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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)

#21

Post by dorkusmagnus »

drivers99 wrote: post #16
jibanes wrote: post #14

I wonder who buys dvd/bluray anymore... after netflix.

Me. For example, I’m currently legally rewatching Game of Thrones before the new season comes out even though I don’t currently have an HBO subscription. It is a durable copy that doesn’t buffer, is high quality, isn’t modified after the fact (such as when they removed the George W. Bush prop head-on-spike). For a one time price, I own it for life. I can and have lent it out to others. When I watch it, my analytics a…

You sound fun at parties.

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

#22

Post by treebeard901 »

randomacct3847 wrote: post #11

In my experience, no other category is so heavily gamed by shady marketplace sellers on Amazon than electronics. Search for wireless headphones on both Amazon and Best Buy and it’s night and day what you see returned. I’m bullish on Best Buy simply because it’s not a free-for-all of cheap foreign knockoffs. Retail of yesteryear might stand a chance because employing buyers who actually curate merchandise to be sold w…

Best Buy is kind of weird when it comes to computer parts. In the early 2000s, it was one of the only places near me to buy them. Then for a few years they started using the floor space for other stuff. Lately though, they have had a pretty good selection of hardware in the store and the prices generally aren't too bad compared to online either. If they are going to survive that's going to be one of the main ways to do it.

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

#23

Post by general8bitso »

Not a fan.

Used to work there during college.

If we didn’t sell enough PSPs (extended warranties), we were not allowed to leave at our scheduled time.

Also, we moved all the laptop inventory to the back of the store, so if a customer wanted to buy a laptop that was in stock, but did not want to purchase an extended warranty, we were instructed to lie to the customer and say it was out-of-stock.

Also, the whole incentivized FBI Geek Squad informant deal was a bit immoral, too, IMHO.

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

#24

Post by jonny_eh »

general8bitso wrote: post #23

Not a fan. Used to work there during college. If we didn’t sell enough PSPs (extended warranties), we were not allowed to leave at our scheduled time. Also, we moved all the laptop inventory to the back of the store, so if a customer wanted to buy a laptop that was in stock, but did not want to purchase an extended warranty, we were instructed to lie to the customer and say it was out-of-stock. Also, the whole incent…

"incentivized FBI Geek Squad informant deal"

wat?

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

#25

Post by judge2020 »

jonny_eh wrote: post #24
general8bitso wrote: post #23

Not a fan. Used to work there during college. If we didn’t sell enough PSPs (extended warranties), we were not allowed to leave at our scheduled time. Also, we moved all the laptop inventory to the back of the store, so if a customer wanted to buy a laptop that was in stock, but did not want to purchase an extended warranty, we were instructed to lie to the customer and say it was out-of-stock. Also, the whole incent…

"incentivized FBI Geek Squad informant deal" wat?

Presumably https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13841504

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

#26

Post by lscotte »

Someone1234 wrote: post #12
randomacct3847 wrote: post #11

In my experience, no other category is so heavily gamed by shady marketplace sellers on Amazon than electronics. Search for wireless headphones on both Amazon and Best Buy and it’s night and day what you see returned. I’m bullish on Best Buy simply because it’s not a free-for-all of cheap foreign knockoffs. Retail of yesteryear might stand a chance because employing buyers who actually curate merchandise to be sold w…

That's why I like B&H Photo now too. All genuine products, sold by them, with real reviews. Their shipping is a little slower and they close Friday/Saturday which is frustrating but overall a good experience. They even do price guarantee if you contact CS which Amazon discontinued.

B&H is great, agreed. They are an extremely honest company, so taking a few days longer is worth it in my opinion - you are going to get exactly what you ordered in my experience. On Amazon, that's only guaranteed if Amazon is the seller (not to be confused with "fulfilled by Amazon", of course). B&H is also closed on all Jewish holidays.

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

#27

Post by mikeash »

general8bitso wrote: post #23

Not a fan. Used to work there during college. If we didn’t sell enough PSPs (extended warranties), we were not allowed to leave at our scheduled time. Also, we moved all the laptop inventory to the back of the store, so if a customer wanted to buy a laptop that was in stock, but did not want to purchase an extended warranty, we were instructed to lie to the customer and say it was out-of-stock. Also, the whole incent…

Was it actually better for Best Buy to lose a sale than to sell a laptop without an extended warranty, or was that just a case of bad incentives making the rank-and-file do things that hurt the company?

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

#28

Post by CaliforniaKarl »

mandeepj wrote: post #9
CaliforniaKarl wrote: post #7

I'm on my third year of owning two Tiles: One pre-2018 Mate and one Slim. As usual, it came time to replace them, and Tile's reTile program doesn't offer a one-mate-plus-one-slim option (the closest is a two-plus-two). So, I got one through reTile, and the other by heading over to Best Buy. I didn't even consider buying it on Amazon. Another time, I needed a 3.5mm headphone to Bluetooth transmitter for my Nintendo Sw…

> partially not wanting another box (or padded envelope) being used up So, did you drive there? That's also an environmental impact. Just saying.

Nope, I took the bus there & back.

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

#29

Post by learc83 »

mikeash wrote: post #27
general8bitso wrote: post #23

Not a fan. Used to work there during college. If we didn’t sell enough PSPs (extended warranties), we were not allowed to leave at our scheduled time. Also, we moved all the laptop inventory to the back of the store, so if a customer wanted to buy a laptop that was in stock, but did not want to purchase an extended warranty, we were instructed to lie to the customer and say it was out-of-stock. Also, the whole incent…

Was it actually better for Best Buy to lose a sale than to sell a laptop without an extended warranty, or was that just a case of bad incentives making the rank-and-file do things that hurt the company?

Bad incentives. Some items were low margin, but almost nothing was so low that it was actually worth losing the sale.

One of the things you were ranked on was PSP (extended warranty, but they beat it into your head never to call it that) attachment percentage. When a measure becomes a target...

Occasionally there was a loss leader sale item, and in those cases if someone wanted to by it without any attachments, it might have made short term financial sense to pretend we didn't have it, but I don't think the company could get away with that on a large scale.

Source: I also worked there during college. First in customer service, then as a Geek Squad supervisor at a new store, and I was sent to training at HQ up in Minnesota.

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

#30

Post by seattle_spring »

erichocean wrote: post #19
jibanes wrote: post #14

I wonder who buys dvd/bluray anymore... after netflix.

People who care about audio. Netflix streaming audio is shit. A Blu-ray has incredibly good audio tracks—usually 24-bit/96kHz lossless.

This got me really curious about what quality Netflix actually streams its audio, but the only thing I came across were tech support threads regarding low quality streams. Does anyone know of a good comparison of Netflix vs physical disc quality, and/or any hard numbers?

FWIW, I have an extremely good system and I've always thought that streamed audio sounds great. I honestly wonder if I've been missing out on the next tier!

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