7 Reasons Best Buy Won't Be Around in 7 Years

[cuafpr]

there will likely always be a need / market for one B&M store like BB.

[GennGreymane]

Well done best buy
1. saw criticism
2. saw issues
3. took in criticism as a way to improve
4. worked to fix issues
5. became a good store
6. goodbye the ones that didnt.

[PACOX]

What? Best Buy has been pretty good at changing with the times unlock retailers it left in the dust. And as some said, sometimes you need a brick and mortar store. Best Buy should push services and maybe parts/components...a place where Amazon cant touch them yet and no big retailer has filled. Do you know how hard ot can be to get the right screwdrivers and paste without waiting a day or two for Amazon?

[breadisfunny]

So i worked in a best buy warehouse briefly about 6 years ago. i will not shop at best buy any longer after seeing how they handle the merchandise. They don't build pallets out of the devices before putting them on the truck. They literally just throw the devices onto the truck and build a testris wall out of them. it made me sick when I saw people throwing 40 inch tvs and laptops on top of a pile that reaches the ceiling of the trailer. Regardless I left that place quickly.

if thats the case then how exactly does their merchandise not break the minute it reaches the store?

[unbound]

New CEO took over in mid-2012 or so and turned it around focusing on showing things off better and price matching. If Best Buy continued to be run by the CEO who was there when that article was written, they probably would have been gone by now.

[Crissi]

I cant really complain. The BB near me is pretty excellent. Even their GS is pretty ok. When one of my old laptops gave out (motherboard RIPed after nearly 2 years of use) about a month before the warranty expired, they gave me a brand new laptop that was actually superior to my old one for basically the price difference (like 150$).

not going to complain on getting a new laptop for 150 lol.

[Shullski]

Im not too surprised. Their prices are actually damn near the cheapest you'll find, and in which case they happen not to be, they price match both Amazon and Newegg.

[MrKnubbles]

I'll give you one reason why Best Buy will be around in 7 years: Geek Squad. Whether you like them or not, Geek Squad does an unbelievable about of in-home installations. People are constantly buying new TVs, audio systems, surveillance cameras, appliances and computer related products. Who do they hire to install it all? Geek Squad.

People don't do things for themselves anymore. They have money to burn so they buy the most expensive TVs and pay Geek Squad to mount it on the wall for them. They don't have the tools, the know-how or the will to learn how to do it themselves.

[Auxora]

We've already been in the middle of the great B+M correction in my opinion for quite a while. Radio Shack is gone, Montgomery Ward's is gone, JC Penney is hanging on by a thread, Sears and Kmart have been in a death spiral, Toys R Us is struggling to hang on, etc.

But I don't think we're going to end up in a situation where there are no B+M stores. The market is going to settle into a new normal where there are going to be fewer B+M retailers, but there will always be support for B+M stores. There are some people that want to go to a store and browse. In other cases people need an item right away, either to replace a broken item, or for a last minute gift. With certain types of products like appliances, people like seeing them firsthand. Lots of people will buy printer ink online. But if they are buying a new refrigerator, they like to go to a store and see it themselves. There are definitely a lot of opportunities for consolidation in locations and competition too. For example, an area might have enough need for B+M office supplies sales for 1 Staples store, but maybe not an Office Max, 2 Office Depots, and 2 Staples. In my town there are 2 Best Buys, and I think 1 location would probably more than suffice. There are literally like 6 GameStops in town, when 2 would probably cover it. It seems like some franchises went really overboard with expanding back in the 1990-2010 timeframe and things need to adjust to a healthier Internet-competitive friendly level of B+M retail locations.

[Tock20]

I'll give you one reason why Best Buy will be around in 7 years: Geek Squad. Whether you like them or not, Geek Squad does an unbelievable about of in-home installations. People are constantly buying new TVs, audio systems, surveillance cameras, appliances and computer related products. Who do they hire to install it all? Geek Squad.

People don't do things for themselves anymore. They have money to burn so they buy the most expensive TVs and pay Geek Squad to mount it on the wall for them. They don't have the tools, the know-how or the will to learn how to do it themselves.

Yeah, I imagine if for some reason BB has to go under, Geek Squad will stick around. Geek Squad now includes car audio, remote start and alarms, home theater, TV and appliance repair, appliance installation, computers and smart home. Many people even as young as mid 20s still struggle with technology.

[Ave07]

Until Walmart starts investing into their electronics department, Best Buy will be around for a long time.

[judgementofantonidas]

This is the reason brick and mortar is dying.

People want customer service, but they have proven they don't want to pay for it.

How many people every day go to Best Buy to "see" a big ticket item and then turn around to order it online for a couple bucks cheaper. Especially in regards to those that actually spent 10-15 minutes of an employee's time to help them pick out just the right item, but then turn around and buy the exact model for $1 less. Not only did the store not make the sale, but they're out the wages of the employee for the time they spent helping you, and you helped their competitor cut costs by *not* having the employ anyone to assist you with your purchase.

Consumers should be rewarding businesses by how many families they are able to support, and how well they manage to live on what they're provided with... not rewarding businesses that exploit their labor and find loopholes to shift the burden onto their competitors or taxpayers.

Your first statement makes zero sense as Best Buy has price matching. So you can get it at the online price AND have it now. Bought my last tower that way.

[garryjoshi]

Lol you want to say trillion dollar industry will vanish just like that?

[Halicia]

Until Walmart starts investing into their electronics department, Best Buy will be around for a long time.

They've closed up shop around here.