1. "The real reason for shortage" Andrew, a resident of Chicago, bought a 42 inch flat screen TV with the original price of 500 dollars and the current price of 199 dollars on Black Friday, the Best Buy website. However, a few days later, he received an email from Best Buy to cancel the order, saying that the purchased goods were out of stock.
It is not uncommon for such orders to be cancelled due to "out of stock", especially when e-commerce is engaged in large-scale promotional activities and peak sales seasons. "Because the sales volume has gone too fast, our inventory warning has not kept up. Our online order system is composed of several softwares. We will correct the inventory problem as soon as possible to prevent such a situation from happening again.". In such a situation, the self justification of e-commerce is almost the same.
In fact, the inventory of e-commerce is not as much as they advertised. A senior executive of Best Buy said that the inventory is more prepared for customers who come to the store to pick up goods. Customers who place orders online must have their goods transferred from the factory by e-commerce, which often leads to the phenomenon of out of stock after placing orders.
2. "Trivia of various security services"
The marginal profit of many small parts is very low, which is why e-commerce companies are very keen to promote the extended warranty, maintenance plan and other support services they provide. Although the amount of these security services is not high, the profits that e-commerce earns from them easily reach more than 50%. However, the fact is that "unlike other products, electrical products are most likely to fail 30 days before purchase, but these failures are guaranteed by the manufacturer", said a maintenance expert.
3. "Sell what you don't need"
When buying appliances online, such as data lines, storage cards, printer inks, etc., they often become the target products for consumers to buy out of budget. These things are often purchased at a discount with the electrical accessories you buy. Many consumers think they have found a great bargain, but they don't know that many times the price of these accessories is not as high as the cost performance of the products that customers search for and compare with their own needs. What's more, many accessories are unsalable products. This way of additional sales makes customers seem to save a lot of money, but they often buy many products that you do not need.
4. "Pay the money and get it done"
The biggest problem when buying appliances online is to return or replace them. E-commerce companies often deliver goods at a faster speed, but it takes more time to handle return and replacement than delivery, and they also charge additional return and replacement fees. Amazon in the United States charges the return freight, while Newegg charges 15% of the commodity price. A spokesman for Newegg said that the measure was to "encourage consumers to reduce returns". The return requirement of many e-commerce companies is that "good packaging does not affect resale", but many appliances do not know whether the product is flawless until consumers have tried it out. Many times, once you are unlucky enough to buy a defective product, you may not be satisfied with the after-sales service.
5. "Not everything bought online is cost-effective"
The temptation to buy electric appliances online is great, and the price is relatively low. But buying appliances online is not without risks. If you need this item urgently, you'd better go to the store to buy it, rather than bear the risks of e-commerce shortage or logistics at home. You can intuitively feel the performance and size of products when shopping online without going to a physical store. However, many electrical products are easily damaged during transportation, because there are already too many cases of disputes between transportation damage and e-commerce. Consumers should understand the return and replacement policy promised by e-commerce before buying online. Now, many times, the prices of physical stores are even lower than those on e-commerce websites, and they also give various gifts. It is indeed a trap to "buy all the appliances online".
6. "Traps in promotion activities"
The basic reason for the discount of ordinary commodities is that most of the commodities promoted are in poor sales. In electrical products, it is because of the arrival of new products or the launch of technologically advanced products. Not all e-commerce promotions are so cost-effective. Many e-commerce companies have raised their prices during the hot season compared with the off-season, but they are labeled as "promotion". Many products are products that manufacturers have eliminated from the product line in order to compete with other brands better. Once there is a quality problem, it may be difficult to repair them. However, the most popular products e-commerce would rather sell at a loss to attract more customers.
7. "It may be a refurbishing machine"
Many consumers who buy electric appliances online may have experience. When they get the product, they find that a box seems to have been opened. Some of these products are from the spot check and inspection of e-commerce quality, but most of them may be returned, renovated or repaired products. Smart e-commerce will not directly let consumers find out. It is common to repair and renovate the returned products, repack them, and sell them in different batches. Is it risky to buy products that have been returned? Experts said that some of these products may have been returned only once, and some may have been returned several times, which is already beyond the manufacturer's warranty.
8. "When is the cheapest time to buy"
"The price you see now may not be the same after a while, so buy it as soon as you see it"; "You are interested in this now. After you compare various brands on various websites, they will be out of stock or there will be no such low price". On the Internet, price fluctuations are based on demand. Brand research experts found that in the days when people avoid centralized purchase, there will generally be cheaper prices. The prices of cameras, computers and televisions on Monday are 2%~4% cheaper than those on other days of the week on average. The price of e-commerce products will be adjusted with the inventory. Once the sales volume increases, the price may rise at any time. However, it is much easier for e-commerce to adjust product prices online than for traditional retailers.
