Posted on 07/18/2017 9:31:05 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Five years ago Best Buy Co. looked like a retail dinosaur, another victim of e-commerce juggernaut Amazon.com and other online sellers.
The big-box electronics chain was suffering dwindling sales and profits due in good part to “showrooming,” when shoppers would come in to a Best Buy store to check out televisions, computers and other items in person, and then buy them at cheaper prices at Amazon or elsewhere online.
Best Buy also was struggling with executive turmoil and facing a buyout threat from a major stockholder. The chain in 2012 named a new chief executive, Hubert Joly, but the Frenchman came from the hospitality field and had no retail experience.
His appointment stunned analysts, with one saying that fixing Best Buy was “a herculean task even for an accomplished retail executive.”
But Joly has proved up to the task so far. Under his turnaround plan, Best Buy has rebounded to remain one major U.S. retailer that’s holding its own in the face of Amazon’s relentless growth and the conventional retail industry’s slump.
Best Buy “came out the other side successfully to defend itself against Amazon,” said Peter Keith, an analyst with the investment firm Piper Jaffray & Co.
As more consumers shift to online shopping, other brick-and-mortar retailers have closed thousands of stores in shopping malls and elsewhere in the last year. A few have filed for bankruptcy protection, including rival electronics chain RadioShack.
Best Buy still operates 1,600 outlets — including 143 in California, its biggest market — and Joly views the stores as “a great asset” even as Best Buy also moves increasingly to online sales.
“We don’t see ourselves as a brick-and-mortar retailer, we’re a multichannel retailer” that combines the stores, Best Buy’s website and its phone app to boost sales,
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Best Buy price matches Amazon’s prices. So I can “kick the tires”, and buy the product immediately w/o paying shipping or waiting two weeks for Amazon to ship my order.
They have some hellacious deals on flat screen TVs right now.
Smart. I've wondered the same thing. I see middle-aged parents roaming around stores with their kids, asking basic questions about printer functions or networking, and wonder - how will these people buy on-line?
I have become kind of sickened by Amazon. So I re-discovered a great feature of Best Buy. The company WILL MATCH the Amazon price.
I recently found a blu ray player on Amazon that was selling for about $90. The Best Buy was seeking $115 for it. Best Buy MATCHED the price.
I got the player the same day, and I supported a local business. Icing on cake: Jeff Bezos got nothing.
when it comes to high dollar items, I want to actually see it/feel it/measure it.
I can’t do good product research from a thumbnail on a website.
I’m not a fan of Amazon for political reasons. But from a pure consumer standpoint (a consumer that lives in the sticks, an hour and a half from the nearest “city”) it is a godsend.
And unless the item is shipped from Mars (AKA China),it usually arrives in a day or three at the most.
And Amazon is Best Buy, Hobby Lobby, Fry’s, Tractor Supply, Lowe’s, Cabella’s and Advance auto parts all wrapped into one store.
They leased floor space to companies. Everything in Best Buy that isn’t a kiosk is a loss leader that gives them a “rounded” stock to bring you in. Basically they’re now a mall.
another reason they have made is is because they offer the geek squad service- loads of people don’t know how to maintain their computers, and will simply call geek squad to come fix it for them
Technically you supported a chain not a local business.
Best Buy is installing the same online order picking systems that Amazon has. The electronic product sorting shelves make online shopping work well. Bezo is not as ahead of the curve these days.
[And unless the item is shipped from Mars (AKA China),it usually arrives in a day or three at the most.]
You must be a Prime member.
Every time my order is >$35 for free shipping, it takes Amazon almost a week to get my order out the door, and then several days after to arrive.
I’ve bought stuff on eBay as cheap or cheaper then Amazon, got free shipping, and it gets shipped the next day the latest!!! In my hands 3 days later.
Best Buy is the worst retailer in the world. Yes, even worse than Sears. I haven’t been in a Best Buy in the last 5 years and can’t see ever returning.
BestBuy shows some serious savoir faire!
+1
I’ve done this myself, many times.
The only stuff I buy from Amazon is stuff I can’t get anywhere else.
For online shopping, I would very much like to recommend B&H Photo in New York.
They have everything electronic, at Amazon prices, GREAT delivery. Owned and operated by orthodox Jews, so no shipping from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset.
Everything from cell phones to head phones, from cameras to TVs, from microphones to mixing boards, not to mention cables and other miscellaneous hardware.
I've been to both and there is a big difference. Best Buy employees actually help you and know that they're talking about. Sears...good luck on even finding someone to help you. I bought two TVs from Best Buy and they price matched. I also bought a computer, printer and router. All price matched. My local Sears has a lot of empty shelves. I don't expect it to be around much longer. I also like getting intact cartons. My Amazon order that recently arrived has a gaping hole in the side and one of the components was sticking out. I don't have to worry about that at Best Buy.
I now buy all my cables on line from monoprice.com for about 1/10 the price of retail stores. Amazon and Ebay are also good choices for cables and connectors.
I’ve also bought online from B&H Photo and am extremely pleased with them.
amazon.com, yes
walmart.com, yes, like their in-store pickup
bestbuy.com, no so much
I too prefer eBay over Amazon. I always shop their first.
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