Best Buy's Innovate or Die Retail Strategy
Best Buy's mandate for 2014 and beyond is to keep its brick-and-mortar stores fresh, modern and competitively priced to keep the economic rebound it experienced in 2013 rolling. "Innovate or Die, But Don't Die Innovating," a Big Show 2014 session, focuses on the importance of reimagining and reinventing on an on-going basis and driving the customer to purchase.
Following a two-year steady decline in value in the face of increased competition from Amazon and others, Best Buy's stock is up over 250% this year. The rebound is due in no small part to the electronic retailer's ability to respond to pricing pressure and improve its in-store services as it fights back against e-tailers' pricing advantage.
"The primary driver we're using is the actual price that we set," chief executive officer, president and director Hubert Joly said. "The Low Price Guarantee, which is our price matching policy, which includes online, is a nice tool for the Blue Shirts to close the sale. From a frequency and cost standpoint, it's a relatively minor driver, but it's an effective tool to give to comfort the customers that they're getting the right price. We're in this to win and we're in this to play to win, as opposed to not lose."
In addition to adjusting its pricing strategy, Best Buy has increased it store-within-a-store offerings, allowing customers to experience and interact with the newest available technology before making a purchase — something online-only retailers cannot offer. The electronics retailer has featured Apple stores in its brick-and-mortar locations for a while now, and added Samsung, Windows, and Google this year. The latest store-within-the-store to go live was Google. The stores were rolled out at 750 Best Buy locations featuring table and end cap displays as well as some staffing support from Google. Google Head of Industry, Retail, Brett Goffin will be speaking at the "Innovate or Die" event to give a first-hand account of his corporation's retail strategy working with all partners including Best Buy.
"The customer feedback from all of these vendor experiences is very positive," Joly said. "And strategically, I think what we've all seen is how meaningful Best Buy is as a platform for these vendor partners because we're the only place of scale where they can showcase the fruit of their billions of dollars of technology investment."
For related content:
NRF 2014 Preview: Omnichannel: Omnichannel Innovation
NRF Big Show 2014: A Bigger and Better Big Show
Best Buy Expands Marketplace with ChannelAdvisor Partnership
Giving Customers the Best Buy
Following a two-year steady decline in value in the face of increased competition from Amazon and others, Best Buy's stock is up over 250% this year. The rebound is due in no small part to the electronic retailer's ability to respond to pricing pressure and improve its in-store services as it fights back against e-tailers' pricing advantage.
"The primary driver we're using is the actual price that we set," chief executive officer, president and director Hubert Joly said. "The Low Price Guarantee, which is our price matching policy, which includes online, is a nice tool for the Blue Shirts to close the sale. From a frequency and cost standpoint, it's a relatively minor driver, but it's an effective tool to give to comfort the customers that they're getting the right price. We're in this to win and we're in this to play to win, as opposed to not lose."
In addition to adjusting its pricing strategy, Best Buy has increased it store-within-a-store offerings, allowing customers to experience and interact with the newest available technology before making a purchase — something online-only retailers cannot offer. The electronics retailer has featured Apple stores in its brick-and-mortar locations for a while now, and added Samsung, Windows, and Google this year. The latest store-within-the-store to go live was Google. The stores were rolled out at 750 Best Buy locations featuring table and end cap displays as well as some staffing support from Google. Google Head of Industry, Retail, Brett Goffin will be speaking at the "Innovate or Die" event to give a first-hand account of his corporation's retail strategy working with all partners including Best Buy.
"The customer feedback from all of these vendor experiences is very positive," Joly said. "And strategically, I think what we've all seen is how meaningful Best Buy is as a platform for these vendor partners because we're the only place of scale where they can showcase the fruit of their billions of dollars of technology investment."
Best Buy has shown that continuous improvement is the only way to stay competitive in today's retail market and helped the company rebound from some disappointing finishes the past few years. The "Innovate or Die" session will take place at the NRF Big Show on Monday January 13, 11:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. Joining Goffin on stage will be Kevin Quiring, Sr. Executive, Accenture.
For related content:
NRF 2014 Preview: Omnichannel: Omnichannel Innovation
NRF Big Show 2014: A Bigger and Better Big Show
Best Buy Expands Marketplace with ChannelAdvisor Partnership
Giving Customers the Best Buy