By Sarah Halzack
November 24, 2016
Outside a Best Buy store in Alexandria, Va., on Thursday, a throng of shoppers lined up early to pounce on the annual parade of Thanksgiving “doorbuster” deals that have come to mark the start of the holiday shopping season.
But this year, the once-chaotic ritual had layers of efficiency: Shoppers got color-coded tickets guaranteeing they would receive the laptop or 4K television they came for. The entryway doors were opened just partway so customers had to enter single file instead of in a stampede.
It was all aimed at making a harried experience go more smoothly. And between now and Christmas, some of the biggest names in retail are taking their own new steps to ease the hassles of shopping in an actual store.
Their attempts come as the shopping industry undergoes a massive upheaval that extends far beyond the rise of online merchants like Amazon.com. Now, newcomers offering a more high-touch, boutique-like feel — such as Bonobos or Warby Parker — have begun to gobble up serious market share. According to Deloitte, small and midsize retailers have grabbed $200 billion in annual sales from the big guys over the past five years.
Source: The Washington Post
- retail = pengecer; the sale of goods to the public in relatively small quantities for use or consumption rather than for resale.
- harried = terburu-buru; feeling strained as a result of having demands persistently made on one; harassed.
- experience= pengalaman; practical contact with and observation of facts or events.
- throng = kerumunan; a large, densely packed crowd of people or animals.
- pounce = menerkam; (of an animal or bird of prey) spring or swoop suddenly so as to catch prey.
- parade = parade; a public procession, especially one celebrating a special day or event and including marching bands and floats.
- mark = tanda; a small area on a surface having a different color from its surroundings, typically one caused by accident or damage.
- season = musim; each of the four divisions of the year (spring, summer, autumn, and winter) marked by particular weather patterns and daylight hours, resulting from the earth's changing position with regard to the sun.
- stampede = menyerbu; a sudden panicked rush of a number of horses, cattle, or other animals.
- ease = meredakan; make (something unpleasant, painful, or intense) less serious or severe.
- hassles = kerepotan; irritating inconvenience.
- attempts = upaya; make an effort to achieve or complete (something, typically a difficult task or action).
- undergoes = mengalami; experience or be subjected to (something, typically something unpleasant, painful, or arduous).
- upheaval = pergolakan; a violent or sudden change or disruption to something.
- gobble up = melahap