Ron Mexico
Vienna, VA
Male, 36
I worked at the Westwood, CA Best Buy, just long enough to qualify for the employee discount, buy a bunch of stuff for me and my friends, and then bail. I worked in the "Digital Imaging" section (think: digital cameras and assorted accessories). I can't complain too much...the discount was meh. Working in this Best Buy meant I got to see two celebs in the store (Alan Alda just off his West Wing Emmy nom), Ryan Phillipe, and a pre-HIMYM Neal Patrick Harris at the Harris Teeter.
I would say that from time to time, we were encouraged to push the purchase of accessories, or be sure to ask for interest in the service plan. Or we might be asked to offer up open box items, like a new camera someone returned. But it was relatively low pressure compared to how aggressive they could have been in pushing us (note, things could be very different now). I had a pretty good manager that toed the line while trying to push us towards successful sales. I personally saw this as akin to a restaurant manager telling the waitstaff to push Monday fish specials on older (but not spoiled) food. Not unethical, but kind of how the game is played for any business. I would say that in general, it was fairly ethical, and I never did anything I would be ashamed of. Beyond wearing that horrendous polo.
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Uh, only you and pretty much EVERYONE does this now (I believe the industry term is "showrooming"). Amazon.com and other Internet retailers haven't really cut into BB's business as much as it's hacked at it with a machete and dug out a grave for BB from which it's desperately trying to crawl out of with the remaining limbs it still has. Poor BB. They worked so hard to become the only game in town, driving out Circuit City and staving off WalMart only to find that people are starting to realize they can buy super cheap accessories such as HDMI cables from ebay or vendors based in China at a fraction of the cost - or buy tablets and TVs from Amazon without being charged for shipping or taxes at comparable if not lower prices. Best Buy has all sorts of overhead they have to pay for those big stores. Showrooming in particular is a hammer to their business because people still come in to see stuff, but they never buy, instead going to Amazon (hey, a TV's a TV, and they have a low enough failure rate that the return issue isn't a huge concern) and other internet retailers. So if you're not going in to buy TVs, you're probably not going to want to buy their overpriced accessories. So to respond to these changes in business conditions, they've tried a few things, like pushing services (like the "Geek Squad" technical services), branding (Insignia, Rocketfish, and Dynex are Best Buy Private labels, sorta like your grocery store off-brand private labels), and even used/refurbed businesses (selling and trading used videogames on bestbuy.com and equipment like tablets through Cowboom.com). At best, overall these have seen mixed success from a Wall Street perspective. In the interest of full disclosure, I have some shares of Best Buy that aren't worth much now because I held on too long. Shoulda dumped immediately after Circuit City went down the tubes.
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When I worked there, you had to work for a while, like a month, to become eligible for the discount. The discount varied but basically it was a marked up above Best Buy's costs. So for things that had really high margins, the discount was dramatic (say, headphones), while for things like video game systems, it was negligible. There weren't really limits on what you could buy, and you could go to other stores and tell them you were an employee and give an employee number to buy whatever you wanted. Of course, if you wanted to keep your job, you probably wouldn't want to do anything terribly suspicious (like buying 10 HDTVs). That said, the discounts overall were generally pretty good, though if you need something and are patient, you could always refer to places like dealnews.com or slickdeals.net or meritline.com for basic things rather than work at Best Buy just for the discount!
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In my experience, we grunts (think your average everyday blue polo/khaki-wearing minimum wage slave) were not on commission, though I believe the manager of my department was compensated based on sales. He would regularly push us (in a relatively nice way) for making sure our sales of cameras would be accompanied by sales of things like batteries and cases, which were high margin. Often, the margins on products like TVs, iPods, cameras, and videogame systems are actually quite low...places like Best Buy rely on accompanying sales of things like HDMI cables, earphones, SD cards, and extra controllers...and if you're lucky, sales of really high margin service plans/product insurance. However, it is possible that other salespersons are on commission, though I don't recall that they do. The now defunct Circuit City did have floorpersons that were on commission though.
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Stand-Up Comedian
How do you fend off hecklers?
Lifeguard
Are most public pools just gross lakes of bodily fluids?
Sommelier
What's your favorite bottle of wine for under $20?
I can't say I have a lot of authority in answering this question beyond the fact that I have no reason to believe they have above or below average levels of employee theft. Certain small items (like jump drives/flash cards) are often caged to prevent casual theft, and after a shift, they'd take a quick look at my backpack as I left.
