Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Showrooming and what Best Buy and other retailers are doing about it.

We all know that Best Buy is one of the most vulnerable stores to the retail epidemic of "showrooming" - even a slight percentage in price difference can add up to big bucks when you are talking about a refridgerator or computer. So what does  a store like Best Buy do to counteract people coming into their "brick and mortar" stores to ask questions and browse items, only to go home and order that same item for 10% less on Amazon?
According to this MSNBC article (http://marketday.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/05/12579694-best-buy-other-big-retailers-fighting-back-against-showrooming?lite), they are starting by closing a bunch of stores and converting even more into a more "Apple-Like" experience.  The Geek Squad will present a sort of "Genius Bar" and people will have the option of paying in more locations around the shop for their items. 
OK, so they are making an effort. Still, it seems to me that Best Buy might be missing the point.  And that is - many people do not want to have to drive to a strip mall, fight traffic, find parking, struggle to resist the inherent up-selling that salespeople will try to do, and then lug out a big piece of equipment back out to their car.  Meanwhile, Best Buy does have a website that is well maintained and easy to use.  If they want to continue to take pages out of the Apple Store Experience, I think they should have a bunch of computers set up that only go to their website and their credit card company's for people that are applying for financing.  In order to stop them from going home and getting on Amazon.com, strike while the fire is hot and after a person has selected their item, sit them down at a computer and let them make their own choices for warranties, set-up, etc.  Meanwhile, the item that they want can be delivered and they do not have to worry about transporting it home.
Also, Best Buy has done a not-so-good job of accentuating the positive! What can they offer that Amazon cannot?  No one likes when their new toy breaks, but ineveitably it happens. Can Amazon send someone to their home to fix it in a matter of hours? 

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