Argos

London_Boro

London_Boro

Well-known member
Shame about what's happening. I like an Argos, very handy for all sorts of stuff. So now we'll probably have to order and pick up from a Sainsburys in the not too distant future. Also, people don't go in a supermarket and leave having just picked up an online order, they do some shopping, will the other supermarkets see a dip on the back of that? Who knows. Wise move by Sainsburys I imagine, but bad for Argos staff.

No doubt Amazon will see another uplift in sales on the back of this. Why go to Sainsos when you can get stuff delivered free or very cheap.

(n)
 
London_Boro said:
Shame about what's happening. I like an Argos, very handy for all sorts of stuff. So now we'll probably have to order and pick up from a Sainsburys in the not too distant future. Also, people don't go in a supermarket and leave having just picked up an online order, they do some shopping, will the other supermarkets see a dip on the back of that? Who knows. Wise move by Sainsburys I imagine, but bad for Argos staff.

No doubt Amazon will see another uplift in sales on the back of this. Why go to Sainsos when you can get stuff delivered free or very cheap.

(n)
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Although I use them (a lot), I do worry about Amazon. They really have got the world eating out of the palm of their hand.
 
Trouble with Argos is they haven’t evolved but retail parks and town centre stores often close to each other and high rents

putting them in the Sainsbury’s stores makes sense and lets them cut down the costs to compete with amazon as well as getting people into the Sainsbury’s stores and sharing rent & facilities between both brands

like before we had Argos in boro, teesside park and stockton, as well as billlingham and all the other local stores. Reality is you don’t need that many large stores with an efficient local delivery system. You can have stock transferred around fairly quickly and I can pick Argos items up from a sainsburies local which is quicker than me than going to a retail park or town center
 
ThirdLeg said:
Amazon is a **** show. That website is now 90 + percent cheap Chinese drop shipped products. Full of fake reviews and fake products.
I try to use them as little as possible.
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There is definitely some of that, but its certainly not 90%. Virtually everything else, branded etc, is as cheap as anywhere else and gets delivered to your door the day after (or sometimes the same day). Plus, returns are an absolute piece of p1ss too. They are incredibly efficient and reliable. I'm not complaining btw, I just worry that they don't have any serious competition, which is a bad thing.

Also, some of the Chinese stuff is perfectly good.
 
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atypical_boro said:
Well their market share is a concern, as is the case in any market where one organisation's market share is enormous.
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I know what you mean and Bezos’ wealth multiplies as that of many others is under threat

Worth emphasising that there is a choice but that we as consumers have chosen to go with them when there were indeed alternative providers. I am as guilty as any for using the convenience of everything under one digital site.
incidentally my local paper is now running a campaign listing for free all the local retailers who offer online shopping and delivery. We should try and make an effort to do that.

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Returns are good I’ll give them that. I personally wouldn’t buy any valuable branded products from there

Same day delivery is just a level of convenience that I’m not sure we actually need most of the time. And it comes at the expense of people’s livelihood and wellbeing.

I am surprised companies have been so slow to set up direct to consumer sales with comparable delivery times. Doesn’t have to be next day but some of them take the ****
 
ThirdLeg said:
Returns are good I’ll give them that. I personally wouldn’t buy any valuable branded products from there

Same day delivery is just a level of convenience that I’m not sure we actually need most of the time. And it comes at the expense of people’s livelihood and wellbeing.

I am surprised companies have been so slow to set up direct to consumer sales with comparable delivery times. Doesn’t have to be next day but some of them take the ****
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No we don’t need instant or next day delivery a lot of the time but with corner shops and local stores closed again you can understand why people like the idea of getting something in the post straight away.
 
ThirdLeg said:
Returns are good I’ll give them that. I personally wouldn’t buy any valuable branded products from there

Same day delivery is just a level of convenience that I’m not sure we actually need most of the time. And it comes at the expense of people’s livelihood and wellbeing.

I am surprised companies have been so slow to set up direct to consumer sales with comparable delivery times. Doesn’t have to be next day but some of them take the ****
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Why wouldn't you buy branded goods from them?

Agree about next day, its not needed, but its just another part of the endearment if you're after something new and you can't (or are told not to) visit shops.
 
