You have to wonder why anyone has allegiances to any store with more than 1 brand. One-stop shop? I don't know anyone who buys everything at one location because it is convenient.
You have to wonder why anyone has allegiances to any store with more than 1 brand. One-stop shop? I don't know anyone who buys everything at one location because it is convenient.
???
You don't know anyone who shops at department stores or supermarkets?
I mean, what other explanation could there be since you obviously are such a good looking guy, right?
Not to mention patient, non-judgmental, not outspoken, opinionated or having entitlement issues. And don't forget he's white too. That should count for something.
The biggest problem with Best Buy is that they have so many products on display but most of them don't work. Most phones are fake cases, many laptops are locked behind the cages. TV's with remotes hidden away. Microwaves with no power.
While that may be part of the issue, it's not universal. My city has two Best Buy stores. One is the way you describe it and the other is well stocked with almost everything working all the time. From my experience when traveling, I think the latter is more of the issue.
The biggest problem Best Buy faces is that they too often serve as a showroom for online purchasers. People come in, look around, take up the salesperson's time, and then go buy the product online from the cheapest source. Best Buy needs to find a way around that. The genius bars being discussed is one option. Just a few:
- Do what this article suggests and create a buying environment like Apple's. A place where people can get answers and get problems resolved. If done properly, this will reduce the revenue of their Geek Squad (simple answers would be free, but the Geek Squad would still be available to come to your home and set up your entire system), but would more than make up for the lost revenue in customer loyalty.
- Find a way to tie customers to Best Buy. Their reward zone program seems to have helped, but not enough. I haven't followed it and don't know if it became less generous or just became old. But they have to reward and recognize loyal customers. I'm not sure what would work, but this could be as simple as a coffee bar for preferred customers or something more complicated.
- They have to find a way to get around the 'showroom' nature of their stores. Finding more unique products that are not available online would be a start. Go to some smaller vendors of unique products and arrange a deal where Best Buy will put the products in all of their stores in exchange for an exclusive sales arrangement. That is essentially one of the things that Walmart did in the early years.
- Think way outside of the box. Heck, charge admission to their stores if you don't buy anything. (obviously not a serious suggestion).
- Making the stores more appealing as you suggest would help, but I don't think it would have much impact by itself.
Best Buy should mimic Amazon's internet business. It is easy to order online. Repackaging and returning an item online is more time consuming. Knowing that an item can be returned to a physical store would be Best Buy's advantage.
Interesting that you bring up Amazon. There has been some analyst-babble about Amazon acquiring Best Buy, since Best Buy is becoming a mere showroom for people to check out items before ordering from Amazon.
There would be some interesting synergies to that. However, there would be some strong negatives, as well.
Best Buy has basically turned into a showroom for online retailers such as Amazon. I think the biggest issues with Best Buy is their staff aren't very knowledgeable about the products they sell. Most products on display not counting TV's either are turned off or don't work. Their pricing is high, especially when it comes to things like blu ray discs, CD's, cables, etc. You can buy a good quality HDMI cable on Amazon for under $5. At Best Buy, I don't see anything under $20. Another big factor is you have to pay sales tax at Best Buy. Buying expensive electronics online that don't charge sales tax saves you a decent amount of money. I know that doesn't apply to everyone though. Another negative thing about Best Buy is I hate the fact when you purchase an item, the workers always are pushy in getting you to purchase warranty. Best Buy needs to ditch the wasted space where they sell snacks, drinks, and candy. Best Buy needs to make online shopping a better experience and offer more. They should copy how Amazon does things. It's simple to return and their customer service is excellent. The same can't be said for Best Buy.
You don't know anyone who shops at department stores or supermarkets?
I mean to say, I don't know anyone who only goes to some department store for ALL their needs ONLY. It is possible to shop at one place because everything IS cheaper, like groceries, (I do in fact) but that's because I know what I want, they have it, and I don't have questions. I wouldn't however, refrain from buying food somewhere and feel bad for splitting my loyalties. Hey would you buy ethernet cable only from Apple?
