Ok, here is another Best Buy marketing experiment for whomever would like to participate. All with a point of view are invited whether you work for Best Buy or not. I don’t whether this will work or not but thought I would give it a shot and see what comes of it and am interested in what people think of the process.
We working through developing our annual plan and part of that process is to assess opportunities in the product categories and services we sell today and what we could do in the future to drive growth. We are utilizing a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) and are looking for comments, suggestions, etc. We are hoping that by having an open forum as part of this process that Best Buy can leverage a more diverse set of experiences and opinions to become more relevant to our customers.
Directions: Please look at the SWOT framework below and provide input into the “category” products and services Best Buy sells today and should consider selling in the future. Please post your comments by the end of the day Wed.
STRENGTHS (internal focus on BBY)
* Powerful scaling capability
* Our people: culture/passion
* Strong Market Share (retail)
* Services / Geek Squad / PSP
WEAKNESSES (internal focus on BBY)
* New brand positioning not landed yet
* Please fill in
OPPORTUNITIES (external focus on BBY)
* Increase preference for Best Buy
* Exclusive brands
* New categories to enhance our Brand and are relevant to our customers
* Deliver more for our Best customers to drive more growth from them
THREATS (external on BBY)
* Commoditization
* Mass merchants
* Local competitors
Hi Barry-
This is Lee Vitalo, Best Buy’s community manager at Communispace. Looking at your post, I think there may be comments from the consumer community that might be of interest to you. We recently conducted discussions around the “Top 5 Things Best Buy is Doing Right” and the “Top 5 Areas Where Best Buy Could Improve,” which yielded some very detailed (and sometimes passionate) results. Many of the comments related to more tactical improvements, but some addressed opportunities to enhance existing product categories. We’re happy to pass these on to you via email or help you access the community if you’d like to read them first hand.
-Lee
Barry-
Just a consumer here, unaffiliated with BB in any way. I have to say that the reason I find myself choosing NOT to shop at BB at times is because of the service and not really much else. The last time I was there I was looking for a car charger for my iPhone 3G and couldn’t get any one to help me because they were all too busy talking about the iPhone 3G launch BB was doing the next day. I stood there and stared at the mobiles team for minutes after saying excuse me, with no one stepping forward. That’s just one anecdote, but over the years, I’ve just had too many there. For me, it’s never been about product categories, what BB does or does not carry, but its about whether it’s worth the hassle of dealing with the staff at the store or just ordering from Amazon and waiting a day.
Just one consumers unsolicited input, that really has little to do with what you were asking, but there it is nonetheless.
–Louis
Top of head, not fully formed but here you go… You get what you pay for
Opportunities – “Give to get”
The general idea, open up and give out what we already know to make the customers life easier and somewhere in the chain of life it will come back to us.
Examine information Best Buy already knows (aggregate/visualize our data) to give customers tools and information that wow them and potentially value great enough to award us their business. i.e. Pandora model, ~”freemium” services, cloud services, etc.
e.g. We know what the most often returned and repaired products are, if we openly shard that pre-sale or on the web customers may be more inclined to trust.
e.g. We do thousands of installs HDTV, home theater, car, etc. What if we documented all the steps and created videos of real installs it would serve to help the do it yourselfer but also show others open to pay to get it done just how much work those folks do for the money…
I’m sure there are huge handfuls of other information we know due to our footprint that would inform and delight customers.
Barry –
One observation re: to your language in Weaknesses (Internal Focus) – “New brand positioning not landed yet”. Sounds contrary to the M.O. you’re working through here in that its at odds with a co-creating and collaboration ethos. Feels like a transmission model of communication where the “problem” is “why aren’t they getting it?” My POV: Keep leading through your examples right here. Invite the brand to live & grow by PRINCIPLES rather than positions. We all might find that seeding an idea and then supporting a dialogue’s openness w/ customers and fellow employees lands the brand to where it belongs after all.
Hi Barry-
I think there’s an opportunity to fashion a “happy intersection” between your current categories and new value-added/subscription-based social entertainment products. Especially in music and games.
The Napster acquisition is a robust foundation for such services and with the right bridge service (i.e. CD ripping services) there are all kinds of ways BBY can partner with customers to be part of their “inspired life”.
Same goes for the electronic games category and a would-be social game network.
These frameworks allow you to establish an ongoing dialogue with consumers with BBY being not only top of mind in these categories, but an integral part of the discovery and consumption process consumers are increasingly merging into one activity.
Barry,
I am an EVP of Operations at an Internet company. I am a fan of BBY and I thought I’d make a few observations in addition to yours.
Strengths:
Consider evaluating your growing Social Media savvy. Isn’t it a competitive advantage to have guys like Gary Koelling and Steve Bendt and the success of BlueShirtNation (not to mention the way in which you, personally, are trying to use the tools of the space)? Aren’t you better positioned to crowdsource new trends or service opportunities? Can’t you lower your cost of service with the ambient awareness of your customers that comes from being plugged in? More to the point — aren’t YOUR customers the leaders here?
