There are many things Best Buy is doing wrong in their stores, I'll just name a few things they need to improve.
Customer service is the obvious one. They may have an army of employees to assist you at every waking moment, but they are just sales people. They know nothing more than what's written on the package. And, sometimes they don't even know that...they have to actually look and read the specs on the packages or on the computers...something you as a consumer could do on your own. Selling electronics requires more training than selling clothes or other non-technical products. Usually if you have a question beyond the box spec's they have to get one of the more technically trained guys. In most departments of Best Buy, that's one or two people, who don't work every day and are usually barraged by other customers because they actually know something about what their selling. Hiring and TRAINING more tech-savvy employees would be very helpful.
Building on the idea of better training, they could further promote the in-home delivery, training and set-up. Not many electronics companies will offer that. Apple does a great job with the One-On-One and the training classes. That's one of the best reasons to buy Apple, they will train you to use their stuff. They are a brick and mortar store, why not take advantage of the fact that they have a living, breathing, people waiting to help you. Even if you have to make appointments, that hasn't stopped people from coming back to Apple Stores. Amazon, Walmart and the likes aren't going to go that extra step.
Get rid of the impulse items, or at the very least tone them down. They are really wasting money and time by selling snacks and other impulse items in their stores. Just silly. Focus on the products that people are there for.
Get rid of the bargain-basement items and sell Mid-range and High-end products. If you want a cheap-ass TV, go to Walmart. Why bother competing with Amazon and Walmart when they obvious beat you every time. cheap products have no profit. Use Consumer Electronics websites and 3rd party reviews (Consumer Reports, CNET) as your source for stocking products. Heck the grocery stores started showing the wine-point-scale next to popular wines as a marketing solution to selling more wine. Why not do that for electronics?
Include a free shipping option for products on IN-STORE. I like the idea of floating check-outs like Apple Stores, but take that further by allowing a free method of delivery if they don't have it. The Customer spent money on gas and time coming into your store for a product, so if you don't have it, offer a free shipping for out-of-stock items and market it that way. BB has the volume to justify the cost.
Don't call it "Solution Central". The "Geek Squad" name has been pretty successful, just build on your existing marketing structure....like "Geek Squad Station" or something.
One of the strong points to BB is their massive selection of different products/models. They also sell an butt-load of accessories. In most cases, the accessories out-shelf the actual products. I'd be curious to see the numbers for % of sales on Accessories vs. actual products. Seems like they could cut some margins if what I think is too many accessories.
Drop the furniture lines...keep the wall mounts and things of that nature. but to sell office chairs and crap desks and entertainment cabinets is just wasteful...and the products are crap at best. Target, Walmart and Ikea do much better business at that, so don't try and beat them in a market they obvious do much better in.
Look what Barnes & Noble has done in the past year or so. They made the conscious decision to slowly phase-out all non-essential products and focus on selling BOOKS. They are a book retailer, so they decided not to compete with Amazon and the likes and just focus on what they do best. They dropped music and movies almost entirely. Some stores still have them, but listening to insiders...I've heard that they will drop a lot of the non-essential stuff.
There are many more ways to improve, but that's my 2 cents.
Maybe if they wouldn't nickel and dime every customer and upsell the hell out of them, they wouldn't be where they are today. I hate BestBuy...I only go in there to look at something, try it and then buy it elsewhere (usually online).
There are many things Best Buy is doing wrong in their stores, I'll just name a few things they need to improve.
Customer service is the obvious one. They may have an army of employees to assist you at every waking moment, but they are just sales people. They know nothing more than what's written on the package. And, sometimes they don't even know that...they have to actually look and read the specs on the packages or on the computers...something you as a consumer could do on your own. Selling electronics requires more training than selling clothes or other non-technical products. Usually if you have a question beyond the box spec's they have to get one of the more technically trained guys. In most departments of Best Buy, that's one or two people, who don't work every day and are usually barraged by other customers because they actually know something about what their selling. Hiring and TRAINING more tech-savvy employees would be very helpful.
Get rid of the impulse items, or at the very least tone them down. They are really wasting money and time by selling snacks and other impulse items in their stores. Just silly. Focus on the products that people are there for.
Get rid of the bargain-basement items and sell Mid-range and High-end products. If you want a cheap-ass TV, go to Walmart. Why bother competing with Amazon and Walmart when they obvious beat you every time. cheap products have no profit. Use Consumer Electronics websites and 3rd party reviews (Consumer Reports, CNET) as your source for stocking products. Heck the grocery stores started showing the wine-point-scale next to popular wines as a marketing solution to selling more wine. Why not do that for electronics?
