business

I wish them good luck but, Best Buy, please start to "get it." Sunday I tried to buy something on the Best Buy web site and pick it up at a local store. I really tried to support a local business - BUT the web site was totally geared to try to sell me what they wanted to show/sell to me, not to letting me find and buy what I wanted. Gave up and had it all done on Amazon within a couple minutes. Message: Best Buy, your customers have brains and know what they want. Make it easy for them to get it. I would have paid 10% more just to buy local but will not waste my time on your difficult web site or with your mostly uninformed sales people and their scripted lines.

Hmm, how can we get folks to buy stuff from us if we sell it at a higher price than Walmart? Hmmm.

markerminn, great advice and it's sad to see Best Buy losing to on-line. I like face to face iteration and want to spend my money locally, even if it's a little more. Recently, I was looking for a part on a web site, I couldn't find it. I sent an email to their customer service department and received a reply the following day. They did not stock the part, but they went the extra mile to earn my business, located it from the manufacture and gave me a discount to boot! cavell- keep shopping WalMart. You get what you pay for @ WalMart

Shocking. What a mess BB has found themselves in. This new CEO clown is not the answer...what a colossal waste of everyone's time. You charge more than others for the same product. You web site is difficult to use...some would say a piece of crap. Your sales associates are incapable. Geek squad has turned into "can't fix that squad...but I can sell you a new one for 20% more than you would pay online." OK, someone please send me CEO salary for 6 months.

Mr. Jolly just laid off over 60 contract IT people. These contract employee's just had their contracts extended until 1/13. They were unexpectantly given 2 week notices and some are being let go next week. BB web page and online shopping is a mess and the people who can fix it were let go. This CEO was a bad hire. I say boycott BB.

This conference was available via webcam. How much money was spent sending this reporter to NY. Not much of a story.

I'm really not understanding the math here. Everything that has been mentioned to grow sales costs money - for example, "Scheduling more employees to work on weekends". That would entail attracting, hiring, and training qualified, intelligent sales people...that will require paying a premium. And then if they are hired, providing those employees with enough hours to keep them around. LABOR is the biggest drainer in retail! All the while margins on the products Best Buy sells is contracting, and will continue to do so as the products continue to be commoditized. Layer in the pressure from Amazon.com and I really can't see how they will grow profits with the current product mix. I don't envy any CEO that is trying to turn this ship around, unfortunately Best Buy is in a corner and there is no way out. All of which could have been fixed 4-6 years ago with a great strategy...now it's sad to say, but Best Buy is going the way of the Titanic. And they have already hit the iceberg....

Reinventing the wheel, he said, will have to wait - - Perhaps this epitaph will be what is written on the BestBuy headstone in two years.

Everyone here seems to think its only price that dominates. As the owner of a thriving web company myself, I can tell you that trying only to be the low cost leader is a quick way to ruin for most companies. I'm the type of customer Best Buy is losing though. Price is not my main concern. Don't want to pay way more, but willing to pay a little more for convenience, employee help (and knowledge) and the gratification of walking out of the store with something immediately. Last 3 trips to Best Buy I've found indifferent salespeople (when I could find one)and the products I wanted were out of stock. Was told I could buy on-line! If I wanted to buy on-line... Sent nice emails each time as I want to support them and trying to help. No response. Every customer we have with a complaint gets a response within hours. No one seems to get it at Best Buy.

jsimple3...great point. It is too bad they are losing customers like you. Personally, I think Best Buy has to re-invent themselves as something different, something more than just an electronics store. Their name is perfect to diversify..."Best Buy". In 20 years, people could walk in their stores and remember the days they only sold electronics. Every day they remain an electronics store, the faster they go down the path of failure.