Weaknesses:
Although turnover rates have dropped dramatically over the last few years, it’s still a relatively transient workforce.
I would also note that BBY is not viewed as an authentic cultural brand for virtually any category/demo: is BBY really perceived as understanding older consumers? Geek sheik? Women? Young people? Smart Shoppers? Latinos? The key word is authentic.
Opportunities:
With the Napster acquisition, hopefully BBY can move into the business of provide value added software/content services on mobile devices. The mobile phone is certainly the weapon of choice for the next decade. There are many opportunities here: mobile marketing, location-based services, recommendation engines, personalization, mobile payment, and more.
There is a rapid commoditization of social grid application platforms (i.e. OpenSocial, Facebook API, Data Portability, open source tools like Drupal), for which BBY could be a primary beneficiary. BBY can facilitate ad-hoc communities around games, music, digital lifestyle, self serving customer support.
Threats:
Again, through the prism of social networks, it is getting harder to manipulate the stream of “earned media” (e.g. Facebook Beacon 2.0 … whatever form it takes). For the younger consumer, the BBY brand and “recommendation engine” is already in the hands of their friends. Interrupt marketing tools will continue to become less effective.
Conclusions:
In the same way the Apple has been able to vertically integrate the iTunes platform (software) with consumer electronics devices (hardware) with Genius Bar / Retail Store (service), BBY could convert a massive number of its customers into online content and community networks that decrease service costs, increase brand affinity, lower supply chain costs, and enhance impulse purchasing. Finally, in the same way eBay’s community power led them to new markets (the Auto category generates more than $10BB of annual sales), BBY will discover new opportunities within its socially created “Database of Intentions” (ref: John Battelle).
I admit my social media / software / Internet bias, but I think BBY is better positioned than WalMart or Amazon to achieve the above goals.
Hope this helps
Matt, thanks for the awesome comment! I couldn’t agree more but having someone from outside the walls say it validates it even more.
Barry, I think we’re too quick to put some things (services, gs, psp) into the “Strengths” bucket that have not fully landed, are losing ground as they scale, or are not being completely leveraged. Customers are unaware of or confused by the new GS branding for HT install. The gap between Dell service plans and ours. Standard/premium GSBTP plans.
We’ve created great value props for our customers, but some of them can’t easily transition into SOP across 800 stores. That turns Strengths into Weaknesses and helps create Threats.
I am a big fan of Best Buy, and find genuine joy in shopping — even browsing — at the stores. The SWOT above seems too general to me — nothing greatly ownable — and devoid of the powerful emotional landscape you play in. In short, I don’t think it can just be about “stuff” and “scale” — but needs to be about a story, a narrative, a range of emotions associated with discovery, connection, toys and technologies. The promise of the future is delivered in my local Best Buy. For what it’s worth. Best, Patrick
Patrick
Love your comments. Right on. Be interested in what you think of our Holiday communication. I will post it here, when complete, in a couple of weeks. Check back.
Barry,
I completely agree with Patrick’s and JPWest’s comments.
With regard to Matt’s comments about improving your approach to Social Media — you guys are doing great and I know from our discussions you are on the right track and learning as you go. Looking forward to seeing the new launches coming in the near future.
Trying to answer your question from the consumer/consultant perspective:
WEAKNESS
– Value propositions are not clearly defined related to warranty, services and programs for end customers
– Service levels across stores/geographies are not uniform
– Inconsistent awareness of how to personalize service based on user persona (e.g. Barry w/ profitablity of 3) among staffers
Expanding on this a little –
I wrote a post about customer service policies specific to a Best Buy experience at your NOVA Dulles property. This illustrates a point about leveraging your profile data to provide the best possible service within allowed perameters:
http://livepath.blogspot.com/2006/08/flexible-customer-management-policies.html
OPPORTUNITY WISE – NO bullet copy here. Just ideas:
I believe taking advantage of the “Freeconomy”, “Cloud Computing” trends will bolster value that BBY provides and, if executed right, will drive community, loyalty and sales. Customer co-creation, developing customer listening stations tied to that as well as Customer Service is the best practice of the future. Beyond this, driving content to relevant channels that will HELP people develop (for example) their “Dream Game Night” or “Dream Movie Experience” or “Dream Road Trip” by providing them with tips, ideas and “recipes” (linked to purchasing) — as well as FREE “perks” (like audio downloads or movie clips) could be a huge success.
On another note: BBY for BUSINESS: I’ve had the opportunity to be a BBY customer in New York, Portland, the DC Metro area and now, a smaller town in the midwest. As the owner of a small business, I purchase *most* of my business products from BBY. The problem is, I find that purchasing options AND service levels are inconsistent from store to store. This is especially a problem in the store that now serves me.
I think there’s a ton of room for improvement and personal service with regard to Best Buy for Business. As a business member, I tend to purchase more expensive products that are on the “advanced” side. For example, I will spend thousands on the newest computer, and I want the monitor with the highest contrast ratio… Sometimes, the products I want are either not available or out of stock.