[" url="/t/151107/best-buy-mimicking-apple-stores-in-retail-makeover#post_2140950"]I'm not religious, so it would be impossible for me to give anybody the religious right eye.
And I don't give a crap about people's sexual orientation or their perversions, unless it affects me, and the reason I mentioned that she was a grotesque looking lesbian, is because I believe that she had an attitude, and that was in part due to her orientation. Some lesbians, especially the ugly looking ones, have a problem with men. And I don't take crap from anybody, I don't care if they're a lesbian or a minority or whatever.
Well, I'm a white, middle aged heterosexual male, at least average looks and after reading your posts, I would have a problem with you, as well.
Maybe you need to look at yourself rather than blaming the whole world for not bending down and kissing your toes ever minute of the day.
If Apple does release it own HDTV, it might consider buying BestBuy and essentially choke off one of the major distribution channels for competing consumer electronic products, while instantly more than doubling its own distribution capacity. It will only cost them $7B, and converting them to Apple Stores will be easier if BB is starting to emulate them.
Buying expensive electronics online that don't charge sales tax saves you a decent amount of money.
That is a whole 'nother topic. Eventually they are going to make you pay the tax. Amazon is fighting it but they will eventually have to comply, even if it is just for California. The deal they currently have ends September 2012.
As a business we have to declare the purchases and pay the sales tax even though Amazon doesn't charge any.
Best Buy sells and offers far too much junk. When you walk around the store and see what's on the shelves, you notice that they have no standards at all. They'll accept any product it seems, which is probably why there are so many junky and cheap Android devices there. And most of them don't even work.
I also caught one of their employees lying to me once. It was this grotesque looking, obese girl who I'm 99% certain was a lesbian, and she said that they didn't have any iPad 2's in stock when I asked. This happened a while ago, around the time that the iPad 2 first got released. I don't trust any people working in Best Buy stores and people who make a few dollars an hour, so later on that same day, I asked another Best Buy employee in that same store who checked the computer, and I provided them with the exact model number and full product code from their website, and sure enough, they had some in stock. The obese, lesbian, grotesque looking girl saw what was happening and she frantically ran over to the computer and desperately tried to change the screen as quickly as possible, because she didn't want me to see their stock information, which revealed how she had been caught in a lie.
This is an amazingly offensive post, and incoherent, too. The first sentence of the second paragraph speculates that a person was lesbian, and the last sentence says outright that she was lesbian. All the time using lesbian as a pejorative description. Wow! What sort of backwoods did this poster come from?
I mean to say, I don't know anyone who only goes to some department store for ALL their needs ONLY. It is possible to shop at one place because everything IS cheaper, like groceries, (I do in fact) but that's because I know what I want, they have it, and I don't have questions. I wouldn't however, refrain from buying food somewhere and feel bad for splitting my loyalties. Hey would you buy ethernet cable only from Apple?
My point is that department stores have largely superseded specialty retail stores much like supermarkets have largely superseded bakers and butchers. People accept department stores and supermarkets because those are the norm now but that hasn't always been true.
Apple doesn't sell ethernet cables as far as I know, otherwise I might.
Just by looking at the picture it's obvious it isn't going to work. Best Buy doesn't "get it". And the white shirts with black ties make those guys look like douchebags.
The sale of retail cd's and dvd's is going to continue to decline and as that happens it will only highlight the cavernous space that Best Buys contain. Best Buy would be better off shrinking their store size and focusing on having everything on display work than adding a huge customer service bar. I mean really, who doesn't buy at Best Buy because they can't get their questions answered?
Why people buy at Best Buy?
Price
Convenience
Availability
If I were Best Buy, I would leverage their online ability as much as possible to be able to compete with Amazon. Just like Circuit City, Best Buy's days are numbered unless they do something drastic to turn things around and a customer service bar is not the answer. Just more clutter and confusion for the customer.
Ya' know... you reminded me of when we owned computer stores in Silicon Valley (1978-89). There was a period of time when it seemed as if there was a [competitor's] computer store on every corner... all offering:
Price
Convenience
Availability
As it turns out, they were mainly offering discounts -- and computers began to be sold as commodity items.