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The short answers are: minimal sales training, and no. The long answer: starting with the second question first, in order to get the job, I had to fill out a application form, go through an interview with the department manager, and a quick interview with the GM. Not terribly difficult. The primary thing they seemed to look for was just a sense of whether or not I was a responsible person who'd show up to work on time and be presentable to customers (e.g. not drool on myself, or the customers, or on my sexy new blue polo). I happened to know a bit about cameras, but not a lot - I had a good amount of experience with Point & Shoot cameras, but none with SLRs (the kind of cameras that take interchangeable lenses). I couldn't have told you the difference between aperature and shutter speed. When applying, I specifically cited Digital Imaging as the department I wanted to work in because of my brother had suggested it. He had worked at Best Buy for a while and knew you don't want to work in the media department because you'll be spending your hours sorting / replacing CDs and DVDs as thoughtless customers tossed around stuff they'd pickup and later decide they didn't want. In Digital Imaging, you could do a lot of standing around and a lot less mindless sorting if there weren't customers around. I never really received any training on the equipment. There was a little bit of training around how to work with customers, ask probing questions to figure out their needs and push for sales of accessories, plus the retail training you need to operate a cash register/process transactions. I knew nothing about the video cameras that were a part of the Digital Imaging department either, and never received any formal training. Whenever customers had questions about equipment that I didn't know, I'd just look for the other person(s) working in the department with me and have them help the customer. Going into the job, it helped a lot to have a basic understanding of cameras and experience so that you could speak with authority. I was pretty surprised by people's ignorance - often, people coming in would say something like, "I'm going to XXXX tomorrow, and I need a camera, what should I get?" [I'm a planner, and read reviews of almost everything I buy]. Often, people would just assume that the highest megapixel camera meant the highest quality (NEIN), so having a basic understanding of these things and being able to articulate them (again, sans drool) made the job easier because you didn't feel like an idiot when answering customer questions.
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When I first visited a Best Buy in 1994, I loved it in part because of its endless rows and rows of CDs and videotapes. It offered a convenient way, in one place, to meet all sorts of needs from an electronics standpoint - the intersection of media/content and the hardware needed to consume them. But now, with the Internet completely changing the game and expectations of shoppers, unfortunately there are better ways to meet those needs. I think the fundamental question you're asking is, what value can BB provide to customers? Traditionally, it's not really been known for great in-depth knowledge about the product (there are some very knowledgeable individuals at every store, but there are also folks who don't really have any knowledge). It doesn't differentiate for customer service; visit consumerist.com and you'll see a litany of bad stories, though every big box retailer has complaints about it. It's not the cheapest place to get things either, since they have to charge tax, and the overhead they carry means higher operating costs and lower profitability - plus they have to carry more inventory to stock all those stores, which means tying up capital in that inventory plus the usual shrinkage issues from theft/damage. Amazon has edges in all those areas, leveraging product reviews from its customers to provide insights into the product and their customer service is pretty robust. In terms of pricing, Amazon just has distribution warehouses, and historically has not levied taxes in most areas they service (though that may changed) - plus they carry a lot less inventory, which helps them maintain a competitive edge. That said, there are underserved needs in the marketplace; more and more, I think people are willing to buy major purchases like TVs sight unseen, but there are still people who will want to see and touch those things before pulling the trigger. If BB can find a way to convert showroomers into buyers, by providing a superior value proposition in some meaningful way (probably not cost, since they'll never be able to be better than competitors like Amazon on that basis) that will probably necessitate a major change in how they do business. From a hardware standpoint, manufacturers will also probably want the existence of a Best Buy so that customers can see their product live and in-person, to provide another opportunity to differentiate their product from competitors on the basis of design, materials and finish - things that might not translate well over the Internet. Without a Best Buy, you're stuck with selling product through Walmart or Target (which will carry limited SKUs and a relentless emphasis on cost cutting as a supplier), or Internet based channels. It wouldn't surprise me to see major TV manufacturers for example finding other ways to get their products in front of customers through unique partnerships so customers can see and touch these products. As technology has gotten increasingly complicated, the desire for expert knowledge continues to grow. They've tried aggressively developing the Geek Squad service as a way to address that need. How do I fix my computer? How do I install my home theater? These are things that aren't easy for the non-technically inclined, and people will pay for the convenience of having someone else "figure it out" for them. However, I believe the Geek Squad service just hasn't clicked yet, though I don't know enough about that business to understand why. In business school, one of the most fundamental lessons of any good marketing class is: customers want solutions, not product. Customers don't want TVs or computers or MP3 players - they want to be able to watch movies at home, do word processing, or listen to music on the go. I think BB is structured more to providing products, not solutions. One reason why Apple has been so successful isn't on the basis of technology - their product is often technically inferior in terms of specs or functionality; but it is incredibly easy to use for core functions. That's the key to Apple's success - they have the easiest solution to meet core needs. If you want to listen to music, through iTunes and your iPod, there's really no easier way. If BB lasts, how it will look will be very different; it won't likely be large numbers of big box stores everywhere. If it survives, it will be because it found a way to address some kind of customer need more effectively than Amazon and Walmart can. The problem is, I'm not sure what that unmet need is - and I don't think they've figured it out either.
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