In my DC/NOVA stores, when the computer configuration I needed was not stocked, my Blue Shirt offered to order the model I wanted with no shipping charges. Here in the midwest, my Blue Shirts WON’T order what I need and waive shipping. They ALSO refuse to sell me the display model and WILL NOT call me when what I need comes back in-stock!
Beyond the personal service aspect, there isn’t even an email notification process to let me know when products I want are back in-store. Sometimes, I want to see it, touch it and experience it before buying. Pushing me to buy it online will sometimes result in missed sales for BBY – because I can buy it online anywhere.
Also worth noting is that in the DC and NOVA – my BBY crew “KNEW” me. There’s a chance that one or two might have recognized me — but MOST did not. Nevertheless, they treated me as familiar face, and worked with me as an individual. Perhaps they knew to look up my profile (Jill, profitability of 4) or just had good training.
Ironically, now that I’m in a smaller market, the service is very general, not personal — and suprisingly MORE removed in this smaller town. Go figure.
Hope this helps. Back to work.
Matt Johnston Said:
Weaknesses:
Although turnover rates have dropped dramatically over the last few years, it’s still a relatively transient workforce.
I would also note that BBY is not viewed as an authentic cultural brand for virtually any category/demo: is BBY really perceived as understanding older consumers? Geek sheik? Women? Young people? Smart Shoppers? Latinos? The key word is authentic.
MATT-
I really appreciate this line of dialog. Would love ideas or thoughts on how Best Buy could better meet the needs of Geek Sheik / Women /Youth. Specifically do you have ideas on experiences that those unique targets would appreciate? By better meeting their needs and desires we will be authentic.
For youth I am exploring brands that resonate with Millennials. Some that come to mind include Nintendo, Apple (but those are close in for us); so, I am also exploring design and fashion brands like Marc Ecko. Would love other ideas from you–or any other contributor–to brands we should check out. I want to use the brands as benchmarks, but might also seek ways we can work with them to expand our reach.
I can be reached via this blog or your can follow me on Twitter @jbweb.
Thanks!
Barry – as a consumer, I am not intrigued or inclined to shop at Best Buy because we do not have a location within 1 hour and a half or more and I do not see interactive advertising on the web that drives me to your site. I would say a weakness and opportunity would be to look at the interactive world and see if you can drive sales in the areas where you have locations and those you do not. This can be done via targeting with SEO or through banner ads on specific sites. I’m sure you are already doing a lot of this, but I have never seen it or it does not stand out to me. That is my 2 cents. Hope this is useful.
What an impressive commitment to social media. Here’s my two cents on SWOT:
S –
1. Well designed stores/shopper experience. It’s the opposite of Wal-mart. Clean, well-laid out and open. It’s clear that BBY loves consumer electronics. It’s a pleasure to shop there.
2. Service compared to the competition – wal-mart, costco
3. Geek Squad – good service and its positioning supports a contemporary, non-Wal-mart view of the world.
W
1. Selection – this appeals to mass market, but true geeks aren’t impressed.
2. Online – good but nothing special
3. Communications – sorry, but I only relate to the brand through Sunday FSIs. They’re good, but not particularly differentiating. I’m surprised I don’t get something through email.
4. Special offers – Wal-mart is able to own certain releases. Couldn’t BBY?
O
1. Be more of a Borders Books for electronics – give the store and online experience a more community feel
2. Connect better with best customers – news on new releases, pre-release parties, etc. (maybe you’re doing it and I’m just out of the loop)
3. Take the in-store experience to the next level.
4. Move to an on-demand or subscription model.
5. Everyone’s nesting to save money.
T
1. Wal-mart gets better with their in-store experience and continues to put stores next to you.
2. The stores fail to keep up with a leading edge retail feel, now owned by Apple.
3. Everything migrates to on-demand. Suddenly, netflix or comcast start to bundle tvs as part of their subscription model.
4. Start to lose the value war with costco and wal-mart. People start to see them as good enough and get electronics with their milk.
Good luck.
S
- Relationships / leverage with vendors across product and entertainment categories
- Best at bringing visibility to new complex services/technos before commoditization hits and mass retailers capture share. Mid-tier and emerging vendors merchandizing and mdf strategy to maintain that market-making edge and BBY’s relevance as a physical/people powered retailer in the value chain? Building on this idea: vendors are another type of customer we need to cater to be in the best position to delight real customers. Healthy to not focus solely on big but also mid-tier vendors to maintain leverage and sustain a customer advocate position.
W
- Lack of tangible visual signals in store that we are in the service/subs business (vs. purely transactional business of moving boxes) – only signal is around Geek Squad, and these are ‘pain’ services vs. ‘fun’ services (i.e. what I’m going to do with the stuff to fulfill my aspirations: connect, share, escape etc.)
- Model is set up in such way we don’t maximize our opportunity to reassure the customer after the sale is closed: we talk PSP (it could break), when we should say: you’re set up for the fun now, congrats, learn more with me about what you could do. And we run out of time to talk about the fun stuff. How can we reverse to accelerate setting them up with the right gear, and buy more time with them to educate around the cool accessories and services that bring the full experience to life?
