Best (way to) Buy?

In the same edition as a story on President Obama's woes about stagnant job growth, and a story on the irony of social sites not offering personal customer support by phone, The NY Times had a small piece today about Best Buy laying off 1.4% of its job force.

The reason is what I find interesting:
"Best Buy is trying to combat showrooming at its stores, as consumers test out products there, then go home and buy them cheaper online or at discounters."

 What are the options for keeping the customer satisfied, and competing in a groupon-tinged bargain-based world? Seems to me that we all want to still see and touch the goods. And we all want customer service to understand the goods. And we all want a bargain...and are empowered to find one or risk buyers remorse.

So where does that leave a retailer like Best Buy? What's in it for them for providing the venue and the service and missing out on the sale if the cost of bricks and mortar means not competing on price with online retailers?

Well, we could look at Horn and Hardart... If you could browse the goods on a basic display level and buy at a competitive price...but to touch and feel and actually get customer support and interaction you paid an up charge would you do it? Think of the automat with people. Insert a little more and the helping comes out. Make it easy to comparison shop, too.
Maybe add the virtual mall touch that the Japanese have created, where we all go to a wall of online images and select from there?

All I know is something's gotta give.  There has to be a happy medium for a better way to buy.

It had to happen...Less Green for More Green

Yesterday I got a solicitation in email to purchase the new study from Natural Marketing Institute on the Mainstreaming of Sustainability.

 It has been nine years since NMI conducted the first... research study on the Lifestyles Of Health And Sustainability (LOHAS) marketplace. In 2002, only a few companies were talking about sustainability. [Now] most Fortune 100 companies have C-level sustainability staff and have infused sustainability throughout the organization so that it is everyone's responsibility to consider the environmental and social impacts of their products and operations.

Today I received an solicitation in email to purchase a Green Deal of the day.  Now, I'm a big fan of Groupon, LivingSocial, ideeli, you name it.  I know, I know: higher consumption... but less gas when buying daily deals online vs at brick and mortars! But check out the Green Deal rationale, which makes sense to ME:

You want that big coupon for that local restaurant or that online retailer that makes you call all your friends because you can't believe what an amazing deal you just got.  But you don't want to get great savings at the expense of your commitment to taking care of people and the planet.

Now you can get a great deal AND support the companies who share your values.

  So, I love that now, instead of all our early cries about mainstream companies jumping on the green bandwagon, now the green guys are going mainstream.  At this point, I'm all for things moving both ways, and finding a good, green middle ground.