Posted on 11/20/2014 7:46:16 AM PST by BenLurkin
Best Buy's results are particularly poignant for a company that has fallen victim in recent years to the so-called "showroom effect," in which customers visit stores to check out products in-person, and then go home and buy online somewhere else like Amazon.
Shares of Best Buy jumped 8% in morning trading. The stock took a beating early in the year as investors soured on its turnaround plans, but its since clawed back dramatically, and is now only a few percentage points away from breaking even.
Compare that to Amazon's stock, which has fallen almost 20% this year as quarterly losses mount and investors grow increasingly anxious that the company's big investments in such things as its Fire Phone aren't paying off.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
I'm guessing that you probably don't shop at Costco either.
No....not any near me. I don’t mind a policy that has always been in effect and is reasonable. I DO, however, mind a policy that treats everyone like criminals.
Additionally, from years of reports, anecdotes and other information the picture I’ve put together about Best Buy is that they don’t stand behind their promises and they think every customer is a criminal.
One time I tried to get a Best Buy store to match their own online price and they wouldn’t so I ordered the item right there in the store. The BB employee got the very same item I had returned to the shelf and had it waiting for me at the pick-up desk. Stupid. They did more work and risked losing a sale. Maybe price matching came out of the store’s budget while the online sale comes from corporate.
I personally prefer Amazon for all the reasons others have stated, but I am glad to see the competition. Keeps everyone on their toes.
You have to remember, often times, when you buy from Amazon you are buying from a small seller like myself. Amazon FBA is people with small businesses.
Dennis Prager says that the Talmud sez activity along those lines is morally wrong. After hearing Dennis Prager, I would never pull this stunt.
Yep, conflicts between online pricing and in-store pricing are bound to irritate customers. They’ll probably iron those out. Most now seem to offer online purchases and local store pickup if the local store has the item.
You had me at "she."
That's why they now count the items in the cart, match them to the receipt and put a nice squiggly line across the receipt. No more double-dipping.
At least, that is what they told me when I asked.
Well they did just help out my brother in law who was shopping for a new computer, the salesman was quite insistent that Microsoft was not going to release a Windows 10 version, so yeah, I guess they are well informed. : ) Still I agree your experience will vary by location.
I order from Amazon a lot as well. My point was that while people go to brick and mortar stores to touch and feel products before buying them online, they also research products at online retailers and then buy them in brick and mortar stores.
I second that. Our closest Best Buy is smack in the middle of a heavily Hispanic/Black populated area and is replete with crime.
I stopped going after an incident 2 years ago where a man approached me as I was loading recent purchases into the trunk of my car and asked for a light. When I told him I don't smoke, I noticed he got fidgety and agitated. I stepped back toward my driver's side door, and positioned myself with my hand on my sidearm.
Not a second later, a squad car came ripping into the parking lot with its lights blazing and sirens blaring, and the guy took off running between cars. He was tackled just a few dozen yards away from me and had a stolen gun, knife, and a few hundred dollars in cash on his person.
One of the responding officers took a statement from me and told me that a "milky white boy with a no hair" should avoid the area if at all possible. I never go through that part of town anymore.
I shop at Best Buy, Walmart, etc.....all online and then just pick up to save delivery costs. It is easy since most of them have a pick up right up front. In and out.
Sounds reasonable, but it’s the attitude and the insistence that stopped me from going there again.
We do that a lot. I have been looking at remodeling my kitchen and looking at all of the appliances. I am going to buy the appliances locally, so I spend some time every week browsing them. While there, we get model numbers, etc and research online reviews.
Best Buy does take it to another level.
.... a whole nutha level as they say...:0)
But.....it’s likely to be “your ex-wife kind of ‘she’”
You quit using Amazon, because you couldn’t figure out how to put in your CC information?
Amazon’s help is very fast and easy to use. They have a staffed help desk for questions.
FWIW, if you want to make a purchase on Amazon after your cached card expired, you can choose to enter a new card.
Best Buy (or as I call them "Pest Buy") will match the sale price of the item only. They cannot match Amazon's price once local sales taxes and any other add-on's such as extended warranty are added to the product.
If you're looking to buy a TV and "want it now" then you accept that you're going to get the same sale price on the TV but by purchasing locally you're also going to pay any sales taxes (which are outside of Best Buy's control) or delivery charges (if you opt to have it delivered to your home vs. taking it home yourself and not incurring that charge.)
If you're trying to get Best Buy to match price vs. Amazon, Best Buy will always be at a disadvantage once local sales taxes are included in the price. They're not going to eat the sales tax to match price with Amazon when buying from Amazon means no sales taxes. It's just not a realistic expectation of Best Buy.
(Disclaimer: I buy almost exclusively from Amazon and haven't stepped foot in a best buy in 10+ years. I refuse to pay Illinois Sales Tax, which is why I shop Amazon for everything I can.)
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