Comments on: 5 Reasons Why Dell’s Plan to Open Product-less Retail Stores is a Bad Idea http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/3082 Independent Tech News and Product Reviews from former VP and head of CNET.com and Longtime Computer Shopper Columnist, Alice Hill author of the popular "Hard Edge" column. Originally named AliceandBill.com. Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:07:48 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 by: jonny http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/3082#comment-80196 Sun, 15 Oct 2006 22:03:23 +0000 http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/3082#comment-80196 jonny jonny

]]> by: Jeffsters http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/3082#comment-56703 Fri, 11 Aug 2006 19:21:18 +0000 http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/3082#comment-56703 BTW: Yes the people in the Dell kiosks are NOT Dell employees. To be fair though until a few years ago the people in CompUSA etc., where not Apple Employees but contracted from a firm called MarketSource I think. Been awhile. BTW: Yes the people in the Dell kiosks are NOT Dell employees. To be fair though until a few years ago the people in CompUSA etc., where not Apple Employees but contracted from a firm called MarketSource I think. Been awhile.

]]> by: Jeffsters http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/3082#comment-56702 Fri, 11 Aug 2006 19:18:46 +0000 http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/3082#comment-56702 JS Wrote: "OSX barely performs in a network environment, etc…don’t call me a hater, I work with mostly Macs, so this is from personal experiance)" Please don't lie to make your point. I am an IT Manager in a F500 with more than 3500 CPUs at a 45% Mac 55% Windows (mostly Dell) mix at our site. We're mostly Marketing and the Comm groups. Anyway, I have 2 full-time and 1 Part-time Mac Tech. I have 7 PC Techs. Enough said there I think. I think someone needs to go to school on how to configure and support the platform here. Anyway.... back to the topic... The issue here is that Dell's model is a direct channel. This is how they compete and win so often on price as they do not need to take on the costs of distribution through a re-seller channel. If Dell moves to selling in the channel or stocking their stores, while not touching price, they will loose millions. If Dell EVER decides to carry product or sell through the likes of Best Buy they will have to take on the same price structure HP and Lenovo have laways had and thus loose their price/margin advantage. Things will have to get pretty bad for Dell before that happens I think. JS Wrote: “OSX barely performs in a network environment, etc…don’t call me a hater, I work with mostly Macs, so this is from personal experiance)” Please don’t lie to make your point. I am an IT Manager in a F500 with more than 3500 CPUs at a 45% Mac 55% Windows (mostly Dell) mix at our site. We’re mostly Marketing and the Comm groups. Anyway, I have 2 full-time and 1 Part-time Mac Tech. I have 7 PC Techs. Enough said there I think. I think someone needs to go to school on how to configure and support the platform here. Anyway….

back to the topic…

The issue here is that Dell’s model is a direct channel. This is how they compete and win so often on price as they do not need to take on the costs of distribution through a re-seller channel. If Dell moves to selling in the channel or stocking their stores, while not touching price, they will loose millions. If Dell EVER decides to carry product or sell through the likes of Best Buy they will have to take on the same price structure HP and Lenovo have laways had and thus loose their price/margin advantage. Things will have to get pretty bad for Dell before that happens I think.

]]> by: alan http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/3082#comment-56032 Fri, 11 Aug 2006 02:06:54 +0000 http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/3082#comment-56032 Has anyone else been on CareerBuilder and Monster and noticed that the Dell Kiosk employees are actually being hired through Spherion, which is a temp agency? This will let Dell dump these employees more ruthlessly than a grouchy secretary if this doesn't work out without firing a "real" Dell employee and having to worry about lawsuits over real or implied employment contracts. Has anyone else been on CareerBuilder and Monster and noticed that the Dell Kiosk employees are actually being hired through Spherion, which is a temp agency?

This will let Dell dump these employees more ruthlessly than a grouchy secretary if this doesn’t work out without firing a “real” Dell employee and having to worry about lawsuits over real or implied employment contracts.

]]> by: Al Coholic http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/3082#comment-32240 Fri, 02 Jun 2006 21:07:46 +0000 http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/3082#comment-32240 <b>REPLY TO POST 3.</b> Dell now owns Alienware. REPLY TO POST 3.
Dell now owns Alienware.

]]> by: Steven http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/3082#comment-32074 Fri, 02 Jun 2006 03:07:26 +0000 http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/3082#comment-32074 Our stores sell very well because we sell to women and color coordinated gay men. It is all on the marketing.... Our stores sell very well because we sell to women and color coordinated gay men. It is all on the marketing….

