Ok, so it seems nobody else is mentioning one of the big things that shocked me from the article: the claim that shipping, for the company that runs Saks Fifth Avenue, is more expensive than retail.
What? How on earth is a ridiculously high end Fifth Avenue retail location staffed with models and lots of hired security cheaper than shipping? Their Fifth Avenue location in particular is literally stuffed with expensive glass chandeliers. It's an ENORMOUS property on Fifth Avenue in NYC, the most expensive street in the world; one of their stores alone is worth four billion dollars. If you think "enormous" doesn't merit all caps, its shoe department has its own zip code. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-retail-usa-shoes-idUSN2435...
FWIW, selling shoes online - especially to pickier clients at higher prices - requires a high return rate. When you're shipping both ways with no revenue to show for it, that adds up quickly.
What? How on earth is a ridiculously high end Fifth Avenue retail location staffed with models and lots of hired security cheaper than shipping? Their Fifth Avenue location in particular is literally stuffed with expensive glass chandeliers. It's an ENORMOUS property on Fifth Avenue in NYC, the most expensive street in the world; one of their stores alone is worth four billion dollars. If you think "enormous" doesn't merit all caps, its shoe department has its own zip code. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-retail-usa-shoes-idUSN2435...