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Question about ethical retail sales...electronics

The Stigenator

The Stigenator

Lifer
so i work for a major electronics retailer. I havent worked long, im just in my second week and i can see a stark contrast of what i consider retail 'upsetlling' and just plain brand name pushing.

So take the monster brand for instance. People here either love it or hate it. I agree its over hyped to teh point where monster really doesnt mean much.

But all day i see HDTV's being sold, plasmas, lcd's, dlp's. Along with them goes the "monster" brand power protector or whatever. Its a glorified surge protector. The one that usually is sold on a 42"+ is a 250$ surge protector which seems to do everything but make love to you. Seriously i dont think hookers who charge 250/hr undersell their worth.

When i am on the floor, i have been pushing a lesser known brand to monster. All in all the client user isnt going to see that big a difference for monster cabling vs. generic brand cabling.

I think the problem is that my ethics is being a conflict with the business ethics. All is well and good when a customer asks me for advice, and i give them the 'right' advice. However when someone else answers (they can get a different answer).

Turns out the corporate philosphy has been to upsell high margin items, including the serivce plan. I can understand a service plan for a DLP, Plasma or LCD. BUt for a 20" tube tv??? what the heck?

I am goign to have to re-evaluate my standing on this. Cause its causing an conflict for me. ON one hand i got 'docked' for not selling monster engouh, on the other i dont believe monster isnt the best thing out there.

I know business is about making profit, but not at the expensive at the consumers wallet.

Example: a person comes in wants a 42" HDTV. I give them the pro's and con's depending on if they want wall mounting or table mounting. I tell them about plasma's and LCD's and DLP. I tell them what each means. I work with them. I tell them the service plan is a good thing to have on these new devices. I

THen i ofcourse have to hand it to someone else to finish teh sale since i cant do teh POS yet. Anyway so the new guy takes over. Starts upselling stuff like service plan (to a higher one - even though the one recommended is fine), then comes the cabling and the BIG surge protector. the 250$ one.

So by the time the customer is out of the store. Her 1999.99 tv has now suddenly become a 3500$ tv.

am i wrong in seeing what i am seeing or is this normal?
 
First off, many folks here with tell you that "ethics" and "retail" are mutually exclusive.

Second, let me read this again and get back to you.

EDIT: In the business world, I believe it is considered ethical to push one brand so long as you make the customer aware of all the other brands you sell.

I am not an ethics expert, since I never worked retail.
 
the thing is that i dont work on commission, none of us do. And i doubt any body ever told there is a competing brand.

Like today i had an irate customer who bought an sony 34" tube HDTV. Turns out it has 1 HDMI port. He has 2 HDMI devices. So the guy last night sold him 3 HDMI cables at 150 each, an HDMI switcher for another 250

The tv was 1399 i think. Bascially guy spent another 700 on cables!! he was furious. On top the TV didnt work when he got home.

So i had to call the manager he finally spent more and ended up with a 42" plasma and it cost cheaper!

grrr..
 
Stores wouldn't push Monster brand stuff on customers if they believed there was any customer loyalty. There isn't. Customers will go wherever they can save a buck, which forces retailers to cut prices on popular big-ticket items to the bone. The only way they can survive is to sell more high-profit items like surge protectors, cables, printer cartridges, service plans, etc. Those stores cannot make it without those high-margin items.

Years ago you could find retailers who would tell you the truth in hopes you would become a regular customer. We (the consumers) have rejected that approach, so what you are seeing is the way things are going to be.

If you were running your own store, you could not push Monster stuff. But your employer is calling the shots, and if you don't sell enough of it you're not going to stay employed long. Do you really believe any customer is going to be more loyal to your store because you sold a cheap surge protector instead of the Monster brand? I don't.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think you should lie to customers. But your job is not to sell the least amount of stuff either. That's business.
 
Originally posted by: kranky
Stores wouldn't push Monster brand stuff on customers if they believed there was any customer loyalty. There isn't. Customers will go wherever they can save a buck, which forces retailers to cut prices on popular big-ticket items to the bone. The only way they can survive is to sell more high-profit items like surge protectors, cables, printer cartridges, service plans, etc. Those stores cannot make it without those high-margin items.

Years ago you could find retailers who would tell you the truth in hopes you would become a regular customer. We (the consumers) have rejected that approach, so what you are seeing is the way things are going to be.

If you were running your own store, you could not push Monster stuff. But your employer is calling the shots, and if you don't sell enough of it you're not going to stay employed long. Do you really believe any customer is going to be more loyal to your store because you sold a cheap surge protector instead of the Monster brand? I don't.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think you should lie to customers. But your job is not to sell the least amount of stuff either. That's business.
Click to expand...

sums it up. a good summary of why i hated retail.
 
Originally posted by: RichardE
You work at best buy don't you 😛
Click to expand...

It also could be Circuit City. But I bet BBY too. I've worked at both places. BBY just cares about pushing accessories on customers to no end. In computer dept. we had premade accessories packages for like $300+!!! It even had a $70 20ft GOLD printer cable!!!!!!! :shocked: What a retarded company.
 
Originally posted by: kranky
Stores wouldn't push Monster brand stuff on customers if they believed there was any customer loyalty. There isn't. Customers will go wherever they can save a buck . . .
Click to expand...
Sad but true. Many people also go into stores like Best Buy to try things out, then buy online to save a little money because it's cheaper.

They don't care that a big reason why that online warehouse is cheaper is that they don't have to pay for the store they just visited. It's not ethical on the part of the customer to waste time and use the equipment of a store they have no real intention of buying from.

