My new business partner: My wife
Posted using ShareThis
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Best Buy: The art of expansion in Europe
Minnesota based Best Buy has been expanding over the past couple years. The expansions include heavy moves in the European market, under the vision and strategy of the new CEO Brian Dunn, see article here for more details. The most recent opening will be this week in the UK, though the opening is met with much fanfare, Best Buy is not exactly celebrating yet due to their non-existent web presence in the UK.
Expanding in Europe means a lot of things to Best Buy. The growth of what is already the largest U.S. electronics retailer, new markets to penetrate, and in some cases untapped market shares. But it also means a change in strategy. In the UK, e-commerce sites for consumer electronics account for around 12-15% of retail electronic sales. This means that even with five stores being opened in the UK there is still revenue and customers that very well could be missed.
Best Buy has delayed the launch of their UK website because they want to be sure it is properly tested and running at highest capacity due to its importance in the market. Though Best Buy believes that the store openings this spring and autumn should mitigate the lost revenue from their e-commerce site it might be a bit of a struggle, Best Buy will be competing against several retailers with strong web sales: Comet (KESAF), Argos (HMRLF), and Tesco (TSCDY).
It has been known that Best Buy was planning to enter the UK market giving other consumer electronics retailers time to prepare, revamp, and strengthen their sales. With the strength in competition and the lack of web presence Best Buy might have a harder than usual time entering this new market. Industry experts believe that Best Buy won’t make a significant impact for several years. See businessweek.com for more on this. One way Best Buy looks to compete is with its customer service. Their ability to provide their Geek Squad services and 24 hour computer technician call center should be one significant play maker for Best Buy. But also their new media marketing efforts such as their presence on Twitter, #Twelpforce among other customer orientated programs should bring a significant differentiation strategy to their UK presence.
Best Buy can chip out a significant share of the UK electronics market if they are able to get their web presence launched and performing in conjunction with their stores opening across the UK. Coupling the customer service strategy seen in the U.S. stores with their web and brick and mortar presence in the UK can make a significant impact in their continual market growth and should be a good start to their search for capturing the global consumer electronics market.
http://www.examiner.com/x-14446-Minneapolis-Business-News-Examiner~y2010m5d1-Best-Buy-The-art-of-expansion-in-Europe
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)