- Culture is fluid and fosters innovation but need for consensus should be backed up with flexible tools and cross-teams ‘processes’ to accelerate alignment, so we can move good ideas along faster (so much is about timing to market these days). Tough thing to do: leadership and collaboration is probably the only way to crack that code…?
O
- Potential of entertainment as emotional bond to customers notably at local level
- Tell people we care, showcase our unique culture so people can vote for our values with their wallets, invite them on the journey to stronger communities and more inspired lives (a la Omega pack)
- Lack of widely accessible web 2.0 tools for conversation & co-creation with our customers. We need to replicate what we’re doing to listen to Blue Shirts with the customers themselves.
- Category-level or passion-level marketing in addition to drive-time / brand mkg – (gaming as an example: we are conducting a few experiments)
- Systematic participation in social / interactive media
T
- Disintermediation from our vendors
- Many-to-many economy
Another thought:
“Market development funding” or MDF is antithetical to a trusted perspective.
If you want authenticity and a trusted perspective, MDF needs to addressed.
What if BBY (publicly) disavowed such payment (as something akin to crack for retailers) and decided to demand best “price for value” from vendors. Best Buy in turn could weigh value propositions on a much more objective and authentic basis.
If you count on revenue and built margins that’s closer to real value, you have a more defensible position. It’s the last and only real stand. I’m sorry, but the rest is smoke and mirrors. Tell customers what’s best for their needs–not what you’re getting paid to tell them is best for their needs.
Once BBY adopts a high integrity POV (trusted perspective) recognized authenticity and preference will follow.
Adam Sellke’s comment is interesting. Barry & others, do most consumers know how MDF works, or just have a vague suspicion that retailers push products from certain brands?
Even if BBY acknowledged and disavowed MDF, wouldn’t there still be a perception that blueshirts were pushing higher-margin products?
I think product comparison/review information is now so ubiquitous that consumers can confirm recommendations for themselves, and make buying decisions based on price, brand loyalty and the surrounding value props.
Leigh,
Thanks for your comments specifically to BBFB and how your experiences a business customer have been inconsistent in our stores. I work at Best Buy with the BBFB team, so your honest input is great to hear and share.
A follow-up question – is the more “general” service level you receive in your new smaller market, versus the DC/NOVA stores, apply just to your experinces shopping with your “business hat” on, or do you feel the same when you come into Best Buy on a Saturday afternoon to shop for your household/individual needs? I like your comment on how previous store “knew you” – sounds like it was not just one individual, but rather the whole store culture to identify and engage with you on a more personal level as business shopper.
Thanks – appreciate any further posts you’re willing to make and share.
Cory,
I absolutely agree that the stores (Tysons/Dulles) had a more customer-centric culture – and because I was familiar with the management there, I also knew they made a concerted effort to take care of their customers personally.
However, I am pretty sure they DID NOT recognize me as a “business” shopper – probably as “Jill with profitability multiple of 4″…. It wasn’t until I was in a meeting with an exec that I was even moved to BB Rewards for Business – and that was just before I moved to the midwest.
In DC/Metro, I definitely wore my business hat while shopping – probably 90% of the time. However, here in the midwest, I’d say I STILL wear the biz hat about 90% of the time. The reason? When I go to BBY I’m usually “on a mission.” However, my husband and daughter often shop at BBY on their own for “personal” items.
The culture at this midwest store generally feels less customer-centric. Didn’t think of this but perhaps this store is behind the other stores that have benefitted from personae-based segmentation and training.
I would also say there is NO distinction made between a customer for personal or business. There are a few “shining star” Blue (and white) shirted staffers there that are the obvious exceptions to the rule.
With regard to BBFB – urgency of need related to business outstrips any urgency of need as a lay consumer. Frankly, when I come ready to grab something (usually expensive) off the shelf and can’t get the items I need it’s frustrating. I feel that if an item is “stocked” but “sold out” it should at least be made available online and with a shipping discount or waived shipping. This isn’t possible at BBY (according to blue shirts).
Further, if I don’t want to order an item online and pay for shipping, I can’t get a raincheck to purchase the item in-store at the sale price! The response is this: “We don’t know if we will be getting that item back in. You should buy it online or check back next week”. Again – a problem for everyone, not just the business shopper.
As a business customer, I feel BBY should want to take better care of me. With regard to not selling display units, not ordering an item to the store for a customer, not offering rainchecks, or not calling customers when a needed item comes in… even waiving online shipping for customers whose items are out of stock…. As much as this may make business sense for BBY – the practices above are working to alienate me as a customer. Whether it’s a BBFB issue or a general store-level customer service issue, it has forced me to take some of my business elsewhere.
Thanks for your interest, Corey.
Hi Barry,
First, I’d like to share that this is an awesome concept. Thanks for taking the time to listen to the consumer. Second, I’d like to share that I am a former BBY employee (12 years ago- Detroit area and Florida) and have really enjoyed watching the company evolve from the outside.
