Amazon has quietly been debuting in-home tech services

On Monday morning, Recode reported that Amazon was quietly building out its own competitor to Best Buy’s Geek Squad gadget repair and installation service.

Almost immediately, investors reacted by selling out of Best Buy’s stock in a big way — the stock was down more around 7 percent as of 11:30 am ET on Monday. That drop works out to a loss of more than $1 billion in market cap for the brick-and-mortar electronics retailer.

The new Amazon offerings include free 45-minute in-home consultations focusing on how best to use the Amazon Alexa voice assistant. Amazon is also offering paid installations of “smart home” gadgets like Ecobee thermostats that respond to Alexa voice commands.

Best Buy already offers similar services through Geek Squad, the tech assistance service it acquired 15 years ago. But any time Amazon enters a new market, the stock price of competitors usually suffers — and since Geek Squad has played a critical role in Best Buy’s turnaround story, today’s stock moves are no surprise.

aualum06 wrote:Best buy still exists?