Include a free shipping option for products on IN-STORE. I like the idea of floating check-outs like Apple Stores, but take that further by allowing a free method of delivery if they don't have it. The Customer spent money on gas and time coming into your store for a product, so if you don't have it, offer a free shipping for out-of-stock items and market it that way. BB has the volume to justify the cost.
Don't call it "Solution Central". The "Geek Squad" name has been pretty successful, just build on your existing marketing structure....like "Geek Squad Station" or something.
One of the strong points to BB is their massive selection of different products/models. They also sell an butt-load of accessories. In most cases, the accessories out-shelf the actual products. I'd be curious to see the numbers for % of sales on Accessories vs. actual products. Seems like they could cut some margins if what I think is too many accessories.
Drop the furniture lines...keep the wall mounts and things of that nature. but to sell office chairs and crap desks and entertainment cabinets is just wasteful...and the products are crap at best. Target, Walmart and Ikea do much better business at that, so don't try and beat them in a market they obvious do much better in.
Look what Barnes & Noble has done in the past year or so. They made the conscious decision to slowly phase-out all non-essential products and focus on selling BOOKS. They are a book retailer, so they decided not to compete with Amazon and the likes and just focus on what they do best. They dropped music and movies almost entirely. Some stores still have them, but listening to insiders...I've heard that they will drop a lot of the non-essential stuff.
There are many more ways to improve, but that's my 2 cents.
good points but they're getting squeezed in both directions - competition and customers - a real pain in the a
Consumers don't often buy TVs or home appliances over the Internet. About the only product I have purchased at Best Buy is a TV. Smaller less fragile consumer electronics are better suited for online sales. I am surprised how many iPhones they sell, at least according to the article. I would have thought more phones would be purchased at the phone stores than BB.
I bought my 2nd to last iPhone from BB. That was because my dad gave me a BB gift card for my birthday and the 3GS was $50. So it was free for me. Otherwise the Gift card might have gone to waste or to buy a movie i'll get bored of in 2 years time.
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. 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 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.
The thing that BB can't fix easily is store size. The majority of their stores are oversized and even the scaled down versions are bigger than they need to be - for one reason. They were created at a point where people were still buying cd's, dvd's, pc software, etc., at the store. They only legacy thing they have going for them is video games, but even there it's more a collection of a handful of titles that is driving any significant volume.
If you pull out all those racks of unused or underused space, what can you fill it with? Toys, seasonal things, food - that's crap for making a store look good.
Here's an idea - Best Buy should talk with Target about taking over their entire electronics section in all their (Target) stores. It's a great solution to paring down the offering and you might actually be able to have trained staff working the department. Size wise, there are more Targets than BB's now, but my guess is that BB would become more profitable doing it this way compared to what they're doing now. BB would get greater market penetration and a customer base that typically shops once a week and would at least provide more eyes on the product than the typical BB shopper who goes in only when they need something.
Now how do I make money from an idea like this - that's the real question.
[quote]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[/quote]
Well maybe you were giving her the religious right evil eye and spouting anti-homososexual invective from the sacred blood book. The person's sexual orientation has nothing to do with getting service.
Well maybe you were giving her the religious right evil eye and spouting anti-homososexual invective from the sacred blood book. The person's sexual orientation has nothing to do with getting service.
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.
It was this grotesque looking, obese girl who I'm 99% certain was a lesbian, and ...... The obese, lesbian, grotesque looking girl saw what was happening.....
Seriously? How was any of the above relevant to your post? This is just over the top hateful and unrelated to the discussion...
While I am not defending Best Buy, I believe there are a few notable considerations:
1. Best Buy (and Radio Shack) serve a definite need that isn't otherwise fulfilled in many areas of the United States. In many areas, the "Best Buy Guy" is the techspert. (Yes, sad, I know but this is the truth). 2. Best Buy (and Radio Shack) are national chains with very powerful brand awareness (ignoring repercussions of brand loyalty and brand value for now) 3. Best Buy had a minimal loss of 2% YoY two years in a row and is trying to "shake things up" which suggests Best Buy understands their business model is jeopardized and they may, if they don't take action, become another Circuit City, Good Guys, McDuffs and dozens of other electronics chains. This is good because they have time to experiment which may lead to improved products and services.
