Best Buy not feeling the love

Zee

Diamond Member
Nov 27, 1999
5,171
3
76
aside from groceries and clothing, due to the nature of those goods, all b&m stores are suffering
 

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,736
447
126
http://www.fool.com/investing/gener...forts-are-doomed.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004

Just curious how long they will last, I'm giving them a good 10 years. Then they will fold faster than Circuit City.

I do see them trying.

Curious how they will fold faster than circuit city given that circuit city has already folded.

Anyway, I've only ordered online from BB once and they are by far the slowest to deliver. Their shipping times need a huge improvement if they want to compete.
 

cbrunny

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 2007
6,791
406
126
The only reason to ever buy anything from Best Buy is to return same day if something goes wrong. Shopping for the risk averse only.
 

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,736
447
126
The only reason to ever buy anything from Best Buy is to return same day if something goes wrong. Shopping for the risk averse only.

I've bought more at Best Buy recently because of their Amazon price matching, so that's helped. Frankly I've never had a problem with returns there so if I can get it the same day I don't mind going to BB.
 

poofyhairguy

Lifer
Nov 20, 2005
14,612
318
126
I am going to feel bad when they die, I deny them so much margin. I am part of the problem, forcing them to Pricematch Amazon and they give me reward points on top.
 

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,736
447
126
I am going to feel bad when they die, I deny them so much margin. I am part of the problem, forcing them to Pricematch Amazon and they give me reward points on top.

To be fair, they don't do a very good job of selling me things that I don't really want to buy online. So they aren't taking good advantage of the things they may have an edge with and I don't mind matching Amazon on everything else.

For things like TVs, speakers, receivers, phones and even appliances... all of those things I'd want to see in person and/or demo in some way.

Their TV area usually has a good selection, but they don't bother setting them up right. Most of them are set up to some sort of "demo mode" which doesn't match the standard modes you see at home. My local one doesn't do a good job of upkeeping their speaker and receiver displays, so I can't get a good idea of how they sound (I've been in other Best Buys where they had good displays, so this is just my location) because half the buttons don't work. The phone displays are a crapshoot... half of the phones aren't real and a good portion of the ones that are real aren't being charged properly, and are dead when I want to look at them. Their appliance setup actually isn't bad, but they don't display all the variations they carry which can be annoying.

I'm curious how much they make with the little movies and music they bother carrying. With matching to Amazon I kind of think they could get rid of them altogether and focus more on the other stuff I mentioned. They can keep video games, but music especially seems like wasted space.
 
Oct 20, 2005
10,978
44
91
Curious how they will fold faster than circuit city given that circuit city has already folded.

Anyway, I've only ordered online from BB once and they are by far the slowest to deliver. Their shipping times need a huge improvement if they want to compete.

LOL yeah I was going to point this out.
 
Oct 20, 2005
10,978
44
91
I am going to feel bad when they die, I deny them so much margin. I am part of the problem, forcing them to Pricematch Amazon and they give me reward points on top.

Yeah but think about it like this. For every one of you, there are 10 others who end up buying things at full retail or have geeksquad install something, or whatever that does give them a high profit margin.
 

zerocool84

Lifer
Nov 11, 2004
36,041
472
126
How they and other B&M stores are going to survive is to replace all the employees with machines/robots. Orchard Supply Hardware in San Jose already has a robot that gets things for customers. That's how they are going to survive.
 

pauldun170

Diamond Member
Sep 26, 2011
9,133
5,072
136
I've bought more at Best Buy recently because of their Amazon price matching, so that's helped. Frankly I've never had a problem with returns there so if I can get it the same day I don't mind going to BB.

I've gotten some really good deals at Best Buy in the past 24 months.
The key is to always check the online price vs store price. I haven't paid store price on any of my recent purchases.
 

Genx87

Lifer
Apr 8, 2002
41,095
513
126
BB is like any other entrenched business. They want to hold onto what worked in the past and fight tooth and nail to move forward. They will if not changed will go away like every other company that has gone through this and failed.

BB 10 years ago or more should had lead the online revolution. Instead they fought to keep expensive B&M stores open. Now they are playing catch up to Amazon. And in the process whining about being a viewing store for Amazon.
 

poofyhairguy

Lifer
Nov 20, 2005
14,612
318
126
Yeah but think about it like this. For every one of you, there are 10 others who end up buying things at full retail or have geeksquad install something, or whatever that does give them a high profit margin.

I try to help with that, I tell the normals in my life to buy their technology there.
 

Linflas

Lifer
Jan 30, 2001
15,395
78
91
I've bought more at Best Buy recently because of their Amazon price matching, so that's helped. Frankly I've never had a problem with returns there so if I can get it the same day I don't mind going to BB.

But that is the problem, I have ended up using Amazon because for some reason Amazon can get the same item to me the day I order it in some cases while the 2 Best Buy stores close by me say they can have it in store in 2-4 days after ordering.
 

steppinthrax

Diamond Member
Jul 17, 2006
3,990
6
81
I've bought more at Best Buy recently because of their Amazon price matching, so that's helped. Frankly I've never had a problem with returns there so if I can get it the same day I don't mind going to BB.

How do you think price matching with Amazon helps them? LOL, not knocking you, but they obviously are doing this to compete with Amazon.
 

steppinthrax

Diamond Member
Jul 17, 2006
3,990
6
81
I've gotten some really good deals at Best Buy in the past 24 months.
The key is to always check the online price vs store price. I haven't paid store price on any of my recent purchases.

They can't survive via the online price (which is much cheaper).
 

WackyWRZ

Senior member
Mar 8, 2014
211
16
81
I've gotten really good deals on some of their open-box merchandise in the past. I do however take issue with their return policy. Different return policies depending on how much you spend there annually??? Also not a fan of their returns tracking system - I have been flagged by it before for things out of my control.
 

IndyColtsFan

Lifer
Sep 22, 2007
33,656
687
126
I can't remember the last time I was inside of a Best Buy store, BUT I have scored some good deals online from them. I prefer Amazon of course, but I'll go wherever the item is cheapest.
 

cbrsurfr

Golden Member
Jul 15, 2000
1,686
1
81
I don't like being stopped and searched for buying something. Can't stand it. You just saw me go through the f*cking checkout why do I have to show my bag and receipt and wait for some fool to let me pass?

Same thing with Walmart and Sam's club. I refuse to do business with any of these places that stop and search paying customers.
 

slag

Lifer
Dec 14, 2000
10,473
81
101
I've bought more at Best Buy recently because of their Amazon price matching, so that's helped. Frankly I've never had a problem with returns there so if I can get it the same day I don't mind going to BB.

Same. I go there and browse their clearance items and video games when on sale.
 

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,736
447
126
How do you think price matching with Amazon helps them? LOL, not knocking you, but they obviously are doing this to compete with Amazon.

I don't understand this statement... you basically answered yourself.

Of course they're doing it to compete with Amazon, and that's how it helps them. If it's cheaper on Amazon I'll buy it from there. If I can get the item in my hands inside a store and pay the same price then I'll get it at Best Buy. They don't make as much money, but they get something. Maybe I'll buy something else while I'm there too, you never know.
 
Feb 10, 2000
30,029
66
91
My fiancee is in mid-level management at Best Buy. She previously worked for Target but left because she felt it was stagnant. She loves the culture and the management of Best Buy, and the stock has performed very well since Hubert Joly joined as CEO (meaning that she got a huge bonus for 2015). I have nothing to complain about with Best Buy . . .