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 seem to be distributing inventory across regional stores to offer greater in-store pickup options. There are several Best Buy stores within reasonable distance to where I live, and typically at least one has the desired product. Staff seems generally more friendly as well.
Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon
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Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon
#32I 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…
> vs. Amazon's "two day shipping" that regularly turned into three or four days I find this experience interesting. Here in the UK amazon offers next day delivery (and in same cases, same day delivery), and often delivers next day even when they don't claim they will. I have had problems with counterfeits though.
Same experience with amazon.fr on all counts.
Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon
#33You 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.
It's great for a big-ticket, low-margin purchase like an MBP, but poor for cheap, high-margin items like cables and accessories. Which is, of course, where they really make money. They'll price match a laptop to Amazon, but cannot price match a $2 Ethernet patch cable because they're retail space, not a warehouse.
What about consumer electronics like TVs and stereo systems. Are those low-margin?
Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon
#34Last time I went to BB was to buy a Pixel 2 charging cable. A BB employee helped locate it and reminded me that it's called "USB C" cable not a "Pixel 2 charging cable".
Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon
#35I 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…
> vs. Amazon's "two day shipping" that regularly turned into three or four days I find this experience interesting. Here in the UK amazon offers next day delivery (and in same cases, same day delivery), and often delivers next day even when they don't claim they will. I have had problems with counterfeits though.
From observing comments here, it seems to be regional and dependent on the carrier. In my experience it has been the USPS (though I am sure people in other regions will say UPPS is fine, but UPS is bad, or FedEx is bad). When I saw that Amazon was shipping via USPS, I automatically knew not to bother to check for it until at least the third day of the "two day" shipping. What was even more annoying is half the time it got marked as "delivered". I tried a couple of times to complain to Amazon, but that got me to no where.
Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon
#36Best Buy was great the day my GPU died and I needed a new one by the evening. Prices were pretty good.
The GPU bubble kind of blunted that instant-gratification appeal for me recently. They've apparently begun to accept reality, but some of their GPU prices are still significantly inflated compared to other vendors. For example, their in-store Vega 56 card is $629.99 vs. Newegg selling comparable cards for under $500, and that specific model number seems to be exclusive to Best Buy so they can refuse to price-match.
Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon
#37Like 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…
I ordered a TV from Amazon. They use a third party service that schedules delivery with you. Two dudes came out with TV, unboxed and set it up (put on stand, plugged in power to verify its working). A few days after delivery I noticed a red line running along the top of the screen. Contacted Amazon about replacement. There was some issue with doing a direct replacement so they had me purchase another TV and then refu…
Same experience for me. The first time, I bought TV from Amazon I was a bit nervous. But the experience was so great. No need to drive to store, find parking, fit huge box in my tiny car, park car in loading area, unload, move car.... so on.
Since then I have bought more TVs for myself and helped friends and family who were reluctant to order online. No bad experience so far.
Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's great for a big-ticket, low-margin purchase like an MBP, but poor for cheap, high-margin items like cables and accessories. Which is, of course, where they really make money. They'll price match a laptop to Amazon, but cannot price match a $2 Ethernet patch cable because they're retail space, not a warehouse.
What about consumer electronics like TVs and stereo systems. Are those low-margin?
TVs are low-margin. Audio varies.
Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon
#39There's something to be said for just walking in and buying something you can hold in your hands and look at, at least if there isn't a tremendous difference in price.
Re: Best Buy Is Thriving in the Age of Amazon
#40I 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…
I also was recently in the market for a laptop and the listings for Amazon were so confusing and full of pitfalls it reminded me of the bad old days of eBay. Like three-line item titles making it hard to discern what model you were buying. I ended up buying from Best Buy.