Getting in the car, going to a big box retailer, wandering around with a paint chip in your hand looking for someone to help you, standing in line to check out, and then finally getting back home only to realize you forgot tape is not an ideal consumer experience.
6 comments:
While I definitely see the applications of online paint buying for individual consumer use, buying paint for an organization is often no less of a struggle, and sometimes even worse. If you are buying paint for a show that needs a large quantity and they need it quickly, often the only way to do so is to send someone out (usually a begrudging intern) to go pick up however many gallons you need (usually quite a few) and to send them to the theatre in a car (usually an expensive uber). In a world where we have options such as Amazon Prime Now in larger cities, it doesn't make sense that buying paint should be any different than buying any other consumer material or product. I think that if brick-and-mortar materials retailers want to stay ahead of the trend and protect themselves, they are going to have to start offering quick, online rush delivery that can get to the customer within just a few hours before Amazon does it regardless and takes them out.
This sounds like a really good idea, but I never knew there were so many problems attributed to buying paint to repaint a room. Usually wandering around the aisles in the paint department, usually only like two or three aisles, can make sure you have everything you need. They definitely have at least five stations where you can buy tape. But apparently there is enough of a need that there are two online stores. I could actually really see a need for people who live in urban areas who would use public transportation to get to work, would really like the option of an online store for paint so they don’t have carry two or more gallon of paint plus all the other supplies through public transportation. I would personally be really worried about ordering paint online because colors appear different on computers than in real life. Also, I find it ironic that people want the convenience of ordering paint online, but then still have to paint the room themselves. That has always been the much more annoying part of the process that never seems to end.
I wholeheartedly disagree with this article. To start, the way they describe buying paint at a big box store is completely over exaggerated in my opinion. At least in my experience I go into the store right to the paint section. If I don’t already know what color I want I pick it. Then maybe I have to wait a few minutes to give the clerk my color and tell them the amount I want. By the way, the clerk is always at the paint desk, I’ve never had to look for someone. Then while they are mixing the paint, it is impossible for me to miss the paint brushes, tape, or drop clothes since they are all right there, and I have even had a paint clerk ask me if I have all the tools I need. And lastly, maybe it’s the stores I go to or the time of day I go but I can’t remember the last time I’ve had to wait in line at a Home Depot or Lowe’s. So, my point is, buying paint in a store is not that bad. But sure, if you know exactly what color you need (name, number, etc.) and you are fine waiting maybe a week for your paint to arrive, this would be great. The reason I say you need know exactly what paint color you want if you want to buy online is because you are doing something objectively wrong if you are picking a paint color off a computer screen. If you look at one swatch on three different screens you will get three different colors. If you are so lazy or need so much paint that you want to just sit on your couch (as the article suggests) and buy your paint, go for it, but you won’t see me doing that.
I must say this idea is pretty genius. The biggest problem that I see with selling paint is the fact that it is super hard to visualize what you are putting on your wall. The everyday consumer isn’t going to have the ability to know what a color looks like before they put it up on the wall. With the development of technology companies have been able to provide customers with a way to get a glimpse of what they are purchasing. You can’t even go to your local home improvement store without having to interact with a TV monitor. The one question that I have about this product is shipping prices and how that will affect the price for the consumer. Also, there is the question of lead time that could potentially be a problem for your everyday consumer. As a closing note, I would like to add that I think there is much potential in the theatre industry for this type of idea. If the designers are able to place colors for the exact paints they want that would cut down tremendously on the time the paint charge has to spend obtaining the paint.
I cannot that I think online paint shopping will ever get off the ground. Or at least ever phase out box store paint counters. Half the time I buy paint, I am covering a wall repair. Even when buying a new color of paint to cover a room, I am color matching to a swatch. It is impossible to match a swatch to a color on a screen, mostly because of the differences in the ways color is represented through light and the way color is represented through pigment. I cannot think of an instance when buying paint online would be more convenient than buying in a store (unless you do not care what color the paint is and are in no rush to get the paint delivered quickly. I have never met a person with this attitude). I know that for my mother especially (who put up ten different test squares of celery green on our kitchen wall before settling on one to buy), buying paint online would be endlessly more frustrating than just buying it in the hardware store.
Paint is online now. Paint swatches are something you need to see in person, in the form of a physical swatch, but you can now buy paint online. I don't think I would ever use a website to choose my wall colors. In my opinion, this is a much more roundabout way to buy paint. You would need to order many samples or swatches, because color on a screen is very different from color in person. Then, you would order the paint and the materials. In between each order, you would have to wait for your paint or swatches to ship and arrive. When going to a store, yes, you might need to make two trips, one for swatches and one for paint, but you could do this in two days, even one if you’re like that. I, for one, love going to the store for swatches and paint. I think this article exaggerated the pains of doing this, and I think being able to buy paint online just exacerbates the huge issue of laziness that’s continues to grow exponentially in America.
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