Archive for the ‘Multi-Channel’ Category

Best Buy In-Store Pickup Strategies

Thursday, May 10th, 2007

Recently I was shopping for a new notebook computer. The bargain hunter that I am, I hit the CSE’s, shopping portals, and eBay. After all of my research that took me 3 weeks, I identifed an AWESOME deal at Best Buy for a Centrino for less than $800. I headed to the store to purchase and noticed that the same model was priced 200 dollars more at the store. Puzzled, I spoke to an associate who also was puzzled after he realized the pricing discepancy.

Turns out, you could only get the discounted price ordering via Instore Pickup. An interesting method to get consumers to actively use the ISPU service by offering internet based discounts. Worked in my case! I bought it the next day.

Best Buy executes ISPU better than anyone else in my opinion. Their dedicated service area allows the consumer to bypass the standard checkout lines and get in and out as fast as possible. Clearly, more and more retailers will be embracing this technology. It flat out works from an experience standpoint.

Tags: