Best Buy is slowly dying

[ErnieM]

I know, not news to most of us. . . but this article in Forbes today gives some good analysis why. My only caveat to the article is that his only example of a successful on-line retailer is Amazon. We all know that while Amazon is the big boy, there are hundreds of other good to excellent on-line retailers.

Why Best Buy is Going out of Business...Gradually - Forbes

 

[jinjuku]

From the Article:

Walk into one of the company’s retail locations or shop online. And try, really try, not to lose your temper.

I have a few different threads in the steam vent that can attest to the above.

Link

 

[jinjuku]

Ask the Best Buy at the Chapel Hill Mall in Akron Ohio why a friend and myself left a cart with $4700 in TV/Stereo/X-Box 360 at the check out.

The Snively Throckmorton character at the checkout wouldn't leave up on the 'extended' warranties. Told him to eff himself and simply walked out.

No, the stuff wasn't for me. I was there to stave off the undereducated vampires that work there

 

[darien87]

I hope they don't. I'm looking to make a new TV purchase some time this year and was planning on using my Best Buy card.

 

[96cobra10101]

I have bad and good experiences at BB. Magnolia guys are usually pretty helpful vs. the regular BB sales punks in the electronics sections. I hate the satellite salesman. I told one of them to "Go away man, your annoying me." He continued with his pitch. I shook my head and walked away.
But, my experience buying appliances has went well, but they seem to be a different animal from the the electonics jackholes.

 

[GlocksRock]

I hope they stick around for a while, even though I don't shop there often, it's nice to have a place where I can go see the products in person, and sometimes put my hands on them before I purchase... can't really do that when shopping online.

 

[billy p]

That would suck...I mean...if you live in Canada. Many of us here rely largly on best buy or future shop(which incidentally is owned by BB). We don't have many online retailers to take advantage of...not like in the States. This lack of competition is what really sets our 2 countries apart...imo. As for Amazon ....I often see great oportunities pop up on electronics but the majority of the time they don't offer shipping for those products to my address. Maybe one day they'll go the same route with the likes of "The Source" or "Curcuit City"....I suppose.

 

[Midwesthonky]

It was a good article and homes in one of the key issues with Best Buy:

THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE SUCKS!!!

No way around it, I avoid Best Buy if at all possible. I know more about the products than their sales people do. I do not want to be bombarded with never-ending chatter about an extended warranty or up-selling me on hyper-expensive cables that work just as good as the $4.99 ones from Amazon or Monoprice. and "No, I am not interested in an extended warranty."

The store layout sucks. The check-out process will age you worse than smoking. Could it possibly be any slower? "No, I am not interested in an extended warranty. Ask again and I will happily go to prison in order to shut you up!"

Plus they will not compete against internet retailers pricing. What they should do is say yes, we will match Amazon's pricing. Now if I can get Amazon's pricing and instant gratification? Because you will get some accessories bought at the same time at full price. "No, I am not interested in an extended warranty!"

Best Buy is right that I will enter their store to physically check a product out and then buy it from Amazon. Why? Because Amazon has better prices and even with shipping from Amazon, I can still get the product faster than going through Best Buy's check out process. "No, see that dude in the Bets Buy shirt over there lying on the floor with his head bashed in from the arm I ripped off of him? He wouldn't let up on the extended warranty sales pitch. Now do you understand, I AM NOT INTERESTED IN AN EXTENDED WARRANTY!!!" Not to mention, I know more about the products than the sales people and I don't have to look at any Bose products or be steered toward a higher margin product or listen to someone say idiotic statements that are not true and not technically feasible.

So yes, Best Buy is right in that I will use their store as a showroom. But only for big ticket items as only if I want to double sure of my purchase. I do my research online since their people usually know less than me and when they try to act as if they do know more, they just piss me off. For $700 less on a Panny Plasma, heck yeah I'll go Amazon and wait a few days for shipping.

Product selection? Blech. Lest time I checked, they didn't offer anything from Creative Labs not to mention other brands.