I think that there is a huge opportunity in working directly with a manufacturer to create a proprietary MP3/4 player that would work directly with the web site to buy music and movies. Perhaps this is a concept that you take to market. Also, I find myself going to the store each week (out of habit) hoping to find something new, but continue to see the same stuff week after week. I think that there is a great opportunity to bring us something each month or week that we can’t find anywhere else. Once you find it, send it to the reward zone subscribers first. Lastly, I think it would be awesome if people from your team created some sort of tech news or consumer oriented podcast that gets updated daily or weekly. I know that you’re sponsors of the Cnet Buzz out Loud Podcast already, yet this would take things to the next level.
All the best,
Jamie
Thanks for asking for input! I love your approach. 3 buckets of opportunity to share:
#1 All roads lead to the new “Open” Marketing/brand engagement which is why it’s so refreshing to see you actively engaged in social technology space. I would love to hear your thoughts on REMIX (Open API) http://tinyurl.com/4xds3p The opportunity here is to accelerate “Virtual Densification” where Best Buy stretches the brand into new spaces.
REMIX could be Best Buy’s new OPEN brand and be set up as a pipeline for business innovation never imagined back in 2003 at the start of our customer centric journey. Amazingly, Remix took 8 months to fund, 8 weeks to launch, and 8 days to attract more than 150 developers and 65 active applications. The 1 potential weakness: Resourcing new stuff is always a bit of a struggle when in a constrained environment; in this sense, the ability to accelerate new ways of brand engagement could be an opportunity or an internal weaknesses- hoping we can break down that barrier!
To further the thinking on what social technology means to Marketing…check out one of my favorite thought leaders in the space.
#2 Jeremiah Owyang’s Web Strategy blog discusses how web tools enable companies to connect with customers. Jeremiah mentions….”Rather than analyze from afar, the connected analyst should listen, join, and lead the online discussions in the market they cover” http://tinyurl.com/2s8×4f For Best Buy, it seems every leader ought to think about how to listen, join, and lead in our exciting journey to Open. The leadership imperative could be an opportunity or a potential weakness. Let’s figure out how to sub-optimize some of the parts (existing channels) to optimize the enterprise approach to serving customers in a more OPEN way…priceless!
#3 Finally, I polled my team and pulled out several key areas of opportunity around the defined strategic priority of “owning support and service online” …. Here’s a recap:
Make it easy for employees and customers to listen and engage.
1. Create an entire box for listening and support prominently displayed on bestuy.com and on tagzone.
2. Owning support and service online—-quick wins: move http://forums.bestbuy.com/bb/
to the top of the home page on Bestbuy.com versus bottom
3. Put SPY in upper left corner of Tagzone to allow more employees to start listening in new ways.
4. Show the enthusiasm for products via video. Capture voice of customers in videos and distribute….you’re already doing this with your amazing holiday campaign…can we take it a step further?
5. Fund more “community connectors” in the call center to engage directly online with customers this holiday season.
6. Make it easy for customers to see our online assets throughout the holiday campaign and ongoing brand engagement efforts….Mobile access is an expectation….forums etc….are expected from a customer perspective.
Thanks again for your leadership; it’s refreshing.
Hi,
I will like to have someone of the costumer relations, to help me with this situation, I’m already exausted of trying to get help from the personal of the geek squad of the best buy on Mount Vernon, NY 10550. I have been in the store three times this week, I already call 1-888-bestbuy, I already chat with one of your agents, I need my laptop back as soon as possible, I am a grad student, and I and use my laptop in a daily basic, to do research, presentations, and works. And I think i have been really paitents with the bad service that they are giving to me, but I cant keep losing my time, listen to more excuse.
im having problem with the reparation of my laptop. it have been in best buy since 9-1-08
I leave the laptop over there because the battery don’t charge and they give me back the laptop three days ago
(after one month and 2 weeks), and the laptop doesnt work. i take the laptop back to the store the next day(2 days ago), and they
said that they will fix the laptop for the next day, becuase they only have to restore the system (and they said that they forgot to do that before return the laptop).
I return yesterday and now they claim that they cant fix the laptop that they have to send it back to the factory.
they already spent around $700 and one month and two weeks (the laptop with the 3yrs warranty cost around 1000, and that was 0ne year and 7months ago). i mean what is the deal,
i will not have laptop for one more month??
i also paid $100 for a back up, and after one month and two week my backup have not been burn into the dvd.
The 10-14-08 when they first saids the computer was ready, they tell me that they need to burn the backup to the dvd’s,and
that if i return the next day they will have the back up ready. So i return the next day (10-15-08), for my back up and and with the computer that was
not working, and the backup was not ready. So becuase they have to restore the computers the geek squad agent saids that he
will, save the back up directly in the back up. Then (10-16-08) i return to the store the laptop was prepare to send it back
to the factory and nobody tought in start burning the dvd. I mean if they now that burn around 20Gb will take a lot time why they dont
start one month ago, that they already have the back up in they sistem??. And the funny things is that one of my friend tell
that they always do the same, they dont have the backup ready and they ask you to buy a new external hard disk, so they can give
you the back up in that moment. And guess what was the first thing they ask me after tell me that my back up was not ready??
they ask me to buy a external hard disk.
