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Selling phones on the internet is dead.

Weazol

Weazol

Android Enthusiast
Google has finally realized that the majority of people want to see the phone up front before they purchase it. Maybe the nexus one would have done a lot better if they didn't waste there time with online sales.

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I've never bought a phone that wasn't on the internet except the first camera phone on Verizon like 9 years ago.
 
Weazol said:
Google has finally realized that the majority of people want to see the phone up front before they purchase it. Maybe the nexus one would have done a lot better if they didn't waste there time with online sales.

More...
Click to expand...

There's more to it than that. The Nexus 1 was a phone that you bought full price for 'up front' The vast majority of people won't buy phones that way, especially high end expensive phones. They're too used to getting phones free, or for very high discount, on contract.

Google also claimed that this was a new approach to buying phones: Getting your phone and contract separate, but that was only true in the US. Here in Europe we've been able to buy phones like that since forever. Google was offering nothing new.

The almost total lack of advertising didn't really help either.
 
google probably thought that since it makes all of its money with internet ads, that they would also work for selling their new phone. Nope. You need TV and retail.
 
I think the biggest problem wasn't not being able to see the phone in person (look at all the preorders for the Incredible, Droid X, Evo...), but after buying it, the customer service was all confused. Who do you go to with a problem with your Nexus One? HTC? Your carrier? Google? I think people like having a physical store to go to if they have a problem.
 
yea hrethgir I agree with you on that part. If my phone breaks the last thing I want to do is call a 1-800 number. Going into the store is usually a quick fix or replacement.
 
Hrethgir said:
I think the biggest problem wasn't not being able to see the phone in person (look at all the preorders for the Incredible, Droid X, Evo...), but after buying it, the customer service was all confused. Who do you go to with a problem with your Nexus One? HTC? Your carrier? Google? I think people like having a physical store to go to if they have a problem.
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But they did see the phone on TV. Google didn't have any TV spots. There you go. They also heard about the phones from Verizon/Sprint salespeople and materials.
I don't think people who pre-order think 2 steps ahead to consider customer service.
 
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