The way we competed was by offering some things the others could/would not.
Basically, we guaranteed satisfaction and did everything within our power to make the customer a competent computer user. It was successful and generated repeat customers and many, many reference sales (nationwide and world wide).
First, we sold the "products" (hardware and software) at full retail prices -- but explained to the customers we would earn every penny -- that they would get much more in service and support (which we itemized), We were able to refer them to satisfied customers who would back this up.
Second, all our employees were salaried -- and any vendor SPIFFS were shared equally among all employees (sales, service, admin). We promoted the attitude to our employees that the customer was a customer of our company -- and was not Larry's or Cathy's customer... This reaped benefits in satisfied customers (and all that it means) -- you completely avoided the situation where a customer wants help, but staff refuses to wait on him because he is Candy's customer.
Third, we established the best service/repair/installation department in the state (country?). I can remember one day there was a line at our repair pickup counter. In the line were Regis McKenna (himself), Mike "Scottie" Scott (former president of Apple) and John Sculley's AA (our customer's were the "who's who" of computer users"). We also promoted our repair service to our staff and customers as: this is the ultimate situation to turn around a dissatisfied customer (his computer doesn't work) into a satisfied customer.
Fourth. we offered exclusive training -- from initial setup and checkout (getting the customer comfortable with his purchase); weekly "Tips and Techniques" classes for follow-on training; specialty classes: database, desktop publishing, etc. Most of this training was developed by our [non-comissioned] sales staff -- who used customer interests and problem feedback as a basis for the training. Often, we would feature people with specialized abilities or talents... Bill Atkinson, Andy Hertzfeld, Woz, Mike Kinney, Guy Kawasaki... About 1/5 of our floor space was a "multipurpose room" with comfortable [expensive] Herman Miller couches, chairs and tables. This could be easily reconfigured for a single checkout, formal "hands on" class, lecture, etc.
The results of all this was that we were able to survive and prosper through the bad times when the competitors were going out of business.
This is an amazingly offensive post, and incoherent, too. The first sentence of the second paragraph speculates that a person was lesbian, and the last sentence says outright that she was lesbian. All the time using lesbian as a pejorative description. Wow! What sort of backwoods did this poster come from?
Agreed. She is a human being, (somebody's daughter) who deserves a modicum of respect.
Comments
Quote:
Originally Posted by paxman
Or in the case of Apple where both is true.
You have to wonder why anyone has allegiances to any store with more than 1 brand. One-stop shop? I don't know anyone who buys everything at one location because it is convenient.
???
You don't know anyone who shops at department stores or supermarkets?
Quote:
Originally Posted by JupiterOne
I mean, what other explanation could there be since you obviously are such a good looking guy, right?
Not to mention patient, non-judgmental, not outspoken, opinionated or having entitlement issues. And don't forget he's white too. That should count for something.
Quote:
Originally Posted by markbyrn
Lose the ties
As a Geek Squad employee, I couldn't agree more!
While that may be part of the issue, it's not universal. My city has two Best Buy stores. One is the way you describe it and the other is well stocked with almost everything working all the time. From my experience when traveling, I think the latter is more of the issue.
The biggest problem Best Buy faces is that they too often serve as a showroom for online purchasers. People come in, look around, take up the salesperson's time, and then go buy the product online from the cheapest source. Best Buy needs to find a way around that. The genius bars being discussed is one option. Just a few:
- Do what this article suggests and create a buying environment like Apple's. A place where people can get answers and get problems resolved. If done properly, this will reduce the revenue of their Geek Squad (simple answers would be free, but the Geek Squad would still be available to come to your home and set up your entire system), but would more than make up for the lost revenue in customer loyalty.
- Find a way to tie customers to Best Buy. Their reward zone program seems to have helped, but not enough. I haven't followed it and don't know if it became less generous or just became old. But they have to reward and recognize loyal customers. I'm not sure what would work, but this could be as simple as a coffee bar for preferred customers or something more complicated.
