I'm referring to the website. I don't like Indigo, so I will call it Chapters.

Does it bother anyone here that they have done absolutely NOTHING to their site in about 1 year (maybe 2), except take away categories and raise prices??

Look at Amazon and what they have done. I'm not even talking about store categories, but just the order enhancements and general "ease of use" and value-added features (i.e. book previews). Amazon is an amazing site to shop at!

And then we have Chapters... who is taking the Zellers role in the Zellers vs. Walmart story. "Oh, just slap a Canadian flag on it and they'll know that Canadians can't do as well as Americans...they'll understand."

You'd think they could at least brainstorm a "find it in-store" feature or something like that. They have it *in* the store, and it already has a web interface! Why not on the website too?

Radio Shack has that feature. It doesn't work, though. I went into the store based on information from their "find it in-store" only to be told "well, you shouldn't rely on the website" when they didn't have the item in stock (no, the item had not been sold between my checking and going to the store, and it wasn't even a 24 hour lag in updating the site.. the data was simply WRONG).

The only retailer in this general category that seems to work well is HMV. I really hope they are making money, because it'll be sad if a site like that fails and the others survive. They even got together enough Canadians to pound it out in Java. The above mentioned stores use ASP, the language of monkeys. You don't even need to be a programmer to get results with that, so it should be no surprise that the sites don't work properly. Future Shop used an off-the-shelf package and it didn't work properly for a few months, either. Seems to be OK now.

Just some general thoughts.. anyone else?

Do you "buy Canadian" out of ethnic pride in mediocrity and incompetence?

I buy from the businesses which give me the service and value I want. I buy lots of DVDs from Amazon, because (at least when it comes to Criterions) I can get them there cheaper than Canada and the service is excellent. I stopped shopping from Chapters ages ago. Futureshop lost my business online when the cranked their shipping rates.

These days I am more likely to go to the B&M anyway, and I do prefer Zellers to Walmart.

Zellers has one thing going for it -- it doesn't attract middle-class white trash as much as Walmart does. I find the atmosphere at Zellers better for that reason.

Amazon has been able to implement all those usability changes because of Bezos and his ability to allay shareholder anxiety. Bezos was once asked a question during a shareholder meeting: "When is Amazon going to show a profit?". His answer was "If we're showing profits, then I'm doing something wrong." This was his way of saying that he fully intends to build and innovate when it comes to the company and the shopping experience, and the profits will come eventually. Other companies don't have the luxury to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for software enhancements when they're in the red quarter after quarter.

I'm guessing that since the takeover, Chapters/Indigo main focus is to show profit on the online side. Most managers start this process by cutting costs where ever possible -- even when those steps will hurt the company in the long term. It's difficult to see past the current quarter when you've got shareholders breathing down your neck.

If you take a look at the US etailers, most of them -- included the big multi-billion corps -- don't have anything close to the functionality of Amazon.

Originally posted by mbg Radio Shack has that feature. It doesn't work, though. I went into the store based on information from their "find it in-store" only to be told "well, you shouldn't rely on the website" when they didn't have the item in stock (no, the item had not been sold between my checking and going to the store, and it wasn't even a 24 hour lag in updating the site.. the data was simply WRONG).

That's not a problem unique to Canada... I had a similar experience at a CompUSA store in Virginia last month. The item I wanted was listed as being in stock at one of the stores in the area... I even called to make sure they had it. However, when I got there, there were none to be found on the shelf. Their computer system showed 7 units in the store, but the sales guys couldn't find any anywhere. I went to a different CompUSA store the next day, but called ahead and made sure they actually had some on their shelf.

Out of stock = out of stock
In stock = probably in stock

Do you "buy Canadian" out of ethnic pride in mediocrity and incompetence?

Here's another thread on that subject...

Well, back when it was Chapters, they actually had good deals on books, normally 30% off when they were bestsellers and I remember getting free shipping on many orders actually making it worthwhile... Since they've been with Indigo though, I've looked at the site 2-3 times... noticed that books were more expensive than most places and dvd's were a LOT more expensive... It's cheaper using a US retailer and risking paying the extortion fee although I hardly agree with it. (I bought 1 dvd, 1 lousy stinking dvd for 18$ US and I paid an extra 9$ CDN at the post office to get it, free trade my a**).

I buy if it's a good price, good place, and good service.

Future Shop had good deals before Best Buy bought them out.

Wal-Mart is a weird place to shop, also, the way you apply for a job there is really corrupt. I asked customer service about a part time summer job, and they took out this notebook and said to put your name and number, then the manager randomly picks a person.

Does anyone notice Home Depot has all these Canadian flags all over the place?

Originally posted by GoldfishLegs Amazon has been able to implement all those usability changes because of Bezos and his ability to allay shareholder anxiety. Bezos was once asked a question during a shareholder meeting: "When is Amazon going to show a profit?". His answer was "If we're showing profits, then I'm doing something wrong." This was his way of saying that he fully intends to build and innovate when it comes to the company and the shopping experience, and the profits will come eventually. Other companies don't have the luxury to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for software enhancements when they're in the red quarter after quarter. I'm guessing that since the takeover, Chapters/Indigo main focus is to show profit on the online side. Most managers start this process by cutting costs where ever possible -- even when those steps will hurt the company in the long term. It's difficult to see past the current quarter when you've got shareholders breathing down your neck. [QUOTE] If you take a look at the US etailers, most of them -- included the big multi-billion corps -- don't have anything close to the functionality of Amazon.

