Saturday January 5, 2013
From merchandising and advertising to real estate and technology, business reporters offer insight into the latest trends and people that define today’s top retailers.
Posts about Best Buy
Best Buy offers $5 per old cell phone, MP3, gaming hardware et al.
Posted by: John Ewoldt Updated: December 31, 2012 - 2:43 PM
Got an old cell phone, MP3 player or other piece of small electronics that you've been meaning to unload because it's not working or just taking up space in a junk drawer/ Best Buy is offering a $5 gift card (or more) per item for small devices through Jan. 19.
Here is the fine print (there's not a lot).
It must be a laptop, tablet/e-reader, cell phone, MP3, gaming hardware (console and handheld but not games), DSLR or digital point and shoot camera, or a digital camcorder, but it does not have to be in working order.
Data must be removed from the product beforehand.
Limit of three trade-in transactions per day per person.
Devices without visible serial numbers.
It's possible that your item may be worth more than $5 if it's working. Check eBay first. For example, a Motorola Razr flip phone that most people would be proud to carry around seven years ago could be worth $10 to $60 on eBay. And for those who can admit that you're never going to find the time to list it on eBay, Best Buy has your $5 waiting through Jan. 19.
For more information about locations, guidelines and disposal, go to Bestbuy.com/tradein.
Could weak Windows 8 sales spell holiday trouble for Best Buy?
Posted by: Thomas Lee Updated: December 3, 2012 - 4:11 PM
Probably not the start Best Buy had hoped for.
The initial sales numbers for Windows 8 devices are out and they don’t look good. Since Microsoft debuted its latest operating system on Oct. 26, Windows device sales have fallen 21 percent compared to the same period a year ago, according to the NPD Group.
Windows 8 has captured only 58 percent of Windows unit device sales, far less than the 83 percent for Windows 7. NPD says Windows 8 tablet sales have been “non existent,” accounting for less than one percent of all Windows 8 device sales.
“You would like to see some kind of acceleration,” said NPD analyst Stephen Baker. “We didn’t see any impact.”
So why does this matter to Best Buy? The consumer electronics retailer, the country’s largest seller of PCs, typically gets a big sale lift from the release of a next generation Windows operating system. Best Buy especially hoped Windows 8 would give a sizable boost to the key holiday shopping period. At a recent investors conference in New York, top executives noted the retailer carries 45 Windows products that are exclusive to Best Buy, including 28 touch screen devices.
Best Buy spokeswoman Amy Von Walter said Windows 8 is such a unique system that it will take time for consumers to digest it.
"We always knew that Windows 8 was going to be a long term proposition," she said. "Unlike other new devices, Windows 8 will be rolled out over several months."
True enough. But will Windows 8 make a meaningful impact on Best Buy's holiday sales?
Baker said weak initial sales doesn’t necessarily mean a bad holiday season. For one thing, sales of more expensive Windows 8 notebooks with touch screens have been strong, helping Microsoft to establish a foothold in the premium segment normally dominated by Apple.
“The most expensive [Windows 8] products did the best,” Baker said.
In fact, Best Buy said sales of Lenovo's Yoga laptop have been strong, said company spokesman Jeff Haydock.
"Overall, we are pleased with Windows 8," Haydock said. The devices "have performed within our expectations of the launch. We have also seen increased computing traffic to our stores and online."
With its radically designed interface, Windows 8 may also offer Best Buy the chance to do what it normally does best: explain complicated technology to consumers. Von Walter said the company devoted 50,000 hours training Blue Shirts on the new technology.
Nonetheless, Windows 8’s disappointing debut can’t please Best Buy. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with Windows 8, Baker said. It’s just that Windows 8 has so far failed to reverse in any small way the continuing decline in PCs and notebooks, he said, which make up a big chunk of Best Buy overall sales.
“Windows 8 is not the problem,” Baker said. “Computers are the problem.”
Best Buy offers some info on Black Friday performance
Posted by: Thomas Lee Updated: November 27, 2012 - 12:28 PM
With his investors and financing largely in place, Best Buy founder Richard Schulze wants to wait until after he sees Best Buy’s Black Friday weekend numbers before offering to buy back the company.
