It’s literally the exact same business. It’s not even like Amazon came out of nowhere to be as big as it is today, it was on a clear trajectory, at any time SEARS could have jumped into the ring with the business they originally were instead of sticking to the clearly dying department store model.
at any time SEARS could have jumped into the ring with the business they originally were instead of sticking to the clearly dying department store model.
It’s not even that, they could’ve easily kept their store locations. They just needed to move their catalog online and it would’ve been a done deal.
There are a couple of stores that I have seen that used to be brick and mortar or catalog based and made the transition to online but their website is terrible.
McMaster-Carr comes to mind. I’m never really sure if I have found the part I’m looking for whenever I shop on their website.
Maybe it’s a skill issue, sure, but online shopping should not require an onboarding process.
I think McMaster’s transition from catalog to website is brilliant. I’ve had younger crew be amazed when I gave them an old catalog; like keep it in the break room and flip through it while looking at McMaster on their phone.
I do wonder why they kept the black and white pictures.
In SEARS case… just going back to what they originally did. They were Amazon before the internet. You got a catalog in the mail, sent in your order and payment, and they would ship you the product. It’s literally the exact same business. It’s not even like Amazon came out of nowhere to be as big as it is today, it was on a clear trajectory, at any time SEARS could have jumped into the ring with the business they originally were instead of sticking to the clearly dying department store model.
It’s not even that, they could’ve easily kept their store locations. They just needed to move their catalog online and it would’ve been a done deal.
If they had come up with a good interface.
There are a couple of stores that I have seen that used to be brick and mortar or catalog based and made the transition to online but their website is terrible.
McMaster-Carr comes to mind. I’m never really sure if I have found the part I’m looking for whenever I shop on their website.
Maybe it’s a skill issue, sure, but online shopping should not require an onboarding process.
I think McMaster’s transition from catalog to website is brilliant. I’ve had younger crew be amazed when I gave them an old catalog; like keep it in the break room and flip through it while looking at McMaster on their phone.
I do wonder why they kept the black and white pictures.
McMaster-carr is amazing for technical parts. I love it.