Comparing retailers of similar products, you have:

Future Shop vs. Best Buy: Best Buy is better. You can pickup your orders in-store, multiple product image angles. Much better interface. Extended warranty included with purchase... in short, they have most of the in-store features available on the website. Future Shop does not. It's an off-the-shelf package customized with a few logos. They probably don't know how half of it works.. there's probably just some Seneca graduate sitting at the wheel with 75% of the driver's manual missing.

Chapters vs. Amazon vs. Barnes & Noble: No contest with Amazon. I won't say more because everybody knows. BN is kind of like a half-assed Amazon, but they do keep improving (they have a new aisle-browsing feature). BN has book previews, too, and they somehow co-erce their customers into writing reviews (Chapters has hardly any reviews). They have a same-day delivery system for local customers (Chapters had this too, but couldn't make it work). Both Amazon & BN have free shipping arrangements with a certain minimum.

Radio Shack Canada vs. Radio Shack US: These two are closer than the others. The US site is faster and seems more polished, but the Canadian site allows you to pick-up at the store. The US site has some value-added features (battery finder) and online manuals for a lot of their products. The US site is a better site.

Staples Canada vs. Staples: About the same. They are both not very good.

Do you want me to compare CDNOW vs. HMV? Walmart.com vs. no site in Canada?

One site I will say is unique to Canada in the DVD category is C&L. They aren't really the best for content or user friendliness (their site is only a little worse than ICQ's for clutter), but for useful features and stock they're decent.

I'm not saying the changes aren't understandable. The US is a nation of catalogue and direct-marketing consumers and they're more likely to buy from the Internet, it also has a 10x larger population, and the Internet compresses the gaps between them. Canadians still wet themselves when they hit the "Submit Order" button, like they've done something nobody else has ever done before (especially not Americans, those stupid folks to the South!). I was just commenting on the general lack of interest in what Canadian stores have to offer, and how it mirrors the situation when a large retailer comes North.

Originally posted by mbg Zellers has one thing going for it -- it doesn't attract middle-class white trash as much as Walmart does. I find the atmosphere at Zellers better for that reason.

Please tell me you didn't mean ur statement about "middle class white trash". What or who the heck are they? In Ottawa, we've got 4 Zellers. They're all roughly 1/2 the size of our Walmarts. I shop at both - it has nothing to do with price, but with selection. And I'm middle/upper class. At the Zellers here - one can always go and play a round of bowling, and you'll never hit anyone...that's how busy they are. Whereas the Walmarts here are huge, people are friendly and they have more than enough selection. As for their hiring practices, well I find it hard to believe that they simply "pick" from a list. I have several friends who work there, and that's not the way they were hired at all....

I'm not mad - please don't get me wrong...I just thought ur comment was a tad cruel and demeaning. K-Marts used to be considered lower than the Walmarts, well since there's no Big K's here now, where else are people supposed to shop??


Snag

Originally posted by snagglepuss Please tell me you didn't mean ur statement about "middle class white trash". What or who the heck are they? In Ottawa, we've got 4 Zellers. They're all roughly 1/2 the size of our Walmarts. I shop at both - it has nothing to do with price, but with selection. And I'm middle/upper class. At the Zellers here - one can always go and play a round of bowling, and you'll never hit anyone...that's how busy they are. Whereas the Walmarts here are huge, people are friendly and they have more than enough selection. As for their hiring practices, well I find it hard to believe that they simply "pick" from a list. I have several friends who work there, and that's not the way they were hired at all.... I'm not mad - please don't get me wrong...I just thought ur comment was a tad cruel and demeaning. K-Marts used to be considered lower than the Walmarts, well since there's no Big K's here now, where else are people supposed to shop?? Snag

Middle-class white trash. Best generalization I can think of is a feminist-type in her 40's who decided to wait until 40 to have children, so they don't really work properly. She brings them to Walmart (without the father, of course), the kids are out of control and they act like they've given the world a gift. The kids got their attitude from her, and she acts in the same way about her own behaviour. So, there you have it Bottom line, they and their kids could disappear and very few people would care -- the balance would probably tip in the "better off without them" category. And it is nearly always women. If it's a man, it's an emasculated man who probably drives an SUV or wishes he could if his wife would let him (the wife in this case is less trashy, if both of them are trashy then only one goes to Walmart). The other case of male white trash is a senior citizen in the 70-80 age range who probably wouldn't hesitate to drive a Winnebago, loves to waste (ignorantly) and is likely to be the type to continue to drive a car long after he's passed his general shelf life, and feel like he has a perfect right to do so. I don't often find women in this category. Questions? Don't worry, if you fit into any of these categories, you will probably be ignorant of it and it won't bother you.

The comment wasn't meaning "all middle class are white trash". It was a distint (as above) sector of middle class folks. Standard white trash goes to Walmart, too... but that doesn't need explanation.

Oh boy, let's stay on topic please.