I don't think that most of us have our purchasing strategies quite so structured as some of the above comments would suggest. I can only speak from my experience and the experience of my buddies, but I think most of us are drawn to that red flag with the white diagonal wherever we see it, be it online or flying above the marina or strip mall. I, for one, visit every shop I can, trying to learn about gear, local dive sites, general diving knowledge, etc. And by visiting, I'm not limiting myself to physical brick-and-mortar stores. I visit lots of online shops, especially the ones with interesting content (Hi Larry. Love what you've done with ScubaToys in this respect.)
Along the way, I'm always cruising for deals. Sometimes they come from the deep discount dive shops like Diver's Supply here in Charlotte or World Watersports/Diver's Direct in Ft. Lauderdale. These guys are very aggressive about pricing and turn over their inventory enough to usually have the things I need at prices I can afford. Sometimes I find great deals online, and I almost always shop online to get a feel for pricing of big ticket items. More rarely, I shop for the odd item at smaller LDSs that serve specialty markets. Like Rich said, money is tight right now for most of us (Thanks, W!), and I don't have the luxury of tossing out dollars just because I'd like to see this or that shop successful.
The bottom line is that many LDSs aren't very efficient and many do not offer the sort of service and atmosphere that keeps customers coming back. Word to the wise for LDS owners - hard sell and intimidation might help you push today's sale, but they leave a bad taste in the consumer's mouth that influences the next buying decision. For example, we have one shop here in town that has a great selection of diving books. I hesitate to visit, because the owner is always pushing me to buy something other than what I came for, from alternate air sources to watches to any number of other little shiny items that have fat little margins. I've fallen for his approach a few times and always feel like a sucker the minute I walk out the door. I respect the guy's salesmanship but criticize his judgement. It's just too easy to get the same books from Borders or Amazon.com. And by sending me there, he's lost the impulse buys that I used to make there without his influence.
As for enforcing customer loyalty - the best way to do that is to offer friendly, informative service and decent (not necessarily rock-bottom) pricing. For what it's worth, I've bought all of my high ticket items from my LDS, even though I could have saved a few bucks by going online. I'm just waiting for somebody to exploit the LDS experience for what it really offers that is unique - a physical location for divers to cross paths. I'd love to see somebody dedicate a few square feet to a coffee bar, complete with lots of copies of throwaway dive publications, where folks could congregate and talk about diving. I'd sure make a detour once a week or so to grab a latte and see who was planning a weekend trip in my area...
