I'm curious how the affiliate program is treating everyone. Are you getting lots of impressions/clicks? What about sales?
Thus far, my own experience has been impressions/clicks but no purchases.
It makes me wonder:
* Are people looking online then going to a physical store for instant gratification? I wouldn't blame them for not wanting to pay or wait for shipping but it doesn't help us affiliates stay in business.
* Are people just using the Best Buy product data to compare with places where they usually shop? Best Buy isn't really known for having the best deals (based on feedback I've received from friends and users), so maybe users are seeing the prices and fleeing to other (possibly online-only) retailers?
* Is my site just low quality and not doing it for people? I don't think this is the case, as the same base site regularly sells products at Amazon, Newegg, and Backcountry.com.
So, what do you think - are affiliates fighting the tech-savvy public's perception that Best Buy doesn't have good prices? (Why buy your tv at BB when you can get it cheaper and with free two day shipping at Amazon?) And/or do you think people are viewing online then driving to the store and purchasing?
I look forward to hearing about everyone's experiences so far.
I can't speak for the Affiliate program myself as I work on the Remix team but I do have some thoughts about your post.
If you believe people are clicking through and then just deciding to go to the store, you may want to work on a way to inform customers about our bestbuy.com in store pickup option. Buy it now and go to the store when you can. That way the customer is guaranteed the product and it's already pulled aside for them.
There is also a 7 day time period on the cookies so when a user clicks through and then comes back at a later time to purchase the item the Affiliate will still get the credit for the sale.
Also showing people the benefits of purchasing a product from Best Buy may help. We have over 1000 stores they can bring their product in for support or repair. They can pick up the product at a store so they can view it before they really go home with it. We offer repair and installation services through Geek Squad. Reward Zone and numerous other advantages of choosing Best Buy.
Best Buy is a powerful brand and our .com business is doing well. Is it possible that your user base is a different user base than bestbuy.com gets? How can you reach the users we reach?
It's possible that people looking for the functionality my sites provide may be a little more tech savvy than the average Best Buy customer. Nobody in their right mind would buy a laptop at BB, for example, based on conversations I've had; everyone I talk to seems to have a negative opinion of Best Buy's prices (going so far as to call it Worst Buy). That kind of user isn't going to care about Geek Squad: they can fix their own computers. While I don't think every single one of my users is like this, the population may be skewed enough toward that end to make it quite difficult to sell (m)any Best Buy products, particularly when it seems that many of the products are available elsewhere online for less.
For the most part, I think you're right. Our user bases are different, but there's also more I could be doing to entice people to buy. Reminding them of in-store pickup is a great idea!
As far as how to get in front of your users....Best Buy could always include a camelbuy link in their next mass customer communication. You have a newsletter, right? =)
Just reviewing remix offering. I don't understand why I would go through the trouble of setting up a web site that uses BB as a backing store when the prices are the same and you have to tell people that it's BB that's offering the product. Why not just go to BB and buy it? One of the other threads even said that BB.com is doing great so BB is competeing with you. Where's the incentive for the buyer to purchase from me over BB?
I just don't see why I should be part of BB's 'sales force' with these conditions. The reason Amazon etc works is that they allow you to leverage their strength as an online provider with better pricing (the incentive). BB is a brick and mortar, fine, but you can use brick and mortar prices online. People expect a discount for A) waiting for delivery B) your online with no overhead of a brick and mortar.
Can someone explain how this is supposed to work? I don't get it.
Nice to see a reply! I sincerely hope the article addresses the business side of Remix and it's not a pep talk. Your going to have to provide a clear incentive for people to want to use Remix.
Absolutely, your point/list of concerns is something I go through regularly myself. It won't be a pep talk, that's not how I operate. I'd much rather just be honest and upfront about what's going on.
The blog post is coming, it's just been a crazy few weeks as we are getting ready to hold a little internal event. :-)
My company, Femtobeam LLC, is a Microsoft Azure Developer Partner and recently found a way to integrate advanced security so that online transactions and services can be absolutely unbreakable. It has already passed all the highest levels of Gov tests. It does involve issuing a card.
We are now moving into an advanced online world which will include businesses and does not require the users to do anything except upload photos and add "decor" to their spaces. It then links from anywhere. The idea here is to create an environment that is more interesting and easier for online life with safety in PII, (personal identifying information). In other words, there is no anonymity, yet privacy is assured as long as rules of interactive engagement are followed. This makes the environment safe for families and also for the future of brain interfaces which is our primary development interest.
We are planning on producing this along with online commerce. We need help with this from all programming languages and like everyone else, we are trying to find out how this makes everyone money. The progress is great but the economic models fall short. If you have an interest in helping us or any ideas or suggestions, please let us know at http://femtobeam.com
At least, if we are successful we can charge nominal rent for "space" and interior decorators, online construction, and virtual items. We want to create a store for Best Buy in this new online "World" and would welcome a way to have programmers get involved in the design of this world that can provide services to the public also.
What I do know is that it will be secure for transactions and will have Microsoft products as well as compatability with other operating systems in a SaaS and NaaS environment.
I'm curious how the affiliate program is treating everyone. Are you getting lots of impressions/clicks? What about sales?
Thus far, my own experience has been impressions/clicks but no purchases.
It makes me wonder:
* Are people looking online then going to a physical store for instant gratification? I wouldn't blame them for not wanting to pay or wait for shipping but it doesn't help us affiliates stay in business.
