Best Buy Most Popular Store For Showrooming

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And here we thought Best Buy was just being a bunch of cry babies when the company started complaining about showrooming last year. Turns out the were right. :D

According to a new survey from the folks at Harris Interactive, 23% of respondents who said they had showroomed listed Best Buy as the bricks-and-mortar store they most frequently showroomed at. Walmart was #2 on that list, with 21% of respondents saying Big W was the place they did the most showrooming. Target, the only other retailer in double-digit percentages, was third with 12%.
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"the were right."
Do you mean "they were right"?

Let me see what I bought at BB in the past...
-2x 27" CRT TVs pre 1998-2001
-1x Pioneer A/V receiver 2000
-CNC the First Decade 2004ish
-2x Sandisk Sansa Clip+ 4GBers 2010-2011
-Apple Charger 2012ish

But most of the time I window shop. :D
 
Maybe they should ask people why they showroom at Best Buy and you know ... try to actually solve the problem. The answer is obviously because of their ripoff pricing, crappy return policy, and abbrasive employees. I doesn't hurt to ask though!
 
Steve said:
And here we thought Best Buy was just being a bunch of cry babies when the company started complaining about showrooming last year. Turns out the were right. :D
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I must say, I rarely use BB as a place to look at gear. Truth is that if they have the stuff you want, they'll price match many of the better online retailers. My parents TV just died, and they went to a local Mid-Upper end AV shop. The place was completely unwilling to negotiate. They wouldn't even toss in a TV stand. Parents ended up buying it from a local installer, who beat Amazon by $700. That guy then went to the Local store that wouldn't deal with my parents, picked up the set and stand and installed the whole shebang.

The reality is that local shops have to be willing to deal with consumers.
Dealer Cost
  • Video Cost = ASP * .7
  • Audio Cost = ASP * .6
  • Home Speaker Cost = ASP *.5

It was like that when I sold A/V and it was still that way 15 years ago when you could download Cost Sheets on the web (till MFGs put the kibosh on that site). Didn't matter if you were buying mid-fi or ridiculously expensive stuff, that was the markup.

So if these places want to compete, they have to compete. They're already at a Tax disadvantage, but many will exchange taxes for helping the local economy...but few are willing to pay 30% more + tax.
 
Showrooming at Wal*Mart? Isn't that like, visiting the garbage fill for items that might still be working?
 
BB rarely has the specific models of equipment I want... and when it does, they overcharge by a lot. I stopped going to BB.
 
I was going to buy stuff from best buy I did not want to wait for anything the last time I went in to get a USB cable they said it was $20 and I check amazon and it was $5 with shipping the same cable brand barcode.

I ordered it on my phone in the store and walked out.
 
Or you could've just price matched and walked out with the cable...

Cube said:
I was going to buy stuff from best buy I did not want to wait for anything the last time I went in to get a USB cable they said it was $20 and I check amazon and it was $5 with shipping the same cable brand barcode.

I ordered it on my phone in the store and walked out.
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i don't get how come best buy USA is so different from best buy canada. Granted best buy canada did buy futureshop and adopted futureshop policies, i can't get over how... different it is. In canada, we get price matching including online stores and they give u 10% off of the difference in price too. Also there is a 30 days return period (14 days on computers and other stuff) here.

Of course, i don't shop at best buy (don't have one) but i do abuse their PM policy at futureshop.....
 
Alai said:
BB rarely has the specific models of equipment I want... and when it does, they overcharge by a lot. I stopped going to BB.
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If I ever end up in a Best Buy, it's because it's on my way to somewhere else and I have time to kill. I go in thinking "maybe something I could use will be on sale", not "I need to get this at BestBuy." I'll walk around and it doesn't take long for me to have that urge to finish it up because of how overpriced everything is. They really aren't good for much unless you get something on sale.
 
I think it is a matter of them being the most likely brick and mortar electronic shop that is near most people. Here in Fort Worth we have no other electronic or computer related store other then Best Buy, and we have like 5 of them. And this is Fort Worth we are talking about....it is not the most progressive town in the country, but it is pretty good sized.

Once you get into the American interior, I think Wal-Mart is going to be the most likely option. The Wal-Marts around here carry 70" LCD (and not off brand either). Electronics have become commodities. Which is good and bad.
 
I think the title should read: "Best Buy the ONLY good place to showroom."

Last time I was in a WalMart the TVs models were over a year old. Not necessarily terrible, but the prices and sets were just plain out of date. I don't know what people see in WallyWorld. The prices are never good on anything there, and the place smells like industrial cleaner and (depending on the store) burnt popcorn which makes me want to turn around and leave as soon as I walk in the door.
 
Price matching is a good start, but they have WAY more problems then just the prices. After reading such stupidity as the "customercentricity" policies they had, the (past) CEO calling people who came in for loss leader items "devil customers", the fact that I've rarely found a helpful employee there, etc are reasons why I avoid going to Best Buy unless I absolutely have to. Bad prices on top of everything else is just salt in the wound.
 
The last TV I purchased was for my bedroom. It came from Best Buy. It was actually cheaper than Amazon. I am very guilty of showrooming at Best Buy. That is what I was doing when I went in to look at that TV. I saw it on Amazon and then checked Best Buy online and saw the price was the same as Amazon. When I went into the store they had actually dropped the price a little more due to a sale. So I purchased it right then.
I have noticed that their TV prices are getting closer to online prices. Probable due to people showrooming. There are still some things that I refuse to buy from there. They still have some of the worst prices on cables (any cables).
I live in a rural area and it is much easier for me to shop online. I go to work early and get home late and I work weekends. I do not have much time to "window shop". I can get home pull up what I want online, order it from Amazon Prime, and in two days I have what I want. Price is a major factor of course, but the convenience plays a major part as well.
 
hesho said:
i don't get how come best buy USA is so different from best buy canada. Granted best buy canada did buy futureshop and adopted futureshop policies, i can't get over how... different it is. In canada, we get price matching including online stores and they give u 10% off of the difference in price too. Also there is a 30 days return period (14 days on computers and other stuff) here.

Of course, i don't shop at best buy (don't have one) but i do abuse their PM policy at futureshop.....
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They do that here too. They'll PM buy.com, Amazon.com, Crutchfield and several other online sites. I'm not sure about 10% of the difference. In the past, BB would only give you 110% of the difference if you PMed after you bought the product. The problem is they have such a bad reputation from years gone buy that people still hate them. I probably go into a store 4 times a year, normally just to walk around to see if they have anything of interest. They never do and I leave.
 
Half the time I go into BB they don't have what I want or I can walk next door to a Target or just down the road to Costco and get things cheaper.
 
Funny how selling stuff for 50% more than it costs online results in people not buying from you.
 
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