Best Buy IdeaX

[#1]

Although I like the new gamers club unlocked program there were several perks sacrificed that used to make me get games day 1. I was able to become RZ silver based on mainly gaming deals but with the loss of the consistant $10(500 RZ points) pre-order bonuses & $10 RZ for every $150 spent on gaming I've done less & less of purchasing day 1. I know in order for these deals to continue there has to be a better give & take for BB to remain profittable so my suggestion is to offer a 3rd gamers club option that can be achieved/earned in more than 1 way.

If you were to buy 1 $60 release week game per month you'd spend $720 per year which is a large chunk of money to invest in games.

A-So say if you spend $1000 on games/accessories in 1 yr you would become GCU silver & a new set of benefits would be available.

B-Another way to become GCU silver would be participate in 12 pre-determined GCU/GCU Silver deals in 1 yr that would also warrant an upgrade since you would be supporting the program throughout the year.

C-The final way to earn GCU silver status would be to participate in 2 five for $100 deals in 1 yr with 1 major adjustment. We should be able to select the 10 games thoughout the year instead of just a list of 15. Several top notch titles would be excluded based on suits instead of customer demand which happens quite often(remember Batman Arkham Asylum was an underdog smash hit that lead to AC being blockbuster). The 5 for $100 was very very sound but the process(pre-order, issuing of $100) needed upgrades.

Editince the current GCU can be purchased then GCU Silver status should also be allowed but since the benefits are very generous the GCU Silver should be $30 per yr if not earned through the means above. Offer both GCU & GCU Silver for $40 so more people would do this vs paying $15 for GCU & another $30 for GCU SIlver.

Some perks I would like to see would include

1-A coupon book for GCU silver members

2-Special "sponsored" editions of the @gamer mag with coupons that would be directly tied to specific AAA titles.

3-Emailed deals just for CU silver members

4-An additional 10% off ALL gaming products & the ones that can be discounted should net either an instant BB giftcard or RZ points equal to the 10%. This 10% should stack with the current GCU 10% as you would've paid $15 for the 1st & earned the Silver status through above measures.

I know there's more perks that I missing hopefully other gamers can contribute.

[#2]

F#&@ no. Because I know what will happen. The Gamer's Club Unlocked that I paid $15 to get will be stripped down to the barebones and made worthless by the addition of another 'tier'.

The way it is now is just fine. Best Buy has matched Gamestop's program exactly and one upped them by adding in coupons in the @Gamer magazine.

Besides which, unless gaming credit from trade-ins being spent in store counts towards the $1000 to reach the new level of the Gamer's Club I doubt I'll ever attain it.

[#3]

If they charge for a service it would have to be worth it otherwise no one would pay, I wouldn't forsee to many changes in the current $15 program they would just really add on stuff to the silver one. Plus, you still don't have to spend tons to get silver just pay the upgrade $30. Look at how they currently promote the free vs paid you'll see a checklist of what each one offers & the way it is now they would just offer more checks for the upgraded program.

Make no mistake though if BB is going to offer such huge bonus they are going to want huge sales to boot but with the level of deals that I suggested there's not going to be many stores(online included) that could compete. GS isn't even as good as GCU now, Walmart is a joke, Target(LOL LOL LOL) except for their clearances, Kmart, TRU... See my point BB would then become the only place that fully rewards gamers on every purchase(new, used, pre-order) & we'd have alot more say in what games we want.

Everytime I see a under the radar game release people looking for the best deal are upset when the game isn't even in the ads but having the abitlity to get a $10/$20 pre-order bonus on makes it a deal at BB only. I think BB would rather people buy these games day 1 instead of playing the waiting game but you & I know that the @gamer coupons help with the waiting game too.

A strong GC is better for all in the short & long run & in order for it to be strong BB must get sales from new releases, used games & pre-orders. A club that offers the best deals in all 3 areas will keep the GC around for yrs to come with major changes.

Do you not like the bonuses that you would get, don't trust BB to remain "true" to the current GCU and/or don't there's enough deals to be made to make it worth it?

[#4]

Thanks for the very thorough idea, and it looks like you have a lot of ideas for us when it comes to improving our gaming offerings. I have seen us getting requests to add tiers to our Reward Zone program in the past, and I could see your idea might be something we would add in the future to the Gamers Club Unlocked memberships. I would like to hear from other customers and employees as to what they think about this idea.

