Not All Retailers Overreacting To Mobile Phone Wielding Shoppers
from the nice-to-see dept
The WSJ recently had an article about how shoppers in retail stores are increasingly wielding smartphones which they use to comparison shop on the fly -- sometimes even buying products online for less while standing in the store looking at the products themselves. While some store owners are definitely freaked out about this, the article did point out that some are recognizing this is actually an opportunity to either poach customers from other stores and/or to entice them with more offers directly:Through a partnership with TheFind, Best Buy now targets personalized advertisements to shoppers when the program detects that they are in stores such as Wal-Mart.Elsewhere in the article, it's noted that shoppers with mobile phones often are much more happy to ask questions via their phone and a browser or app, rather than having to talk to someone in the store, which also suggests that stores might not need to staff as many people to help customers.
If shoppers use TheFind's free app to compare prices on TVs at Wal-Mart, for example, the phone gleans the particulars from their recent search and shows them ads of similar electronics for sale at Best Buy. The items aren't always identical, and the prices aren't always better, but it is an attempt by Best Buy to enter the competition, similar to the way that marketers now target special offers to consumers based on what they are searching for on home computers.
...
The hard sell doesn't stop there. If a customer inside a Best Buy compares prices through TheFind and discovers a better deal elsewhere, the retailer also makes one last pitch for the sale with ads showing them deals on other products at the store, such as a similar Blu-ray player that comes with a free movie disc.
Of course, some of what's in the article sounds like it may be wishful thinking. I'm not sure that all of those localized offers will really work all that well, but at the very least it's a starting point, and it's nice to see Best Buy at least trying to embrace the new technology rather than just fight it.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: mobile phones, shopping
Companies: best buy
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Good Job, Best Buy!
You know, this is a good start. But I would feel much better if Best Buy hired a phone bank of Indian customer service or "Concierge" agents that would automatically call and answer technical questions and provide product locations whenever I entered a WalMart. Maybe when I enter a Super WalMart they could provide me with recipies based on sale and overstock items in the food section.
I wouldn't find this to be quite so creepy.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
I remember one notable occasion when I walked a customer down to a competitor's store with an item, so she could compare the items in-person. (The other store? Not happy.) Our item was more money, but better quality and we got the sale.
Just one more way that we were better than everyone else.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Shopping in the real world
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Shopping in the real world
mind you, what the hell rates as the 'free world' these days? it certainly isn't equivalent to 'the west' anymore.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Phones
> if your caught taking pictures of their prices
I wish stores around where I live would do that. I'd get rich off the ensuing lawsuit I could file against them.
The only remedy a private property owner has against someone for violating their rules is to kick the person off the property. They can't forcibly confiscate someone's phone-- that would be theft (and possibly assault/battery depending on how the phone was confiscated) and/or delete someone's photos. (Not sure how they'd do that anyway, since most people have passcode protections on their phones in the first place.)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Phones
But if you are using it at the moment (to take photos), the passcode protection is not engaged, is it?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Phones
> protection is not engaged, is it?
I would assume they're not running up to you as you use it and yanking it out of your hand. If they are, then that brings me back to the theft/assault part of my argument.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re the article, this is just the converse of old method where you would compare prices online, then buy locally to support local businesses and get a better return policy.
The main problem with comparison shopping is if you know exactly what you want, but don't know what they are called. For example I recently wasted hours trying to compare prices on specialised table legs (the ones with a big disk on the top and the bottom). I only succeeded when I found they are called "table bases". We need image-based search!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Customer Service
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Customer Service
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Customer Service
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Customer Service
In most of these cases you didn't have a knowledge beforehand you went out to shop to make your research in your PC. Not everyone is Batman-crazy-prepared like that.
Does that mean the store needs less staff? I don't know.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Signals
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Signals
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Signals
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Or perhaps they could try hiring staff who actually have a freaking clue about what they are selling. ;)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
maybe the only reason i would buy a smartphone
as to best buy, their floor workers know nothing. when i asked a guy about a flat screen tv's aspect ratio being that of a computer monitor, not a tv, because it was printed on the box, he said there was no such thing as that aspect ration. when i pointed to the box, he just said that was wrong. another time i asked whether i could play .avi files via usb drive on another tv. not only didn't they know, but they couldn't even find out, their only resource being the same website i'd looked at previously. in their defense, they did say i could bring a usb in to see if it worked.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Phones in stores
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Or they could, I don't know, make sure their sales staff are somewhat competent and knowledgeable?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Stores Are Getting Ripped Off
People come into his store, check stuff out, try it on, then look it up on their phones and find a lower price. They leave, and sometimes he hears them talking about how they will buy it online. These people know this is dishonest, because they look over their shoulder while typing on their phone and discuss it in whispers.
Other people have already seen the items online but come in to try it on so they can be sure to order the right size, then go home and place the order.
My friend pays the expense of a retail store. He provides a service where customers can look and feel and compare and try on. This costs a lot of money. If the customers want to use this service they should pay for it.
These people are ripping him off, plain and simple. They are stealing services from him.
You say he is "overreacting" and "freaking out". But your solution is that he should "embrace" getting ripped off by spending even more money to purchase mobile ads. Do these ads somehow magically allow him to charge less money for his merchandise?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
mobile phone
[ link to this | view in chronology ]