C.
I hate to confess this but I have only been to Best Buy a couple of times. Bought one of the kids a compueter there when she was in college.There is a Circuit City nearby and I just gravitate there. Do I love it? No. Do I even like it? No. It is totally impersonal and blah. After getting involved in this blog I’m going to Best Buy over the weekend. After I spend some time there and observe and soak up the atmosphere, I will be in a much better position to comment.
I think Best Buy may be a gem that has been largely undiscovered by a lot of people. I knew the Geek Squad existed but had no idea it belonged to Best Buy. I didn’t know Best Buy had taken over Napster. So far the thing that has impressed me enough to want to go there and shop is getting to know the internal processes BB is facing in an attempt to be and do better all in connection with their consumer. I also think the notion that consumers and employees develop relationships based on trust that they will know each other well enough to call when they need advice on or want to purchase something is great. What if “my Best Buy Guy” knows I’m looking for a blackberry type thing and something new and exciting comes on the market so he calls me. I have a “tax guy” and I have a “computer guy” a “hair guy” and a “car guy”. I have a banker, a “window guy” an ac “guy. They are people who call me and I call them and we interract on a business/service/customer level but also a social level. If Best Buy can get their employees trained to be true marketing and sales people in the best and highest sense of those words then heaven help anybody who tries to compete with them. I would love to have a steady person at Best Buy who advises me on all kinds of stuff I buy from large screen tv’s (and I love the installation guys) to Dell Computers although I’m actually thinking about a Mac and an IPhone. I need to find a store with employees who all have technical based sales experience so current on a variety of products that he/she would be like a walking Consumer Reports or PC Magazine or whatever. Service like we’ve never known it – intelligent, well informed and proactive is what I would like. But, like I said, I really need to go shopping at Best Buy and then I’ll really have something to add specifically to the blog. The coolest thing of all Best Buy is that you are having these forums. Hats off to you guys for being the only company I’ve found in 8 months of searching who actually wants to hear our ideas and converse with us. You’re off to a great start in establishing strong bonds between your consumers and your brand.
Barry,
First and foremost, the candor that you and other executives have shown in openly discussing your issues and concerns is a clear advantage in today’s marketplace, and fosters a connection with your customers that few other retailers are in a position to replicate.
I know my comments are late in the game, but I have a few things to add:
Strengths:
Others have already said it, but it bears repeating: your people are the strength of Best Buy. If we expand this discussion to include the VRIO model, Best Buy people are the one thing that your competition will have a consistantly hard time immitating. Further, your organization is very agile, especially given your size. The ability to innovate often moves in inverse proportion to growth; Best Buy defies this trend.
Opportunities:
Social Media:
As several people have already mentioned, all roads from social media lead back to your brand. Best Buy is leading the pack in deploying social media and collaboration tools to communicate and get feedback from internal stakeholders. The work that Gary Koelling and Steve Bendt have done to deploy BSN and Mix across the Best Buy enterprise is phenomenal; I have often quoted their work as a case study when working with other companies to deploy similar tools. The opportunity now exists in moving from leveraging social media as an internal tool to using social media to enhance the brand in the minds of the customers.
I had a moment the other day when I saw a tweet from the team at Best Buy 221 (@bestbuy221) which invited users to send DM’s with questions or products that they are looking for; creating, in effect, a “personal shopper” experience for anyone (anyone on twitter). I was floored by that tweet, because when I think about service, as in what “great” service means to me, that tweet sums it up. The question is, how do you transition from a few stores using twitter to a thousand stores doing the same thing? A complicated question to be sure, but on the flip side, a huge opportunity for customer research as well.
Best Buy has a huge strength in their people; this passion translates well to the virtual world and will carry your brand image through the transition to external social media.
Best Buy Mobile:
Being the only retailer other than AT&T and Apple to carry the iPhone speaks well the customer experience you bring to the table with BBM. I see a huge opportunity in leveraging this experience outside of the walls as well. Although exclusive hardware may not be possible in the short term, I think there is an opportunity in software exclusives preloaded on the phones. Those familiar with stickam and 12seconds will appreciate these apps being loaded on the phones. I would take it one further; Best Buy could certainly host their own video sharing, photo sharing and even video streaming sites as exclusive benefits to the purchasers of, for example, the Nokia N95 BBM edition. A preloaded barcode scanning software suite on camera phones (like the one included with the t-mobile G1) could drive traffic to giftag as well.
Jennie Weber made mention of brands which appeal to Millennials; I think we can sum up the Millennial brand appeal as such: brands which appeal to millennials sell not a “thing” but a “lifestyle”. Zara fashion and H&M don’t sell clothes, they sell “Trendy and Hip”; Apple doesn’t sell computers as much as they sell a “media lifestyle”. I can see opportunity for Best Buy in selling “Social Media” as a lifestyle; help me excel at social media by being my one-stop-shop for products which are easy to buy, easy to use and easy for me to recommend to others. Also, take a page from Zara and H&M: Identify the coming trends in this space (by attending CES, Blogworld, SXSW, etc), find the products and services which align with these trends, and get them to market before your competition does.
