Jumping on the app bandwagon, big-box electronics retailer Best Buy rolled out an iPhone version of its paper Weekly Deals flyer. But despite the company’s technology specialty, this app doesn’t live up to my expectations.
Weekly Deals is extremely basic. The app’s main screen has a list of categories: Cameras & Camcorders, Computers, Music & Movies, etc. Within those categories you’ll find the on-sale products listed alphabetically with pictures and prices. Tapping on a product you’re interested in takes you to another page that has a brief product description and a link to View Online, which launches the Safari browser and takes you to the product’s page on BestBuy.com. Why can’t the app open such content directly?
Weekly Deals is billed as a mobile version of Best Buy’s weekly ad, so I compared the two. There are no special iPhone app-only deals; everything that appears in Weekly Deals I found in the paper ad.
However, not everything in the paper ad appears in the app. Take Cameras & Camcorders for instance: The Weekly Deals app lists four products versus the paper’s 17.
In addition, to lacking product, the iPhone app also lacks Best Buy’s main selling points. (Full disclosure, I worked for Best Buy for almost five years.) There’s no mention of buyer-incentives such as free gift cards, offered in that week’s paper and online ads, and there’s no mention of what financing promotions Best Buy is running for the week.
I just don’t see a reason to use this app. If I’m already in the store, I’m better off grabbing a flyer from the door, and if I’m not, I’ll stick to BestBuy.com’s online weekly ad, which is more functional—not to mention, complete.