In my opinion, if Best Buy can do a few things they can succeed where virtually all other national electronics chains have failed:
1. Get more experts, real experts in the stores. People with at least two years of college in computer sciences and related fields and pay them well. A few weeks ago I was in the Best Buy and asked which laptops were "Ivy Bridge." I was referred to three different people none of whom knew of what I spoke including the "go-to guy." Only one person bothered to even ask what Ivy Bridge is (he deserves a small promotion simply for asking). The "go-to guy" wouldn't even admit he didn't know what Ivy Bridge is. 2. Shift your model to keep up with the times. See points 3 - 8 below. 3. Online presence. check (could be improved though). 4. Don't just sell products, sell services ... Consider offering a cross platform ecosystem (Amazon Prime competitor) ... Consider "Apps As A Service" such as 1Password, Dropbox and Evernote ... Create more brand value ... Sell Apps regardless of the platform so that your customers don't buy Apple or Samsung ... they buy the Apps ... from Best Buy. Many people aren't buying a brand, they are buying what the product can do. Show them, don't tell them what a product can do. Bring those "can dos" in-house. 5. Look to competitors to see what works (not just Apple). For example, Steam, Gamefly, Netflix. Take a loss to get them into the stores for advice, the hardware and service contracts. 6. Smaller, more intimate stores. in progress. 7. Weed out products that don't sell. hmmm... Perhaps focus on electronics ... No refrigerators, etc. In the content areas (apps, books, movies, music), heavily promote online sells. 8. Offer free classes (and offer advanced classes at some cost) or offer a "One-on-One" type program.
Well maybe you were giving her the religious right evil eye and spouting anti-homososexual invective from the sacred blood book. The person's sexual orientation has nothing to do with getting service.
funny, well at that matter...
Pointing out the alleged sexuality AND girth of an individual when it clearly had nothing to do with this person's story is just kind of tactless.
Comments
That pic just cries out for conversation bubbles, or captioning, or something...
There are many things Best Buy is doing wrong in their stores, I'll just name a few things they need to improve.
Customer service is the obvious one. They may have an army of employees to assist you at every waking moment, but they are just sales people. They know nothing more than what's written on the package. And, sometimes they don't even know that...they have to actually look and read the specs on the packages or on the computers...something you as a consumer could do on your own. Selling electronics requires more training than selling clothes or other non-technical products. Usually if you have a question beyond the box spec's they have to get one of the more technically trained guys. In most departments of Best Buy, that's one or two people, who don't work every day and are usually barraged by other customers because they actually know something about what their selling. Hiring and TRAINING more tech-savvy employees would be very helpful.
Building on the idea of better training, they could further promote the in-home delivery, training and set-up. Not many electronics companies will offer that. Apple does a great job with the One-On-One and the training classes. That's one of the best reasons to buy Apple, they will train you to use their stuff. They are a brick and mortar store, why not take advantage of the fact that they have a living, breathing, people waiting to help you. Even if you have to make appointments, that hasn't stopped people from coming back to Apple Stores. Amazon, Walmart and the likes aren't going to go that extra step.
Get rid of the impulse items, or at the very least tone them down. They are really wasting money and time by selling snacks and other impulse items in their stores. Just silly. Focus on the products that people are there for.
Get rid of the bargain-basement items and sell Mid-range and High-end products. If you want a cheap-ass TV, go to Walmart. Why bother competing with Amazon and Walmart when they obvious beat you every time. cheap products have no profit. Use Consumer Electronics websites and 3rd party reviews (Consumer Reports, CNET) as your source for stocking products. Heck the grocery stores started showing the wine-point-scale next to popular wines as a marketing solution to selling more wine. Why not do that for electronics?
Include a free shipping option for products on IN-STORE. I like the idea of floating check-outs like Apple Stores, but take that further by allowing a free method of delivery if they don't have it. The Customer spent money on gas and time coming into your store for a product, so if you don't have it, offer a free shipping for out-of-stock items and market it that way. BB has the volume to justify the cost.
Don't call it "Solution Central". The "Geek Squad" name has been pretty successful, just build on your existing marketing structure....like "Geek Squad Station" or something.
One of the strong points to BB is their massive selection of different products/models. They also sell an butt-load of accessories. In most cases, the accessories out-shelf the actual products. I'd be curious to see the numbers for % of sales on Accessories vs. actual products. Seems like they could cut some margins if what I think is too many accessories.
