Best Buy is the place to go if you want to enhance the technology you use every day.
From powerful appliances to user-friendly computers, the electronics retailer offers a wide choice of outstanding items at typically low rates.
Table of Contents
What is Best Buy?
Best Buy (Best Buy Co. Inc.) is a global American consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota.
Founded in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler, it was relaunched under its current name with an emphasis on consumer electronics in 1983.
Business segments
Best Buy organizes its operations into two reportable business segments:
- Domestic, which includes all of the Company’s operations in the United States under various brand names such as Best Buy, bestbuy.com, Best Buy Direct, Best Buy Express, Geek Squad, Magnolia Home Theater, and Pacific Kitchen and Home; and
- International, which includes the Company’s activities in Canada and Mexico under the brands Best Buy, bestbuy.ca, bestbuy.com.mx, Best Buy Express, Best Buy Mobile, and Geek Squad.
History
Best Buy may trace its roots back to 1966, when Richard Schulze (“Schulze”) and his business partner opened the electronic retailer Sound of Music.
Schulze bought out his business partner in 1969, when the company had three locations.
Throughout the 1970s, the company expanded and adopted its current name in 1983.
Following that, Best Buy sought to diversify its product offerings, adding home appliances to its core portfolio of audio devices.
The company is now one of the leading technology and electronics stores in the United States, offering products in a variety of categories such as appliances, consumer electronics, and mobile devices.
Best Buy’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BBY.
The current market valuation of the company is $11.95 billion.
Best Buy Reviews
Best Buy operates globally in Canada and previously in China until February 2011 (when the faction merged with Five Star) and Mexico until December 2020. (due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic).
Until 2012, the corporation also operated across Europe.
Geek Squad, Magnolia Audio Video, and Pacific Sales are among its subsidiaries.
Best Buy also owns the Best Buy Mobile and Insignia brands in North America, as well as the Five Star brand in China.
In the United States, Best Buy sells cellular phones from Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility, and Sprint Corporation.
Carriers in Canada include Bell Mobility, Rogers Wireless, Telus Mobility, their fighter brands, and smaller competitors like as SaskTel.
Best Buy was named “Company of the Year” by Forbes magazine in 2004, “Specialty Retailer of the Year” by Forbes in 2005 (based on 2004 giving), was named to Fortune magazine’s list of “Most Admired Companies” in 2006, and was named “The Most Sustainable Company in the United States” by Barron’s in 2019.
Best Buy’s executive chairman is Hubert Joly, who was followed as CEO in June 2019 by Corie Barry.
Best Buy is the largest specialized retailer in the United States consumer electronics retail market, according to Yahoo! Finance.
The company was placed 72 on the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest corporations in the United States based on total sales.
Customer Segment
Best Buy offers a wide selection of technology products, services, and solutions to a diverse consumer base.
The Company is directly customer-facing, primarily serving general consumers through its retail network.
Best Buy began organizing their retail operations in the mid-2000s to target five major consumer segments:
Small business customer has special needs relating to raising sales and profitability of his or her business.
- Affluent professionals seeking the latest technology and entertainment items, as well as excellent service;
- Family men seeking technology that will better their lives and last;
- Busy suburban mothers; and
- Young customers who are enthusiastic early adopters.
Best Buy only services customers in North America.
The US is by far its main market, with Canada and Mexico serving as secondary markets.
Propositions of Value
Best Buy adds value to its customers in the following ways:
- The quality of its customer service, which includes personal assistance from the company’s knowledgeable in-house sales personnel;
- Its competitive pricing and discount deals, with the Company offering reasonably priced products as well as bargains and discounts, including weekly and daily deals;
- Its extensive sales reach across North America, with 1,200 large-format and 400 small-format stores mostly in the United States, as well as Mexico and Canada;
- Its technical support offerings, with Geek Squad agents and service centers providing expert, in-person technical assistance to customers; and
- Its accessible digital channels, with the Company operating online and mobile channels that allow customers to purchase products and services while on the go.
Channels
Best Buy has a corporate website, www.corporate.bestbuy.com, that contains information about its different goods, services, and locations. Customers can make purchases, schedule delivery, and manage their accounts through the Company’s online sales channel at www.bestbuy.com, as well as its Mexican and Canadian sites at www.bestbuy.com.ca and www.bestbuy.com.mx. Customers can either pick up their purchases at a Best Buy shop or have them delivered directly to them from a distribution center or retail store.
The Company also has a mobile channel with iOS and Android apps that provide a lot of the same features.
The majority of Best Buy’s sales are made directly through the company’s physical retail locations’ sales and customer support teams.
In the United States, Canada, and Mexico, Best Buy has around 1,200 large-format and 400 small-format retail locations.
The company also offers direct assistance through its in-house technical Geek Squad team, which is based in stores and in specialty service centers.
Customer Relationships
Customers can self-serve many of Best Buy’s items through its online sales channels in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, as well as through its mobile apps.
