Sure, Best Buy emerged victorious over Circuit City in the Battle of the Big-Box Electronics Stores, but they still have to compete with general discounters like Walmart. Which is why in a new ad campaign, Best Buy calls out Walmart specifically, attacking their employees’ presumed lack of product knowledge compared to Best Buy employees.
In the TV spot titled “True Stories,” a Best Buy associate relays a story about a customer who calls with some very specific questions about a TV. Turns out he’s calling from a Walmart. Her response: “You’re obviously calling us because we’re knowledgeable. We’ve got the price match guarantee, so why don’t you come on in?”
That, says Barry Judge, chief marketing officer, is a perfect illustration of Best Buy’s point of differentiation. As the electronics retailer joins the ranks of those trying to convince consumers its prices are in line with Walmart’s, highlighting the price match guarantee was deemed essential. Target has been fighting a similar battle for months, though it has yet to mention Walmart by name in any advertising.
This raises the inevitable question: what kind of person has the Best Buy TV department on speed dial?
Best Buy Challenges Walmart on Employee Smarts [Advertising Age]
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I just saw the commercial on TV. It’s pretty brilliant. While I’ve had mixed service at Best Buy, it’s pretty great to see them stick it to Wal-Mart.
@InsomniacZombie: I’d rather see anyone, I don’t care whom, stick it to Best Buy. I really wish it was them who had gone under instead of Circuit City. I hate BB with a passion.
@halo969: I agree re: Circuit City vs. Best Buy. Best Buy was always more “slick”, but Circuit City was more usually more likely to actually have what I wanted to buy.
i actually laughed when i saw this commercial then i thought if geek squad applied to the ad
I work at a major competitor of BB and WM (oneThe Consumerist enjoys calling out occasionally). As someone who has spent waaaayyy to much of his life in electronics retail, here are a few tips on sizing up if your salesperson either knows their stuff or is full of bullshit:
* Do basic homework on the Internet first. When the salesperson approaches you, ask a basic question you already know the answer to (example: “I’m confused. What’s the difference between component inputs and HDMI?). If the salesperson can’t give a basic, correct answer or the words “Monster Cable” or “Extended Warranty” are part of the initial answer, run.
* Good salespeople will ask you a few qualifying questions (“What are you replacing? What features are most important to you?” etc.) to help you find the right product. Keep an open mind: if you’re lucky enough to find a knowledgable expert, you may learn things the Internet didn’t tell you.
* If the store has five in stock and four are “open box”, beware: It’s a red flag the item may be hard to use and/or may have reliability issues.
* Although BB and WM employees are paid hourly, there are some of us who are still commission sales. If you like the service and the store, give the salesperson a chance to match (or at least come close to) Internet pricing. Buying locally avoids the chance UPS will dump your $700 item at the front door on a rainy day when you’re not home (yes, this has happened to me) and – if the item is initially defective or you don’t like it – being able to return it to the store means you won’t have to jump through hoops getting a return authorization and spending big bucks to ship the item back.
It’s probably the same person who would be limited to 100 frozen chimichangas!
@mac-phisto: Why would you need a video card that urgently? Amazon gives me overnight shipping for $3.99…. I can’t think of a single circumstance that would require needing a video card that quickly. Even heart transplants take a few hours to be flown in..
I went to my walmart today. I used to LOVE this walmart, then they went and rearranged EVERYthing, put in lower shelving that looks like crap, and TOOK OUT THE FABRICS SECTION! no more $2/yard fabric? no reason to go to walmart anymore.
As for knowledge? I wouldn’t trust any store employee to give me advice, anywhere.
Bestbuy’s price match guarantee only applies to advertised prices. Walmart doesn’t put out advertisements all that often. I call out false advertising on the commercial there.
Comment threads like this crack me up. Chances are if you are able to start your computer and get on the internet, you’re already too tech savvy to even matter. It’s the other 98 percent of people who can barely microwave a bag of popcorn without burning their house down that they are marketing to.
Isn’t that a joke. Where I live I wouldn’t trust a Best Buy or Wallmart employee as far as I could trust them. I’ve heard some of the advice the BB “well trained” folks give and I walk away shaking my head sometimes when in the store.
BB claiming to be “smarter” then Walmart is like a 5th grader claiming to be smarter than a 1st grader. No one in their right mind goes to Walmart for their “technical knowledge”. It’s sad that BB is setting the bar that low to say “We’re smarter than Walmart”.
HA! I knew a guy who not only had all the areas of Best Buy on his phone but also the numbers for Fry’s, Radio Shack…
The biggest reason to go to Best Buy or Target instead of Walmart is to avoid the type of people who are in Walmart. Every time I go in Walmart I could swear a bus full of meth addicts is there on a field trip.
Now lets see that commercial. “At Best Buy you don’t have to wade through the crowd of toothless meth heads, crying babies, and people whose clothes are falling apart because they can’t afford to shop in our store! Come to Best Buy!”
Walmart has better prices on almost everything and has a wider selection of items in every department. Plus it’s open 24 hours. Best Buy has… less poor people, upsell, and occasionally, a knowledgeable employee.
To be fair, Best Buy is the best place to buy video games and CDs if you’re going to buy new. The prices are about the same as Walmart, Best Buy typically has more stock, and you don’t risk buying the censored version of a CD by accident.
I sold TVs at the Best Buy on North & Division in Chicago and didn’t know squat about them. When a customer asked me what the “best model” was I would just look at what we had in stock and sell them that. I wasn’t trying to rip people off, I just didn’t want to lose my job while working my way through college.
Wha? I thought Walmart electronics departments were still run by independant third-party companies. Forget who it was but they supposedly stocked the place and managed the inventory under license from Walmart.
It was kind of a shop within a shop, except Walmart pretended it was theirs.
Dunno if that’s still how things are run but I would not be surprised if it was still a third-party outfit.
I actually managed to get a decent price on a TV today without being subjected to the wrath of the devil (hard upsell). May have helped that I ordered it online and did store pickup so as to avoid the sales drones.
That is what they were trying to come across with? I thought it was that someone actually got a patient BB employee on the phone.
Does anyone actually trust a BB employee after years of them trying to sell monster cables and extended warranties? I thought asking one when I was in a couple of months, then remembered it is pointless.