Best Buy IdeaX

[#1]

Would you please consider allowing Elite Plus members exclusive access to the purchase of the PS5?

Either hold an event that allows confirmed Elite Plus members only to make their purchase or allow Elite Plus Members to pre-order, while you vet that we are not bots, you can release the units in order that they were placed.

I don't have time to monitor twitter for drop notifications and then come to the BB site and fight with bots, I'd simply like to have a personal link for me as a confirmed Elite Plus member that I can use to place my order.

Please consider this to calm some of the madness for your most loyal customers.

[#2]

I hear you on this, and we appreciate you idea here. I can assue you we are always considering ways to provide a better experience for our customers.

[#3]

I second and third this comment. I've been Elite Plus for a while and there aren't really any benefits like other loyalty programs. This would be an ideal way to get people excited for loyalty. It would also help to minimize bot purchases. This is both a strategic and tactical good idea.

[#4]

Looks like a plan to help prevent BOTS is in place. Some PS5's just became available.  

However, they are designated as in store pick up only.  Now this will not stop all BOTS, but if a BOTTER in California gets on for pickup in Arkansas they will probably decline. 

This way someone who actually wants to console will get it. 

Win Win.

I am not an employee of Best Buy. All opinions and comments are my own.

[#5]

1. I'm aware...I've been hitting refresh for hours. I even had it in my cart but no luck.
2. It doesn't stop botters at all. Botters will travel for pickup when they have a week and a half to prep.
3. Prioritizing Elite Plus members creates a barrier to entry. Especially if you have to be an Elite Plus member AND you can only buy 1-2 of each. It's just a way to say, "We appreciate people who shop with us and will give them priority on these types of sales."
4. It would drive loyalty for people who are physically shopping at BB but buying from Amazon.

[#6]

Bob, that plan is a waste of my time. Obviously I have a busy schedule in order to be able to afford to be an Elite Plus member. So sitting around on a work day waiting for the Best Buy system to refresh such that I can even add the system to my cart (Which I have done many times) is not the best way to stay gainfully employeed.

Best Buy has showed they can do "Early Events" in the past, I simply request they give their loyal customers an opportunity to secure a console before the folks who barely shop with them.

I wouldn't even be opposed to pre-ordering now. When they get a unit, charge me and ship it.

I don't have to waste months on end watching twitter feeds and refreshing websites.

Either give an early access event or allow only Eite Plus members to pre-order, give us our number in line and fulfill those orders in the order they were placed.Up to 2 months in the future.

Bottom line there has to be a smarter way to do this and siting in a holding pattern on the bestbuy.com site isn't it.

[#7]

There are most likely quite a few people that are Elite Plus Members who are so becuase they are buying  products for a business, or buying things when on major sale and then reselling them.  This is against BB rewards policies.  You suggestion would then alos enable them to purchase the next Gen console and resell it at a higher price. 

The situaiton with consoles really has almost nothing to do with bots.  It is the supply coming from the manufacturer. 

Look at Xbox One and PS4 when they came out. I was able to walk into a store on release day and grab a PS4 off the shelf. 

Just be patient and wait for supply to catch up.  Enabling a program such as this would cause more fury than Elite Plus members not getting a console.  

[#8]

If Selling at a higher cost was our intent, I would invest in the bots. Obviously I want one for personal use only and refuse to pay a penny more than MSRP.

Don't need you to tell me to be patient as I have been, and my response about willing to pre-pay and wait up to two months for the pre-order to be fulfilled proves that.

Finally, Yes, put these back in the stores and let the best man win.

I've camped out for al lthe previous Playstations and I could do it again for the PS5.

[#9]

Here we go with the numbering again:

1. No one is asking for all PS5s to be reserved for loyalty program members. Even if 10% were set aside that would be sufficient.
2. You clearly don't understand how loyalty programs work in markets. There will be business buyers for sure, but they're are plenty of non-business buyers. I bought a bunch of appliances at Best Buy vs Home Depot because of the loyalty program. I'm a non-business buyer. A program like this would ensure that I continue to buy my big ticket items from Best Buy because I would see the value.
3. Who cares if business buyers also buy PS5. That's still a much smaller group than public consumers. And even then, this is in Best Buy's interest because it would incentivize business buyers to stick with Best Buy vs Amazon or NewEgg when it comes to purchase agreements.
4. V4Valor's queue approach is perfectly fine. Pre-order (maybe even with the Best Buy card) and every Elite gets 1 PS5 max. That barrier to entry is significantly higher than a bot who can create thousands of emails and buy with a script. Let the public fight with bots over the 90%.

[#10]

Thank you! I think this idea is a no-brainer and should absolutely be put into practice.

As you said, we're loyal Best Buy customers who have already given you tons of business and are clearly willing to give you more. Having early, easy access to hard-to-find items like PS5's or Nvidia 3000-series GPUs should be a priority for us. How does it help your business to let your PS5 stock get eaten up by bots and one-time-buyers, at the expense of your loyal customers?

I had suggested the same thing a few months ago ahead of Black Friday, which obviously didn't happen. I really hope this changes soon.

[#11]

Massage sure to kudo this idea to get their attention.