By Tom Polanski

I underwent an extremely unusual purchasing process with a Best Buy located in Portland, Oregon. It could mean trouble for online electronics retailers.

I’ve been in the market for a replacement plasma display for the family room and since I’ve been a member of AVS Forum for over 5 years I decided to start my research there. Once I targeted the television I wanted I began to contact the forum sponsors regarding pricing and availability. For the sake of clarity, forum sponsors are companies, usually Mom and Pop stores located across the country, that place ads within AVS Forum. The assumption is that the publisher, AVS Forum, only allows reputable companies to place ads within their site and that these companies will give forum members the best prices and service. It’s a great relationship for AVS Forum, online electronics retailers and forum members.

In fact, I was given great prices by authorized dealers and would have been comfortable buying from any of them. I liked them all. I settled on a company in Seattle to make my purchase from. However I began to have second thoughts when I came across a thread regarding problems this new generation display was occasionally exhibiting. A great, award winning display but, again, there are reports of problems every now and then. It’s to be expected with a sophisticated piece of technology but worrisome, nonetheless. 

If I accepted delivery of the plasma and I discovered the problems after the drivers left, I would have to pack it up again and ship it back to the electronics e-tailer I placed my order with. I really didn’t want to go through that. I decided that on a purchase this expensive, given the problems several owners at were having, I’d be better off absorbing the premium I would pay at a Best Buy in exchange for the peace of mind I would gain from  buying it locally, with a 30 day exchange policy, if anything was wrong with it.

I drove down to Best Buy conflicted about the 30% premium I would pay. Then I remembered Mom used to say, “Closed mouths, don’t get fed, Son”. I decided I’d ask for a discount although I’ve never been able to get Best Buy employees or management to ever budge on price unless it was listed lower in an ad or on a website by a company with 10 miles of the physical location of the store. What the heck, closed mouths don’t get fed. There’s no harm in asking. 

I walked over to the home theater section and was met by a very pleasant and very earnest young woman. I asked if she was a manager. She replied that she was. I asked her if she would match a price I received from an authorized online dealer. My body tensed as I waited for her reply as I fully expected to see a condescending or shocked look on her face.  I was braced for the feelings certain to rush through my veins when she dismissed me. To my surprise, she asked me for the item number of the product and the price I was given. She checked Best Buy inventory and cost while I stood there and said, to my utter amazement, that there probably wouldn’t be a problem but she have to check with her boss. Just to be clear, we’re talking a substantial discount on a product so new Best Buy didn’t even have it on their website yet.

Shortly a young man with a shaved head approached me and I thought. “This guy looks rough”. He said, “Hello, I understand that you want us to match an online price from a company located hundreds of miles away?” I replied, trying to control the fear in my voice, “yes, please”, even though I didn’t think this tough looking number would ever go along with my plan no matter how much I begged or threatened.  To my astonishment he said, “No problem”. I decided to press it just a wee bit further and pointed out, “That price included white glove shipping”. He looked at me in silence for a couple of beats before replying, “Done”.  And that was that. What a great experience. Easy as could be. And the Best Buy people were pleasant every step of the way. 

On the way home I was feeling pretty special but I was nagged by curiosity. Why did this Best Buy store match the online price? They’ve always refused to do that in the past. Furthermore they took my word for it. They didn’t even ask for proof that I’d actually been given the price I quoted. Was it because the store was slow and needed business? There weren’t many customers there. Maybe this store, in particular, needed the business.

When I got home I logged on to the laptop and went to AVS to read some more about the new T.V. I had just bought. I was dumbfounded to discover that several people had the same experience with Best Buy stores in California and New York. I was starting to see a trend I could begin to develop statistical confidence in. But why? Is it the economy? Or is it part of a much bigger plan? Perhaps there is a bigger plan in place that’s been spurred by the economy. What would be the ramifications of Best Buy matching online prices?

Granted, there is added cost in maintaining physical locations but those locations could very well become the factor that gives Best Buy an advantage over Amazon and other companies that sell the same products. When the price is the same, wouldn’t you rather buy from the Best Buy located close to your house rather than from a dealer hundreds of miles away? I suspect most people would.

I admit that I feel guilty. I worry about the Mom and Pop businesses. I feel a connection with them. Portland is possibly the capital of small businesses. Its urban growth boundary law spawns small businesses by banishing big box store to the suburbs. I support Mom and Pop’s everyday. But, in the end, with dollars so significant in 2008, I made my purchase at a Best Buy.

It’ll be interesting to see how this evolves and whether I’ve actually spotted a new development that becomes a trend. If I have, then we’ll mostly likely see the consolidation of the electronics market under the Best Buy brand.