Dear Best Buy: Your biggest problem isn't "show-rooming"

If I read one more business news article lamenting the effect of e-commerce on big-box retailers such as Best Buy, I swear I'm going to hunt down the reporter and make that person come shopping with me.

Yes, Amazon avoids many sales taxes. Yes, Amazon doesn't have to stock items in fancy buildings and pay people to wear blue shirts (from what I've seen, that's pretty much all they're paid to do). And yes, some people ogle and manhandle gadgets at the store and only to purchase them online.

But just as many people log onto to Amazon in the store to read the reviews, then head for the cashier with the item under their arm. I do.

Physical retailers have a couple of huge advantages over online retailers: instant gratification and hand-holding from salespeople, reassuring shoppers that any given purchase is a good one. If someone has already made the effort to drive down to a store and expressed a tangible interest in a given doodad, clinching the deal shouldn't be difficult.

And yet, for Best Buy it is. I've lost count of how many times I've gone to Best Buy hoping to snag an expensive toy only to return empty-hand because the store was out of stock or the salesperson couldn't find (or unwilling to look) for the item. And even when the store happens to have the item, the purchase process is painful -- "No, I don't want the extended warranty. No, I don't want any accessories. No, I don't want to justify my budgeting priorities to a stranger."

That anyone shops there at all is a testament to the power of I-want-it-now.

Best Buy's biggest problem isn't Amazon. Best Buy's biggest problem is Best Buy.