- They have to find a way to get around the 'showroom' nature of their stores. Finding more unique products that are not available online would be a start. Go to some smaller vendors of unique products and arrange a deal where Best Buy will put the products in all of their stores in exchange for an exclusive sales arrangement. That is essentially one of the things that Walmart did in the early years.
- Think way outside of the box. Heck, charge admission to their stores if you don't buy anything. (obviously not a serious suggestion).
- Making the stores more appealing as you suggest would help, but I don't think it would have much impact by itself.
You can already do that at Best Buy.
There would be some interesting synergies to that. However, there would be some strong negatives, as well.
Best Buy has basically turned into a showroom for online retailers such as Amazon. I think the biggest issues with Best Buy is their staff aren't very knowledgeable about the products they sell. Most products on display not counting TV's either are turned off or don't work. Their pricing is high, especially when it comes to things like blu ray discs, CD's, cables, etc. You can buy a good quality HDMI cable on Amazon for under $5. At Best Buy, I don't see anything under $20. Another big factor is you have to pay sales tax at Best Buy. Buying expensive electronics online that don't charge sales tax saves you a decent amount of money. I know that doesn't apply to everyone though. Another negative thing about Best Buy is I hate the fact when you purchase an item, the workers always are pushy in getting you to purchase warranty. Best Buy needs to ditch the wasted space where they sell snacks, drinks, and candy. Best Buy needs to make online shopping a better experience and offer more. They should copy how Amazon does things. It's simple to return and their customer service is excellent. The same can't be said for Best Buy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacBook Pro
???
You don't know anyone who shops at department stores or supermarkets?
I mean to say, I don't know anyone who only goes to some department store for ALL their needs ONLY. It is possible to shop at one place because everything IS cheaper, like groceries, (I do in fact) but that's because I know what I want, they have it, and I don't have questions. I wouldn't however, refrain from buying food somewhere and feel bad for splitting my loyalties. Hey would you buy ethernet cable only from Apple?
Well, I'm a white, middle aged heterosexual male, at least average looks and after reading your posts, I would have a problem with you, as well.
Maybe you need to look at yourself rather than blaming the whole world for not bending down and kissing your toes ever minute of the day.
If Apple does release it own HDTV, it might consider buying BestBuy and essentially choke off one of the major distribution channels for competing consumer electronic products, while instantly more than doubling its own distribution capacity. It will only cost them $7B, and converting them to Apple Stores will be easier if BB is starting to emulate them.
I also caught one of their employees lying to me once. It was this grotesque looking, obese girl who I'm 99% certain was a lesbian.
to paraphrase blanche devereaux: "lesbian ... lesbian ... lesbian. what's funny about that? isn't danny thomas one?"Quote:
Originally Posted by Boltsfan17
Buying expensive electronics online that don't charge sales tax saves you a decent amount of money.
That is a whole 'nother topic. Eventually they are going to make you pay the tax. Amazon is fighting it but they will eventually have to comply, even if it is just for California. The deal they currently have ends September 2012.
As a business we have to declare the purchases and pay the sales tax even though Amazon doesn't charge any.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Apple ][
Best Buy sells and offers far too much junk. When you walk around the store and see what's on the shelves, you notice that they have no standards at all. They'll accept any product it seems, which is probably why there are so many junky and cheap Android devices there. And most of them don't even work.
I also caught one of their employees lying to me once. It was this grotesque looking, obese girl who I'm 99% certain was a lesbian, and she said that they didn't have any iPad 2's in stock when I asked. This happened a while ago, around the time that the iPad 2 first got released. I don't trust any people working in Best Buy stores and people who make a few dollars an hour, so later on that same day, I asked another Best Buy employee in that same store who checked the computer, and I provided them with the exact model number and full product code from their website, and sure enough, they had some in stock. The obese, lesbian, grotesque looking girl saw what was happening and she frantically ran over to the computer and desperately tried to change the screen as quickly as possible, because she didn't want me to see their stock information, which revealed how she had been caught in a lie.
