I think people sometimes ignore the fact that brick and mortar stores also benefit from the “online effect”. I often browse on Amazon and other sites looking for product reviews and specifications and then buy the product at a local store to avoid shipping costs and having to wait for it.
I'm sure if I was more technologically literate, I would have been able to figure out how to get them to take my credit card #, but I'm not particularly technologically literate.
So, I gave up, and went to Ebay.
IMO, I am probably a very typical Amazon customer. If I quit, many other people probably did as well.
I had a stroke last year and cannot drive. Amazon is great. With Prime, most items are delivered to my door in two days.
For me personally, Best Buy sucks, the stores near me when I do go in are poorly stocked and only with the brands they push. I have found the stores not kept clean and noisy and have never been a fan of their difficult return policies, however since they have not induced me to make a purchase in years maybe that has changed.
I’ve noticed Best Buy prices have come down quite a bit this year..at least on some items.
They can survive, and even thrive, if they make the adjustments to compete.
Pest Puy needs to turn down the overwhelming obnoxious throbbing of hippity-hop “music” that assaults you as you walk into their store.
“It also has a price matching guarantee where Best Buy will equal prices of major online retailers.”
They wouldn’t price match a big plasma tv I bought from amazon last year. After much reluctance and arm-twisting and whining, they sort of matched the price, but bottom line, when delivery, sales tax & extended warranty were added up, they wouldn’t price match. I gave ‘em every chance to make a local sale and they refused.
Something that seems to seldom be mentioned in these discussions about Amazon is that most all major retailers also offer online sales. So, it’s not just a competition between Amazon online and all the brick and mortar retailers.
Amazon competitiors need to compete more effectively for online sales.
Best Buy needs to do the same with allowing shoppers to see the back side of equipment and to read the manual. I swear they bolt down the televisions or set the theft alarms too sensitively to keep you from twisting the TVs too see the back. I had to bring a mirror once... and good thing I did because the description didn't match the reality.
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.
I shop Amazon a lot...do love Costco return policy...don’t have to send bad printer to mfg...bring to them...they replace...I am looking at SONO system now...was thinking of going to BB but hate the place...may just purchase online
You don't even have to go home now. My Amazon app lets me scan the barcode of an item in the store. It comes up with that same identical item on Amazon. If the price is lower - I can one click "buy it now", and boom! I'm Done.
However - Best Buy did match that price last year when I needed a toner printer. So yeah. I went ahead and bought it at BB.
I’ll buy online and have it shipped any day to avoid this: “Let me tell you about the warranty.” No, thank you. “The warranty covers three years of replacement...” No, thank you. I don’t want to buy a warranty. “It’s only X percent of the purchase price and...”
You aren’t getting away till you listen to that endless spiel. Then when you get up to the register, the clerk starts over again. “Oh, are you sure you don’t want to buy a warranty?”
That’s why I stopped shopping there.
Wal-Mart recently got burned by advertising they would price match Amazon. Clever “customers” quickly setup fake Amazon seller pages and were walking out of Wal-Marts with Playstations they got for less than a hundred dollars.