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CompUSA is back, boasting "retail 2.0" experience
Once a part of the three big electronics retail outlets prior to filing bankruptcy two years ago, CompUSA has reopened their doors with about 30 new stores nationwide and a slew of fresh marketing strategies to boot. Some of those new strategies include aggressive pricing, remodeled stores with improved lighting and most intriguingly, unrestricted in-store Internet access to stimulate comparison shopping.
Despite the increasing trend of purchasing discounted electronics and other goods online, founder of TigerDirect - now CompUSA sister store, also owned by Systemax - Gilbert Fiorentino feels very strongly about customers still wanting to have a physical store to purchase electronics.
Naturally, one would immediately surmise that a physical chain cannot maintain prices that compare to major e-tailers, however, given the current model, CompUSA is expected to carry price tags identical to those on TigerDirect.com regardless of the obvious rise in overhead. In combination with that and the in-store Internet access, it is safe to assume that prices will be set very competitively given the ease of finding an alternate distributor.
CompUSA is paying close attention to managing its costs in order to survive the recession and have a future in the market, which is now a hopeful outlook with competition such as Circuit City going under.
Despite the increasing trend of purchasing discounted electronics and other goods online, founder of TigerDirect - now CompUSA sister store, also owned by Systemax - Gilbert Fiorentino feels very strongly about customers still wanting to have a physical store to purchase electronics.
Naturally, one would immediately surmise that a physical chain cannot maintain prices that compare to major e-tailers, however, given the current model, CompUSA is expected to carry price tags identical to those on TigerDirect.com regardless of the obvious rise in overhead. In combination with that and the in-store Internet access, it is safe to assume that prices will be set very competitively given the ease of finding an alternate distributor.
CompUSA is paying close attention to managing its costs in order to survive the recession and have a future in the market, which is now a hopeful outlook with competition such as Circuit City going under.
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User Comments (10)
Post a comment|
poundsmack
on April 10, 2009 6:27 PM |
...if at first you don't succeed, try reinventing yourself into a market sector that is quickly disapearing from the face of the earth.... seriously though: Best Buy will be the last major electronics dealer standing and only because they are surprisingly diversified (though all their sub companies arn't doing so well either. Napster and Speakeasy.net come to mind).In the end (sadly) Walmart will be all that is left, and the zombie apocalypse will consume us all... |
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9Nails
on April 10, 2009 9:32 PM |
Nooooo! Not Walmart! Please make a new prediction. I can't stand that store. Any place that you can buy cheap jewelry, a rocking chair, under wear, and a box of cereal is not the right place for buying electronics!I would have spoken up for Fry's as one of the last major electronics stores, but their shelves are stocked with tens of thousands of return items. That just leaves to many questionable purchases for me to recommend them. |
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Relic
on April 10, 2009 9:32 PM |
I’m lucky enough to have a local CompUSA store in my area and have purchased several electronics with them that were cheaper then online. There pricing matches TD and no shipping necessary only a short drive. I’ve on occasion ordered items through TD but prefer Newegg when shopping online (better shipping imo). If you live close to one of there stores check it out you might be pleasantly surprised. |
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supersmashbrada
on April 10, 2009 10:25 PM |
[b]Originally posted by poundsmack:[/b][quote]...if at first you don't succeed, try reinventing yourself into a market sector that is quickly disapearing from the face of the earth.... [/quote]If you were able to figure this out, why didnt they. I only buy certain things at bestbuy, and those are games, because I dont want to wait 3-5 days to play a game I want. Anything else in bestbuy you can find cheaper online, usually around 20% less sometimes. |
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DarkCobra
on April 10, 2009 11:14 PM |
Well, all I can say is I wish them well. Personally, I would like to see them cater their market to a slightly different upscale clientèle slightly above that of Best Buy. I mean a more computer/electronics savvy crowd with staff who REALLY know their stuff. That is a notch that is clearly missing at most Best Buy stores today.If they can keep the prices equivalent to or certainly close to on-line pricing then they will be on to something truly valuable. There are tons of Circuit City stores just waiting for new tenants right now and while I don't think they will need that many stores, the opportunity for that space is perfect right now. |
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JDoors
on April 11, 2009 1:31 PM |
If brick-and-mortar stores are still a vialble business model, why is Best Buy laying of thousands even though their largest competitor has closed their doors? It's time to give up. (For the record, I prefer to buy big-ticket items via brick-and-mortar stores.) |
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DarkCobra
on April 11, 2009 2:48 PM |
Well if it's time to just "give up" then a whole lot of brick and mortar stores should just throw in the towel and not even try huh? No, I think hard economic times like these force all businesses to re-evaluate and re-structure how they operate, which is all BB is doing right now. Many other companies are also laying off but no where near going out of business. Circuit City either couldn't or wouldn't re-structure in a timely matter and thus their closure resulted. Those who transition in a a timely and effective manner will survive and those who don't . . . won't.I continue to encourage CompUSA to give it another try but as I stated before, this time with a more focused model. It may work and it may not . . . but just "giving up" will always be a recipe for failure. |
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DarkCobra
on April 11, 2009 4:05 PM |
As for BB laying of "thousands" of people . . . a few facts may be in order. Read this:[url]http://i.gizmodo.com/5208230/more-details-about-th -best-buy-reorganization[/url] |
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nazartp
on April 13, 2009 4:09 PM |
In the US, try Microcenter - competitive with knowledgeable staff. I will never buy a TV set or an LCD monitor online - the return policies of 8 dead pixels minimum are not going to cut it for me. |
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nimo333
on April 14, 2009 11:55 AM |
Best Buy service is awful in boston. [url]http://fadirocks.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=689&p=2647[/ur ]MicroCenter in Madison Hts, MI which is the cheapest & best store in the Detroit area, had a high increase in the # of customers.Circuit City was a joke, hardly ever had cheaper stuff than microcenter. CompUSA was a little bit but not good enough. |
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