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Best Buy’s Secrets for Thriving in the Amazon Age (2017)

nytimes.com

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Re: Best Buy’s Secrets for Thriving in the Amazon Age (2017)

#121

Post by post_break »

tzs wrote: post #67
post_break wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They also don’t charge tax currently.

That's no longer correct. In the South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. case [1] in June 2018 the Supreme Court overturned its earlier case that prevented states from requiring out-of-state mail order/online merchants to collect sales tax on sales to residents of those states. B&H is now collecting tax for sales to customers in states that have post-Wayfair tax laws enacted, which is around 3/4 of the states. Most of the stat…

So my comment is still correct. They don't charge tax, currently.

Re: Best Buy’s Secrets for Thriving in the Amazon Age (2017)

#122

Post by Sylamore »

Antonio123123 wrote: post #103
Sylamore wrote: post #73

Sometimes you want to actually check something out before you buy it and that's the value that a Best Buy can provide that Amazon can't. Recently I am needing to replace my failing 15 year old color laser printer and I've been trying to find a local store that has them models I'm researching in stock (want to print Tabloid for woodworking drawings - so not a large number of stocked options). Both Staples and Office D…

You can watch reviews of printers online, and they show quality of print.

I'm not finding any that aren't just an overview of the printer features and unboxing, or how to install continuous ink systems. I found one in german that actually demonstrated one of the printers in use but that's it.

PCMag has actual reviews describing the output relative to other models but no photos of the output.

Re: Best Buy’s Secrets for Thriving in the Amazon Age (2017)

#123

Post by Sylamore »

ndnxhs wrote: post #90
Sylamore wrote: post #73

Sometimes you want to actually check something out before you buy it and that's the value that a Best Buy can provide that Amazon can't. Recently I am needing to replace my failing 15 year old color laser printer and I've been trying to find a local store that has them models I'm researching in stock (want to print Tabloid for woodworking drawings - so not a large number of stocked options). Both Staples and Office D…

The printers are probably such low margin items that its worth losing your sale so they don't have to spend the time setting it up. Most people don't care what the quality is as long as its not terrible so they will still sell a lot. If you were buying 100 business printers I bet they would be happy to give you a demo.

This is probably true, especially the newer models with ink tanks that come ready to print 700+ pages out of the box as those won't move as much ink for the stores. I know at least Staples uses ink attack rate as a metric for employees.

Re: Best Buy’s Secrets for Thriving in the Amazon Age (2017)

#124

Post by jstarfish »

tracker1 wrote: post #84
Hippocrates wrote: post #55

Lately I prefer to shop at Best Buy over amazon. I have a couple nearby, so picking something up at the store is more amenable to impulse and instant gratification. It’s also fun to take a lap around a play with some stuff. Besides that, the prices are competitive, not that it matters because they price match. Sometimes you can score a deal on open box items, which are conveniently listed on their site. Returning som…

Monitors/TVs are something I've had so much bad experience with, I pretty much always buy at a physical store over mail order of any kind. Also, Prime's 2 day shipping doesn't mean nearly as much when a lot of products don't ship for 2-3 days after you order a lot of times now. I'm not sure if it's just gaming the system, but seems to be the case a lot these days. Not to mention co-mingling inventory makes me feel le…

They're definitely doing all sorts of nonsense to game the system.

My latest gripe is in how they'll change or merge listings after an item ships so when what you order isn't what you get, it makes it look like you ordered the wrong thing in the first place.

The order confirmation they email to you forces you to click through to the site instead of giving you a static copy of your invoice so you have no proof to contest it either.

Re: Best Buy’s Secrets for Thriving in the Amazon Age (2017)

#125

Post by jstarfish »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #120
Pxtl wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on the product. Look at home Depot / Lowe's / Rona where it's absolutely expected that there will be staff with contracting experience who have advice on what products to buy and how to use them.

I do not expect to find experienced professionals working a $15/hour job at Lowe’s or Home Depot. There might be some who are out of the game due to injury or age, but not as a norm.

It varies by region.

