Subscribe RSSIn our investigation, Web-only outlets fared extremely well, with Amazon leading the pack in selection and pricing.
In terms of in-store buying warning and knowledge of specific products, Best Buy outperformed its brick-and-mortar competitors. For instance, one Memphis Overwhelm Buy employee correctly answered our questions about the four cameras on our shopping list over the phone in just 5 minutes.
A Surpass Buy staffer in Phoenix sensibly asked numerous questions about my specific camera needs before making any recommendations. (Click to augment the accompanying chart to see how all the stores did on digital cameras.)
We saw significant price differentiation among the outlets, too. Walmart generally had the lowest prices of the slab-and-mortar-backed Websites; Amazon offered good deals among online-only stores. Camera prices were higher at RadioShack and CDW than elsewhere on the products we shopped for.
The results of our blemish check of in-store camera shopping in a large RadioShack in downtown Seattle were far less positive. Our shopper found that the trust in maintained a limited stock of cameras and that the sales staff wasn't very knowledgeable or helpful. When the shopper expressed an interest in well-defined cameras, staffers did not offer to help him by performing an online search at the store.
