Weekly RoundUp 12-7-2010 - Page 2

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkBirds 

Just got back from Target where they had plenty of "Inception" on BD and DVD. Had a tense moment watching the cashier pry the BD out of the security case with a pen, but damage to the slipcover was minimal.

You are not kidding. I just bought my copy and had them remove 3 from their ridiculous security cases before I got one that was only "minimally" damaged. The cashier says there is no other way, but I could do it given the right tool, such as a plastic butter knife.  I know theft is a problem, but I find it hard to believe that Target would rather sell every customer a DVD with damaged packaging.  A heck of a price to pay and one that may have me purchase elsewhere if the price is nearly the same.

I was at Target today too.  They had Inception combo packs *and* single-disc BDs on the shelf mixed together, for the same $17.99!

Again, be careful!  (The difference is clear if you look at them side-by-side.)

Didn't buy any movies, but I did pick up Lego Creationary for $24. :)

The Target in my area was living dangerously and didn't security case their copies of Inception. And I bet they didn't get any more copies of it stolen than the Targets that did lock theirs.

My Target (Berkshire Mall Pittsfield, MA) had zero copies of Inception on BD.  They had many copies on DVD.  Asked the Clerk and he stated that they got zero copies.  Said that many people had asked about the disk, but no one got one cause they didn't.  He didn't know why they didn't get any.  This is a Mall location.  Today I happened to be out in the Pioneer Valley (eastern Western Mass) and stopped at the Ingleside Mall in Holyoke.  They had about five copies of Inception on BD so I picked one up.  I picked up the new Twilight BD and took it to a scanner to check the price when I noticed the back of the Inception BD had been crinkled putting it into the security case.  Lucky catch, I returned it and got another one.  The cashiere had a heck of a time getting it out of the case though.  He also used the pry the inside of the sleeve trick.  I guess the case is a little thicker than usual due to the 3D hologram design?  Luckily no damage.

The Holyoke Mall at Ingleside!  I (mis)spent many a teenaged weekend there back during the Reagan Administration. :)

BB store easily price matched the 3 disc BD of Inception (17.99) and the BD Shrek set (39.99).  I picked up some stuff for me and, with RZ coupons of $65, paid $47 for Inception, Shrek, I Love You Man, Slumdog Millionaire, District 9 and Benjamin Button.

Oh, I got some Christmas presents too. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason_V 

BB store easily price matched the 3 disc BD of Inception (17.99) and the BD Shrek set (39.99). 

Mine did it, but it wasn't easy. I went up to Eddie, who's been with the store for at least 10 years and hasn't advanced beyond cashier, and told hiim the online price. He said that may be, but the newspaper ad said $24.99. And he proceeded to pull out the ad. I had to go to the service desk to get them to do it.

Now, I appreciate Best Buy's devotion to print ads, but I really wanted to point ol' Eddie to the entirety of his store that sells electronics, most of which connect in some way to the internet. I'm pretty sure they have a few toasters which connect to home networks. It's time to stop thinking of their stores as separate from their website. They are one and the same now.

But Eddie actually suggested I go to one of their dispaly computers and order it online for in store pickup before he was willing to price match to the website.

That's terrible, Chad.  Seriously.  Best Buy store should be able to match BestBuy.com with no problem at all without all the hoops.  Both in Michigan and Washington, I've never had to do that.  I walk right up to the register, tell the cashier it's a price match and they're done.  The worst part is getting a manager for an override.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chad R 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason_V 

BB store easily price matched the 3 disc BD of Inception (17.99) and the BD Shrek set (39.99). 

Mine did it, but it wasn't easy. I went up to Eddie, who's been with the store for at least 10 years and hasn't advanced beyond cashier, and told hiim the online price. He said that may be, but the newspaper ad said $24.99. And he proceeded to pull out the ad. I had to go to the service desk to get them to do it.

 

Now, I appreciate Best Buy's devotion to print ads, but I really wanted to point ol' Eddie to the entirety of his store that sells electronics, most of which connect in some way to the internet. I'm pretty sure they have a few toasters which connect to home networks. It's time to stop thinking of their stores as separate from their website. They are one and the same now.

 

But Eddie actually suggested I go to one of their dispaly computers and order it online for in store pickup before he was willing to price match to the website.

I guess it's not easy for BB cashiers to do website PMs on the spot.  They apparently don't have direct access to the website prices from their cashier stations, so they either need to walk over to the customer service center to get approval or have someone come over to the cashier area to approve the PMs for them.

Maybe BB will someday make this process more straightforward at regular in-store checkout -- or maybe they just don't want to make it that easy at all...

