Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon • Hacker News Board

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#111

Post by crazygringo » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 3:12 PM UTC

gameswithgo wrote: post #86

gzu wrote: post #12

You really can't beat going into a physical store for a large ticket item purchase. No waiting for shipping, easy to return, viewing the product in store. Recently purchased a MBP from Bestbuy. The first one I received had noticeable back light bleeding near a screen corner. Walked back in the store the next day to return. The process from an online retailer would have taken weeks.

A while back we had a refrigerator die, and I was like "no problem, I'll run to home depot and get one". they could NOT handle it. Everyone seemed annoyed that I wanted to do this. They have refrigerators on the floor but only a few are for sale, and they can do delivery in theory but they didn't seem to know if their delivery guys were available or not. I went over to Lowes next door and it was the same deal. I was…

I'm not sure if anything has changed there. Huge bulky items have always been delivered from a warehouse ~days later. Online hasn't changed anything with that, I don't think. Sure, sometimes you'll get lucky with a popular model they keep a few of in-store, but that feels like the exception.

You can't go to a mattress store and walk out with a mattress either, generally.

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#112

Post by chuckkir » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 3:12 PM UTC

kop316 wrote: post #10

I can't speak for the Geek Squad (as I have never needed to use them), but they price match to Amazon (and several other online stores), and will generally have what I am looking for (at least for consumer electronics). I know that I will get it that day (vs. Amazon's "two day shipping" that regularly turned into three or four days) at an Amazon price, it will certainly NOT be a counterfeit, and I don't have to give…

The flip side of this is that they charge $50 more than Apple for an iPhone. Why make all your customers demand a price match for something so widely known? It seems like it would irk most people in the hopes of extracting a few bucks from a handful of folks.

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#113

Post by Kinnard » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 3:12 PM UTC

I wonder what to what extent this is driven by cryptocurrency mining and other computationally intensive blockchain use-cases.

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#114

Post by byproxy » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 3:12 PM UTC

jurassic wrote: post #42

kop316 wrote: post #10

I can't speak for the Geek Squad (as I have never needed to use them), but they price match to Amazon (and several other online stores), and will generally have what I am looking for (at least for consumer electronics). I know that I will get it that day (vs. Amazon's "two day shipping" that regularly turned into three or four days) at an Amazon price, it will certainly NOT be a counterfeit, and I don't have to give…

Lately my items generally show up on time but badly packaged. I would say 9 of the last 10 books I bought on Amazon have had some kind of visible damage, from minor cover dings to folded covers and ripped pages. The worst is when they put a single book into a bubble envelope that is so oversized the book can slide around and rotate a full 360 degrees inside the packaging. This is essentially a trade paperback book in…

I recommend buying used on AbeBooks. You can find what you want in pretty good quality for cheap and will have no trouble accepting a couple of dings.

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#115

Post by brootstrap » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 3:13 PM UTC

jccalhoun wrote: post #43

mfer wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That generation has nothing but problems with their devices, it's like a mini game for them. This isn't a generational thing. I know folks from all generations who have trouble with technology. Sometimes this is because things really are broken. It's not like a lot of things are high quality. Sometimes it's because stuff is hard to use. For those of us in tech we have a higher tolerance for learning pain and have e…

agreed. MOST people don't know much about technology. I'm 44 and teach at a community college. I have 17 year olds (taking dual credit classes for high school) and 60 year olds. Most of them don't know how to use computers well and I can't assume that someone will or won't because of age. The problems they have do tend to be generational - younger people tend to do most things on phones and don't know how to use a mo…

interesting. the 'digital natives' are definitely not computer experts. They are 100% users and know how to work a phone/tablet , connect to app store, download apps and play them. They don't know too much about what is actually happening.

I've said it to my wife so many times now it is engrained in her... we are driving somewhere (live in midwest). she pulls up phone and tries to do something on internet. when it takes more then 3 seconds she is like ugh what is going on. I have to say, honey let me tell you what is happening. Your phone is sending signals up to outerspace, bouncing around and eventually some data makes it's way back to your phone. Patience young padawan learner!

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#116

Post by emodendroket » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 3:13 PM UTC

taeric wrote: post #105

emodendroket wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, retail is different than it used to be; there is now little role for professional salespeople who really know their product (like a high-end, dedicated stereo store would have had in the past). At least this is my impression.

My guess is the role of professional sales people in retail was always over stated. People like having a personal relationship when they can, but often that is a major luxury and probably doesn't actually help in the product selection.

It may be so, but these people did exist and now mostly do not. It certainly does seem to be the case that most are unwilling to pay for this expertise (although I've found that, for instance, with sneakers, it makes a huge difference).

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#117

Post by throwawaymath » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 3:15 PM UTC

gzu wrote: post #12

You really can't beat going into a physical store for a large ticket item purchase. No waiting for shipping, easy to return, viewing the product in store. Recently purchased a MBP from Bestbuy. The first one I received had noticeable back light bleeding near a screen corner. Walked back in the store the next day to return. The process from an online retailer would have taken weeks.

Just out of curiosity, why didn't you buy the MacBook Pro directly from Apple? If I'm not mistaken the price is exactly the same in both stores. Is Best Buy just closer to you, or do you have a specific reason for going to Best Buy over Apple?

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#118

Post by reaperducer » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 3:16 PM UTC

sc00ty wrote: post #60

kop316 wrote: post #10

I can't speak for the Geek Squad (as I have never needed to use them), but they price match to Amazon (and several other online stores), and will generally have what I am looking for (at least for consumer electronics). I know that I will get it that day (vs. Amazon's "two day shipping" that regularly turned into three or four days) at an Amazon price, it will certainly NOT be a counterfeit, and I don't have to give…

> but they price match to Amazon As long as the SKU matches. A lot of products tend to have a Best Buy specific SKU which prevents you from price matching on amazon, because amazon doesn't sell the same exact product. I had this happen a few years ago when purchasing a router.

Yeah, lots of companies do this. Wal-mart is another one.

My television comes with a built-in DVR in most stores. But I got it at Fry's, so it has a special SKU and the DVR disabled so it can't be price matched.

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#119

Post by josefresco » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 3:16 PM UTC

MichaelApproved wrote: post #96

josefresco wrote: post #15

Like most Americans I order a shitload from Amazon. However the last item I bought from Best Buy was a TV (my old LG just ... died). Ordered online, chose to pick up in store. Drive 35 min to store Pickup process takes 10-15 min Drive 35 min home. Left after dinner, was watching it that evening. The only condition that would have prevented me from using this model would be traffic, as it could extend the trip by 60-9…

> Like most Americans I order a shitload from Amazon. I do too but can we say "most" Americans? Are there any stats available on their customers? I wonder, how many Americans have purchased at least one thing on Amazon? How many have in the past year? What's the average spend per customer per year?

It was a casual remark, based on generalizations about my audience, not necessarily meant to stand up to scrutiny - however there's also this: https://techcrunch.com/2018/07/13/amazons-share-of-the-us-e-...

Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon

#120

Post by LargeWu » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 3:16 PM UTC

jefe_ wrote: post #31

I recently ventured beyond the in-store pickup area of a Best Buy for the first time in a while, I was pleasantly surprised. It seems they're positioning themselves as the smart home destination, pretty extensive inventory in this area, with product samples and descriptions clearly visible. They've also lowered the shelf heights and the store feels less cluttered (without feeling like an apple store clone). They also…

Reducing the amount of music and movies they sell in store has helped a lot in that regard. They've reclaimed a lot of that space for the "store within a store" concept for things like wearables and smart home stuff, which brings a more inviting, open feel to the stores instead of feeling claustrophobic.