Death spiral is right...

Ok, my rant is done.

 

[adwilk]

That would suck...I mean...if you live in Canada. Many of us here rely largly on best buy or future shop(which incidentally is owned by BB). We don't have many online retailers to take advantage of...not like in the States. This lack of competition is what really sets our 2 countries apart...imo. As for Amazon ....I often see great oportunities pop up on electronics but the majority of the time they don't offer shipping for those products to my address. Maybe one day they'll go the same route with the likes of "The Source" or "Curcuit City"....I suppose.

Just have that stuff shipped to me... I'll forward it on to you... Handling time is approximately 10-12








months.

 

[Adam]

...I can still get the product faster than going through Best Buy's check out process.

Well, if you'd just stop doing this...

"...see that dude in the Bets Buy shirt over there lying on the floor with his head bashed in from the arm I ripped off of him?"

They might have people to work the registers.

 

[ErnieM]

We recently purchased a new clothes dryer. After some on-line research my wife and I visited several "big box" stores (Sears, H H Gregg, etc).

We ended up buying from a family owned appliance store. They matched or beat the prices of the big boxes AND had a much cheaper fee for the installation and haul-away of our dead dryer (which is why I didn't order on-line because I did not want the hassle of disposing of the old unit).

So there are times when a physical store is better than on-line.

In my shopping visits I did NOT go into Best Buy because of similar experiences to those others have described earlier in this thread. However I got the same "extended warranty" sales job at a couple of the other stores, so this is not just a problem with BB.

 

[lsiberian]

I guess things are different down here. People usually leave me alone in Best Buy. I go in get what I need and move on. If they had better products, better service, and better prices they could compete.

 

[Adam]

People usually leave me alone...

Maybe it's just you.

 

[lsiberian]

Maybe it's just you.

Perhaps this happens in many stores. Perhaps they are intimidated by the Bill Gates look.

 

[Adam]

Perhaps this happens in many stores. Perhaps they are intimidated by the Bill Gates look.

I think it's just because you exude knowledge (hey, I can be nice ). They're all thinking, "Oh, no - this guy knows this stuff. We better go after the weaker members of the herd."

 

[adwilk]

I love it.. .A bunch of online audio snobs spouting all the reasons they don't like a big box electronics store. Of course you don't... they don't build those kinds of stores for the elitist groups. They build them for the rest of the consumers.

 

[Adam]

... they don't build those kinds of stores for the elitist groups. They build them for the rest of the consumers.

By "elitist" do you mean "Wants questions answered by someone knowledgeable," "Doesn't like pushy salespeople," and "Doesn't like to grow old in a checkout line?"

 

[adwilk]

Also, the biased article from a disgruntled customer is garbage. They may or may not be headed for trouble, but I don't think the article is an intelligent or relevant argument that it is. McDonalds forgot my straw for the third time in a few months the other day. I think they're going out of business.

 

[avnetguy]

That would suck...I mean...if you live in Canada. Many of us here rely largly on best buy or future shop(which incidentally is owned by BB). We don't have many online retailers to take advantage of...not like in the States. This lack of competition is what really sets our 2 countries apart...imo. As for Amazon ....I often see great oportunities pop up on electronics but the majority of the time they don't offer shipping for those products to my address. Maybe one day they'll go the same route with the likes of "The Source" or "Curcuit City"....I suppose.

Yup, definitely a different story in Canada. I really hope they don't go under up here as it is a major source for my purchases ... sometimes the only place with reasonable sale prices and a simple return policy.

Of course you have to ignore that sales people for the most part and with the "all to common" past experiences I have no problem being flat out rude if I encounter an overly pushy salesperson. Normally a simple "No, I just need this and nothing else" works fine.

Steve

 

[Adam]

McDonalds forgot my straw for the third time in a few months the other day.

Dude, they didn't forget it. They were just being proactive because they know as well as the rest of us that you can't actually drink one of their shakes through a straw without hurting something.