TulipTools Internet Business Owners and Online Sellers Community

Quote:Layaway, or as I like to call it, "finance by other means," is a perfectly reasonable response to tight credit, and it offers vendors and customers several advantages. For customers, there is the obvious: the ability to make a purchase that would otherwise not be possible assuming the credit cards are maxed or you just want to avoid debt, a good idea these days.

For vendors though, the advantages are more numerous. For instance, self-financing might be more profitable in the long run, and it certainly keeps the cash flowing -- perhaps trickling -- when it could easily stop altogether. Most importantly to me, though, is this: When credit cards began to replace layaway, customers discovered their credit was good anywhere, and the bonds between vendor and customer that were once strengthened by layaway evaporated. Vendors of all stripes have searched a long time for something as effective at building customer loyalty, and they have come up short...