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Qld Grocery Store Charges $5 To Browse


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A Brisbane specialty grocery store owner is charging customers to browse after becoming fed up with people who enquire but don't buy.

A poster telling customers they'll be charged $5 for browsing if they don't purchase anything has been put up at Celiac Supplies in the suburb of Coorparoo.

Owner of the gluten free produce store, Georgina, says she resorted to putting up the sign after spending hours each week giving advice to people who leave empty-handed.

About 60 people a week would go into the store, ask questions and then buy the same or similar product at a supermarket chain or online.

"I've had a gut full of working and not getting paid," Georgina, who didn't want her surname published, told AAP.

"I'm not here to dispense a charity service for Coles and Woolworths to make more money.

She has became frustrated as her prices often match that of the supermarkets but people still go elsewhere as they are under the impression it will be cheaper.

She says the sign has turned some people away but others are more sympathetic and pay up.

"I can tell straight away who are the rat bags who are going to come in here and pick my brain and disappear," she said.

Australian Retailers Association executive director Russell Zimmerman says charging customers to browse will likely turn people away.

He says a few stores in Queensland are charging to try on shoes or clothing but this is the first time he's heard of a browsing charge.

Mr Zimmerman says to be competitive, smaller stores should emphasise what they offer that other stores don't and focus on providing great customer service.

"If I walked into the store and was told I was going to be charged to browse my immediate reaction would be to leave," he said.

"You are missing the opportunity for the browsing customer to actually buy from you."

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/qld-grocery-store-charges-5-to-browse-20130326-2gsbn.html

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I think it's bizzare, and it would turn me off going there! I don't need Celiac products, but I often look for speciality vegetarian stores and browse through them, I don't always buy things either because they are too expensive to justify, or because they didn't have anything I needed. And sometimes I do buy things - but I don't buy something every time I step into a store. To charge people to step into a store is insane, and if they are that grumpy and unwilling to help people I think they are in the wrong business!

I understand small businesses are struggling, but I doubt this is going to help them.

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That's how I feel some days about all the people who ring me up and chat for hours about the breed and go to some BYB or commercial kennel to get their puppy. Or who come to me to help them after they have bought their dog from someone where the breeder isn't available or who wont speak to them after they buy the dog. Not really the same either way I work for nothing anyway rofl1.gif

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There are also some stores that charge $10 to try boots on, because people were getting their sizing then buying online. I can see this woman's point, she spends a lot of time advising people who then go and buy elsewhere. I don't like the idea of a fee but I also don't like to see real stores close.

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There are also some stores that charge $10 to try boots on, because people were getting their sizing then buying online. I can see this woman's point, she spends a lot of time advising people who then go and buy elsewhere. I don't like the idea of a fee but I also don't like to see real stores close.

Don't really think that would put people off much. For cheaper stuff where the price difference isn't that much, then yeah. But last year hubby tried on some shoes, then found the same pair online for $100 less. He didn't set out to do it that way, we were in the store when we decided we'd just look online just in case, and found there was a huge difference. Even if he'd paid $10 to try the shoes on, he would have saved $90 and it would have been worth it.

As for the woman charging for walking into her store, I get it. Her experience and time are valuable, and if people are regularly walking in, asking advice and then walking out without buying anything, I can see how that would get very annoying. I can see it from the customer's point of view too though, I probably wouldn't walk in unless I was fairly certain I was buying something. So I think she's justified in doing it, but I also think she will lose some business.

Edited by fuzzy82
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It's a hard situation to judge. One big problem is that sometimes the real store price is over double what you can get online and sometimes you just can't justify it. I think modern brick and mortar retailers need to somehow catch up and maybe more need to do online sales as well.

Yes, if people are going from her store to online or a normal grocery store then she might need to catch up. Plus if her products are available in normal grocery stores she really isn't a specialty store. Half the problem sounds like her attitude - she wants to teach people a lesson by charging them to browse, not recoup losses!

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2 years managing a Mobile Phone kiosk in a shopping centre I know how she feels... but in the end as nice as the idea to think you can charge for the hours you stand around giving free advice just hoping the person has the common decency to make their sale from you rather than run off to get the product cheaper from the place with no service, also its not just a matter of people getting it cheaper... people dont like to look like they dont know something, alot of people feel empowered when they can walk into a store and bargain a better deal cos they have already got all the info out of someone else who was just trying to be nice to make a sale.

Just sad really... Sick of it as I got of being the free advice/service center for the big telstra store... loose your temper just once and bad news travels fast and i think thats whats gonna happen here.

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I think she has framed it all wrong - she should have put up a sign saying there would be a $5 charge for "consultations" redeemable after any purchase.

Good Idea Rosetta - this is probably really what she meant......and be truthful .... who here hasn't done the same as she is complaining about. Try on shoes, check out the product on the shelf and then order online.... I've done it.... bought Advantage for $6.30 each instead of $18 at the vet...... with half a dozen dogs I'd be mad not to try and find cheaper options.

I worked in retail for years... damm hard to keep viable and the only way is to specialise however now even the supermarkets are getting into these areas.... even looking at the screen for Dogs Online - VAN rolls is now available at Woolworths!

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One of the things that often make small business successful is personal service & making shopping in your shop a pleasurable & enjoyable experience.

That's not going to happen in this shop is it ?

I give it 3 months to go broke & close up.

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I think she has framed it all wrong - she should have put up a sign saying there would be a $5 charge for "consultations" redeemable after any purchase.

This. Easy solution and an opportunity to build relationships and cement customers to her business for repeat sales instead of just sending them elsewhere!

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One of the things that often make small business successful is personal service & making shopping in your shop a pleasurable & enjoyable experience.

That's not going to happen in this shop is it ?

I give it 3 months to go broke & close up.

Nah she'll just take her sign down and pretend it didn't happen.

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I have a friend who paid $190 odd for a Swatch Watch. I liked it so much I quickly looked it up on the iPad and found I could source it for $84 dollars including postage online. She was a tad miffed!!

Part of the problem seems to be that bricks and mortar retailers have been very slow to realise they are competing in a global market place whether they like it or not. They need a different business model that works with the new online retail world and not against it - they'll go broke if they don't unless they find a niche that is very difficult to replicate online - eg customer service and allied services (not products).

This woman charging to browse has it all wrong - she needs to change her approach to work with her customers rather than against them.

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