I worked in CompUSA for about a month. Into my fourth week, we were all told the store was going to close in a couple months and all merchandise would be liquidated. It was a mess when that announcement was made: morale dipped among the employees and many left right after the announcement was made, including me.

It was sad to see a former computer giant fall like it did. But you’re right. Aside from the internal incompetence among its retail management, they did not utilize their web presence to its fullest–CompUSA was known for its retail stores, not so much in the online space–except maybe to peruse the site for deals and then visit a local store.

Then I worked at a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf for the next seven months before Mediachase. They have a bare bones eCommerce presence, but can’t exactly order a fresh brewed espresso from a shopping cart and have it ship in 5 minutes =).

Thanks again for your support. I’m going to do my utmost best to grow the Mediachase blog.

You’re so right Richly. It will never completely dissolve due to the points you mentioned and the fact that many shoppers still do not use the Web for ALL their purchases. There is, however, a huge increase in businesses that continue to go virtual or add a Web division to their company, so what I am finding is that many aren’t moving from one to another, but rather are embracing eCommerce as a part of their current business model. It seems to be going well for most that make the move, from what I have seen and heard.

I think in the instance of CompUSA, that it was just too little too late for them, which is sad. In my opinion they basically missed out on their opportunity to canvas the Web as “the provider” of quality consumer electronics for home or office at a time when it was do or die for them. They failed to expand their web presence at key times, they failed to increase productivity through technology and they failed to listen to feedback from their customers during the whole time. Those are three things that will hinder any businesses attempt at future success.

Thanks again for sharing, hope you like what you’re doing now much better than CompUSA, see you around and good luck with the mediachase blog.

I don’t see eCommerce overtaking retail sales anytime soon, but haven’t experienced CompUSA as a sales guy, it also taught me how NOT to run a retail technology store.