As big box stores continue to struggle to lure customers through their doors, Best Buy is taking an interesting approach to ensuring its brick-and-mortar locations continue to pull their weight. Rather than pushing in-store incentives, the company is just going to send its salespeople right to your door in the hopes that you can be convinced to buy something. Neat?
The company isn’t turning its employees into door-to-door solicitors, however, as the in-home sales calls will be carried out by request only. The idea being that would-be shoppers would rather have a Best Buy employee recommend gadget upgrades in their living rooms rather than having a salesperson guess what would most benefit an in-store customer.
The blue-shirted salespeople will offer their own recommendations for upgrades like new TVs, home theater setups, smart home gadgetry, and appliances. As AP reports, the service is already being tested in five markets and is slated to roll out to many more in the immediate future.
It’s worth noting that the Best Buy crews which will be traveling around neighborhoods are paid an hourly rate or salary, and are not paid a commission based on what they actually get customers to buy. From a consumer standpoint, that’s extremely good news.
The in-home sales service is just the latest move in Best Buy’s long battle against online retailers like Amazon which have become go-to gadget shopping hubs. The company’s own online sales efforts have also ramped up in recent years, and despite grim earnings reports and a plummeting stock price from 2010 through 2012, the retail giant has managed to rebound nicely in the half decade since.
