Copywriter, technical writer, translator (FR>EN, ES>EN, IT>EN), journalist

A retail business website played me

Several weeks ago, I decided to buy a Bluetooth headset to replace my beloved but deceased Plantronics BackBeat 903+. The headset I chose: the Plantronics BackBeat FIT. I trust the manufacturer and it’s marketed as holding up to sweat if you wear it during workouts. (I think that’s what did in the BackBeat 903.)

I visited several different websites one Sunday afternoon. On Monday, I decided to pull the trigger, so I returned to bestbuy.ca to spend $130.00 plus taxes on the BackBeat FIT. Lo and behold: the price had dropped to $108.00!

Any leftover hesitation quickly got swept aside, I gave Best Buy my money, and am now the proud owner of a new headset. But the experience got me thinking…

I hadn’t cleared out my search history, so Best Buy (more specifically, its website) knew I had spent several minutes (at least) checking out this headset. Does it run an algorithm that lowers the price on an item if the same person views it on two consecutive days? What would have happened if I’d left the purchase until the day after? Would the price have sunk a little more? (In case you’re wondering, the headset now costs $150.00.)

It’s a matter of idle curiosity, I admit. But have you ever had a similar experience? I’m always looking for ways to spend less on the stuff I want, so if I stumbled upon a trick to online shopping, let me know in the comments below.