]]> by: Derik http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/3082#comment-32031 Thu, 01 Jun 2006 22:49:33 +0000 http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/3082#comment-32031 As a former Dell Kiosk employee I have seen this concept at work at the kiosks. and I have to admit if Dell even carried their Pocket DJ's and maybe some of their better selling camera's and some software, something that is easily stored this could take off like a rocket... I worked at one of their lower end Dallas stores and our crew took it from one of the lowest ranking kiosks to one of the highest ranking kiosks in the country in less than 4 months because we did something no-one else did... if it was semi-easy and it was a dell or they could prove they bought it from Dell we would take a look at it, all but one of our people had a tech support background and knew PC's inside and out, so at least we could diagnose the issue so customers could easily call tech support and get their issues resolved quickly. If they offered just this basic tier one service and a few easy to store products I would almost guarentee their success,... but if they are just following the standard kiosk design... Hello HP as the industry leader. As a former Dell Kiosk employee I have seen this concept at work at the kiosks. and I have to admit if Dell even carried their Pocket DJ’s and maybe some of their better selling camera’s and some software, something that is easily stored this could take off like a rocket… I worked at one of their lower end Dallas stores and our crew took it from one of the lowest ranking kiosks to one of the highest ranking kiosks in the country in less than 4 months because we did something no-one else did… if it was semi-easy and it was a dell or they could prove they bought it from Dell we would take a look at it, all but one of our people had a tech support background and knew PC’s inside and out, so at least we could diagnose the issue so customers could easily call tech support and get their issues resolved quickly. If they offered just this basic tier one service and a few easy to store products I would almost guarentee their success,… but if they are just following the standard kiosk design… Hello HP as the industry leader.

]]> by: Michael Dell http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/3082#comment-32019 Thu, 01 Jun 2006 22:01:23 +0000 http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/3082#comment-32019 What none of you seem to have considered is that consumers who aren't computer experts and who might not know the specific differences b/w 2 Dell models might actually value the opportunity to see the machines in the flesh in a retail outlet. Furthermore, all 5 of the points discussed above completely fail to consider what these retail outlets will provide for consumers compared to simply going to dell.com. That's the whole point - what do these outlets add to Dell, not whether people want to walk out of a store with a toy, or how other companies have failed... What none of you seem to have considered is that consumers who aren’t computer experts and who might not know the specific differences b/w 2 Dell models might actually value the opportunity to see the machines in the flesh in a retail outlet.

Furthermore, all 5 of the points discussed above completely fail to consider what these retail outlets will provide for consumers compared to simply going to dell.com. That’s the whole point - what do these outlets add to Dell, not whether people want to walk out of a store with a toy, or how other companies have failed…

]]> by: Steve http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/3082#comment-31971 Thu, 01 Jun 2006 17:56:30 +0000 http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/3082#comment-31971 To JO: "I have a feeling there are a lot more Dell advocates than the 15 or so bashers that are not truly educated to the facts." This isn't about Dell bashing. As mentioned in many articles, Dell does some things with supply chain streamlining that nobody else can compete with. That doesn't mean Dell isn't capable of doing something stupid. Whether you acknowledge it or not, Dell's retail store strategy is flawed. It's brought on out of jealosy for Apple's retail efforts, yet it's planned execution is very similar to the new defunct Gateway implementation. The point is, Dell's stores are not profit centers, they are expensive losses that should probably come out of their advertising budget. If Dell sticks to just a handful of "brand image" stores, then they will likely absorb those losses just fine. Given Dell's proposed business model, there is no way they will ever approach the quantity or quality of stores from Apple. To JO:

“I have a feeling there are a lot more Dell advocates than the 15 or so bashers that are not truly educated to the facts.”

This isn’t about Dell bashing. As mentioned in many articles, Dell does some things with supply chain streamlining that nobody else can compete with. That doesn’t mean Dell isn’t capable of doing something stupid. Whether you acknowledge it or not, Dell’s retail store strategy is flawed. It’s brought on out of jealosy for Apple’s retail efforts, yet it’s planned execution is very similar to the new defunct Gateway implementation.

The point is, Dell’s stores are not profit centers, they are expensive losses that should probably come out of their advertising budget. If Dell sticks to just a handful of “brand image” stores, then they will likely absorb those losses just fine. Given Dell’s proposed business model, there is no way they will ever approach the quantity or quality of stores from Apple.

]]> by: Dewy http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/3082#comment-31967 Thu, 01 Jun 2006 17:30:44 +0000 http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/3082#comment-31967 I have been working for An American ISP, Not aol, and i have noticed that everyone has trouble with Norton Internet Security and Dell Computers. And I do tech support and they suck. I have been working for An American ISP, Not aol, and i have noticed that everyone has trouble with Norton Internet Security and Dell Computers. And I do tech support and they suck.

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