A few comments. Firstly I work at Harvey Norman so am talking from the perspective of an employer I guess.
The one great thing about this online store is that all of HN's prices have been changed and put inline with the likes of JB etc. The reason they had to do this is that no one would buy online if they weren't. Instore this isn't an issue as we tell you the best price we can do and do our best to beat other store's prices. What I reckon is good about all this is that HN is now great value on paper and you actually get good service. For you tech guys out there, yes the service may not meet all your needs, aka the salesman won't know everything you need, but it's better than walking into JB and getting a great price but not having anyone bother helping you.
So, in essence this is a great move by Gerry Harvey though it is a little late. Also, from a quick look the delivery charges are very cheap. $6.95 for delivering a laptop isn't too bad at all.
I worked at JB HIFI for a number of years, and I can tell you that a lot of the staff and customers we got there say the exact same thing about HN lol. For example, every single time I've been into a HN (which is quite a few), I don't think I have ever once been served. But it does totally depend on the staff member you get....some don't give a shit and just plain hate their jobs, but some legitimately try to help as best they can (like me
)
Of course, there is going to be an extent to the knowledge a salesman can provide, but if you're one of those customers that seems to know everything about everything, then maybe you shouldn't be there asking the salesman to begin with. It's as if they have nothing better to do than harass salesman with ridiculous questions which they know they won't be able to answer - ego big enough mate? lol...
Anyway...
I'm also reading on the net that a lot of people are complaining about the HN site, about it being on Magento and fairly boring. Apparently Magento isn't even good enough for some people, and even though the site checks all the right boxes, THAT still isn't good enough either. I realise it's a large company and it should be extraordinary, but really....I think society simply expects too much these days... If it works, just be happy!!