Best Buy

Best Buy

Introduction

Best Buy was founded in 1966 and has since developed tremendously into one of Americas best consumer electronics store. It began its operations in the audio specialty store but later rebranded itself as a consumer electronics seller.

It also has several subsidies including Cowboom, Pacific Sales, Magnolia Audio Video, Geek Squad, and CinemaNow. Together with its subsidiaries, Best Buy operates a total of over 1,150 stores. These stores offer services that are considered some of the best in the country and are continuously improving them in order to remain competitive (Reuters).

In 2004, Best Buy was named the “Company of the Year” by Forbes. It also topped several lists as one of the most admired companies in America. However, despite the headlines it made during the early 21st century, the company is currently facing some issues that need to be resolved.

Products and Services

Best Buy offers a variety of products and services in six revenue categories: appliances, entertainment, computing and mobile phones, consumer electronics, services, and others. The appliances segment involves a variety of small and big appliances. The entertainment segment includes DVD's, computer softwares, digital downloads, video games, etc. The computing and mobile phones category includes desktop computers, notebooks, mobile phones and other related services. Consumer electronics includes audio and video products such as digital cameras, televisions, etc. The services segment includes repair and support services. The final segment consists of snacks and beverages. The services offered by the company ensure that apart from selling products, the company also helps customers in the installation of equipment purchased and also helps in repair and maintenance (Benjamin, 2013).

Industry

The industry in which Best Buy operates is very competitive and includes several renowned companies that are giving Best Buy a tough time in each of its segments. Its biggest competitor is Wal-Mart followed by Apple store and Amazon. Although Apple store and Amazon do not give a very tough competition to Best Buy, it faced its toughest competition from Wal-Mart. Tough economic conditions are causing problems for the entire industry but competitors are still expanding and opening up their stores all over the country. This has led Best Buy to seek a strategy whereby it can overcome the problems.

The consumer electronics industry is extremely dynamic with new technology being released almost on a daily basis. This makes it difficult to maintain an inventory as excessive inventory can lead to losses if the product is not successful. However, Best Buy has overcome this problem by ordering in small quantities and more frequent deliveries (Lee, 2013).

Organization's Strategy

Competition is now global with several organizations competing with each other using strategies never used before. The customers are now the ultimate decision makers as companies have to fulfill their demands in order to survive. Keeping this in mind, Best Buy has adopted a consumer centric strategy in which it tries its best to fulfill every demand of the consumers. The company believes that the solution to fighting competition is to run the company according to the eyes of the ...