You already knew that

Best Buy admits what you already knew:


"We're no longer the authority in electronics."

"Not that long ago, Best Buy was the authority in this market; our stores wow-ed consumers," said interim Chief Executive Mike Mikan during a conference call with analysts. "Not anymore. Today’s marketplace is different. From my perspective, it’s a marketplace we weren’t prepared for."

Duh.

The article mentions Apple (iPads, app store) and Amazon (infinite inventory, free/discounted shipping) as the prime suspects in the murder. I would say that's part of it. But there's another part that the CEO doesn't mention - pure greed backfiring. I don't go in the Best Buy here very often (and in the middle of nowhere there are limited shopping options, so that's saying a lot), and almost every time I do I walk out empty-handed. Why? Because they're high - pure and simple. They want a price premium on EVERYTHING - DVDs, CDs, computers, TVs. I look at what they stock and immediately think "I bet that's cheaper on Amazon" (and can prove it by a quick look-up on my phone) or worse for them, if I'm in a "gotta have it today" mood, "I bet that's cheaper at Wal-Mart one mile away."

Let's review:

• 10-50% price premiums - when compared with Amazon or Wally World. That's the main killer, right there. There's a recession going on, folks.
• Limited stock - compared with Amazon.
• Sales tax - again, compared with Amazon. There's not a heck of a lot I could buy from Best Buy that I can't wait two days on for my Amazon Prime free shipping to get it here. Even if I have to pay for shipping, that's generally a low, flat rate compared to sales tax, which just keeps going up based solely on price.
• Obnoxious sales staff - I've heard salesteens there tell people "We don't work on commission," which then makes me want to ask them, "Then why do you act like you do?"
• General ass-hattery around price matching - e.g. special SKUs from manufacturers so they can always claim "That's not the same computer" when shown a competitor's ad or web site.

So they're doing poorly. This is a surprise to anyone?