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Comment by jimmaswell | Hacker News Reader

A problem is that in a retail store, you might walk by something new and want to try it. On Amazon et al you're largely going to stick with what you know, and the site's recommendations are probably not going to stray much.

Additionally, walking out of a store with something is a nice experience, maybe reading the manual on the way home, instead of waiting a week to get something unless you have prime or pay for faster shipping.

Amazon is definitely convenient, but it's sad to see Toys R Us go. Stores like that provide a real added value in my opinion.

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I hadn't been into one in ages, but about six months ago I went into one with my toddler and was shocked how completely un-interactive the experience was. There was almost nothing for him to play with. Just aisle after aisle of hermetically sealed boxes with bright fluorescent lighting and sullen employees.

Couldn't see what the value add was. I'll take my local toy shop, thanks.

Honestly, that's what I remember of Toy R Us.. the immensity of it. To the roof shelves, packed with fantasies(fetishes) I could barely see so high were the boxes. And I left mind numbed by this (positively so, if you can call this pornographic level of toy need positive).

True, but apparently that value was less than the cost to provide it.

Toys R Us is a pretty basic economic transaction. They sold toys, and the people buying them get the value. We're not dealing with public goods or externalities or any other type of market failure where this type of value might be tricky to pick up.

> the site's recommendations are probably not going to stray much

On the other hand, a toy store is stocked only with management's recommendations. They're not fools, either, they only stock what they expect to sell well - mainstream, right down the center products.

What you've described doesn't sound like a value-add at all to me. In stores they can manipulate your senses to get you to make emotion-based purchases whether or not it makes economic sense or if you're going to actually get your money's worth out of the product.

You only think it's better reading the manual on the way home and not waiting a few days because you're still riding that emotional high.

I much prefer the Amazon approach where feasible, because that detachment helps you keep a more level head while purchasing, which reduces the expenditures on frivolities and you'll have more savings for more meaningful things later.

>that detachment helps you keep a more level head while purchasing

I kind of doubt that this is really the case in practice. There is detachment from the walk by impulse buys. But there is also detachment from the part where you spend your money. One click purchases are just too easy.

And Amazon suggestions are getting better all the time at convincing you to buy more and more. Not to mention the discounts on auto delivered products.

The store can only entice me when I decide to get in a car and drive there and walk in. Amazon is just a click or tap away from absolutely anywhere.

And the deals on "plus" items. I spent a few hours once to find other items to buy in order to reach the required 25$ to get that first item rebate.. madness.

I wasn't actually enjoying that experience, I just thought I was?

I don't see the big deal with a few impulse purchases as long as it's not hurting the family budget.

Do you really think you're not being manipulated by Amazon? "Frequently bought together", fake reviews based on free samples in exchange for "honest opinions" (hah!), gold box deals with countdowns to artificial deadlines, "people also shopped for", add-on items, "recommendations for you", free shipping when you spend at least $X, discounts calculated from inflated retail prices, "your shopping history" going back 10+ years, daily email specials, curated product photos. And millions of A/B tests to optimize everything from the layout, colors, product recommendations, search results, and checkout process to make more people buy more stuff.

Stores optimize layout, colors, ambient music, the checkout process (ever see the rack of stuff right by the cash register?), too. They even pump fragrances into the store.

There's enormous effort expended on this by stores - because it works.

This is the experience IMO. Someone talked about this about old video games. Atari boxes were so pretty, yet the games had nothing to do with the box art (8 bit graphics can only get you so far). But the imagination bootstrap it gives made the game pleasurable. It's all fake anyway.. make believe.

I feel this era is going way too much into sound/engineered decision making for mundane human life, and I say it's detrimental.

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