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

Post by protomyth » Mon, Jan 28, 2019, 4:10 AM UTC

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.

Post by gruez » Mon, Jan 28, 2019, 4:22 AM UTC

FiveSquared wrote: post #57

lscotte wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

But they are hella racists and discriminating. https://www-m.cnn.com/2016/02/29/us/bh-photo-lawsuit/index.h...

Post by fullshark » Mon, Jan 28, 2019, 4:58 AM UTC

r2ut3u wrote: post #8

giancarlostoro wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My best guess is they hope to make up lost with items Amazon doesn't even list. I know there's some products that are owned by BestBuy, I forgot the company name for it, but some random electronics they sell.

you are thinking of insignia products

Post by lotsofpulp » Mon, Jan 28, 2019, 5:13 AM UTC

Pxtl wrote: post #59

finaliteration wrote: post #6

I worked retail for over 5 years before starting my tech career and I’ve been a big advocate for Best Buy over the last couple of years as I’ve watched their in-store experience improve. At my local store the service is always awesome, they accept returns without a hassle, and I can order stuff online and they usually have it ready in less than hour. Their staff once spent over two hours with me resolving an issue an…

That's good to hear. I stopped going to best buy when every question I had for staff was answered by the staffer reading the card on the shelf. I go to a meat-space store when I don't know what I want and I need knowledgeable salesmen to help me. The BB in my neighborhood never ever had that, so I stopped shopping there.

Post by LTL_FTC » Mon, Jan 28, 2019, 5:34 AM UTC

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?