If you’re going to buy a thing — any kind of thing, really — Amazon tends to be the first thought if you’re someone that uses the Internet. The old guard when it comes to retailers, like Best Buy or Target, are last on the list to be checked. Showrooming, however, is more popular than ever. Checking stuff out in a physical store and then buying online is all the rage. In an effort to fight back against the beast that is online retail, Best Buy has revealed that they’re making their Internet price-matching policy permanent for a select few retailers.
They’re basically opening the floodgates the tiniest bit. Best Buy has a history of matching prices during the winter holidays, but they’ve also been vehemently dismissive of the entire “showrooming” thing since it first cropped up. Even now they’re only going to match certain online retailers, though they’ve certainly covered the major ones.
Here’s the list, straight from Best Buy:
Amazon.com, Apple.com, Bhphotovideo.com, Buy.com, CircuitCity.com, CompUSA.com, Crutchfield.com, Dell.com, hhgregg.com, HP.com, HomeDepot.com, Lowes.com, Newegg.com, OfficeDepot.com, OfficeMax.com, Sears.com, Staples.com, Target.com, TigerDirect.com, and Walmart.com.
Why Circuit City is still included is beyond me, but the list might see an update before the policy goes into effect on March 3rd. Still though, we’ve got Newegg, Amazon, TigerDirect, and Walmart on there. What more could you need?
(Best Buy via Bloomberg, The Verge, image via Ron Dauphin)
- Best Buy has been in a weird place with the rise of online retail
- They did awful in the United Kingdom
- Why they buy used games now is beyond us
