Business Culture of Best Buy, Circuit City's Biggest Competitor

Business Culture of Best Buy, Circuit City’s biggest competitor

Best Buy’s vision is to make life fun and easy for consumers. Their business strategy is to treat customers as unique individuals, meeting their needs with end-to-end solutions, and engaging in energizing the employees to serve them, while maximizing overall profitability. As of March 2008, Best Buy operated 923 stores in 49 states. In the United States, Best Buy offers five revenue categories:

1. Consumer electronics

2. Home office

3. Entertainment software

4. Appliances (not offered by Circuit City)

5. Services (Geek Squad)

The management at Best Buy thinks that one size does not fit all. As they grew, they recognized that there are new places to grow. Their formula for growth is simple, they look for unmet customer needs, and come up with the best way to meet those needs and serve those customers in order to grow. The management has decided to start creating their own private label product; not just sell products from other companies. For example, Best Buy partnered with the Carphone Warehouse group to develop Best Buy Mobile. Best Buy was first at acquiring a company (Geek Squad) that offers services like computer repair and installation, home theater installation and etc. All these services can be done in store, customer’s home and online.

Best Buy has approximately 150,000 employees, 110,000 more employees than Circuit City. Since Best Buy has so many employees, they do not see that as a problem based on having an environment where everyone contributes. Best Buy is working hard to overcome obstacles that hinder them to find growth in their employees. Best Buy equips employees and enables them with innovative, global assets that allow them to solve problems that customers encounter.

Best Buy sees global expansions as a very important factor for growth:

1. It gives Best Buy access to more growth opportunities

2. Gives access to a global talent, ideas and new perspectives

Both of these point-of-views are important for Best Buy, because it enables them to accelerate growth in an increasingly global economy. Best Buy believes that to be successful globally, they need to adapt their culture to that environment and focus on serving the needs of the unique customers. By expanding to Canada and China, Best Buy has learned a lot from their customers and that has helped them to expand here in the United States and Vice Versa.

Their expansion started in 2001, when acquiring the Future Shop, Canada’s leading consumer electronics retailer. The management has learned from that expansion, since they were forced to learn how to operate two brands in one country as well as how to build international capabilities-such as supply chain, IT and outsourcing. Expanding to China in 2003 was their second move to expand globally. Best Buy’s first global sourcing office was build in Shanghai. That created a chance to bring great, innovative products, breakthrough brands with competitive pricing for their U.S. and Canadian customers. At the same time, Best Buy began to transform into a more customer centric company. In 2006, Best Buy acquired a major stake in Five Star, giving them an immediate retail presence in china. In 2007, Best Buy opened its first Best Buy-branded store in Shanghai. This move was to offer the Chinese customers a different kind of consumer electronics shopping experience then previously available in the local market.

In 2009, Best Buy is expected to open approximately 140 new stores in the U.S., Canada, China and