So how did Best Buy do? A Deutsche Bank analyst declared Best Buy to be the weekend’s “big winner” after reporting that 86 percent of stores it surveyed said they were “busy.”
That’s hardly scientific. And lots of traffic doesn't always or necessarily translate into real sales and profits, which is what Schulze wants to know.
The company provided a little more color:
1. Driven by exclusives and competitive pricing, three key categories – mobile phones, laptops and e-Readers – all exceeded Best Buy’s full-day hardware projections by 3 p.m. central time Black Friday.
2. The post-paid phone business online this year was 4-times better than what we did last year.
3. We broke records on BestBuy.com last Thursday and Friday. Thanksgiving day was our biggest traffic day online last year and we were anticipating the same this year. Looks like that bore out.
Best Buy also confirmed an earlier tweet from executive vice president Stephen Gillett that bestbuy.com sales on Nov. 20, the start of its early access online event for Reward Zone members, jumped about 400 percent from the same day the previous year.
What the company didn't say was how it did in televisions and desktop computers, two weak categories that form a big chunk of Best Buy sales.
Also a National Retail Federation report found that 37.7 percent of consumers it surveyed during Black Friday weekend said they purchased consumer electronics or computer related accessories, down from 39.4 percent in 2011.
Interestingly enough, the same survey found more people visited an electronics store and more people bought CDs, DVDs, and video games.
So when the numbers all add up, I suspect the status quo will largely remain unchanged for Best Buy: strong growth in online, tablets, smartphones, and e-readers but weak sales in televisions.
My only question would be the impact of Windows 8 on laptops and desktops, something I will try to answer later in December.
A Best Buy Black Friday vignette
Posted by: Thomas Lee Updated: November 23, 2012 - 12:59 AMThe crowd of Best Buy employees slowly made their way to the front of the store. It was a motley group: teenagers, middle aged men, women, Blue Shirts, Geek Squad, short, tall, rookies, veterans.
It was 11:30 p.m., just an half hour before D-Day. Or in retail parlance, Black Friday.
The vanguard of the more than 300 people waiting outside pressed their faces against the door.
"The crowd is so close the door, it's making me nervous," one store manager observed.
The employees started to clap. Louder, louder, and louder.
Up to the front strolled Mike Ersfeld, the store's general manager. He is technically 31-years old but he looks more like 20. It's Ersfeld's second Black Friday managing a Best Buy store but his 11th overall Black Friday.
"Are you ready to rock this thing?" Ersfeld asked.
The crowd roared its approval.
"A lot of prep works goes into this day," he said. "But I can't think of time when we were more prepared than we are today."
"It comes down to you guys," Ersfeld continued. "To simplify things, just pick one thing that you're best at, and then be the best at it."
Around midnight, the first customers streamed into the store.
"Welcome to Best Buy," Ersfeld said. "Happy Thanksgiving. Thanks for waiting."
Happy Thanksgiving...er, I mean, Happy Early Black Friday
Posted by: Thomas Lee Updated: November 22, 2012 - 3:56 PMHi everyone. Happy Thanksgiving. By now, most of you are starting (or maybe finishing) Thanksgiving dinner. After that, it's time (for better or for worse) to hit the stores for Black Friday shopping.
I'll be speaking to Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel in Bloomington before Target opens its doors at 9 p.m. And then off to Best Buy in Eden Prairie at 10 p.m. to try something different this year. Best Buy doesn't open until midnight but I will be shadowing the store's manager to get a first hand look at how employees prep, manage, and survive the craziest shopping day of the year.
Stay tuned to this blog for the latest updates. If you don't see anything, send in the Marines. They might need to peel me off the wall once retailers open their doors.
Best Buy reschedules investor meeting
Posted by: Thomas Lee Updated: November 2, 2012 - 6:50 PMBest Buy Co.'s much anticipated investor meeting in New York is back on.
The Richfield-based consumer electronics giant said CEO Hubert Joly will make his Wall Street debut on Tuesday, Nov. 13 at the Best Buy Theater on Broadway in Times Square.
Best Buy had to cancel its original meeting this past Thursday because of Hurricane Sandy.
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