The (not so) New Normal

I can state with some authority (as much as helming MMR for a decade or so affords, anyway) that it is absolutely not news that Internet sales present a very real threat to traditional, brick-and-mortar MI retailers. Furthermore – and somewhat… surprisingly(?) – I can attest that, even though that reality has been established for well over a decade, many musical instrument dealers continue to bemoan the facts of their online competition as if the whole phenomenon is some ephemeral bully that can hopefully be banished by complaining loudly enough.

To be clear: I am absolutely, unabashedly, and unapologetically “on the side of” the brick-and-mortar folks. I appreciate this industry and, on a personal level, truly love walking into and shopping at actual, for-real music stores. Moreover, I believe that certain advantages (no sales tax, et cetera) are unfairly stacking the deck against MI stores.

At a certain point, though, it’s important to recognize that shaking one’s fist at present-day realities and wishing for years gone by is wasted energy.

As with many (most?) of our monthly retailer surveys, this issue’s poll regarding the upcoming “holiday buying season” found most participants complaining of the diminishing importance of that once-key time of year, largely due to Internet sellers.

And it’s not limited to musical instruments, of course. Last December Internet Retailer reported, “In a survey of 3,000 U.S. and U.K. consumers about their shopping habits over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, 73 percent of U.S. and 80 percent of U.K. shoppers said they’d make a purchase on Amazon that weekend.”

So the facts are there to support your concerns and fears – yes, customers are going (and have been going) online for their purchases, more and more, every year.

But creative and successful dealers have been seeking out methods of making their case to potential customers. We all know that one-on-one, face-to-face customer service and the tangible act of actually playing an instrument before purchase (what a novel idea!) can’t be duplicated by a few mouse-clicks and a PayPal transaction.

As Greg Allen of Long Island Drum Center in Nyack, New York eloquently put it in his responses to this month’s survey, “A musical instrument is such a personal thing that needs to be seen, touched, and played before buying.” It’s on MI retailers to inform (and/or remind) customers of this simple fact. Rare (relatively) is the person who’d plunk down $30,000 for a new car without a test drive and the promise of follow-up care. Just because it’s on a smaller scale, why would anyone fork over $1,500 for a new bass or amplifier without ever laying hands on it?

Big-box stores, Internet behemoths like Amazon, sites such as Craigslist – all tough competition, to be sure, and, yes, there are some ways (aforementioned sales tax) in which “whining” might ultimately advance your cause if you can help spur change. But in the big picture, there’s no point in tilting at windmills: this is the “new normal” and we just have to deal with it.