Customers can use these channels to browse products, make purchases, schedule delivery and pickups, and handle transactions without having to deal directly with Company sales and customer support representatives.
Best Buy’s sales and customer care professionals provide individualized advice to customers through its chain of physical retail stores, advising them on which goods are best suited to their needs. Geek Squad employees enhance this by providing direct technical support to clients throughout the company’s product line. Best Buy also offers assistance through its refund and exchange policy, protection plans, and trade-in program, as well as customer service representatives on the phone and online.
Customers can also communicate with one another, discuss concerns, and find solutions through Best Buy’s community forum.
The Company also has social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Google+, where it may communicate with customers directly.
Important Tasks
Best Buy is a technology retailer that sells a variety of products, services, and solutions.
Through its network of retail locations, Geek Squad agents and service centers, and online and mobile sales channels, the Company caters to a wide range of general consumers.
Domestic and international business activities are divided into two operating segments by the company.
The Domestic segment includes the Company’s operations in all states, districts, and territories of the United States, as well as its online and mobile channels bestbuy.com and Best Buy Mobile; and the International segment includes the Company’s operations in Canada and Mexico, including www.bestbuy.com.ca and www.bestbuy.com.mx.
Consumer electronics, computing and mobile phones, entertainment, appliances, services, and other are among the categories offered by Best Buy’s Domestic and International sectors.
It operates a network of over 1,600 locations throughout North America.
Important Partners
Across its two operating sectors, Best Buy engages with a variety of partners.
- Supplier and Vendor Partners, which include suppliers of goods, services, and tools that support the Company’s operations and provide outsourcing services;
- Affiliate and Marketing Partners, which include a variety of websites and businesses who earn commissions for driving traffic and sales to Best Buy’s online and mobile platforms;
- Developer Partners, who use the Company’s API to integrate third-party services into Best Buy functionality;
- Non-Profit and Community Partners, who include a variety of philanthropic organizations and programs with whom the Company partners on projects; and
- Strategic and Alliance Partners, which are a group of companies with whom the Company collaborates on joint venture initiatives and shares resources.
Best Buy has lately announced a number of agreements, including one with Macy’s to build small-scale Best Buy sections within its own shops, and another with Eero to sell Eero-branded Wi-Fi gear in its stores under a non-exclusive retail agreement.
Important Resources
The stock of items, the network of physical retail and delivery infrastructure, the internet and mobile platforms, the intellectual properties, the partnerships, and the personnel – particularly the professional technical Geek Squad team – are all important resources for Best Buy.
Best Buy has a number of trademark and service mark registrations in the United States and abroad, as well as a number of patents.
In its marketing, stores, products, and websites, the Company considers its intellectual properties to be of great value.
Best Buy has a number of properties in the United States, Canada, and Mexico that it owns or leases. The Company’s 1,600 stores, as well as its distribution centers, service centers, and warehouses, fall under this category.
Structure of Costs
The purchase of stock and supplies, the operation and maintenance of its retail stores and distribution infrastructure, the maintenance and development of its online and mobile channels, the maintenance of its IT infrastructure, the management of its partnerships, and the retention of its personnel are all costs that Best Buy incurs.
The biggest significant expense for Best Buy is cost of goods sold, which totaled $30.33 billion in the fiscal year ending January 30, 2016.
In addition, the company incurred $7.62 billion in selling, general, and administrative expenses.
The costs of the Company include paying salaries and benefits to its 125,000 full-time employees.
Revenue Streams
Best Buy makes money through selling a variety of technology and electronic products in its physical locations and online platforms, as well as providing technical support services.
Sales of the following product categories generate money for the company:
- Consumer Electronics, which includes home theater, home automation, digital imaging, health and fitness, and portable audio products;
- Computing and Mobile Phones, which includes computing and peripherals, networking, tablets, mobile phones, wearables, and e-readers;
- Entertainment, which includes gaming hardware and software, movies, music, and other software;
- Appliances, such as refrigerators, dishwashers, and ovens, as well as small appliances like coffee makers and blenders;
- Services, such as consultation, design, delivery, installation, set-up, protection plans, repair, technical support, and educational classes; and
- Other, such as snacks, beverages, and other miscellaneous items
Best Buy’s annual revenue for the year ended January 30, 2016 was $39.53 billion, down marginally from the previous year’s figure of $40.34 billion.
The laptop and mobile phone items accounted for the majority of the company’s sales, accounting for 46% of total revenue for the year.
Then there were sales of consumer gadgets, which accounted for 32% of the total.
Warranty
Two Florida consumers filed a complaint against the corporation in 2000, saying that it participated in deceptive business practices when selling extended warranties (or, more accurately, service plans).
The lawsuit claimed that store employees misrepresented the manufacturer’s warranty in order to sell Best Buy’s own Product Service/Replacement Plan, and that the company had “entered into a corporate-wide scheme to institute high-pressure sales techniques involving the extended warranties,” as well as using “artificial barriers to discourage consumers who purchased the ‘complete extended warranties’ from making legitimate claims.”
