They were for a long time, especially when they didn't collect sales tax. Many people just stopped comparison shopping and haven't realized the situation's changed.
> but they’re just the most convenient.
Not necessarily. Oddly enough, Best Buy is the most convenient for me (for electronics), and it's usually not any more expensive than Amazon, at least for the stuff I buy. Amazon less convenient due to the hassle with their delivery delays and packing materials.
They will also price match Amazon in most cases. I hear a lot of people complain about Best Buy but I’ve made a few big purchases at my local Best Buy store and their employees were super helpful and friendly. I’d much rather shop there and get the item immediately rather than wait two days, personally.
Almost everything else, I tend to favor Amazon though. But I find myself looking locally more and more.
Made no sense for me to pay more ($20 across 4 bulbs) to get them that day in person.
http://www.businessinsider.com/best-buy-punishes-customers-f...
I half-jokingly asked the gentleman helping me if we could price match, and how long that would take. He said that if their automated system "accepted it" then it'd be instant.
Their system did accept it pretty much immediately, and so I saved $2 for about 90 seconds 'delay' (half of which was borderline laughter/seeing if I was serious; I was only half-serious).
Made for a positive experience for me and my wife, and I now won't hesitate to consider Best Buy, via price match, in the future if I'm ordering something that they stock locally. It was also the first time I'd ever asked for a price match in the last 10+ years, if ever. :)
Buying anything that you expect to keep more than a year is a waste at Walmart, even if its cheaper.
Full Disclosure: I'm a WM Associate, but am speaking on my own. This type of behavior is against our Code of Ethics, and would be sent to investigation.
You'll find the following:
LG TV Serial:ABC123WM at walmart
LG TV Serial:ABC123BB at best buy
It's called managerial plausible deniablity. And this tactic is very much welcomed across all stores, as it prevents comparison shopping.
I THINK this is along the lines of your request. I read this when it was published (2006) and didn’t reread it when I searched for it now. Describes a culture of lowering quality to achieve sales at prices dictated by WM, as I recall. Sorry, want to be more complete but unable at this moment.
many electronics manufacturers, however, do create "black friday" versions of their products. this is well-documented. i think this practice is the origin on the claim made by the GP.
BestBuy: "Sorry, but that Walmart price is actually a different TV model."
Caveat: only if you need a car anyways. If you only need a car to run errands, Amazon is pretty competitive for pretty much anything except fresh groceries.
What is true is that there are people who live in cities and use Zipcar, Uber, regular rentals, etc. instead of owning. If that's the case, the cost calculus changes if you need to pay in order to run errands.
I'm not sure which "couple of cities" you're thinking of, but I'm pretty sure I haven't lived in either of them. And even when I've owned a car, I've never used a car day-to-day.
I live (barely) inside the city limits of a town of 13,000 people, in a county of 37,000. My wife and I both have vehicles and we use both of them probably 80% of days - and I work remotely to boot.
http://www.governing.com/gov-data/car-ownership-numbers-of-v...
https://lendedu.com/blog/walmart-vs-amazon/
http://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-vs-amazon-which-is-ch...
What Wal-mart currently has that Amazon doesn't is a brick-and-mortar network that works. If it can make that experience much better, it can beat Amazon in the physical space for ten years while Amazon fights the learning curve.
I suppose they hope such a gesture will woo people away from Amazon and back to Walmart who cares about people, unlike Amazon.