Thanks for listening,
Mike Diliberto
All:
Very insightful comments, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. As this is an ongoing dialogue, please feel free to continue this thread as ideas emerge. The SWOT is the foundation for developing our strategies. We are always looking to make it better.
i posted a thought on an open, social approach here: http://garykoelling.com/?q=node/433
This discussion is great to read as supervisor of a dept in Best Buy. I just wanted to add one thing from the perspective of someone who just moved into the computer sup position.
Strength-
1. Blue Shirt = service. We know our blue shirts stand for quality customer service as do customers. Is it a coincidence that within the last year I have seen Meijer, walmart, and walgreens employee uniforms turning into blue polos and khakis?
2. Geek Squad services, GSBTP, incredible variety of products. WE can do ANYTHING our customers want. From complete peace of mind with black tie protection plans, to services we offer to do whatever people want, right down to being able to get almost any product a customer wants
Weaknesses
1. Blue Shirt = Service. Customers view us so highly that a lot of times their expectations are too high. Wow did I just say that? So their expectations really aren’t out of the question…usually the problem is something we caused but it was do to something like this…we get a rush of customers at an odd time and the blue shirt to customer ratio is 10-1(seriously it happens a lot) I cannot possibly give every one of those customers the level of service they want without upsetting at least 1. Also more and more, customers get upset when you try and help multiple people at once. Oh and products have become so technical that I don’t even have time to tell the customers half of what we can do for them before their heads explode from the amount of data we are talking about.
As an example you come in to buy a pc…leave the pc out of it, we have 3 kinds of black tie protection, 3 kinds of geek squad ant virus options, 3 kinds of geek squad networking options, at least 10 accessories they could use from day one, 3 combinations of rewards/financing, and I haven’t even begun to talk about convergence and needs the customer doesn’t even know they have. Currently we as employees do our best to match needs with these options based on what we gather from a customer’s life and that is why people love the service they get since we make things simple…this brings me to the wollowing
2. Services, GSBTP, Variety of product. So we have nearly unlimited ways to help our customers, but less and less time to do it as we gain more and more market share meaning more and more customers. As an example the store I am at is 2 years old and has grown nearly 2.5 times what it was expected to do. We are still doing great but it feels like many stores are reaching their max in terms of what they can physically do in the building to grow. My store is one of them as the amount of products we need exceeds the space to put them. So we innovate and come up with new solutions every day.
Wow, that was a really long way of saying that our incredible strengths are a major weakness. This knowledge is why my team is so good at coming up with new value props to serve our local customer and I think it should be the foundation of any look at a category.
Whatz up, I fell lucky that I located this post while browsing for convert napster music. I am with you on the topic of Best Buy Brand SWOT Analysis – Using Open Principles Test. Ironically, I was just putting a lot of thought into this last Monday.
Barry,
Very cool idea with the public SWOT idea. Your commitment to Social technology is awesome. I’m a fairly loyal BBY customer and I was very interested to see some of the comments. I thought Jon Dale’s comments in particular were dead on. My thoughts
S-
Your store experience, for the most part is enjoyable. Large wide lanes, bright lighting, clean, uncluttered display.
Your distribution capabilities must make you a pretty significant force. Next to you, your old competitors of Circuit City and the like, look very dated.
Geek Squad purchase was a briliant move. Magnolia is a nice attempt in the audio space, but not sure its getting traction. I’m not quite an audiophile, but I don’t get the impression that the stuff in the designated Magnolia area is anything special or particularly high end. The great service I get there only highlights how little the other stereo guys know
I bought my Imac from you last year. The Apple area is an interesting play, but again it was clear to me that the Apple folks were just “on lease,” and when discussing computers with them vs your regular computer sales guys—big difference in knowledge
I also think you’ve done a very nice job trying to allign your online, FSI, In store look and feel for consistency. They feel like the same branding family—a consistency that they didn’t use to enjoy
Loved reading about your guys passion and the corporate entreprenuership in Groundswell. Very cool. It seems like BBY has a fairly young and hip culture inside corporate, but I don’t necessarily see that resonate as strong in the stores themselves. Not sure why.
W-
-Women shoppers. You’re coming @15 campaign may start to address this with young women, but I don’t get a sense that you’ve figured out what to do here. Close you eyes and The appliance area could be in Lowes. Nothing differentiates you here.
-Reoccuring visits. Right now, I go when I go, but there’s not a reason for me to have a Best Buy “routine.” Unlike Target, which sucks me in now with groceries or prescription drugs, BBY doesn’t have the continuous draw. I thought your photos area might help, but I just don’t think of best buy when I want to get my photos done. I just upload and pick them up at Costco—again because I’m going there already. I’ll be very interested to see how you try to use Napster to form a virtual routine.