_Man_

That is odd. One of the price adjustment options at the register is "price match bb.com".

I did it today. the Inception wrang up at $24.99 and I pointed out the pirce of paper on the standee in front of the store says $17.99. "Oh thats for the single disc edition."

"Well it is $17.99 on the web site, here let me show you."  iPhone .............

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Frezon 

That's even stranger about the Inception (1-disc) being available at multiple retailers...but not others.

 

I wonder who's choice it was?  Did the studio say "pay us extra and we'll allow you to sell this unique item?"  Or, was it offered to everyone but only some retailers decided to bother? 

 

It just makes the process of keeping track that much more confusing. 

 

Whichever way it went down...I bet any retailer who's got the 1-disc is wondering why today...especially since the combo pack has dropped down so low in price. 

This is purely speculation on my part, Mike, but I suspect some retailers are demanding these BD only versions of the heavily advertised combo-packs. I suspect many a casual consumer is wary of the extra "value" they actually derive from these multi-disc sets, and I am sure they are making their feelings known to retailers. The 4-disc Fantasia Blu-ray combo-pack is an excellent case in point. Two of the four discs are nothing more than DVD-only versions of the two feature films contained on the BD discs. If it wasn't for the heavily discounted release week sale price combined with the ubiquitous $10 Off Disney Rewards coupon, I would have certainly opted for the 2-disc set. To Disney's credit, they do give consumers a choice, but you wouldn't necessarily know it was an option based on their advertising. All of Disney's advertising is geared toward the 4-disc combo-pack.

Personally, these extra DVD discs, and most especially the digital download discs, are not "features" I am willing to pay extra for. When the 4-disc combo-pack is so discounted, it costs less than a standard one or 2-disc set, I am there. But, if studios think this demonstrates consumers are embracing (and seeking out) these 3-4-disc combo-packs, they are clearly misreading the tea leaves IMO...

Blockbuster also has a 1 disc br of Inception for sale.

btw The Other guys longer cut was really funny, we just finished it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Frezon 

It was fascinating to watch the price drop at so many retailers this week for the Inception combo pack.  So many retailers offering the combo pack for the same price as that 1-disc version at those places who carried it.

 

Wait'll you see some of the combinations that are going to be in next week's WRU. 

I finally dropped by J&R yesterday to make use of my limited-time $25 promo GC and was kinda surprised to see that they too did similarly for pricing of both Inception BD and Shrek BDs.  In their case, I only found the Inception combo BD for $17.99, but saw that they had the Shrek 4 combo BD for $17.99 sitting right next to the $22.99 single-disc version on their new release display.

J&R had never followed this sort of odd pricing practice that's employed by the various superstore chains (and Amazon, et al) before near as I can tell, so I was surprised to see this.  OTOH, I was glad to see that they also followed suit by pricing the Shrek: The Whole Story BD set at $39.99, so I bought that w/ the aid of my $25 promo GC -- and tacked on a couple more useful, non-HT/movie-related items so I could use another $5 coupon -- since I missed out on the DD ~$30 preorder deal (that might take years to receive) last weekend.

_Man_

Quote:

Originally Posted by TonyD 

That is odd. One of the price adjustment options at the register is "price match bb.com".

 

Yeah, but it shouldn't be something cashiers need to do. They shouldn't have to price match their own website. It should be already in the system at the same price as the website. They're a technology company for heaven's sake. The majority of their customers are into technology and are more apt to check the price on the website before they'd dig up the newspaper ad. I would imagine that it's causing them more customer dissatisfaction by keeping the store price and internet price separate. They should be the same.

Retailers in general are moving toward multichannel selling solutions (i.e., having a single system for in-store, online, and phone orders).  Most places already offer the same prices online and off.

It's funny, in that they were one of the first to offer online purchases for in-store pickup, yet seem to be well behind the curve in terms of standardized pricing.  They're not like Walmart, which varies pricing regionally, so there doesn't seem to be much point other than to make a few extra bucks off people who don't price-check (which is another thing that's becoming ubiquitous).

Best Buy will have to catch up eventually.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chad R 

They're a technology company for heaven's sake. The majority of their customers are into technology and are more apt to check the price on the website before they'd dig up the newspaper ad.

 

I'm not so sure that's true.  Best Buy caters to the mass public, competing with Walmart and Target by offering a wider selection of more specialized products.  The more into technology a person is, the less likely they are to shop there as opposed to online.  Best Buy can't compete on price with online stores, generally speaking.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chad R 

I would imagine that it's causing them more customer dissatisfaction by keeping the store price and internet price separate.

 

This is certainly likely.  Not sure if it's enough to offset the extra bucks though.

Thanks for the info.