[#5]

The only thing I would be worried about is that the GCU has set the bar high. I believe The reason it could is because of the magazine ads/company sponsorships could help subsidize the cost. If you look at RZ silver, it really isn't that great. 15 extra days on return/pm and ability to bank points is really the only perks. While good, it pales in comparison to what you are suggesting. To make sure I get my point across, I would love to see an silver type program for gaming. I don't blame you for shooting for the stars in your suggestions, but some seem rather lofty (10% of all gaming products). I could see a silveresque type text for 10% off. I would also suggest if it's the spending limit thing I would also throw in a 45 day return/PM window like silver but only for gaming items. This is obviously not so good for silver members, but attracts the gaming audience that don't intend to spend the extra money on other products and it's basically impossible to spend 2.5k on gaming products alone.

[#6]

I'm still waiting for a deal on the Airflo controller before the @Gamer coupons from the March issue expire on the 7th of next month. I could definitely use a third party wired controller for when I'm playing a game where I wanna button mash a bit and don't want to annihilate my Dual Shock 3 by doing so.

But $20 after coupon is still a bit too much for my liking. As for the GCU thing, if it wasn't for doing game trade-ins I wouldn't likely stop into BB unless it was to use the coupons from an issue of the @Gamer magazine. Unless those higher tiers made it easier to get Reward Zone certificates by lowering the point thresholds or something I wouldn't be at all interested.

[#7]

I buy more than my fair share of games from best buy.  Love the gamers club.  However the 15.00 bonus, is not worth the money to pay towards.  I don't buy many used games, I'd rather buy new.  All the Gamers Club unlocked pretty much goes towards used games.  Which I think is a crock. 

[#8]

@Jimmie

Remember BB already offers 10% off most gaming products thru the monthly coupon packs & text codes. They don't work on consoles but I covered items that won't be discounted by getting 10% back in instant giftcard form or thru RZ points. But there's still people who forget about the text deals & don't get the coupons monthly so this is big for them. Anytime there's an even MSRP offer BB would win the sale b/c they have a 10% discount.

Now as for the spending limit I agree no ones gonna spend $2500 on games in a yr unless there's alot children & adult gamers in a household sharing 1 RZ account but $1000 is reasonable plus this would be geared towards the hardcore gamers that would generally play more titles. The trade in program would allow them to reach the $1000 threshold reasonably since the $60 MSRP would be much cheaper when $25+ credit is in play. If someone is a completely new gamer & they drop $250- $300 on a system, gets 2-3 games & GCU they're halfway to the $1000 threhold. The @gamer coupon deals will keep em spending too.

@MMolik

Your a gamer like me then but I do get used titles(and I have BB's near me with good stock of used games). The Silver GCU would really work for you since pretty much all your new titles would come with a perk of some kind...pre-order credit, 10% instant discount & when your thru with the games you can trade them in to make your next game cheaper. Us new game buyers make the used game market stronger which in turns make the new game market & Gamers club program strong too.

[#9]

If BB where to put in the weekly ads like target does

"Take 10% off these prices if your a GCU silver member' that would also drive the # of people to pay to become GCU silver too. BB should start showing the price differences directly throughout the store, site & weekly ads that way people can really see how much they could be saving. Add that info to the receipts also, "RZ GCU membership would've saved you an additional $17.50".

[#10]

with LE, CE & SE that can cost as much as $150 BB should offer more pre-order credit to those who get these instead of the standard versions of the games. Mostly hardcore gamers are going to spring for these anyways & at these price points 4-5 of them will get you to silver status quite fast when combined with regular game purchases. Isn't it better to sellout of these then to have to discount the excess by 50% just to move them to make space?

edit:  $20-$30 credit on all CE/SE/LE over $120 for all GCU members this will complete take GS outta the picture since they offer nothing but DLC & your pre-orders will sellout consistantly too. And with higher sellouts game companies will then reward BB with even better swag/deals that will make their pre-orders even stronger. But in order for this to happen BB must get better @ holding reserves like GS.

[#11]

Sorry for the repeated posts but the ideas are really flowing

1-Deal of the day, week & month for GCU silver members

2-Extend sales & offer early access to special promos for GCU silver memers, there should be special access to black friday gaming deals

these 2 alone make the silver tier worth it & since there won't be as many gamers as total BB shoppers the gamers shouldn't have trouble ordering thru the site since most people won't see the deals anyways.

3-We should have the option of getting the early access/extended deals in-store & online our cards should make the discount automatic