The corporation eventually settled for $200,000 while denying any wrongdoing.
Best Buy settled a class-action lawsuit launched against them in April 2010 by consumers who alleged Best Buy was making unwanted phone calls in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act for $4.55 million in 2014.
Pricing
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal launched an investigation into the company’s usage of an in-store website that allegedly mislead customers on item sales pricing in the second quarter of 2007.
The Los Angeles Times reported on the same issue in December 2007, claiming that some customers assumed they were browsing the Internet version of bestbuy.com at an in-store kiosk, only to discover that the site only represented in-store costs.
ue Busch, a corporate spokesman, responded that the in-store kiosks were not intended for price matching, but rather for navigating in-store availability.
Since the original study, a banner has been shown on the in-store website to alert customers to the difference.
Televisions with analogue signals
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) penalized the corporation $280,000 on April 26, 2008 for failing to inform customers that the analog televisions it supplied will no longer receive over-the-air broadcasts after the June 12, 2009 digital switch.
The corporation appealed the FCC’s decision in May 2008, claiming that it was and is in compliance with existing FCC digital transition requirements.
Environment Issues
In a 2007 investigation, Greenpeace labeled Best Buy as one of several corporations who purchased raw materials or made products obtained from forestry companies that, in Greenpeace’s opinion, contribute to unethical taiga deforestation in Canada.
Since then, the company has launched a program called Greener Together, which aims to improve the energy efficiency of its products while also reducing consumer waste through more recyclable packaging and proper disposal of certain electronic components like rechargeable batteries and empty ink cartridges.
In 2009, the company launched a recycling program to repair its reputation and address past environmental difficulties. The program has now gathered approximately half a billion pounds of consumer electronics and e-waste and is available for a small cost at all of their locations.
These products are subsequently given to qualified recyclers in the United States for proper disposal. The goal of the company is to collect one billion pounds of recyclables.
It was also named to the top-50 list of the largest green-power purchasers by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Green power — electricity generated from renewable resources such as wind, solar, geothermal, biogas, biomass, and low-impact hydropower – was purchased by the corporation in 2011 for about 119 million kilowatt-hours.
Collaboration with the FBI
The FBI employed many Best Buy employees from the Geek Squad division to discreetly work for them, flagging possible targets, in an effort to prevent child pornography. A customer brought in his computer for troubleshooting, and a Best Buy technician detected it as containing photos of child pornography, which was submitted to the FBI.
The customer was charged with possessing child pornography, but the judge threw out nearly all of the evidence against him after an FBI agent made “false and deceptive comments” when attempting to obtain a search warrant for the customer’s home, and the government eventually abandoned the case.
Best Buy Memorial Day Sale 2022: TVs, Appliances, Laptops, Vacuums and More
The Best Buy Memorial Day sale is still going strong, with hundreds of offers on everything from appliances, TVs, and computers to Apple products, vacuum cleaners, smartwatches, and more.
We sifted through all of the offers to bring you the best Memorial Day deals from Best Buy.
So, what are the best deals available right now?
Best Buy is our top selection for Memorial Day bargains, with up to $800 off refrigerators, dishwashers, and washing machines from brands like Samsung, LG, Whirlpool, and more.
If you’re searching for a good price on gadgets, Finest Buy’s Memorial Day sale has some of the best TV offers we’ve seen all year, as well as great savings on laptops, headphones, smartwatches, and more.
We sifted through today’s offerings to bring you the best Memorial Day deals, which include anything from OLED TVs, air fryers, and robot vacuums to coffee makers, the Apple Watch, and more.
The Best Buy Memorial Day sale runs until midnight tonight, so take advantage of one of these deals before it’s too late.
FAQs
Which Best Buy locations are set to close?
Best Buy has confirmed to four local news agencies that it will close five shops across the United States in the coming month. Two stores in Richmond, Virginia, as well as one each in Syracuse, New York, Carbondale, Illinois, and Brockton, Massachusetts, will close.
Who is Best Buy’s most significant rival?
Costco, Alibaba Group Holding Limited, Amazon, Target, and Walmart are among Best Buy’s competitors.
What is Best Buy’s revenue model?
Best Buy makes money through selling a variety of technology and electronic products in its physical retail shops and online channels, as well as providing technical support.
Is Best Buy’s customer care available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?
Safe in-person help. If you need a Geek Squad Agent, you can chat with one online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week or call 1-800-433-5778.
What is the best way to contact a management at Best Buy?
We on the social media team are based at our corporate offices and should be able to manage any issues that arise as a result of a purchase or service.
We’d love to help you with this, but we recommend calling our customer service line at (888) BEST BUY or (888) 237-8289.
How much does the Geek Squad at Best Buy charge?
Individual Geek Squad services range in price from $19.99 to $1450, with monthly service plans starting at $24.99 per user. Each user has the ability to have several devices. For very small enterprises, there’s also a more affordable annual package that costs $199.99 per year for six devices.
