PB Tech - All Stores are now "Express", and you can't browse them...

Forums › Off topic › PB Tech - All Stores are now "Express", and you can't browse them...

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Ultimate Geek

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#2896925 4-Apr-2022 19:46

1101:
I dont think they'll miss all the sales of people going in to buy a $10 cable , and having to have staff onhand to help people choose what $10 cable they need .

They now have 1-2 people on the front desk (at my local store)
instead of 2-3 on sales desk + mulitple staff on the shop floor helping customers with purchases .

Yeah - but every time I go in for a cable I leave with a lot more ( and a lighter wallet)

kinginvercargill

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#2896966 4-Apr-2022 21:20

Went to the Wellington branch the other week during my lunch break...

Was a small line outside, didn't think too much of it.... 30 minutes later I finally got into the store to pickup my pickup which only took a matter of 2 minutes...

Spent more time waiting outside then it took to work to PBTech from work (or to spend inside PBTech). Maybe next time I'll just pick it up in the weekend...

And for the Wellington branch it was limited display area, like people could access the smartphones etc but if something wasn't on display you could ask a Sales person who could grab it for you to look at (if there was a display model). They were recommending people find what they want online, and ask the sales person for a Display model to check it out.

My advice to PBTech - have 2 lines for people. Express for Online Pickups, and Regular for those that want to have a limited browse. Would speed up the line a bit

MadEngineer

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#2896967 4-Apr-2022 21:25

When I visited the Palmy store maybe a month ago they’d moved the counters around the entrance to achieve this. Basically they were at 50% staff due to split shifts. Interesting way of going about it

Will a whole team come down with it should one of their staff become positive forcing them to close? With a split shift isn’t there some inevitable crossover anyway? Maybe they’ve got a high number of staff not vaccinated or are otherwise at high risk.

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Lias

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#2896975 4-Apr-2022 22:21

Sounds great if you ask me, don't know why more shops wouldn't do this. The only reason I want a store to have a physical presence is for click and collect when I need something NOW rather than waiting for it to ship, and it doesn't need a showroom or sales staff for that. Replace all "retail stores" with "warehouse with a click and collect point". Perfection in shopping.

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quickymart

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#2896977 4-Apr-2022 22:32

I'm in the "I like to browse in person" camp, as do my boys; they enjoy playing with the devices. I must admit I haven't been into PB Tech (my locals are Glenfield and Albany) for about a month or so, so I guess this is fairly recent.

Usually if I'm going to buy a cable I'll buy something else as well, so they make extra money off me.

Hopefully this is only a temporary thing - if they can move the cashier's desk etc around to do this, surely it shouldn't be too hard to move it back at a later date?

gzt

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#2897060 5-Apr-2022 08:37

It's a sensible policy. They will lose some retail of course. Imo most of the business is online trade and trade pickup. I will browse if I have time to. I do find it far more pleasant and interesting than any of the large retail competitors.

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/news/1763/Latest-COVID-19-Updates

People need to be aware we are still experiencing a pandemic. Tens of people are dying per day in NZ. Health services are overstressed in some places. The impact of post covid long term is unknown but does not look good. Just because everything looks like it's back to normal does not mean it is and everything is good.

Hammerer

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#2897124 5-Apr-2022 10:56

I’m a browser because getting the product in my hand lets me assess whether it will meet my requirements. This is particularly so if I will be using it in my hand or aesthetics are important. Even so, about half of the stock items in my local PBTech are out the back so they are not on display anyway. So I’m always on their website as well to see if the best option is in the storeroom or only available online.

When I asked about the new arrangement they said it was working as intended to stop staff getting sick. If it continues beyond Red/Orange levels then they’ll lose much of my spend because I won’t be in there every 2-3 weeks. They’ve definitely missed out on a minimum of $600, probably $1,200, spending in the past month because I browsed elsewhere.

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old3eyes

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#2897143 5-Apr-2022 11:05

I noticed this at the Tauranga store the other week. Could only get into the counter area. As I like to browse I left.

Regards,

Old3eyes

roderickh

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#2897153 5-Apr-2022 11:26

Penrose is undergoing major reshuffling and maintenance/upgrade of their branch whilst they're in this no browsing mode - I think its a good time and hopefully a better shopping experience when the old norm returns.

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quickymart

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#2897172 5-Apr-2022 12:43

gzt: It's a sensible policy. They will lose some retail of course. Imo most of the business is online trade and trade pickup. I will browse if I have time to. I do find it far more pleasant and interesting than any of the large retail competitors.