This is an amazingly offensive post, and incoherent, too. The first sentence of the second paragraph speculates that a person was lesbian, and the last sentence says outright that she was lesbian. All the time using lesbian as a pejorative description. Wow! What sort of backwoods did this poster come from?
My point is that department stores have largely superseded specialty retail stores much like supermarkets have largely superseded bakers and butchers. People accept department stores and supermarkets because those are the norm now but that hasn't always been true.
Apple doesn't sell ethernet cables as far as I know, otherwise I might.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacBook Pro
Apple doesn't sell ethernet cables as far as I know, otherwise I might.
store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/mac_accessories/cables
They sell Belkin 7' Cat6
Is it me...or does it look ugly and clunky? 2 stools....just looks clumsy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sportyguy209
The sale of retail cd's and dvd's is going to continue to decline and as that happens it will only highlight the cavernous space that Best Buys contain. Best Buy would be better off shrinking their store size and focusing on having everything on display work than adding a huge customer service bar. I mean really, who doesn't buy at Best Buy because they can't get their questions answered?
Why people buy at Best Buy?
Price
Convenience
Availability
If I were Best Buy, I would leverage their online ability as much as possible to be able to compete with Amazon. Just like Circuit City, Best Buy's days are numbered unless they do something drastic to turn things around and a customer service bar is not the answer. Just more clutter and confusion for the customer.
Ya' know... you reminded me of when we owned computer stores in Silicon Valley (1978-89). There was a period of time when it seemed as if there was a [competitor's] computer store on every corner... all offering:
Price
Convenience
Availability
As it turns out, they were mainly offering discounts -- and computers began to be sold as commodity items.
The way we competed was by offering some things the others could/would not.
Basically, we guaranteed satisfaction and did everything within our power to make the customer a competent computer user. It was successful and generated repeat customers and many, many reference sales (nationwide and world wide).
First, we sold the "products" (hardware and software) at full retail prices -- but explained to the customers we would earn every penny -- that they would get much more in service and support (which we itemized), We were able to refer them to satisfied customers who would back this up.
Second, all our employees were salaried -- and any vendor SPIFFS were shared equally among all employees (sales, service, admin). We promoted the attitude to our employees that the customer was a customer of our company -- and was not Larry's or Cathy's customer... This reaped benefits in satisfied customers (and all that it means) -- you completely avoided the situation where a customer wants help, but staff refuses to wait on him because he is Candy's customer.
Third, we established the best service/repair/installation department in the state (country?). I can remember one day there was a line at our repair pickup counter. In the line were Regis McKenna (himself), Mike "Scottie" Scott (former president of Apple) and John Sculley's AA (our customer's were the "who's who" of computer users"). We also promoted our repair service to our staff and customers as: this is the ultimate situation to turn around a dissatisfied customer (his computer doesn't work) into a satisfied customer.
Fourth. we offered exclusive training -- from initial setup and checkout (getting the customer comfortable with his purchase); weekly "Tips and Techniques" classes for follow-on training; specialty classes: database, desktop publishing, etc. Most of this training was developed by our [non-comissioned] sales staff -- who used customer interests and problem feedback as a basis for the training. Often, we would feature people with specialized abilities or talents... Bill Atkinson, Andy Hertzfeld, Woz, Mike Kinney, Guy Kawasaki... About 1/5 of our floor space was a "multipurpose room" with comfortable [expensive] Herman Miller couches, chairs and tables. This could be easily reconfigured for a single checkout, formal "hands on" class, lecture, etc.
The results of all this was that we were able to survive and prosper through the bad times when the competitors were going out of business.
There may be some things that BB could implement.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DennyL
This is an amazingly offensive post, and incoherent, too. The first sentence of the second paragraph speculates that a person was lesbian, and the last sentence says outright that she was lesbian. All the time using lesbian as a pejorative description. Wow! What sort of backwoods did this poster come from?
Agreed. She is a human being, (somebody's daughter) who deserves a modicum of respect.