Good service is key for future of local shops

Thistle wrote:no point in arguing with you wayside as you will always be on the side of the business man. you just cant seem to see that if prices were a little bit less then maybe more goods would be sold locally.

That is not the case, last year I reduced all prices by about 13-15% just to test out that theory, it made no difference to turnover whatsoever.

killer wrote:well here is a simple example for you wayside maybe you may learn something from this.

When woolworths was open all the TVs were locally bought we had 2 contact our own supplier and order our own stock we realised we weren't getting the customers in because of the prices so we dropped the price big time we dropped them so low that there was only a maximum £50 profit per TV doesn't sound like much profit basically 4 TVs £200 profit but when you are selling loads then the supplier likes you as your ordering more and more with each order they give you special offers but you still keep the price low and guess what you get customers isn't that amazing just by keeping the price down and making a small profit you will get customers woolworths was the cheapest for many TVs that were in the Island. So we never had to worry about being beatin on the price and if we were we chuck in a DVD player which the supplier gave us for free

But where are they now GONE!

Not my fault they messed up in the UK Guernsey store 0270 and Jersey store 0110 always made the weekly targets and were always making the most money

But its the fact you don't care about the customer all you care about wayside is yourself and that is where you are going wrong put the customer first, then your prices and finally yourself stop being selfish and think about others.

Also i have a question for you I want you to answer for me you went into a shop for a piece of furniture and another shop was selling it cheaper your telling me you wouldn't ask them to do a price promise and buy it cheaper from them, i want you to answer this NOT as a buisnness man but some one who has a family and struggling with money you don't have much to spent on furniture but you need this item

If you were one of my regular customers or one of my staff or ex staff you would know that I always look after my customers sometimes to the point where it costs me dearly.

To answer your question, very few products I sell are available elswhere in the Island, But I will always beat a competitors price, usually I dont have to cut prices as we are usually the lowest anyway.

I can think of only 1 product that I know is £4.00 cheaper at one place but also there are 2 other places much dearer,

I can only think or 3 times in the past few years that people have said they could buy locally cheaper and on 2 occasions it was a similar product and not the same.

What a bunch of happy souls

Wayside that does not answer the question i asked you so im guessing that you would ask for it cheaper.

Killer

If I am buying locally I will shop around and more likely buy the cheapest,

I have only once asked if a local shop could match an online price that was about 5 years ago for a TV and they did match the price.

If I had a choice of buying Online or Locally I would usually but locally even if the price was a little dearer, the vast majority of my on line purchases have been Computer related and my reserch on the product has usually been online.

If I still have not answered your question let me know or rephrase it

wayside wrote:

the vast majority of my on line purchases have been Computer related and my reserch on the product has usually been online.

whats wrong with NSEW, Guernsey Computers or IQ ?

I have been in 2 of those and they have never had what I wanted to buy,

But wayside guernsey computers if they haven't got it they will do their best to order it for you as they have for me in the past.

So you moan people aint shopping in your LOCAL shop yet you dont seem interested in helping LOCAL businesses either are you. So what you said earlier to thistle "people like you" is YOU as well you don't care about LOCAL businesses UNLESS ITS YOURS

In 1991 I renovated a house and priced everything in Gsy. Then compared it with the same in the UK and France depending on what I wanted.
In the end the only things I bought in Gsy were the bricks and mortar, all wood, appliances heating was bought overseas. Now with the added extra of carriage I was still considerably in pocket. Service was interesting. Went into a kitchen shop at Crossways and they said it would take weeks to measure and plan the kitchen. Went into a shop in St Malo and the plan was done in 3D in 24 hours. Delivered to my door to the day promised and fitted like a glove. The same kitchen shop in Gsy offered the most upto date microwave. Enquiries in the UK revealed it had been superceded and the more up to date one when purchased from the UK was cheaper than the old stock Gsy one. Wood, al the timber merchants in Gsy said you tell us what you want and we will supply. The merchant in England said you send the plans and we will tell you what you want and cut to size, frree service that one. Electrical wiring made to Bristish Standards was considerably cheaper in the UK so I considered buying a load and selling to some leckies, sorry they said if we buy cheap from you the local trade shops will black us.
This was in the days BEFORE the internet and online buying.
Guersey has always ripped shoppers off so there is nothing new here. But lets not always blame the shop high rents cause high prices. I have seen clothes in the UK from the same high street store as Guernsey (for arguements sake named shop like benettons, but it wasn't) cheaper than the same item in Gsy and the UK shop included VAT.
Guernsey and quality service rarely go hand in hand.

plimmerton811 wrote:Guernsey and quality service rarely go hand in hand.

Not sure thats a fair statement, Although I have ocasionally had issues with service I have also had excellent service in many local shops and from local businesses.

Just a shame you don't support them all wayside

98% of what I buy is bought locally which is probably more than most on here and the 2% is usually because they dont have what I want not because of price.

I quite often pay more than I could get it for online, but the main thing is I dont use local businesses as a free showroom for the internet sites.

nether do i wayside.i bought most of my furniture locally as i have said before.i have bought from you ,co-op,quayside,my carpets were from a local man who doesnt have a showroom but works from home.i shop for clothes etc online because i get the vat taken off and free postage.so dont tell me i dont support local shops.

Funny how me answereing a post that accuses me of not supporting local businesses by killer, gets a paranoid reply from thistle, you are free like all of us to buy where you like.

Well the argument is over as I have had enough of this site and its petty dissagreements, seems that a thread with words ending in "ing" is more important on here than normal conversations and Thistle has her opinion of me when she just does not know me.

THISTLE, if you bother to read back this thread you will see that you are the one who keeps bringing up the argument when the thread had no mention of you for ages, my replies were in direct response to other posters and 4 days ago was the last time you were mentioned

GOOD BYE