Drop the furniture lines...keep the wall mounts and things of that nature. but to sell office chairs and crap desks and entertainment cabinets is just wasteful...and the products are crap at best. Target, Walmart and Ikea do much better business at that, so don't try and beat them in a market they obvious do much better in.
Look what Barnes & Noble has done in the past year or so. They made the conscious decision to slowly phase-out all non-essential products and focus on selling BOOKS. They are a book retailer, so they decided not to compete with Amazon and the likes and just focus on what they do best. They dropped music and movies almost entirely. Some stores still have them, but listening to insiders...I've heard that they will drop a lot of the non-essential stuff.
There are many more ways to improve, but that's my 2 cents.
Maybe if they wouldn't nickel and dime every customer and upsell the hell out of them, they wouldn't be where they are today. I hate BestBuy...I only go in there to look at something, try it and then buy it elsewhere (usually online).
Nothing can save Best Buy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by macinthe408
That prototype store looks like it's located in Utah, and staffed by elders.
no, staffed by well scrubbed missionaries ... Willie Robme would be proud!
Quote:
Originally Posted by antkm1
There are many things Best Buy is doing wrong in their stores, I'll just name a few things they need to improve.
Customer service is the obvious one. They may have an army of employees to assist you at every waking moment, but they are just sales people. They know nothing more than what's written on the package. And, sometimes they don't even know that...they have to actually look and read the specs on the packages or on the computers...something you as a consumer could do on your own. Selling electronics requires more training than selling clothes or other non-technical products. Usually if you have a question beyond the box spec's they have to get one of the more technically trained guys. In most departments of Best Buy, that's one or two people, who don't work every day and are usually barraged by other customers because they actually know something about what their selling. Hiring and TRAINING more tech-savvy employees would be very helpful.
Get rid of the impulse items, or at the very least tone them down. They are really wasting money and time by selling snacks and other impulse items in their stores. Just silly. Focus on the products that people are there for.
Get rid of the bargain-basement items and sell Mid-range and High-end products. If you want a cheap-ass TV, go to Walmart. Why bother competing with Amazon and Walmart when they obvious beat you every time. cheap products have no profit. Use Consumer Electronics websites and 3rd party reviews (Consumer Reports, CNET) as your source for stocking products. Heck the grocery stores started showing the wine-point-scale next to popular wines as a marketing solution to selling more wine. Why not do that for electronics?
Include a free shipping option for products on IN-STORE. I like the idea of floating check-outs like Apple Stores, but take that further by allowing a free method of delivery if they don't have it. The Customer spent money on gas and time coming into your store for a product, so if you don't have it, offer a free shipping for out-of-stock items and market it that way. BB has the volume to justify the cost.
Don't call it "Solution Central". The "Geek Squad" name has been pretty successful, just build on your existing marketing structure....like "Geek Squad Station" or something.
One of the strong points to BB is their massive selection of different products/models. They also sell an butt-load of accessories. In most cases, the accessories out-shelf the actual products. I'd be curious to see the numbers for % of sales on Accessories vs. actual products. Seems like they could cut some margins if what I think is too many accessories.
Drop the furniture lines...keep the wall mounts and things of that nature. but to sell office chairs and crap desks and entertainment cabinets is just wasteful...and the products are crap at best. Target, Walmart and Ikea do much better business at that, so don't try and beat them in a market they obvious do much better in.
Look what Barnes & Noble has done in the past year or so. They made the conscious decision to slowly phase-out all non-essential products and focus on selling BOOKS. They are a book retailer, so they decided not to compete with Amazon and the likes and just focus on what they do best. They dropped music and movies almost entirely. Some stores still have them, but listening to insiders...I've heard that they will drop a lot of the non-essential stuff.
There are many more ways to improve, but that's my 2 cents.
good points but they're getting squeezed in both directions - competition and customers - a real pain in the a
Quote:
Originally Posted by mstone
Consumers don't often buy TVs or home appliances over the Internet. About the only product I have purchased at Best Buy is a TV. Smaller less fragile consumer electronics are better suited for online sales. I am surprised how many iPhones they sell, at least according to the article. I would have thought more phones would be purchased at the phone stores than BB.
I bought my 2nd to last iPhone from BB. That was because my dad gave me a BB gift card for my birthday and the 3GS was $50. So it was free for me. Otherwise the Gift card might have gone to waste or to buy a movie i'll get bored of in 2 years time.
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. 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 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.
