Ralph's Supermarkets (300 stores in CA) sells $79 LG Blu-ray player at checkout isle

[Kosty]

No, it's just really funny to us that Smackdown has become a place to advertise Blu-ray promotions and hype the format up.

I guess I should start a thread since I saw a Samsung 1200 at Goodwill last week. It's hit MAINSTREAM!

We are discussing the event, not promoting it. Really strange that you and him would take the same gloom and doom meme that it is not discussing at all. The simple fact it was worthy of an article in the only trade magazine devoted to home media sales says that you are wrong. Again.

[GizmoDVD]

We are discussing the event, not promoting it. Really strange that you and him would take the same gloom and doom meme that it is not discussing at all. The simple fact it was worthy of an article in the only trade magazine devoted to home media sales says that you are wrong. Again.

Sure, sure. Guess we will get used to seeing more and more of these in December from magazines and publications 'devoted' to try and push the format.

[Kosty]

Guess they bought the overstock. I guess we can call this a success since a grocery store is selling them now. Yawn.

This was on sale at Walmart on November 17th for $65. So what is the big deal?

LG BD530 Blu-Ray Disc Player $65 Walmart NOW: Black Friday? Why wait

I'm sure that is exactly what happened. But wait for the inevitable "my contacts tell me that no blu-ray players were ever sold anywhere but their original destination". It is coming real soon now.

Haha. This player was created for Black Friday. To be blown out at cheap prices for the cheap consumer. Whatever, it'll be called a raging success and consumers everywhere will buy them bla bla bla

I saw a pallet of these at the ralphs by my house 2 days before thanksgiving. I think its amazing that they are caring them overstock or not.

Space is very valuable in a grocery store. They would not carry an item just because it was cheep for them to purchase. They would only pick it up if there was a demand for it.

Hmm... I guess those exspensive DVD's the grocery stores carry are only there because they got them for cheap, not because the grocery stores do reaserch on every product they sell to find out which products will increase profit.

Even if it takes 20 years for BluRay to end its run some of the guys on here will be waiting to say see Blu-Ray failed.

recmasters gets it, you others guys don't.

Its significant because of where it is at and what sort of retailer it it, not because of the specific model or its capabilities.

Ralphs is a major professionally managed major multi location grocer. They have made the decision that buying enough stock of players to support their 300+ location grocery store supermarket chain and promote the Blu-ray players at premium locations and in their circular as a great holiday gift will bring them business and traffic and eventually some future profits.

The facts that they can buy and sell a BD-Live player at that price now is one thing and another is that they think Blu-ray is a mature enough mainstream mass market product that they assume their customers and general market consumers now know what Blu-ray is are would be willing to spend $79 bucks plus CA tax for a player while shopping for weekly groceries and that consumer electronics item would be the most important thing in their shopping cart is another.

Its a freaken $79 BD-Live Blu-ray player being sold as a holiday gift idea at a major grocery store chain.

[Sbert]

We are discussing the event, not promoting it. Really strange that you and him would take the same gloom and doom meme that it is not discussing at all. The simple fact it was worthy of an article in the only trade magazine devoted to home media sales says that you are wrong. Again.

LOL, is it too much to say, "that's cool" or "that's interesting" and leave it at that? I mean these guys shit on BD like no tommorrow.

The first thing they do is try to discredit the relevance of such a move by ralph's. I understand it's not the best price for the player, especially if amazon has it without taxes and free shipping.

However, the very fact that ralphs has actually stocked them in their stores in a place where the most spontaneous/impulse purchasing occurs is interesting. I'm not sure if they expect to lure people in so much with this or to test some buying patterns with it.

[Rob71]

No, it's just really funny to us that Smackdown has become a place to advertise Blu-ray promotions and hype the format up.

I guess I should start a thread since I saw a Samsung 1200 at Goodwill last week. It's hit MAINSTREAM!

Except this isn't one Goodwill store. Or one player. This is many, many stores. And many, many players. Which is the real issue for you two.

[Kosty]

Sure, sure. Guess we will get used to seeing more and more of these in December from magazines and publications 'devoted' to try and push the format.

...and you will try to belittle them as thats your meme. Even when they show that your narrative has been off for a while.

There is nothing wrong with discussing articles that bring up new threshold events, thats hardly promoting the individual item. In fact mainstream and trade articles discussing Blu-ray as a holiday gift item would be of interest to many folks here that like to discuss the issues. If you see any of them post them up for us all to discuss.

[GizmoDVD]

Oh yes! Recmasters confirmed that every 300 Ralph's received these. Case closed. Move on people. One anecdotal post from a Blu-ray supporter seals the deal.

I guess we should be expecting 100mil+ weeks from now on. You know, not that it's gone mainstream and such. Right?

[Rob71]

Oh yes! Recmasters confirmed that every 300 Ralph's received these. Case closed. Move on people. One anecdotal post from a Blu-ray supporter seals the deal.

I guess we should be expecting 100mil+ weeks from now on. You know, not that it's gone mainstream and such. Right?

A sales ad is now anecdotal evidence?

[GizmoDVD]

...and you will try to belittle them as thats your meme. Even when they show that your narrative has been off for a while.

