Best Buy Turning Sleazy With Wii Sales?

[Mendon]

Best Buy appears to be stooping to new lows to increase Wii sales. Take a look at THIS LINK regarding Best Buy tactic's for selling Wii consoles.

 

Nothing illegal, I guess, but it sure makes me wonder about the ethic's of retail stores.

 

 

 

Mendon

[MCHufnagel]

Best Buy appears to be stooping to new lows to increase Wii sales. Take a look at THIS LINK regarding Best Buy tactic's for selling Wii consoles.

 

Nothing illegal, I guess, but it sure makes me wonder about the ethic's of retail stores.

 

 

 

Mendon

 

ETHICS? RETAIL STORES?

[Mendon]

Best Buy appears to be stooping to new lows to increase Wii sales. Take a look at THIS LINK regarding Best Buy tactic's for selling Wii consoles.

 

Nothing illegal, I guess, but it sure makes me wonder about the ethic's of retail stores.

 

 

 

Mendon

 

ETHICS? RETAIL STORES?

 

Okay, okay.... I yield. Ethic's was a poor choice of wording on my part. As punishment for my sin, I'll go back and play 10 times the YouTube link I posted for the GameStop telephone message to those who pre-ordered Galaxy.

 

 

Mendon

[Atari5200]

just cashing in on Nintendo's claims of not enough units for demand. But still, if they are flying off the shelves as fast as people "CLAIM" they are, then why would they have to do this?

[joeybastard]

I'll just point out that it's one guy claiming he saw this with no other evidence. What would actually be the point in doing this? It doesn't make more sales because in lots of other retailers, the Wii is sold out without this tactic. You also don't make more sales if randomly try to sell something with the hope that a customer that wants one is in the store at that moment. Other than Best Buy employees just screwing with customers or a made up story by a competing chain, what's the point in this tactic if it's true?

[Albert]

If this did occur, it certainly would not be surprising. Why would they do it? Makes things more interesting for the employees (working at a retail store is not very exciting, I've done it), and they can pretty much guarantee they'll sell out of their Wii's this way, while emphasizing that they are in short supply which keeps people frenzied about it. Also, when selling them like this they can more easily hawk accessories as well as their extended service plan. Definitely sleazy and probably is illegal since they are outright lying about their stock level to entice people to buy "the last one".

 

..Al

[joeybastard]

I can buy the employees doing it for fun, I've worked retail too and know the deal but that's not the same as "store policy" or a sales technique. I just don't see how this helps sales at a Best Buy if the Target down the street just puts them out on the floor to sell out quickly and probably grab the accessory sales to boot since I think people would be more apt buy another controller and games if they have the console in their hand.

[Atari5200]

i agree with Joey. it' seems pointless. If the Wii is such a hot item that it's going to sell out regardless, then why go through all the crap to do this? Plus if they are walking through the store who's to say they are in the electronics deptartment, are they then carrying extra accessories with them to try to upsale or rehash?

 

It just doesn't make sense.

Edited November 14, 2007 by Atari5200

[Prodos8]

The Wal-Mart I frequent does something similar yet more subtle. They only put one Wii console in the display case at a time. There's room for 5-6 in the spot they've got for 'em. I confirmed this tactic as I saw them sell the one in the case one morning, when I came back later that afternoon the case had another Wii in it. In fact I don't think I've ever seen more than one Wii console on display anywhere.

[Flojomojo]

It doesn't seem particularly sleazy to me, so long as people can finally get this machine. For all we know, Nintendo has encouraged this behavior.

[Atari5200]

The Wal-Mart I frequent does something similar yet more subtle. They only put one Wii console in the display case at a time. There's room for 5-6 in the spot they've got for 'em. I confirmed this tactic as I saw them sell the one in the case one morning, when I came back later that afternoon the case had another Wii in it. In fact I don't think I've ever seen more than one Wii console on display anywhere.

 

now that I think about it, your right, when I actually have seen a Wii, which is rare, where I have seen them there has always been just one.

[+remowilliams]

The Wal-Mart I frequent does something similar yet more subtle. They only put one Wii console in the display case at a time.

I've actually seen this happen at a bunch of different stores. A bit underhanded and annoying for sure, but it does seem effective at keeping people running for that 'last one.'

