Best Buy IdeaX

[#1]

This weekend my wife and I visited your store in Cherry Hill NJ. We are shopping for a new point and shoot camera. We looked at your display of camera and played around with a few of them. I asked the assistant Josh (who was wonderful and very knowledgable) what his opinion was and what help can he provide me and my wife about the Samsung camera. He explained the camera in great detail and made my wife and I comfortable about making the purchase. Yet here was the issue I ran into. After playing with the cameras zoom and other options we could not test to see how it would work in low lighting such as a bar or wedding that has very dark envirnments. So I asked Josh if he could let me take the camera into the Home Theatre area and take some photos to test its low light abilities. Unfortunately he was unable to remove the camera from its security locks and let me test the camera. My suggestion would be this.

Create an area just for testing specific products such as the cameras.It doesnt have to be a large area just big enough to test. Or at least let customers (supervised of coarse) take the camera into the Home Theatre area where they can test low lighting conditions. 

If your true intention is to make the sale of a camera I think letting the customer test the product like that will help them with making a better purchase. Let them test the camera in a similar environment they might find themselves in after purchasing. Just a thought you do as you please. Thank you.

Brett {removed per forum guidelines}

PS. In the end I purchased the camera thanks to Josh. Sorry didnt get his last name but he is a new hire as of 1.12.15

[#2]

I'm not sure how we would guard against theft, but I do like the idea. Would anyone else like to see this as a reality? Make sure you vote for an idea if you like it.

[#3]

i'm not as huge of a picture enthusiast as i used to be however i can see the benefit of such an area.

what i would suggest is that in magnolia stores the camera section is closer to the camera section OR special lights be added to this section specifically so you can dim them down for such tests.

[#4]

I remember many years ago, stores would have camera secured in a circle.  In the centre would be a something for customers to do test pictures (ie zooming).  Is there space for a similar setup today?  I agree low light testing is an idea, personally I stretch the shoplifting cable to shoot under tables for testing with some success.  One idea I just thought of is a portable darkbox that a customer can aim the camera into for low light testing.  This would minimize floor space impact, but still allow for low light testing.

The issue I have is what you see on electronic screens/viewfinders is misleading (can be tweaked up or down).  Looking at image samples of YouTube and photosites may be more helpful.

[#5]

I was at my local Sony store.... sure enough they put a box (little bigger than a milk carton) to simulate low light conditions.

[#6]

Whenever I join friends while they are making a purchase in Best Buy, I always gravitate over to the DSLR cameras. I have been doing photography for a few years now, so I always love to play around with the newest DSLR's and see what kind of technology and features are now being offered. While trying out the cameras, I always find there is a lack of things to take pictures of, as the whole store is open concept, and entirely lit by flourescent bulbs. It would be nice to have a more separate area, similar to the home theater demo areas, where the lighting is variable and allows for more accurate testing of the cameras. This could possibly even include a small photo studio setup with lights/flash to allow individuals to experience all the cameras have to offer. I feel this would make someone more likely to purchase the camera, as they would feel more comfortable with it than if they had simply been shooting pictures of the shelves in the photography area of the store. 

[#7]

I think your idea has been posted by someone else recently.  I also mentioned that a competitor store had a cardboard box that customers can stick their cameras into to simulate low light photography to achieve what you are suggesting.

[#8]

Hey, I wonder why they behaved like that. Why so many precautions. You're absolutely right when you say that letting the customer test the product like that will help them with making a better purchase. Remember how I bought the camera in store where I could do everything even go out to take a pictures on the street, they had the gimbal stabilizers however I just tried it and then bought it online ). But that's not the point. Each store must provide the customer maximum freedom to use devices.