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Even as CEO shrugs off 'showrooming,' Best Buy to match online prices

Minnesota-based Best Buy Co. is planning to match the prices of Internet competitors such as Amazon.com Inc. this holiday season, even as it plays down its concerns over shoppers browsing gadgets in stores only to buy them for less online, the Wall Street Journal reports.
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It wasn't long ago that new Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly was saying that "showrooming" is overblown hype. He said the practice of customers browsing in-store products and then buying them online later at lower prices from other retailers like Amazon.com is a great "falsehood."

But the Richfield-based retailer doesn't seem to be taking chances as it seeks to retool its business model and maintain a share of the electronics market. The company aims to match the prices of Internet competitors such as Amazon.com Inc. this holiday season, the Wall Street Journal reports (in a story that is mostly behind a pay wall). The chain also aims to offer free home delivery on merchandise that is out of stock in stores, a source told the Journal.

Best Buy this month hired a new e-commerce chief and signalled it would offer lower online prices.

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