[+-^CrossBow^-]

I actually haven't seen this anywhere. All Wal-Marts here that have Wiis in stock have filled the bottom case with however many they can get in there. In fact the last Wii I bought for my boys for upcoming Christmas was just like this. I went to Wal-Mart on a Sunday evening no less...and they had not 1 but 4 of them in the bottom display case below the games. So I get a clerk and asked for one. Clerk says..."Oh..no problem. In fact, I have 3 more up at the counter since we didn't have room to put them all in the case." And then proceeded to pull one out from behind the counter and sell me that one. I looked it over and it had never been opened, so I genuinely find this to be true.

 

I've seen several at gamestops and EBs around me as well. They usually have about 2 or 3 of them up high either behind the clerks counter or above the Wii and Cube new and used games wall section.

 

However, conversely to this, Toys R Us seems to frequently run out of them. Yesterday my girlfriend was in Toys R Us trying to snag me a copy of Mario Galaxy with the $25 gift card deal. They were out of Mario Galaxies! Yet in the 15min that my girlfriend was there, she saw no less than 4 Wiis get bought and taken out of the store. So, they are indeed still selling very well it would seem. And no, the customers buying the Wiis didn't have Mario Galaxy either and just appeared to be buying Wiis only. Just thought it was interesting and crazy that so many sold so quickly. This happened just yesterday afternoon around 1:30pm at the TRS near 71st and Memorial in Tulsa, OK for any that might have been curious.

[joeybastard]

I still have never seen a Wii console for sale in a display case. I have 3 Targets, 4 Walmarts, 4 Best Buys and 3 Circuit Cities near me and not once have I seen the console. I just find it hard to believe every store would follow this "last one" tactic. I think this thing is just underproduced and very popular.

[Atari5200]

yep, i think the last time I saw a Wii was about 4 months ago at Wal-mart, saw 1. coming from a background in manufacturing, there's really no excuse for shortages like this. My company can easily juggle inventory production from 1 company to up to 3 in some cases, and i'm sure Nintendo has more pull than the place I work.

[NE146]

coming from a background in manufacturing, there's really no excuse for shortages like this.

 

Arguably. However from it could also be said the thing is just still selling like hotcakes.

 

I can't speak for people from communities that constantly have Wii's in stock, but from my vantage point here in the city of Charlotte, I've never seen them around either, and it's been that way since I got my launch Wii. I just never thought about it much. However, that changed last week. I needed to buy 2 Wii's as gifts so I started "The Hunt". I called Toys R Us and the guy said they were getting a bunch in Sunday 11/11, and if I want it I should get there early before 9:00 opening since people line up.

 

So Sunday came and the wife and I go to Toys R Us about 7:45, then after some thought I went to Target on a whim at about 8:10 and they had 15 Wii's! I ended up buying the last one they had at around 8:15. Then, I went back to Toys R' Us and my wife got a ticket.. and luckily since they got about 15 in as well and the line got to around 30 people. So we bought one there as well.

 

So Target on a Sunday sells out in 15 minutes. Toys R Us sells out before they open. The Costco's near me get pallettes of them that are gone in the same day. I think they're manufacturing and distributing it fine... at least matching the ps3 and 360's output. But the thing is just still in demand. . Nationwide. Moreso since it's the Holidays now.

 

haul pics

[oesii]

I was in a Wal-Mart today and I saw two different sets of grandparents asking for Wii's. The store employees weren't too helpful, they told them that they get shipments once every month or two but that they would pick up soon because of Xmas. But they didn't offer any specifics as to when you could come by and actually buy a console. Sounded like a mysterious and murky way to sell consoles.

[Atari5200]

i understand supply and demand trust me I do. I also know the affects of forecasting upcoming product. Even if Nintendo forecast for the Wii was not very high, which obviously it wasn't high, you compensate by multiple location production and air shipping in the inventory, either Nintendo is not competent enough to realize this, or they are too cheap. I would suggest they are too cheap or they would have done it already and not come out and said "oh well another year of shorted systems". Right now, Sony and especially Microsoft, with the very competitive Arcade system, best advertising is coming from Nintendo themselves and the shortages, can't find a Wii, get a 360 for $20. At least that is my opinion of the situation.

 

The company I work for does only about a few hundred million dollars a year in business and we have enough pull in overseas markets to run multiple production facilities and warehouses, you can't tell me a multi-billion dollar company can't do the same or much better, give me a break.

