Oculus began accepting pre-orders for their Rift virtual reality headsets back in January, but not everyone who ordered early has their device yet. Those customers will probably be disappointed to hear that Oculus is going ahead with its retail strategy. Some devices will be available for retail sale at Microsoft stores and from Amazon on Friday, May 6, and available for special demos and for sale at a few Best Buy locations on Saturday, May 7. [More]
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Best Buy’s Geek Squad Ditches Retro-Chic Beetles For Environmentally-Friendly Priuses
By 4.11.16
Volkswagen Beetles? That’s so last decade, at least where Best Buy’s Geek Squad is concerned: the tech support service is trading in the retro, kitschy appeal of the VW Beetle for the environmentally-friendly Toyota Prius. [More]
Best Buy Moving Forward With Same-Day Delivery, Adds 11 Cities To Pilot
By 4.7.16
Six months after Best Buy jumped on the same-day delivery bandwagon by launching a pilot program in San Francisco, the electronics retailer plans to expand those tests to additional cities around the country. [More]
Best Buy Is Closing Website To Third-Party Sellers Today
By 2.24.16
Allowing third-party sellers to sell on an e-commerce site can instantly expand a retailer’s online offerings without the retailer having to invest in more merchandise, but can also confuse shoppers who want to return their merchandise. After 5 years, Best Buy is shutting down its third-party marketplace today, citing shopper confusion and a decision to invest in other parts of the business as their main reasons. [More]
Williams-Sonoma Wasn’t Really Running A ‘Buy One Knife, Get 99 Free’ Sale
By 12.23.15
Some of our readers experience a modern moral dilemma: they order an item online, and multiple duplicates of that item appear on their doorstep. The retailer makes no attempt to collect the extra items, and sometimes doesn’t want to bother with getting them back. Two of our readers have experienced this recently: one changed a TV order and received an extra by mistake, and the other ordered knife and received 99 extra. That is not a typo. [More]
Best Buy’s Geek Squad Deploys To Help Air Travelers For Free
By 12.14.15
Best Buy’s Geek Squad is setting up an outpost in an unexpected location. They’re deploying tech support teams to the airport nearest Best Buy headquarters, Minneapolis-St. Paul International, to help travelers with their electronics, provide a free charging station and computers for public user, give away gadget prizes, and of course to promote their brand to thousands of people of people who travel to, from, or through the airport. [More]
Samsung Offering To Pay Customers Who Sign Up For Its Mobile Payment System
By 11.23.15
When it comes to competing in the mobile payment arena, Samsung has a plan to convince customers to pay for stuff with its technology: the company is offering up free gift cards to people who sign up for Samsung Pay. [More]
Big-Box Stores Predict Electronics Won’t Be Big Sellers This Year
By 11.19.15
To make consumers want a gadget and not-so-subtly hint that they would really like that item as a gift this year, that gift has to be very innovative. Since what’s on the market are simply upgraded versions of the items that people already have, there aren’t any hot technology items like the Great Netbook Craze of half a decade ago. That’s why big-box tech stores are predicting sort of a glum holiday season. [More]
Best Buy Adds Same-Day Delivery Test In San Francisco
By 11.2.15
Last-minute holiday shopping just got a bit easier for some Californians who simply forget to grab a gift for your electronics-loving family and friends: Best Buy is testing same-day delivery. [More]
Best Buy Offers Free Shipping For All Orders During The Entire Holiday Season
By 10.22.15
Sometimes it’s just easier to bypass the hustle and bustle of the local mall and do all your holiday shopping from the comfort of your own home. One big problem with that: the sometimes costly shipping fees. Best Buy is hoping free shipping turns into more online sales this year. [More]
Best Buy Testing Robot Customer Service Employees
By 10.7.15
In an era where retail is increasingly moving online, some shoppers still prefer to deal with actual human beings when they go to the store. But the folks at Best Buy believe that some in-store customer service tasks may be best done by automatons. [More]
Some Best Buy Stores Now Taking Apple, Android Pay
By 9.18.15
Best Buy continued its love affair with Apple this week, as several locations of the electronics retailer started accepting the tech company’s mobile payment system. Alert consumers began noticing a few days ago that some Best Buy locations now allowed customers to pay with both Apple Pay and Android Pay, just a month after the retailer’s exclusive agreement with MCX – a consortium creating payment platform CurrentC – ended. The retailer announced back in April that it would start offering Apple’s payment option at some point in 2015, but failed to elaborate on a timeline. [Apple Insider] [More]
Verizon, AT&T To Open 250 “Experience Stores” Inside Best Buy Locations
By 9.15.15
Could Best Buy be the new one-stop shop for all your mobile service needs? That seems to be goal of the electronics retailer as it continues the expansion of its store-within-a-store concept by adding dedicated Verizon and AT&T showcases in its U.S. stores.
[More]
Macy’s Teams Up With Best Buy To Sell Electronics In Some Stores
By 9.8.15
Shoppers heading to Macy’s generally plan to update the items hanging in their closets, not the electronics littering their living rooms. But that could soon be changing, as the department store plans to house Best Buy outlets in several locations starting this fall. [More]
Analyst: Best Buy’s Prices Now Much Closer To Amazon’s
By 9.1.15
When looking for the best deal on electronics consumers used to flock to a little chain called Best Buy, but over time Amazon – with the growing convenience of shopping from home, speedy deliveries and discounts – has crowded into the electronic store’s customer pool. Now, after years of playing catchup, it appears that Best Buy has closed the pricing gap with its online rival. [More]
Best Buy Figures Out Key To Retail Success: Competitive Prices, Good Service, Apple Watches
By 8.25.15
We don’t cheer on the demise of companies here at Consumerist: when a company appears on this site repeatedly, it’s because we want them to be better. Best Buy used to be a frequent subject of posts here, but now they aren’t. Americans haven’t all abandoned the retailer: it’s actually doing well, with its mini-store concept paying off. What’s coming up soon for the company? More Apple mini-stores. [More]
Customers Report Receiving $15 Best Buy Gift Cards For $15 After Pricing Error
By 7.16.15
It turns out that our post yesterday about the pricing error at Best Buy wasn’t quite accurate. When the retailer’s site offered $200 gift cards for $15, lots of people hopped on this particular bandwagon and ordered them. However, a tipster reports that some cards shipped out before best Buy caught the error. Some shipped out…and they aren’t worth $200. Well played, Best Buy. [More]