-Differentiated product lines—No great private label offerings here and No Target like designer line that you’ve built with an authentic partner who has captured a trend. Could you be better at working with young filmakers to debut first films, artists, etc? I thought the Rolling Stones DVD was a great idea, but then it was followed by Elton John? Not exactly a fresh breakthough artist.—Crossing my fingers that Celine Dion is busy when you call.
-Electronics is a bit tough to have trends team, but I also don’t get the sense that I’m seeing it first at BBY. (although do very much like your nod to local artists and radio stations)
-You seem to be very agile—which is a great strength. It could also see it interpreted as fickle. It seems like you bounce around alot on your brand essence and your brand identity. “Get yours.” etc
O-
Love the fact that you’re exploring the social media space. I think the @15 could be a fantastic move for you. It makes you feel younger, gets you PR, draws in a demographic that might not otherwise touch Best Buy and will give you great market research and trend data. Very smart. Hope it works for you.
-I agree with some of the other comments about the “only at walmart” or exclusively at Target artist deals. You should have these. Should BestBuy have its own phone platform that features content from BestBuy content partners?
-Wondering how your play in the recycling of electronic is going. Sounded interesting (mandatory with new regulations?).
-I think your online experience could be even better. I love sites like B and H photography for example because of their power reviews. They feel more authentic than you in the camera space. Could you ramp this area up perhaps?
-What services are you supplying to business. I don’t know, but I’m guessing you’re in the small business space aggressivley with Geek Squad. Is there another line of services to sell businesses—anything with thier mobile telephony needs? Not to be too nutty, but could BBY be networking say hospitals with a Best Buy entertainment network during hospital stays.
Threats
-I think you’ve nailed it with the local “low price” competitor and the Costcos of the world
-As TIVO/NetFlix, Apple and others deliver content directly to consumers’ homes, what will drives consumers to make a trip to best buy
I wish you the best of luck. More CMOs should follow your lead. Bravo.
Just a consumer – I just spent $2K on a TV at the next set of alphabet letters down from BB. I have to say for me, BB biggest weakness is their giant ego and it shows up at the stores. BB is closest to my house, so we usually go there first but rarely buy. On the TV buying, we walked into BB and went to the TV’s. Lot’s of employees came up and asked to help (nearly jumped on me). When I finally was ready for help I had to chase one down. I asked my questions and the rep kept running back to the computer to look up info. He really had no idea what he was selling and even gave us some incorrect info.
At the place I bought – the salesmen were helpful but polite. When we we’re ready to talk, he was fully informed. I even asked some test questions that I knew the answers to to see if they matched my research. It was such a pleasant experience I almost felt guilty if I wouldn’t have bought so I did.
Best Buy forgets they are a specialty store.
I prefer to shop at Fry’s Electronics as they always seem to have lower prices. Why does BB continue to charge such high prices in the face of today’s economic environment is beyond me.
Would love to see my Rewards Zone direct mail reflect local assets: events, people, product demos, etc. Coupons don’t motivate me (or most males) but instore experiences might…if I knew about them.
Because of my RZ membership, you know where I live, where I shop, etc. Also, I’m surprised that there is no “upselling” by Best Buy or very little outbound marketing based on past purchases.
There are many direct marketing concepts that Best Buy could utilize that customers would welcome and would lead to more revenue/margin for BBY.
This is a comment on the SWOT process rather than the SWOT content proposed in this fascinating thread. I’m based in Europe, so I have no particular axe to grind, but my firm does work with high tech vendors, some of whom are big partners of BBY in the US.
For me, the real value of a SWOT is that it is objective and analytical. As such, I love so many of the comments about Strengths, Weaknesses and Threats. What I take issue with is the use of the word Opportunities. What I see in almost all of the entries here are suggestions of ‘what to do’, rather than an analysis of ‘what’s possible’ or ‘what’s available’. I feel that this limits the analytical integrity of the process – reaching decisions or proposing answers before really thinking-through all of the external possibilities. Rightly or wrongly, my firm believes that these should come from four key areas: overall demand, as driven by macro-economics [not such a great topic right now, I'll agree]; competitive activity or inactivity or even failure; changes in consumer behaviour [and boy are we seeing lots of significant changes right now]; and trends in the behaviour of key suppliers [such as the use of promotional dollars, rebate schemes, quarter-end deals, inventory support, the deployment of in-store promoters, that sort of thing].
Now this looks like a bit of a stylistic rant, but its intentions are to add rigor to the process. Some academic wag said some while ago that SWOT really stands for a Significant Waste of Time. That’s not so. In my opinion, done well, an objective SWOT will really drive business planning choices. I guess that as your post had a time limit, then this is now all done for the next year. Hope it’s looking good…
How do you feel about the Hispanic markets and its big potential for your Company
Barry,
Now that you’ve got a more comprehensive list of SWOT items, I hope you can take this to the next level. A great approach is to provide a link to a survey matrix placing SW down the side/Y axis and OT across top/X axis. For each column of OT, let survey respondents spread 9 points among the SW which could impact that particular OT. With even a few responses, you will see where you might best set goals and devise strat’s for improvement. Doing it internally as well can give you a quick GAP analysis.
Edw.