* Are people just using the Best Buy product data to compare with places where they usually shop? Best Buy isn't really known for having the best deals (based on feedback I've received from friends and users), so maybe users are seeing the prices and fleeing to other (possibly online-only) retailers?
* Is my site just low quality and not doing it for people? I don't think this is the case, as the same base site regularly sells products at Amazon, Newegg, and Backcountry.com.
So, what do you think - are affiliates fighting the tech-savvy public's perception that Best Buy doesn't have good prices? (Why buy your tv at BB when you can get it cheaper and with free two day shipping at Amazon?) And/or do you think people are viewing online then driving to the store and purchasing?
I look forward to hearing about everyone's experiences so far.
Bryan Brandau - Remix Team – 6 months ago
Dan,
I can't speak for the Affiliate program myself as I work on the Remix team but I do have some thoughts about your post.
If you believe people are clicking through and then just deciding to go to the store, you may want to work on a way to inform customers about our bestbuy.com in store pickup option. Buy it now and go to the store when you can. That way the customer is guaranteed the product and it's already pulled aside for them.
There is also a 7 day time period on the cookies so when a user clicks through and then comes back at a later time to purchase the item the Affiliate will still get the credit for the sale.
Also showing people the benefits of purchasing a product from Best Buy may help. We have over 1000 stores they can bring their product in for support or repair. They can pick up the product at a store so they can view it before they really go home with it. We offer repair and installation services through Geek Squad. Reward Zone and numerous other advantages of choosing Best Buy.
Best Buy is a powerful brand and our .com business is doing well. Is it possible that your user base is a different user base than bestbuy.com gets? How can you reach the users we reach?
Dan – 6 months ago
It's possible that people looking for the functionality my sites provide may be a little more tech savvy than the average Best Buy customer. Nobody in their right mind would buy a laptop at BB, for example, based on conversations I've had; everyone I talk to seems to have a negative opinion of Best Buy's prices (going so far as to call it Worst Buy). That kind of user isn't going to care about Geek Squad: they can fix their own computers. While I don't think every single one of my users is like this, the population may be skewed enough toward that end to make it quite difficult to sell (m)any Best Buy products, particularly when it seems that many of the products are available elsewhere online for less.
For the most part, I think you're right. Our user bases are different, but there's also more I could be doing to entice people to buy. Reminding them of in-store pickup is a great idea!
As far as how to get in front of your users....Best Buy could always include a camelbuy link in their next mass customer communication. You have a newsletter, right? =)
Dan – 6 months ago
Update: just sold a GPS unit. At least we know it's working! =)
fireworks – 1 month ago
Just reviewing remix offering. I don't understand why I would go through the trouble of setting up a web site that uses BB as a backing store when the prices are the same and you have to tell people that it's BB that's offering the product. Why not just go to BB and buy it? One of the other threads even said that BB.com is doing great so BB is competeing with you. Where's the incentive for the buyer to purchase from me over BB?
I just don't see why I should be part of BB's 'sales force' with these conditions. The reason Amazon etc works is that they allow you to leverage their strength as an online provider with better pricing (the incentive). BB is a brick and mortar, fine, but you can use brick and mortar prices online. People expect a discount for A) waiting for delivery B) your online with no overhead of a brick and mortar.
Can someone explain how this is supposed to work? I don't get it.
Joe Zwack - Remix Team – 1 month ago
Fireworks,
That's a great post with good questions. I'm actually going to make the response in a blog post.
fireworks – 1 month ago
Nice to see a reply! I sincerely hope the article addresses the business side of Remix and it's not a pep talk. Your going to have to provide a clear incentive for people to want to use Remix.
Joe Zwack - Remix Team – 1 month ago
Absolutely, your point/list of concerns is something I go through regularly myself. It won't be a pep talk, that's not how I operate. I'd much rather just be honest and upfront about what's going on.
The blog post is coming, it's just been a crazy few weeks as we are getting ready to hold a little internal event. :-)
Joe Zwack - Remix Team – 3 weeks ago
Hey Fireworks,
I made a post on the blog concerning your questions. Let me know what you think!
http://remixblog.info/2009/10/28/why-use-remix/
Femtobeam LLC – 3 weeks ago
My company, Femtobeam LLC, is a Microsoft Azure Developer Partner and recently found a way to integrate advanced security so that online transactions and services can be absolutely unbreakable. It has already passed all the highest levels of Gov tests. It does involve issuing a card.
We are now moving into an advanced online world which will include businesses and does not require the users to do anything except upload photos and add "decor" to their spaces. It then links from anywhere. The idea here is to create an environment that is more interesting and easier for online life with safety in PII, (personal identifying information). In other words, there is no anonymity, yet privacy is assured as long as rules of interactive engagement are followed. This makes the environment safe for families and also for the future of brain interfaces which is our primary development interest.
We are planning on producing this along with online commerce. We need help with this from all programming languages and like everyone else, we are trying to find out how this makes everyone money. The progress is great but the economic models fall short. If you have an interest in helping us or any ideas or suggestions, please let us know at http://femtobeam.com
At least, if we are successful we can charge nominal rent for "space" and interior decorators, online construction, and virtual items. We want to create a store for Best Buy in this new online "World" and would welcome a way to have programmers get involved in the design of this world that can provide services to the public also.
What I do know is that it will be secure for transactions and will have Microsoft products as well as compatability with other operating systems in a SaaS and NaaS environment.