Stores will either have to adapt, or they will go out of business, or get gobbled up by a bigger corporation. Simple as that. No different than the electronics industry once Future Shop started growing and before Best Buy came in. There were SO many stores. Ones who kept trying to compete on price, simply faded away. Ones who tried to cater to a more specific market did a little better. We are already in a rather specialized hobby, so to me, the only way to differentiate is to REALLY step up customer service.
Another thing is services. How many places sell Neptune product in store. Not many. Certainly not outside the GTA. Now lets think how many people struggle with it. It's setup, etc. When I talk about services, I don't mean tank maintenance, and tank cleaning, etc, etc. Anyone can set that up, and you give another thing that can just be undercut by the next guy. Think duct cleaning, or carpet cleaning. How many posts do you guys see on here for either Radions, or Neptune, or Vortech. How to set them up, how to run them, whats best for them? How many times have you asked how much something grows, or what effect one thing will have if you ad it to the tank, etc?
I think these guys need to think outside the box. How about Buy a Neptune package with any 2 modules, and probes, and get a 1 hour consultation in home. From there, have some chargeable options. Set up this, calibrate that. Although of course every tank is different, I find GENERALLY speaking, people give that as the cop out answer. That there are many things that are more quantifiable than that. Not absolutes, but pretty good guesses. How about while you are at the home, you can see improper use of this or that? Make recommendations for the more suitable product? Perhaps SELL them that product. With so many things MAP priced today, the big guy or online guy isn't hurting them on that stuff. They complain the margins are thin? So find something you can make more margin on. TIME. Chargeable customer service. You offer the customer the complete solution. Maybe it's a big overall picture of whats to be of your system and it's done in stages. Now you've got a repeat and returning customer. Not someone who next time they need something they jump online for it. Going back to the Future Shop examples. These small stores that survived provided a much more enriched experience. Tried to sell things the big box didn't. Which was the COMPLETE solution for the customer. How many times have each of you wished you did something differently the first time? Or didn't buy that crappier item cause you ended up throwing it away and buying the more expensive one later? Those big box stores then of course start adding TV calibration, extended warranty, in home set up, etc, etc. You thin they stay in business and make money making 10-15% margin on TV's?
Anyways, I could go on and on with more specific examples, but you probably get the idea.