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/news/1763/Latest-COVID-19-Updates

People need to be aware we are still experiencing a pandemic. Tens of people are dying per day in NZ. Health services are overstressed in some places. The impact of post covid long term is unknown but does not look good. Just because everything looks like it's back to normal does not mean it is and everything is good.

I think there's a lot more people who like to browse in person than it may seem to you. When I noticed this had happened at the Henderson shop (I think in 2020) I ceased visiting there, as I like to see technology "in the flesh" before parting with my money.

If you know exactly what you want, then yes, this is a great system; ditto for click-and-collect. But a number of people don't know, and if you want to see, say, all the Samsung Galaxy S21 models to decide what's right for you, are the salespeople going to have to go out the back and bring each handset to you to look at? That takes a lot more time than walking up to the phone and having a look at each of them yourself.

Sorry but this concept doesn't really work for me.

Geektastic

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#2897176 5-Apr-2022 12:50

It sounds a bit like a shop in the UK called Argos or the way that B&H Photo in NY works.

Argos has a catalogue (nowadays probably just a website but it used to be a colour catalogue about an inch thick) and to buy something you went in, completed a card with the catalogue number, took it to the till, paid and then your item could be collected on the way out.

B&H is similar, although they do have display stock you can get the assistants to show you first. once you have ordered and paid, your order is bagged up in the bowels of the shop and travels by a marvellous mechanised system to the collection point. Once you have paid you take your ticket along to the collection point, hand it over and get your stuff in return.

scuwp

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#2897180 5-Apr-2022 13:00

I don't know about other people experience, but it was near impossible to get help inside the store anyway. Not having someone help you with your purchase is nothing new for this company (bar some rare exceptions, and those staff don't seem to last long).

Happy to click and collect for basic items, but for big purchases I want to look and play, ask questions, and weigh up options. Unless I have the opportunity to do that chances are I will go elsewhere.

I also had the unfortunate experience of trying to do an exchange under the new system. 3 different lines ending in people sending me somewhere different, then lining up for an hour in the service queue as that was the only place that could process the exchange. All for a 20$ item. Talk about discouraging any kind of quality of service.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

nitro

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#2897190 5-Apr-2022 13:36

Lias:

Sounds great if you ask me, don't know why more shops wouldn't do this. The only reason I want a store to have a physical presence is for click and collect when I need something NOW rather than waiting for it to ship, and it doesn't need a showroom or sales staff for that. Replace all "retail stores" with "warehouse with a click and collect point". Perfection in shopping.

and after-sales service, e.g. repairs, returns, etc. obviously, ymmv with how pbt has dealt with you on these matters.

nitro

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#2897193 5-Apr-2022 13:47

quickymart:

I think there's a lot more people who like to browse in person than it may seem to you. When I noticed this had happened at the Henderson shop (I think in 2020) I ceased visiting there, as I like to see technology "in the flesh" before parting with my money.

If you know exactly what you want, then yes, this is a great system; ditto for click-and-collect. But a number of people don't know, and if you want to see, say, all the Samsung Galaxy S21 models to decide what's right for you, are the salespeople going to have to go out the back and bring each handset to you to look at? That takes a lot more time than walking up to the phone and having a look at each of them yourself.

Sorry but this concept doesn't really work for me.

actually, i think there are far more people who shop online than it may seem to you. certainly since the pandemic blew up retailing.

i also think mobile phones, particularly samsung's, are not a good example. they're available to physically check out in so many other places. if pbt has the best deal, click and collect or freeship it. you can (in some instances) even challenge another retailer to price match, with varying degrees of success, of course. if it were a less popular model, even obscure brand that only pbt sells, it's obviously a different proposition.

just out of curiosity, have you bought anything elsewhere because of this change? if i were pbt, i'd be keen to hear of these things. despite the fact that i'm sure this was a calculated change on their part, some things can really only be quantified as they happen.

for me (as mentioned previously), it's a non-issue as the 2 branches in welly didn't really have much on display anyway.

quickymart

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#2897197 5-Apr-2022 13:54

Oh I know for some people, shopping online is the way to go - and I agree, definitely during all the lockdowns, for sure. But for a lot of people, it's easier to go into a shop and see the item, hold it in their hands, then buy it.

I was using Samsung phones as an example but there are plenty of other products that would fall under the same category, where you'd want to see it in person before making a purchase.

The ones near me are fairly large outlets, with a lot of room to walk around and look inside. I enjoyed just spending time checking the specs of all the laptops and seeing what the new monitors look like, with my eye on buying a second one, one day.

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