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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)

#41

Post by learc83 »

mikeash wrote: post #39
learc83 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 mi…

Measuring percentage would do it. I’m always amazed that companies can be so boneheaded. You’d think I’d stop being amazed at some point, but no.

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.

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

#42

Post by [deleted] »

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…

[deleted]

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

#43

Post by scarface74 »

learc83 wrote: post #29
mikeash wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 mi…

Sounds like when I worked at Radio Shack. Not so much with warranties but with names and addresses. We did get a bonus for each extended warranty we sold.

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

#44

Post by post_break »

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.

They also don’t charge tax currently.

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

#45

Post by Spooky23 »

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?

Definitely the latter.

The CompUSA I worked in in college was like a scaled down Enron. Bonuses were paid for hitting those percentages, period. At the time (late 90s), BestBuy was better, mostly because they were more diversified.

For constrained product, it makes sense to play some games. You can 10x your margins with the right customer.

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

#46

Post by mikeash »

learc83 wrote: post #41
mikeash wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Measuring percentage would do it. I’m always amazed that companies can be so boneheaded. You’d think I’d stop being amazed at some point, but no.

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.

Truly, the mind boggles. Did you ever end up doing anything to improve the close rate?

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

#47

Post by sys_64738 »

We buy all our appliances from Best Buy so I'd hate to lose them like we lost Circuit City. CC's decision to ditch appliances was their downfall, IMO. As for buying electronics from BB, it's a checkered history for me. I've bought a MacBook Air cheaply there and our current LCD TV was 300$ there. When I last bought a PC laptop there 12 years ago trying to get out of the shop without extended warranty was a nightmare. I eventually 'won' by saying it was a gift and the new owner will run Linux (to escape the Geek Squad tax). Altogether, BB is not a happy place to buy a Windows laptop although things may have changed but I doubt it.

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

#48

Post by Spooky23 »

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.

Show me the figures that demonstrate that buying something at retail is less damaging to the environment than Amazon’s distribution and fulfillment.

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

#50

Post by throwawaymjabba »

BestBuy's shipping was far better than Amazon's in my experience. BestBuy always used to offer 2 day shipping for me and sometimes even deliver in a day for the same price as Amazon. In the case of Amazon, from 2012 to 2014, they used to ship fast. I place an order, it get shipped within 24 hours and I would get it in 2-3 days. But something changed in 2014. I noticed that my order would stay in 'preparing for shipment' for upto 5 days before they actually ship it. I assumed either that was Amazon's way of pressuring me to get Prime or their algorithms labelled me a low value customer. After 2 bad customer experiences and loss of trust due to the risk of getting fake products, I moved onto other retailers.

I once bought a laptop from BestBuy. It was over $2k. I came home, unpacked it and to my horror, there was a scratch. I immediately went back and BestBuy gave me a new one. In the case of Amazon, I ordered a furniture. They shipped the wrong color. Since I didn't want to deal with the hazzle of returning, I asked Amazon to give me the price difference (the color I got was cheaper than what I ordered). No. The only option Amazon gave me was return it and order again. Had to wait for another 10 days to get my color.

I came back to India and ordered a surge protector from Amazon. The item I got was not only poorly packaged, it looked like Amazon just shipped me something that someone else returned. It still had a previous shipping label (though I couldn't read it), was very badly packed with cello tape, and the plastic body had somehow got the green color from the Belkins packing. Thankfully, Amazon refunded me and I found it cheaper in a local store.

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