Best Buy’s Secrets for Thriving in the Amazon Age
- 7 years ago
Best Buy’s Secrets for Thriving in the Amazon Age
Here are the keys to Best Buy’s turnaround, according to Mr. Joly:
When Mr. Joly took over in 2012, Best Buy was bleeding out.
Mr. Joly realized that with some minor changes, each of Best Buy’s 1,000-plus big-box stores
could ship packages to customers, serving as a mini warehouse for its surrounding area.
Mr. Joly also realized that if Best Buy was going to compete with Amazon, which has spent billions building a speedy delivery system
and plans to use drones to become even more efficient, it needed to get better at things that robots can’t do well — namely, customer service.
In his first months on the job, Mr. Joly visited Best Buy stores near the company’s Minnesota
headquarters to ask rank-and-file employees about the struggles they encountered.
When Mr. Joly arrived at Best Buy, the company’s online ordering system was completely divorced from its stores.
Under Mr. Joly, Best Buy has used the scalpel as quietly as possible, gradually letting
leases expire for unprofitable stores and consolidating its overseas divisions.
To combat showrooming and persuade customers to complete their purchases at Best Buy, Mr. Joly announced a price-matching guarantee.
“If people stop buying PCs or they don’t care about big-screen TVs anymore, they have a challenge.”
Mr. Joly knows that despite Best Buy’s recent momentum, it’s not out of the woods yet.
Here are the keys to Best Buy’s turnaround, according to Mr. Joly:
When Mr. Joly took over in 2012, Best Buy was bleeding out.
Mr. Joly realized that with some minor changes, each of Best Buy’s 1,000-plus big-box stores
could ship packages to customers, serving as a mini warehouse for its surrounding area.
Mr. Joly also realized that if Best Buy was going to compete with Amazon, which has spent billions building a speedy delivery system
and plans to use drones to become even more efficient, it needed to get better at things that robots can’t do well — namely, customer service.
In his first months on the job, Mr. Joly visited Best Buy stores near the company’s Minnesota
headquarters to ask rank-and-file employees about the struggles they encountered.
When Mr. Joly arrived at Best Buy, the company’s online ordering system was completely divorced from its stores.
Under Mr. Joly, Best Buy has used the scalpel as quietly as possible, gradually letting
leases expire for unprofitable stores and consolidating its overseas divisions.
To combat showrooming and persuade customers to complete their purchases at Best Buy, Mr. Joly announced a price-matching guarantee.
“If people stop buying PCs or they don’t care about big-screen TVs anymore, they have a challenge.”
Mr. Joly knows that despite Best Buy’s recent momentum, it’s not out of the woods yet.