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Best thing about Argos was being able to go out and pick something up straight away not waiting a day or 2. Problem with the Argos Sainsbury’s shops is as they are much smaller they never have anything you want in stock, you have to order in or for delivery and then it just makes sense to get off Amazon / ebay etc. Especially as they won’t let you order at the shop and make you order online.

I can see them slowly dwindling away and just closing down completely.
 
Argos Teesside Park is closed/closing and has moved to the Ghost Sainsbury's near the stadium. Makes sense I suppose utilising an empty store. I was surprised to see Middlesbrough (Skippers Lane area) still open. Like others have said, you don't need over 7 dedicated Argos stores in Teesside! Town, Middlesbrough retail park, Teesside Park, Stockton, Billingham, Hartlepool, and Sainsbury's stores themselves.
 
The upside of the Covid19 crisis has been the lack of demands being made upon me to join in a hobby I have little interest in, shopping.

I can only remember one town centre visit in the last few months. How satisfying.
 
I do over 200 amazon ordered a year, been using them since 2001 I think. Worth it for gold plated returns policy as I’ve had them take things back long after warranty expired where it’s outright failed. I also use prime video and coupled with the free delivery it saves me a pretty decent wedge each year. Rare they are not the cheapest when I shop around
 
I use Amazon, purely because I'm on a student account which gives me Prime for £3.99 a month. For some reason I'm still able to use my old Uni email address despite not being a full time student since 1998 and only doing a bit of part time study for a masters at the same Uni which finished 2 years ago.
 
atypical_boro said:
Why wouldn't you buy branded goods from them?

Agree about next day, its not needed, but its just another part of the endearment if you're after something new and you can't (or are told not to) visit shops.
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Regards branded goods:
considering the sheer number of transactions they must process each day this is probably a minuscule amount. So I’m aware I’m aware it might be somewhat irrational. But I’ve simply heard too many stories of counterfeit goods when ordering products like premium headphones, or branded electronics generally.
And the review system is terrible on there. It seems to sometimes merge reviews from multiple items and sellers. And obviously a huge amount of fake and paid reviews, covering genuine complaints people have about products they have received. Although these are quite easy to spot after a while.

Big items are, in my experience, usually the same price as elsewhere on amazon, rather than cheaper. In which case I’ll just go direct where possible or opt for a retailer such as richer sounds.

In my opinion its a great service when you need a small item instantly or for some impulse buying. But I’m not sure I could think about a purchase for any length of time and then decide to get it from Amazon.
 
ThirdLeg said:
Regards branded goods:
considering the sheer number of transactions they must process each day this is probably a minuscule amount. So I’m aware I’m aware it might be somewhat irrational. But I’ve simply heard too many stories of counterfeit goods when ordering products like premium headphones, or branded electronics generally.
And the review system is terrible on there. It seems to sometimes merge reviews from multiple items and sellers. And obviously a huge amount of fake and paid reviews, covering genuine complaints people have about products they have received. Although these are quite easy to spot after a while.

Big items are, in my experience, usually the same price as elsewhere on amazon, rather than cheaper. In which case I’ll just go direct where possible or opt for a retailer such as richer sounds.

In my opinion its a great service when you need a small item instantly or for some impulse buying. But I’m not sure I could think about a purchase for any length of time and then decide to get it from Amazon.
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Agree about reviews.

The thing with branded goods is, I certainly haven't had any experience of counterfeits, but rather than sign up on PC World's website etc, I can just order it on amazon in about ten seconds. Obviously there are occasions where you have to go direct.

I do sort of agree with your final sentence, but I find myself buying a lot of small items to solve small problems around the home during lockdown. Like for instance I bought some cheap(ish) PIR lightbulbs the other day so that my littlun doesn't need to ask for me to put the light on in his playroom. For that sort of thing Amazon is a million miles ahead of anyone else.
 
The streets will be choc-full of vans delivering pocket-sized items that you used to pick up on the High St from Argos, Maplins et al. For the majority who live in towns I don't see how that's convenient, let alone good for the environment.
 
Here's an alternative to Amazon for books

https://uk.bookshop.org/

For me the worst thing with Amazon is it's just one more reason to be stuck indoors. It's rather a concern that we will all have sad little lives stuck indoors after this virus passes.

And Sainsbury's is an absolute craphole of a supermarket. Tesco and Morrisons have far better produce, and usually a bakery. Sainsbury's are closing all theirs down.
 
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