The WindowCovering Advisor

The internet - a local retailer nightmare

I suspect in another 3-5 years up to 50% of all blinds purchased will be on the web. This is a near guaranteed trend. Web retailers have little or no overhead and therefore can afford even 10-15% profit margin. (Local retailers have a minimum of 30-40% margins).

Web retailers have no inventory, showroom or personnel to carry as overhead. The only disadvantage web retailer have is the fact that there is no one to measure and install these blinds for their customers. This is however changing very quickly.... Very soon a blinds installer network will be formed across the continental U.S. Where the consumer can order the blinds thru the web and get a local installer to measure and install the blinds for a fixed predermined price. Current internet retailers have extensive information online on how to measure and install blinds. However these instruction are still not quite intuitive to the consumers. 

The only real advantage of purchasing from a local retailer is the customer service. You know where to find your local retailer if you need him. However I suspect this too will soon fade as being a problem. Once the warranty is the same and the product is a know name brand then price will be the primarily driver to almost all consumers. Customer service will become quite web oriented. a phone call will become an email.

The manufacturers and distributors have blinders on, they do not wish to see this internet trend prosper. Fortunately, its out of their hands, the clock is ticking, it only a matter of time now........

Home Depot and other Large Home Improvement Stores

Home Depot works at a 30-40% profit margin. They however get some very deep manufacturer discounts. They primarily deal with Graber, Levelor and Hunter Douglas products. The rumor is that Graber and Home Depot have some sort of alliance, stock trade??, where Home Depot has extremely deep discounts on Graber products. This also applies to the Levelor products. In fact, the discount are so deep that no local retailer can match their prices. Internet retailer are barely able to match their pricing.
Someone should sue Home depot and Graber for unfair trade practice and monopoly. I had one retailer complaining that his wholesale price from Graber and Levelor was higher than Home depot's retail price!!

Fortunately this monopoly only applies to the graber/Levelor products. All other manufacturers play fair (like Hunter Douglas), where a small retailer can match pricing with Home Depot if they wanted. 

I have never been a great fan of Home Depot or any large home improvement store for purchasing blinds. I was never impressed with the customer service or technical expertise of the Home Depot Personnel. I would go there to feel touch and select the blinds I want but would end up buying the blinds on the internet. As long as the warranty and brand is the same, all it boils down to is pricing.