2 posts tagged “costco”

Blue Nile is an online diamond merchant that is rising the hackles of a lot of jewelery stores. The New York Times article on Blue Nile also mentions the entrance of Wal-Mart, Costco and other big box stores aiming at the low end of the diamond market for the  impact on the mainline stores. The NYT also says that Blue Nile is having little impact on the top diamond sellers - Tiffany & Co., and Zales. "So far, the Blue Nile effect has been felt mainly by mom-and-pop jewelers on Main Street and in malls; much bigger, high-end retailers like Tiffany have been affected only on the margins. And Blue Nile’s influence is limited largely to diamond sales, particularly diamond ring sales, but those are often the cash cow for smaller jewelers, accounting for a disproportionate share of their revenue." A bit later, "many smaller jewelers have been threatening to boycott wholesalers that supply online retailers. At the same time, consultants have been earning a handsome living advising retailers struggling to compete with Blue Nile — teaching them to “romance the stone,” as one consultant, Shane Decker, put it, using industry-speak for stressing the whole diamond-buying experience over merely the price."

Apparently, Costco has been listening to us, its customers. They have US-based customer support for televisions, cameras, camcorders, and computers - desktop and laptops as part of their Concierge Service. According to Customers Rock, it has been available for about a week in Southern California. I suspect, like CR does, this service coupled with Costco's pricing will rock the boats of their competitors. Its free and for the LIFE of the product, not a token six months. Let's wait and see what Sam's Club responds with. Nah, off to Costco!