There is nothing wrong with discussing articles that bring up new threshold events, thats hardly promoting the individual item. In fact mainstream and trade articles discussing Blu-ray as a holiday gift item would be of interest to many folks here that like to discuss the issues. If you see any of them post them up for us all to discuss.

All this thread will turn out to be is gushing over a BD-Live player that has YouTube, Weather and Picaso. BD-Live, in itself, is a joke and we have discussed this to death. At least Ralphs has a steady flow of DVDs for consumers to watch. But I see the Blu-team is biting hard on this thread so please, continue on. IF it had Netflix it would be great. I'd buy 2 of them right now (from Amazon for $65 with no tax, not in store). I'm sure that's what consumers wants anyway, even the guy from Ralphs has falsely claimed the player to have that feature. Hope he knows it doesn't otherwise he likely made an expensive error.

I'm not really in the business of advertising, so I'll decline your 'post up Blu-ray news' idea.

[Rob71]

All this thread will turn out to be is gushing over a BD-Live player that has YouTube, Weather and Picaso. BD-Live, in itself, is a joke and we have discussed this to death. At least Ralphs has a steady flow of DVDs for consumers to watch. But I see the Blu-team is biting hard on this thread so please, continue on. IF it had Netflix it would be great. I'd buy 2 of them right now (from Amazon for $65 with no tax, not in store). I'm sure that's what consumers wants anyway, even the guy from Ralphs has falsely claimed the player to have that feature. Hope he knows it doesn't otherwise he likely made an expensive error.

I'm not really in the business of advertising, so I'll decline your 'post up Blu-ray news' idea.

Don't you mean the writer of the article? Let me go re-read it again.

[Kosty]

LOL, is it too much to say, "that's cool" or "that's interesting" and leave it at that? I mean these guys shit on BD like no tommorrow.

The first thing they do is try to discredit the relevance of such a move by ralph's. I understand it's not the best price for the player, especially if amazon has it without taxes and free shipping.

However, the very fact that ralphs has actually stocked them in their stores in a place where the most spontaneous/impulse purchasing occurs is interesting. I'm not sure if they expect to lure people in so much with this or to test some buying patterns with it.

Well, as said just above, this is not a remnant sale liquidation event. Space at Ralphs is too precious and intensely managed especially at premium locations at the front of the store.

So there are other motivations.

One of course is the profitability of the sale of the item itself. 100 units x 300 locations x $80 sale = $2,400,000 in retail sales which is not insignificant at a normal 40% margin.

The second is that its a promotion tied into their club card loyalty program and they need incentives to get consumers to sign up for that program which generates repeat consumer buying activity. The significance is that they think a $80 Blu-ray player is a desirable mass market item that consumers already understand what it is and recognize that $79.98 for a Blu-ray players with those capabilities is perceived as an exceptional value.

They may also anticipate that consumers that buy a Blu-ray player there will also tend to buy or rent movies at that locations over time so some additional traffic and transactions will be generated fro them over time.

No one, or few people would go to Ralphs just to buy the player alone. They are either going to see the ad and come to Ralphs and buy other stuff that time or in the future, they need to sign up for a loyalty card as well, or they are already at the Ralphs location and see it and buy it on impulse at the point of sale.

All are factors that show the management at Ralphs have evaluated the item and determined that the Blu-ray player being sold at that price is worth carrying and dedicating some resources and prime floor space to promote.

[silverado]

I was going to ask "how is this smackdown?", but there seems to be some debate as to the significance of the grocery store carrying this compared to Amazon (Amazon at a lower price). Now that it is being debated, Kosty seems upset and surprised that someone debated a promotion article in a smackdown forum?!?

[Kosty]

I was going to ask "how is this smackdown?", but there seems to be some debate as to the significance of the grocery store carrying this compared to Amazon (Amazon at a lower price). Now that it is being debated, Kosty seems upset and surprised that someone debated a promotion article in a smackdown forum?!?

Who is upset and who is surprised?

I think its worthy of discussion and having GizmoDVD and mikemorel try to dismiss the significance was not unexpected at all.

Just talking about why a major grocery store chain would do this is interesting. It has really nothing to do with the particular player at all, its the significance of this category of mass market retailer that does not carry a lot of consumer electronics items promoting a Blu-ray player during the holiday season.

[Sbert]

I was going to ask "how is this smackdown?", but there seems to be some debate as to the significance of the grocery store carrying this compared to Amazon (Amazon at a lower price). Now that it is being debated, Kosty seems upset and surprised that someone debated a promotion article in a smackdown forum?!?

Don't really see much of a debate other than it being cheaper somewhere else and that there's no netflix. There's definitely more to it, but of course, it is easy to hone on to certain things and pooh pooh it. Of course, ignoring the big elephant in the room that it's a grocery store with relatively competitive pricing outside of online options.

[furriballs]

I was going to ask "how is this smackdown?", but there seems to be some debate as to the significance of the grocery store carrying this compared to Amazon (Amazon at a lower price). Now that it is being debated, Kosty seems upset and surprised that someone debated a promotion article in a smackdown forum?!?

We could always say Beetlejuice three times, in pops the DVR King, and let this thread get massively derailed by talking about the merits of Dish DVR and how it's just as good as BD.