In Atlanta and thereabouts Home Depot is a minimum-wage job ($8/hr?) with no real benefits or employee discounts so you just get bodies to stock shelves. I've had much better luck in California ($15/hr?) where most of the employees seemed to be ex-contractors or otherwise experienced.

Re: Best Buy’s Secrets for Thriving in the Amazon Age (2017)

#126

Post by Pxtl »

jstarfish wrote: post #125
lotsofpulp wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do not expect to find experienced professionals working a $15/hour job at Lowe’s or Home Depot. There might be some who are out of the game due to injury or age, but not as a norm.

It varies by region. In Atlanta and thereabouts Home Depot is a minimum-wage job ($8/hr?) with no real benefits or employee discounts so you just get bodies to stock shelves. I've had much better luck in California ($15/hr?) where most of the employees seemed to be ex-contractors or otherwise experienced.

Yeah, here on Ontario most of the Home Depot staff are old guys who've got plenty of experience with the stuff they sell. At worst, their knowledge is out-of-date from current best practice.

Re: Best Buy’s Secrets for Thriving in the Amazon Age (2017)

#127

Post by mikeash »

pionar wrote: post #117
learc83 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My favorite was when we started focusing heavily on close rate. Close rate was just the number of transactions divided by the number of people who walked in the door, so someone proposed that we start breaking up people's purchases into multiple transactions. I proposed a counter solution--we just move the laser sensor on the door a bit higher, so that short people wouldn't trigger it.

I worked in an electronics store (regional, not Best Buy, and out of business now) in the mid-2000s that had this exact measure. In my store, on busy days, the manager would occasionally "greet" customers at the door for 10 minutes at a time. Coincidentally, the spot he would choose to stand would block the sensor, so instead of 20 customers coming in in 10 minutes, it looked like only 1 had come in.

The ingenuity of employees in gaming stupid rules also never ceases to amaze.

Re: Best Buy’s Secrets for Thriving in the Amazon Age (2017)

#128

Post by tzs »

post_break wrote: post #121
tzs wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's no longer correct. In the South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. case [1] in June 2018 the Supreme Court overturned its earlier case that prevented states from requiring out-of-state mail order/online merchants to collect sales tax on sales to residents of those states. B&H is now collecting tax for sales to customers in states that have post-Wayfair tax laws enacted, which is around 3/4 of the states. Most of the stat…

So my comment is still correct. They don't charge tax, currently.

The DO charge currently if you are in Alabama, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, or Wisconsin.

In a few others they do not charge but they warn you that they report the sale to your state's tax authority, which could make it hard to avoid paying your state's use tax.

Re: Best Buy’s Secrets for Thriving in the Amazon Age (2017)

#129

Post by balls187 »

atombender wrote: post #83
balls187 wrote: post #63

BestBuy is a step down from frys, which is itself a depressing experience. Poor inventory, mislabeled items, disinterested staff. I happily shop with New Egg simply because of they stood up to patent trolls: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/07/newegg-fought-it...

Indeed, I'd like an Amazon competitor focusing on high quality and great service as much as anyone, but going into a Best Buy is depressing . The staff act like robots. Their responses and behaviour both when you ask for help and when you go to checkout seem scripted, while at the same time they give off a tired air of mildly annoyed indifference. A lot of US chains are like this, really. Everyone just seems so downt…

If you're looking for A/V and Car Audio, I highly recommend Crutchfield.

They're amazing.

Re: Best Buy’s Secrets for Thriving in the Amazon Age (2017)

#130

Post by FiveSquared »

tomhoward wrote: post #107
gruez wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can anyone explain why this comment is being downvoted? Is it a matter of "yeah but Amazon does it too/is worse"?

Perhaps because it includes multiple breaches of this line in the HN guidelines: > Eschew flamebait. Don't introduce flamewar topics unless you have something genuinely new to say. Avoid unrelated controversies and generic tangents. There may be a case for introducing information like this when a company is recommended, but the comment would need to be worded with more civility than that one was.

Oh sorry, I just wanted to inform people. I will try better next time!
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