Online your best bet when buying electronics

Herb Weisbaum • Profile • E-mail

A friend of mine just bought a new 42-inch plasma TV. Scott Sistek went to a well-known electronics store and found the set he wanted. But he was so turned off by the experience, he decided to go home and shop online.

“The sales staff was kind of overly pushy,” he says. “They kept trying to sell me the extended warranty and installation service.”

Searching the Web, Scott found several places that had the same TV for a lot less. He says his online shopping experience was “positive” and saved him about $500. “I would definitely do it again,” Scott says.

For its December issue, Consumer Reports asked nearly 20,000 readers where they get the best price and service when they buy electronics. The results: No matter what the product, more people prefer Web shopping.

Greg Daugherty, Consumer Reports Editor-At-Large, tells me the most surprising finding of the survey was that shopping for electronics online is not limited to small items, such as digital cameras and MP3 players. Even with large, big-ticket items, such as television sets, he says, “people are just happier buying it online.”

Consumer Reports found that for retailers with both walk-in and Web stores, the online store always scored higher in overall customer satisfaction.

What’s the problem with retailers?
One reason so many people prefer to go online is the less than favorable experiences they’ve had at big-name electronics stores. “There’s a real issue about the sales staff at big national chain stores,” Ron Conlin, a partner at J.D. Power and Associates tells me.

They are not “adequately trained,” and “cannot give shoppers the information they want in a low-pressure way,” Conlin says. “It’s a lot of high school seniors in their spare time trying to sell high-end consumer electronics.”

In its surveys, J.D. Power found that many shoppers are willing to pay more for a product if they get the knowledgeable one-on-one service they want. “For this reason,” Conlin notes, “specialty stores tend to outperform ‘big box’ retailers in satisfying customers.”

The Consumer Reports survey found the same thing – local, independent stores rated higher than any big name retailer.

And the winners are …
For online retailers, Crutchfield.com scored the highest in the Consumer Reports survey. It’s the only Internet retailer with above-average selection, product quality and online support. The other top-rated sites are: costco.com, buydig.com, amazon.com and buy.com. The magazine’s editors point out that buydig.com has the most limited return policy of the group (more on that below).

The Consumer Reports survey shows the top-rated chain stores for rock-bottom prices are: Costco and BJ’s Wholesale.

Ritz Camera (also known as Kits Camera in some areas), Tweeter and Ultimate Electronics got high marks for best in-store service and product selection.

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