The thing that BB can't fix easily is store size. The majority of their stores are oversized and even the scaled down versions are bigger than they need to be - for one reason. They were created at a point where people were still buying cd's, dvd's, pc software, etc., at the store. They only legacy thing they have going for them is video games, but even there it's more a collection of a handful of titles that is driving any significant volume.
If you pull out all those racks of unused or underused space, what can you fill it with? Toys, seasonal things, food - that's crap for making a store look good.
Here's an idea - Best Buy should talk with Target about taking over their entire electronics section in all their (Target) stores. It's a great solution to paring down the offering and you might actually be able to have trained staff working the department. Size wise, there are more Targets than BB's now, but my guess is that BB would become more profitable doing it this way compared to what they're doing now. BB would get greater market penetration and a customer base that typically shops once a week and would at least provide more eyes on the product than the typical BB shopper who goes in only when they need something.
Now how do I make money from an idea like this - that's the real question.
Well maybe you were giving her the religious right evil eye and spouting anti-homososexual invective from the sacred blood book. The person's sexual orientation has nothing to do with getting service.
At least in the Bay Area but you could always check out at various registers through out store not just the main ones.
Whether someone is actually staffing it is another issue but hardly something new for best buy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by markbyrn
Well maybe you were giving her the religious right evil eye and spouting anti-homososexual invective from the sacred blood book. The person's sexual orientation has nothing to do with getting service.
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.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Apple ][
It was this grotesque looking, obese girl who I'm 99% certain was a lesbian, and ...... The obese, lesbian, grotesque looking girl saw what was happening.....
Seriously? How was any of the above relevant to your post? This is just over the top hateful and unrelated to the discussion...
1. Best Buy (and Radio Shack) serve a definite need that isn't otherwise fulfilled in many areas of the United States. In many areas, the "Best Buy Guy" is the techspert. (Yes, sad, I know but this is the truth).
2. Best Buy (and Radio Shack) are national chains with very powerful brand awareness (ignoring repercussions of brand loyalty and brand value for now)
3. Best Buy had a minimal loss of 2% YoY two years in a row and is trying to "shake things up" which suggests Best Buy understands their business model is jeopardized and they may, if they don't take action, become another Circuit City, Good Guys, McDuffs and dozens of other electronics chains. This is good because they have time to experiment which may lead to improved products and services.
In my opinion, if Best Buy can do a few things they can succeed where virtually all other national electronics chains have failed:
1. Get more experts, real experts in the stores. People with at least two years of college in computer sciences and related fields and pay them well. A few weeks ago I was in the Best Buy and asked which laptops were "Ivy Bridge." I was referred to three different people none of whom knew of what I spoke including the "go-to guy." Only one person bothered to even ask what Ivy Bridge is (he deserves a small promotion simply for asking). The "go-to guy" wouldn't even admit he didn't know what Ivy Bridge is.
2. Shift your model to keep up with the times. See points 3 - 8 below.
3. Online presence. check (could be improved though).
4. Don't just sell products, sell services ... Consider offering a cross platform ecosystem (Amazon Prime competitor) ... Consider "Apps As A Service" such as 1Password, Dropbox and Evernote ... Create more brand value ... Sell Apps regardless of the platform so that your customers don't buy Apple or Samsung ... they buy the Apps ... from Best Buy. Many people aren't buying a brand, they are buying what the product can do. Show them, don't tell them what a product can do. Bring those "can dos" in-house.
5. Look to competitors to see what works (not just Apple). For example, Steam, Gamefly, Netflix. Take a loss to get them into the stores for advice, the hardware and service contracts.
6. Smaller, more intimate stores. in progress.
7. Weed out products that don't sell. hmmm... Perhaps focus on electronics ... No refrigerators, etc. In the content areas (apps, books, movies, music), heavily promote online sells.
8. Offer free classes (and offer advanced classes at some cost) or offer a "One-on-One" type program.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JupiterOne
Seriously? How was any of the above relevant to your post? This is just over the top hateful and unrelated to the discussion...
As I explained in post #36, I believe that it was very relevant to the story and that's why I mentioned it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by markbyrn
Well maybe you were giving her the religious right evil eye and spouting anti-homososexual invective from the sacred blood book. The person's sexual orientation has nothing to do with getting service.
funny, well at that matter...
Pointing out the alleged sexuality AND girth of an individual when it clearly had nothing to do with this person's story is just kind of tactless.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nixbsd
why every corp trying to copy Apple little by little
Copy what works. Look at Zynga...