Geek Squad To Add Car Stereo; Ends Free Installs
By Amy Gilroy -- TWICE, 10/15/2007
Richfield, Minn. — Best Buy is ending its long-standing tradition of offering free car stereo installation and is bringing all car installation under the Geek Squad departmental umbrella.
The leading CE chain, with more than 850 stores, is combining the car stereo installation department with Geek Squad because many in-home technologies such as video and gaming are migrating to the car. Unlike the PC and home theater Geek Squad teams, those handling car installations will continue to work out of the store locations.
“We’re seeing Wiis and Xbox 360s and PlayStations3s installed in cars,” explained Chris Homeister, PCs and mobility products VP. In addition, he said, computer, home A/V, portable and car products continue to merge, and by extending Geek Squad into more areas, it positions the company for the future.
After a test trial this summer in six markets, Best Buy found consumers are willing to pay for installation and “this is not something we need to give away,” said Homeister.
Best Buy has begun charging $49.99 to install a head unit, and continues to charge $41.99 to install speakers and $69.99 for amplifiers. Previously, head units over $100 were frequently installed at no charge.
Services VP Jeff Severts said that just as the Geek Squad expanded into home theater earlier this year, it made sense to broaden into car stereo. “When we used to talk to the consumer about Geek Squad, exploring it for home theater, they used to say it was not something they could imagine. Geek Squad meant computing, they thought. Now, two or three years later, we don’t hear any of that. Consumers believe all of this stuff is similar. They don’t have any trouble believing the same organization that can fix one, can fix, install or integrate the other.”
The chain, which is the leader in car stereo with about $1.5 billion in car stereo sales last year, according to the TWICE Top 25 Car Electronics Retailers Report, has already begun converting to Geek Squad service and will soon convert all stores offering car stereo installation, which includes nearly all locations.
By charging for installation service, the technicians are now able to perform other services, said Homeister. On Sept. 9, the company began allowing technicians to offer the free set up of portable GPS devices. “They will come out to the car, take the unit out of the box, power it up and map you to the next destination you are going to. We couldn’t do that before with free installs. No one else provides this service,” said Homeister.
At Best Buy locations that have already converted to paid service via Geek Squad, car stereo sales are up, he claimed. Although the overall 12-volt market is declining, Best Buy said its sales are gaining and its market share is at a record high. In GPS, he said, Best Buy has captured 33.8 percent of the market according to The NPD Group’s August figures.
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Circuit City here I come...free installation on car decks over 100.00 was the only reason I made a purchase at Best Buy. There will be a huge DISCONNECT between the car audio customer and the "geek squad".
BY BY B BUY
DINO - 2007-16-10 16:26:00 EDT -
As an independent car audio retailer, I am thrilled to see Best Buy take this leap into charging for installations. Now maybe all of our shoppers won't force us to give away our time because they heard BB does it. Now if can get Car Toys on board!
J Manso - 2007-16-10 15:49:00 EDT -
I'm a majap sales associate in a BBY store and mobile audio is part of the majap department. When the company elected to start charging for deck installation it didn't hurt our deck sales--in fact, deck sales rose. And while some customers said they would do the install, more than 40% of them eventually returned to the store to have BBY do it. Modern cars are much more complex than they were a generation ago, and with the higher complexity I think some consumers prefer to "let the experts do it." Besides which, if the store gets something wrong, a customer has some recourse. If they mess it up, they're stuck.
Bill Penn - 2007-16-10 10:34:00 EDT -
As for the comment nobody does this, referring to going outside with customers.Specialty shops have been going to customers cars to provide free help for years.We have always shown the customer how to use there products,thats how you gain customers trust, and of course repeat business.
Mike Price - 2007-16-10 07:41:00 EDT
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