Both sides have given up on ethics, so sadly it's hard to completely condemn BB, CC etc. for pushing Monster on customers that are going to (or already have) steal their time and resources for some other item next trip.
 
Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Originally posted by: kranky
Stores wouldn't push Monster brand stuff on customers if they believed there was any customer loyalty. There isn't. Customers will go wherever they can save a buck . . .
Click to expand...
Sad but true. Many people also go into stores like Best Buy to try things out, then buy online to save a little money because it's cheaper.

They don't care that a big reason why that online warehouse is cheaper is that they don't have to pay for the store they just visited. It's not ethical on the part of the customer to waste time and use the equipment of a store they have no real intention of buying from.

Both sides have given up on ethics, so sadly it's hard to completely condemn BB, CC etc. for pushing Monster on customers that are going to (or already have) steal their time and resources for some other item next trip.
Click to expand...


QFT
 
GG, have you considered working for an AV store like Magnolia AV (which I realize is now owned by Best Buy)?

Last I heard their sales guys were still allowed to be a little more ethical than in BB or CC.
 
Its like when I worked for Best Buy, push the gold plated USB cables. Digital is digital, gold plated or not. Now in analog, a better cable dose make a difference.
 
You work at Best Buy. I'm sorry.

Transfer to the car audio department, by far the best department in the store. HT & Computers drive the store's budget, thus you'll be pressured there. In Car Audio you generally hit your budget and smoke your gross margin.
 
Originally posted by: kranky
Stores wouldn't push Monster brand stuff on customers if they believed there was any customer loyalty. There isn't. Customers will go wherever they can save a buck, which forces retailers to cut prices on popular big-ticket items to the bone. The only way they can survive is to sell more high-profit items like surge protectors, cables, printer cartridges, service plans, etc. Those stores cannot make it without those high-margin items.

Years ago you could find retailers who would tell you the truth in hopes you would become a regular customer. We (the consumers) have rejected that approach, so what you are seeing is the way things are going to be.

If you were running your own store, you could not push Monster stuff. But your employer is calling the shots, and if you don't sell enough of it you're not going to stay employed long. Do you really believe any customer is going to be more loyal to your store because you sold a cheap surge protector instead of the Monster brand? I don't.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think you should lie to customers. But your job is not to sell the least amount of stuff either. That's business.
Click to expand...

Amazing post! :thumbsup:
 
Originally posted by: kranky
Stores wouldn't push Monster brand stuff on customers if they believed there was any customer loyalty. There isn't. Customers will go wherever they can save a buck, which forces retailers to cut prices on popular big-ticket items to the bone. The only way they can survive is to sell more high-profit items like surge protectors, cables, printer cartridges, service plans, etc. Those stores cannot make it without those high-margin items.

Years ago you could find retailers who would tell you the truth in hopes you would become a regular customer. We (the consumers) have rejected that approach, so what you are seeing is the way things are going to be.

If you were running your own store, you could not push Monster stuff. But your employer is calling the shots, and if you don't sell enough of it you're not going to stay employed long. Do you really believe any customer is going to be more loyal to your store because you sold a cheap surge protector instead of the Monster brand? I don't.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think you should lie to customers. But your job is not to sell the least amount of stuff either. That's business.
Click to expand...

Winnar.
 
If you're looking for a new job drop me a PM. What Kranky says is 100% true.

However if you don't want to be as honest as possible to the customer and you're in the Lake County IL area, you might want check out my store. It's a smaller one. But we go more one on one with the customer. It has it's drawbacks, but most of the people that work here enjoy it.

Khoa
 
Originally posted by: Theguynextdoor
If you're looking for a new job drop me a PM. What Kranky says is 100% true.

However if you don't want to be as honest as possible to the customer and you're in the Lake County IL area, you might want check out my store. It's a smaller one. But we go more one on one with the customer. It has it's drawbacks, but most of the people that work here enjoy it.

Khoa
Click to expand...

ygpm
 
Originally posted by: TheGoodGuy
I know business is about making profit, but not at the expensive at the consumers wallet.
Click to expand...
Hahahahaha. Ahahahaha.

Zanggg..!


Oh wait... were you serious?


It's your business as a consumer to know what you're buying, it's their business to make a profit. Conflicting interests my friend, that's life. Protect your own interests.

If you're foolish enough to take the word of a Best Buy employee over punching in a few keywords in Google and buy some hype-plated super-conducting ultra-gazebo cable, high-five to the Best Buy employee, you're an idiot.
 
Originally posted by: ELopes580
Originally posted by: RichardE
You work at best buy don't you 😛
Click to expand...

It also could be Circuit City. But I bet BBY too. I've worked at both places. BBY just cares about pushing accessories on customers to no end. In computer dept. we had premade accessories packages for like $300+!!! It even had a $70 20ft GOLD printer cable!!!!!!! :shocked: What a retarded company.
Click to expand...

yeah, that was my line of thought too. BBY is just insane for pushing packages, service plans, gold plated USB cables ect
 
What exactly do you think your purpose is, there? The consumers of our country expect the lowest prices on everything. That's fine, but they also want hand holding and EXPERT advice.

I laugh at my dad when he finally realizes the kid who sold him the digicam at Walmart, didn't really know what he was talking about. If he had purchased it at BB or CC, he might have gotten a little better advice, but the camera would have been about the same price. So, how does CC or BB pay for more knowlegable sales people, when they're only getting the same margin of profit as Walmart? Do you see what your real sales goal is yet?
 
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