Thats something i raised before using store staff to order online for customers. That puts the online sales increase figures under a cloud. How many online sales are from regular onliners moving to myer rather than other online retailers? My guess not a lot as price is usually the main online driver.
The way i look at it is, a lot of myer customers want b and m, they go in store and can,t find what they want so sales staff order it online for them. They will not go looking for online next time because they like being in the store. So in the end they will eventually end up shopping with whoever is the remaining b and m stores.
B and m is not going to die, i do not believe all the doom and gloom, it will just be smaller. Myer needs to tread the balance between online and in store carefully, they will never be able to compete online with the likes of kgn and amazon and Others but they are well placed in physical storefronts. They just need to manage the transition downsizing and the downturn and in the retail market generally. Thats the question though, is management capable of it? Doubts are rising.
Asks yourselves though, if the retail market was doing ok and household debt was not an issue, i.e we were at a different stage in the retail cycle, would we even be discussing online verses b and m? No i don,t think so, we would be merrily buying from both. And that part of the cycle will return again.
MYR Price at posting:
53.5¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)