Starting as far back as 2013, Best Buy has been in a fierce battle to remain relevant in an online shoppers’ market. Surprisingly, they’ve surpassed expectations and have, along the way, been able to ditch the insulting “Amazon’s Showroom” nickname. One major factor in their turn-around was the change to allow customers to price-match online competitors, namely Amazon.
As the holiday shopping season begins, it remains clear that these two retailers are certainly going to do whatever it takes to topple the other’s Black Friday sales. Both retailers are expected to release their Black Friday ads in the upcoming weeks and we felt it would serve shoppers well to reevaluate last year’s ads. Both retailers are expected to have fantastic online deals on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, so consumers should be prepared for earlier shopping than in years past.
Amazon vs. Best Buy: Black Friday 2018
If you’re looking for some of the best prices on electronics, there’s no question that Amazon and Best Buy should be your go-to retailer choices. Last year, both Best Buy and Amazon had a wide array of low prices on home theater, home gadgets and video gaming. Studying their past offers is the best way to predict what their upcoming sales could hold this holiday season.
A Look Back: Amazon Black Friday 2018
While it’s a given that Best Buy will feature larger discounts on a variety of big home theater equipment, it was actually Amazon that topped Best Buy last year with Sony’s XBR75X850F 75-Inch 4K TV. Amazon listed their sale price at $1,798, which was only $1 cheaper than Best Buy’s price. However, free shipping from Amazon meant delivery of this massive TV right to your home at no additional charge. Likewise, if the television needed to be exchanged out for any reason, it’s as simple as having UPS come and pick it up rather than having to worry about how you could get it back to a retail store.
It should be no surprise that, when it comes to Amazon’s own brand Echo devices, they were able to beat Best Buy on sale pricing. Amazon offered the newest Echo for $69, while Best Buy had it for $70. While the difference was only $1, Amazon had an additional offer that allowed shoppers to buy two of the device for only $120.
The doorbell video service Ring, which was bought by Amazon last year, was also a hair cheaper at Amazon. The Ring Doorbell 2 was on sale at Amazon for $139, whereas Best Buy had the device for just a dollar more (both offers featured a free Echo Dot).
A Look Back: Best Buy 2018
While Best Buy and Amazon are often neck and neck when it comes to online sales, one area where Best Buy tends to dominate is in the big home appliances category. Amazon, for the most part, doesn’t focus on large appliances like refrigerators, washers and dryers and stoves. As such, it’s pretty much a given that if your home is in need of any of these large appliances, Best Buy is easily one of your best shopping choices. Last year, Best Buy featured tons of great savings on home appliances (including up to $150 in gift cards with the purchase of multiple appliances), and we predict that this year will be very similar.
Amazon and Best Buy Black Friday 2019 Predictions
As we barrel toward Black Friday 2019, we have a few predictions on which items and categories these massive retailers will highlight in their sales this year.
We predict that Amazon is going to dominate the home gadgets category during this year’s Black Friday sales. Amazon has drastically ramped up their own line of home gadgets, like the line of Echo devices, and their Fire devices. While Best Buy features these devices in their stores, it is often at a slightly higher price than Amazon provides its customers. We predict that Amazon will offer tremendous pricing on their own brand of intelligent home devices, as well as discounting down other brands.
When it comes to shopping for your home theater, there aren’t many retailers out there that can top Best Buy’s lineup and selection. Because of their available line of products, including high-end digital projectors and massive televisions, we predict that Best Buy will once again dominate the home theater category on Black Friday. Best Buy also offers their Geek Squad Protection on almost all of their home theater devices, which features key options like having Geek Squad members come to your home to inspect and repair any failing electronics.
Video gaming continues to be a huge hit across all markets and we predict that this year will see even more sales and discounts on various video game consoles. Last year, the Nintendo Switch and Xbox One saw great pricing from almost all retailers and we believe the same thing will happen again this year. The caveat is that we believe the Playstation 4 Pro will also be discounted well, due to the Playstation 5 having a confirmed release date in 2020. Like last year though, we predict that console sale prices will be the same across all retailers, leaving this category almost certain to be a tie between Amazon and Best Buy.
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