Save hundreds in PCWorld..

rl290

I suppose this is more of a "warning" than anything else...

Today I popped into PCWorld to buy a printer. I decided to go in, see what they had, and then look up some reviews on my mobile while still in the store before buying. During this process I realised that the price of the printer I was after was £20 lower on PCWorld's website than actually in the store (£60 vs £80). Not only this, but you can order the item online to "collect at store" and not pay until you actually collect. So, on the mobile I ordered one, walked straight over to the collection desk, paid and walked out. 25% discount just like that.

So, while it's still not the cheapest option (buying from online-only suppliers is cheaper), if you do want to buy something at PCWorld, take a smartphone with you and save a packet...

Can anyone explain the business sense of this to me?

R

epatolles

did this once and actually got it cheaper!
was a netbook think it was like £340 instore and online £299 and they gave me it for £289 - just because i was right probably - they pretty much said i was lying - they of course can check on their pcs but didn't so I brought it up on my phone!

Storck

We did this with a new laptop and Microsoft Office for my parents the other day. The laptop was the same price but Microsoft Office was £30 less for a 3 licence version online compared with an instore one that said it was for 1 licence.

When you order it online it says you have to leave it an hour before collection.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Storck wrote: »

When you order it online it says you have to leave it an hour before collection.

That's when you go outside for a roadkill baguette and an instant coffee from the snack vans they have started to allow to trade in their carparks because it brings more people in.

custardy

Storck wrote: »

We did this with a new laptop and Microsoft Office for my parents the other day. The laptop was the same price but Microsoft Office was £30 less for a 3 licence version online compared with an instore one that said it was for 1 licence.

When you order it online it says you have to leave it an hour before collection.

i have never had to wait? PC world is 5 minutes drive from us

rl290

Storck wrote: »

When you order it online it says you have to leave it an hour before collection.

I gave it under 5 minutes before going over to collect. All that means is that you have to pick up the item yourself or wait for someone to collect it, as there won't have been time for anyone to get it ready...

Good to hear others are doing the same!

R

reehsetin

always always always check with PC world and Argos too, saved £20 on my straighters with argos

kymbogs

It's called Collect@Store and has been running for years. The idea behind it is to get people into store who otherwise wouldn't even contemplate going to PC World and would usually buy online. Of course they hope that you might just see something else to buy too....

They say to wait an hour in order to allow your order to be picked and placed in the C@S bay, but in reality unless the store has a designated person to do this job it probably won't be happening anyway so when you go to collect, someone will go and fetch your stock. At busy times of year when the store I worked at did try and have someone constantly checking reservations and picking them, it felt like such a waste of time as a lot of people don't bother to collect the things they have reserved.

The store shouldn't be trying to keep it a secret, but they can not reserve items for customers from store computers as it just says 'items cannot be reserved from this location'. In the past I've rung up the helpline to reserve something for a customer or used my own smartphone to do this to get a customer a better price.

Jakg

Storck wrote: »

We did this with a new laptop and Microsoft Office for my parents the other day. The laptop was the same price but Microsoft Office was £30 less for a 3 licence version online compared with an instore one that said it was for 1 licence.

When you order it online it says you have to leave it an hour before collection.

First of all - Office is the same price online or in store when bought with a PC. The Home & Student version is also 3 users. The person serving you was misinformed.

Secondly the "leave it an hour" bit is so they have time for staff to get the item ready for you. You can go in straight away and someone will do it for you while you wait.

kymbogs wrote: »

The store shouldn't be trying to keep it a secret, but they can not reserve items for customers from store computers as it just says 'items cannot be reserved from this location'. In the past I've rung up the helpline to reserve something for a customer or used my own smartphone to do this to get a customer a better price.

Not quite, you used to be able to reserve from store by changing the "-1" to a "+1" in the URL of the page that said "you cant reserve from this location". With the new website you can do it even in store.

kymbogs

Jakg wrote: »

Not quite, you used to be able to reserve from store by changing the "-1" to a "+1" in the URL of the page that said "you cant reserve from this location". With the new website you can do it even in store.

Ah I see I knew there was some way of doing it but couldn't remember what it was. My GM did it once when I accidentally voided a C@S transaction from the till, don't think he wanted me to see what he was up to though - he definitely wasn't in favour of getting the customer the best price! Wasn't aware of new site, I left in August and have studiously avoided most things PCW related since then :-) Apart from MSE threads obviously...

Hootie19

And don't forget to do your online reservation for collection via Quidco or FatCheese or similar for a bit more money in your pocket