Читать книгу Steampunk Economy - Andreas Rein - Страница 9

WHY?!

In the past, before streaming services in HD existed, when we wanted to buy goods, we had to go to the store. Well, there were the big mailorder catalogues, but that was time-consuming and expensive because usually return shipping was not free. Retail was alive because we needed someone to order things for us or because we bought what was in stock. If it was something special, we had to go to the next bigger town and try our luck there. The concept of the consulting salesman comes from a long-gone era. In the 1920s, you told the haberdasher and grocer what you needed and he took each item out of the drawer one by one. How great was the outcry - almost an affront - when supermarkets and department stores appeared at the end of the 1960s, throwing the concept of individual advice overboard. The customer has to get his things himself - outrageous.

But with the 1990s, this time passed and suddenly everything was different. And it will not come back. In the 21st century, the trend is towards completely automated department stores or even online retail, which delivers my order free to my door within 24 hours. Like many people, I don't order there because it would be so convenient or easy. On the contrary - I think it's great to shop in well-stocked shops. The electronics store is great - it gets difficult when you have to talk to someone and ask for their advice. Then you are lost. I order because retail doesn't serve my needs, but its own.

‘We don't accept credit cards' - can also be translated as: ‘Please use the means of payment that I accept, not what is most convenient for you’. Really! The customer must meet the needs of the seller?. As a customer, you want me to use a payment method where you have more margin? That’s not my problem! The days of buyers being dependent on sellers are over. The seller who best meets customer needs will be successful. The salesperson who does not will no longer be needed in the market. Not because the customers are all bad or because online trade is ruthless, but because sellers have simply overlooked the paradigm shift, the liberation of the customer, the vicious globalisation, which is also starting on a small scale, and have been unable to react to it.

After a dinner with eight people in an Italian restaurant, the waiter informs me that card payment is not possible. Maybe this is only the case in my home region of Central Hesse, but because of the many hiking trails and recreational areas, the many rural hotels and restaurants, and the relative proximity to the Netherlands, one should expect customers to be allowed to pay. But no. Only cash payment possible. There are really many restaurants here where I can't pay by card.

‘The device broke within the warranty period - we'll send it in for repair’ - no, I want a new device or my money back, it doesn't matter.I bought it because I like it and I'm totally disappointed because it broke practically immediately. If I am unhappy with the product, then you the seller are responsible. Why? Because as a customer I want someone who understands that I am disappointed and who will take care of my concerns, worries and wishes. If the seller doesn't do it, who will? Amazon's vision is to do the best for the customer. Why is that Amazon's vision and not that of all the shops around me? Why does Amazon manage digitally, without human interaction, to pick up and address the customer's concerns, worries and wishes? And why do people in shops often not manage to do that?

Economic life is no longer a stable entity. It is not a house with fixed structures into which one moves, makes oneself comfortable and retires at some point. Maybe that was the case in the past. I didn't realise for a long time that there are organisations that actually think like that. And I also didn't realise for a long time that there are people who expect exactly this kind of behaviour from organisations. At an insurance company, I was told that 30% of employees are like this, refusing to change and practically unable to be dismissed. Such organisations will have a hard time. Normally they have enough capital and can dispose of body parts to prolong their life, but the bank whose value proposition is the office in every village has already lost if it can no longer keep that promise because of necessary mergers. These organisations will become increasingly irrelevant and I suspect that some of them will later cease to exist.

Ialso fear that retail will shrink extremely. I don't fear it because it would be a threat - life punishes those who are too late - but those who don't have concepts to successfully retain customers today will probably be pushed out of the market by the giants. And to oust the giants - David against Goliath - that is an illusion. In retail, I keep hearing that the bad customers get advice and then buy from Amazon. That is true. I do that too. I am perfectly willing to pay for a service, like good advice or a product. But if I don't get that service, it seems illogical to me to be expected to pay for it. If I can get the same product cheaper somewhere else, I would be stupid not to buy it there. What retailers often get wrong is this little detail: customers ask for advice but they don't get it. And what they do get is often inadequate or even bad. If I receive a service in addition to the product, such as good advice, support in using the product or help when something breaks, then I am also prepared to pay a higher price for this additional service. But if I find out that I am only supposed to pay for these additional services, but I don't get them at all, then I just buy somewhere else.

Ihave never bought from another shop or online after receiving sound, committed, competent advice. Unfortunately, I don't get the sound, committed, competent advice in retail at all. I order from Amazon because the retail advice service is poor and does not address my needs. And when I find out that the Blu-Ray player offered to me not only costs twice as much, but is also last year's model, I even feel cheated and am glad I didn't fall for it.

The salesman doesn't advise me at all, he sells me his leftover stock or the products he earns the most from. If that wasn't the case, people would buy from him. It's as simple as that.

Anyone who behaves like a 19th century huckster today, in a world full of ever-growing alternatives, derives their actions from the age of the steam engine. Anyone who behaves like this in economic life today is, in my conceptual world, a steampunk - someone who tries to get by in the new reality with outdated means. The new reality means exponential growth and with it rapid change. Steampunk economists don't understand at all what the exponentially growing companies they are already competing with - without even realising it - are even doing. Granted, steam engines look beautiful and are a feat of engineering. But they are cumbersome, sluggish, slow and prone to error.

When the German manuscript for this book was ready in October 2020, I looked forward to working with a publisher. The logo of a renowned publishing house on the cover would convey a serious air. In a personal conversation I learned that the 2021 autumn programme had been decided at the beginning of November and that I would therefore only be considered with my title in the 2022 spring programme. So I was to wait a year and a half for publication, only to be included in the catalogue of a major publisher. That's crazy. How glad I was that I hadn't written a book about the Corona pandemic or about a more pressing issue. Didn't the classic print and newspaper publishers already come under massive pressure 15 years ago because the internet just wouldn't go away? If it takes 18 months to publish a book, I'd rather do it myself. I may not have the reputation of an established publisher, but I have the book in my hands more than a year earlier and thus have time to work with it.

When we study economics - from retail to business - we learn steam engine techniques, we learn steampunk economy, and we use it to try to make the big leaps that are necessary in an exponentially changing world. We should begin to realise that these methods are totally inadequate to achieve our goals - no matter how hard we try, no matter how many hours we work. We need a new course, a course towards sustainability and innovation. And there, the steam engine is of little help.