Hasta La Gadget!

Amazon has quietly added a monthly option for Amazon Prime, the retailer’s two-day shipping, media-streaming, and Kindle loaning membership service, though shoppers pay a premium for flexibility. Until now, Prime had only been available as a year-long subscription, paid upfront at $79 for as many two-day shipping items, as much Amazon Instant Video streaming, and access to the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, as the user wanted. Now, you can have the same for $7.99 per month with no minimum term.

The new, recurring fee option is likely to be useful for those that are convinced by the value of Amazon Prime after the month-long free trial option, but are wary of locking themselves in for a full year. It should also net Amazon some new users over the holiday period, given the potential for internet shopping is likely to rise.

Another possibility is that the monthly Prime scheme could be appealing to those looking to skip from Netflix, Hulu Plus, or other streaming media providers. Amazon’s catalog of shows and movies is claimed to number in the “thousands” according tot he retailer.

However, flexibility comes with a price, and that’s a larger fee overall if you stick with monthly Prime payments. A year’s membership is $95.88, or $16.88 more than the annual cost.

There’s no sign of similar monthly options in other locations where Amazon Prime is offered – the UK, Germany, Japan, and France – though the deal does vary depending on which services the retailer promises in each location. While there’s no Amazon Instant Video, for instance, next-day shipping is the norm rather than two-day shipping as in the US.

[via Engadget]

Amazon Prime gets monthly option (with a sting) is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Best Buy will match online pricing during the holiday season, so as to reduce the impact of “showrooming” where would-be buyers play with products in-store but then order them from cheaper internet vendors. Meanwhile, free home delivery will be offered for products currently out of stock, sources speaking to the WSJ claim, though it’s possible that Best Buy may exclude some items from the price matching program, which is still being worked out.

Like other retailers, Best Buy has seen a growth in shoppers who come to brick & mortar stores to browse through and play with the physical products on display, but then fail to actually complete a transaction. Instead, having used that hands-on experience to settle on a specific product, they buy it online at reduced rates from retailers without the costs of maintaining stores and sales teams that Best Buy must cover.

The process is known as “showrooming,” though Best Buy has argued that it is not such a significant problem as analysts have suggested. The company’s own estimates suggest that the number of “showrooming” customers using its stores are in the mid-teens, having seen a rise of roughly 3-percent over the past 24-months.

“We have a tremendous opportunity to increase [our] close rate” Best Buy spokesperson Matthew Furman said, referring to the roughly 40-percent of shoppers who browse the store but leave without making a purchase. Back in July, the company revealed plans to borrow store strategy from Apple with, among other things, a “Solution Central” help desk in the center.

Nonetheless, Best Buy VP of consumer insights Bill Hoffman insists that showrooming is “still very low” in terms of the risks to overall profit. “We need to pay attention to it” he concedes, however, and the online price-match policy will go some way to addressing it. It’s unclear whether the scheme will be a one-time promotion during the holidays, or if it will continue.

Best Buy battles “showrooming” with internet price-matching is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Remember New Coke? It was wildly unsuccessful. Fortunately, New eBay ain’t half bad. Everything from the apps to the logo to the main site has been redesigned, and mostly for the better. Definitely for the more expensive. More »

The Knucklecase for the Apple iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S cushions your smartphone from life’s hard knocks while helping callers get a grip on any situation. Sure it’s as subtle as a punch in the nose but if you don’t like it… tough!

For folks who prefer to get their retail therapy in digital form, Google Catalogs is a godsend. In case you forgot, it’s an aggregation portal with digital catalogs from myriad merchants that lets you browse retailer wares without killing trees and now it’s available on the web. When Catalogs first debuted, it was only available as a tablet app for iPad or Android. The new web-based catalog browser, however, lets users peruse wares from over 300 merchants — including Crate&Barrel, Brookstone and even Fredrick’s of Hollywood — on any device with an internet connection. The holiday season’s approaching folks, so head on down to the source and get your shopping out of the way early — or, at least flesh out your personal wish list.

Filed under: Internet, Google

Google Catalogs makes web-based catalog browsing a reality originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Oct 2012 01:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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