Edited November 14, 2007 by Atari5200

[Room 34]

It's not necessarily a matter of simply "ramping up" production. The latest high-tech items always rely on a supply of equally high-tech parts, usually made by other companies. The company that's producing the "end result" product can push their suppliers to give them as much inventory of the parts as possible (apparently Apple horded all available sources of flash ROM chips for months when the first flash-based iPods were in production -- to the extent that no other manufacturers could get any!), but ultimately there may be a point where they just can't get all of the components they need to increase production any further.

[Prodos8]

I find the shortage hard, at this time, to beleive. Maybe the first Christmas season, yeah. But not now after the console is over a year old. This must be a first time in history that they can't produce enough.

 

Nintendo is orchestrating the shortage for its own benfit, though short-sighted in my opinion.

[Atari5200]

I find the shortage hard, at this time, to beleive. Maybe the first Christmas season, yeah. But not now after the console is over a year old. This must be a first time in history that they can't produce enough.

 

I agree, yes I can understand shortages at the time of launch of a product or even for some months after, but not a year, that's more than enough time to put in place a new business model, re-forecast the production end of it, and make all necessary changes. I don't know if Nintendo themselves are orchestrating it, seems fishy enough when you think about it, or if they just truly don't have the capabilities to increase production, which I find extremely hard to believe.

 

EDIT: what's funny is the Wii ads. Have you seen the "wii got one" add? everytime i see it i think to myself "good for that lady, too bad nobody else can get one"

Edited November 15, 2007 by Atari5200

[Albert]

I was at a Wal-Mart about a month ago and actually saw three Wii systems sitting on the bottom shelf in the display cabinet. The thought of buying all three systems and holding them to profit nicely during the Christmas season did occur, but then I decided I didn't want to be one of those profiteering assholes who make it difficult for people to buy these systems during the holiday season. My guess is this is why Wiis are still hard to find, is that people are snapping them up to dump them on eBay come December.

 

I do agree that Nintendo really should have been able to flood the market with Wiis by this point. I honestly cannot believe that they are producing them as fast as they can. It's bordering a bit on the ridiculous at this point.

 

..Al

[NE146]

I do agree that Nintendo really should have been able to flood the market with Wiis by this point. I honestly cannot believe that they are producing them as fast as they can. It's bordering a bit on the ridiculous at this point.

 

Well.. I went to Toys R' Us today to go for that "buy 2 wii games, get 1 free" deal for gifts. I spoke to the guy and this morning they got 72 units in. All were sold out immediately. I've read a couple of other posts on the subject re: the sale, that say their Toys' R Us's got 70+ Wii units in as well, and all were sold out. I think at this rate even if they stocked every store in the nation weekly with a couple hundred units, they'd friggin sell out!

[chrisbid]

consoles with any amount of real demand are almost always sold out around xmas. you couldnt find a DS to save your life last xmas. nintendo would be plain stupid to intentionally hold back wiis or not produce them at full capacity. their business model provides them profit for each unit sold. what may be the problem is upping production would kill their profit margin. none of us and know for sure, but i really cant imagine any of us on this board with any connections could not have picked up a system by now (assuming you want one). few systems will be found from this point until next spring

[Albert]

consoles with any amount of real demand are almost always sold out around xmas. you couldnt find a DS to save your life last xmas. nintendo would be plain stupid to intentionally hold back wiis or not produce them at full capacity. their business model provides them profit for each unit sold. what may be the problem is upping production would kill their profit margin. none of us and know for sure, but i really cant imagine any of us on this board with any connections could not have picked up a system by now (assuming you want one). few systems will be found from this point until next spring

I still think it's kind of ridiculous that they don't ramp up production to get more Wiis on the shelves. Selling more units means they will sell more software, software that is trivially inexpensive for them to produce in more quantities, hence more profits (these companies all make considerably more on the software than the hardware, if they make anything at all on the hardware!) It would also further encourage developers to make new games for the system, if having a better supply of Wiis would more quickly ramp up the Wiis installed base. And of the current generation systems, the Wii is by far the least complex of the systems, and there are no technological reasons why they can't churn these babies out at full tilt to meet demand.

 

I do really have to wonder how many of these systems are going to be flooding eBay and Craigslist shortly. I bet a huge number of Wiis that have been purchased are being sat on by profiteers.

 

..Al