Archive for the ‘Error’ tag
Best Buy Could’ve Made History (If It Were a Perfect World)
[After a 2 1/2 month hiatus, I'm debuting a new post. Hey, I follow the TV calendar and series premieres are just around the corner.]
Anyone with half a brain understands that computer glitches happen. During the course of the day, I’m sure you’ve had to reboot at least once, I know I have to about once every two hours, but that’s another story. What happened today at BestBuy.com was obviously a computer or human error. I hope it’s the former so no one will get fired.
In case you were not around Wednesday morning, BestBuy.com posted the greatest deal in the history of online shopping. A 52-inch Samsung TV for $9.99. Upon realizing the pricing error, Best Buy came out with a statement stating “while we are truly embarrassed that this occurred, Best Buy will not be able to honor the $9.99 price.” Ouch!
Without knowing how many TV sets were bought by customers online (I assume there weren’t many because they determined the error within a few hours) and how much the company would have lost in sales, it would’ve been great if Best Buy had honored the price. Only if it were a perfect world where customers who purchased the same item for the full price WILL NOT complain about those that got this deal and with the understanding that only one TV will be given per customer who bought one, Best Buy would’ve made history. Here’s how:
- Whatever losses Best Buy incurs, it’ll make up with the positive publicity that it could have milked for days, if not, weeks, instead of the negative commentary and bad jokes on social network sites that will live forever. I’m betting that whatever amount in lost sales the electronics retailer experiences, the dollar equivalent from all the positive media coverage will be far more significant.
- Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson would have become a household name and probably even be considered as a guest on Oprah maybe even hold a Beer Summit at The White House. At the very least, he’ll be on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
- Best Buy doesn’t have any competition to worry about. Seriously, I believe a move like this will even increase Best Buy’s market share and bring more customers to their stores instead of driving them away to shop at regional retailers like 6th Avenue Electronics or P.C. Richard & Son.
- Consumers will be commending Best Buy versus cursing it. One consumer even started a web site that calls out the Best Buy error. Welcome to the social media era.
- You can’t put a price tag on goodwill especially during tough economic times. Best Buy will be a company to be emulated by other big box retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, etc.
Disclaimer: I wasn’t one of the consumers who bought the TV online for $9.99. Opinions expressed here are simply my own and was not paid by Circuit City.
P.S. — This post is not a criticism of Best Buy’s topnotch PR team, which handled the crisis by the book.
