Back in 2016, after a trip to Best Buy, I wrote a post about the experience. I’d gone to get a new sound system installed in my car, and after experiencing surprisingly excellent customer service on that visit, I had an epiphany: Why was Best Buy trying to compete with Amazon on product selection when they already had a unique competitive advantage?
Here was my problem, the thing that brought me to that Best Buy a few weeks ago: My car has an ancient sound system, and it was time to install a new stereo that allowed me to plug in an iPod and connect a phone via Bluetooth. Best Buy, it turns out, is still a trustworthy place to handle such a complicated installation.
Here was my Dad’s problem, the thing that brought him to Best Buy last year: He needed a new, cheap laptop, and he trusted Best Buy to sell him one and give him the customer support to install the software he needs on it.
In both cases, Best Buy has a team devoted to helping customers install and use their new electronics: Geek Squad. And for an older generation that uses electronics every day but doesn’t always understand it, Geek Squad — much like their Apple counterparts at the Genius Bar — can actually solve a problem for consumers. They’re a trusted source of knowledge when it comes to professional installation and help on complicated electronics.
Here’s my fix: Rebuild the entire business based on Geek Squad, and the help they can give customers when making an expensive purchase.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago, when Bloomberg published a huge feature on Best Buy, titled “Best Buy Should Be Dead, But It’s Thriving in the Age of Amazon”. What’s changed? They’ve figured out their competitive advantage!
Best Buy’s better-known Geek Squad deploys agents to help customers with repairs and installations. The advisors act as, in Best Buy’s language, personal chief technology officers, helping people make their homes smart or merely more functional… They’ve already learned about the devices and appliances they can offer: TVs, sound systems, refrigerators, washing machines, security cameras, doorbells, garage doors, and smoke alarms, as well as Amazon Echo and Google Home and Apple HomePod, and smart shades and lighting and thermostats… [The old strategy was] about getting people into Best Buy stores and onto its website; Best Buy’s future will be about getting its people into homes.
Will Amazon copy the model? I mean, yes — they’re already doing it! But still: It’s exciting to see a big brand successfully make the pivot towards a business model that could work in the long run. Good luck to Best Buy — sounds like they’re onto something interesting.
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“Best Buy” by Mike Mozart is licensed under CC BY 2.0