INTRODUCTION
Best Buy is a specialty retailer focusing on consumer electronics with over 1,100 stores in the United States representing a 19% market share. The organization’s mission was to make technology deliver on its promises to customers by helping them realize the benefits of technology that could enrich their lives in a variety of ways through connectivity. Being a publicly traded organization, their top objectives were sustained growth and earnings. In an effort to sustain growth, Best Buy executives would constantly review their business model to ensure they were satisfying consumer needs and wants. The organization wanted to have highly trained and knowledgeable employees. Best Buy encouraged their associates to go out of their …show more content…
These included affluent suburban families, trendsetting urban dwellers, and the close knit Middle American families. In an effort to align operations with strategy, Best Buy acquired firms that had similar strategies to use as a competitive advantage against Circuit City and Walmart, the largest two competitors. In an effort to enhance the consumer shopping experience, Best Buy provided extensive training to it’s employees which was intended to be a service to customers. Absent of commission, sales associates could provide unbiased information about products and services to consumers. Best Buy required it’s employees to be knowledgeable and ethical at all times but their intentions may have been …show more content…
A major competitor, Circuit City tried a similar strategy with the elimination of commission based sales. Removing commission turned out to be a disaster as the most tenure employees were either laid off or quit voluntarily due to the drastic change in compensation. Associates that would regularly see pay checks totaling $1,500 weekly were now forced to either live off a third of that or look for other employment. But Best Buy was able to retain the reputation of having highly knowledgeable employees and therefore a competitive advantage over big box discount retailers. To maintain their competitive advantage Best Buy was forced to provide constant training to keep sales professionals up to date on changing technology, a very costly expense. What could Best Buy do in order to sustain growth and profitability while maintaining innovative products, knowledgeable employees, and world class customer
Best Buy is a specialty retailer focusing on consumer electronics with over 1,100 stores in the United States representing a 19% market share. The organization’s mission was to make technology deliver on its promises to customers by helping them realize the benefits of technology that could enrich their lives in a variety of ways through connectivity. Being a publicly traded organization, their top objectives were sustained growth and earnings. In an effort to sustain growth, Best Buy executives would constantly review their business model to ensure they were satisfying consumer needs and wants. The organization wanted to have highly trained and knowledgeable employees. Best Buy encouraged their associates to go out of their …show more content…
These included affluent suburban families, trendsetting urban dwellers, and the close knit Middle American families. In an effort to align operations with strategy, Best Buy acquired firms that had similar strategies to use as a competitive advantage against Circuit City and Walmart, the largest two competitors. In an effort to enhance the consumer shopping experience, Best Buy provided extensive training to it’s employees which was intended to be a service to customers. Absent of commission, sales associates could provide unbiased information about products and services to consumers. Best Buy required it’s employees to be knowledgeable and ethical at all times but their intentions may have been …show more content…
A major competitor, Circuit City tried a similar strategy with the elimination of commission based sales. Removing commission turned out to be a disaster as the most tenure employees were either laid off or quit voluntarily due to the drastic change in compensation. Associates that would regularly see pay checks totaling $1,500 weekly were now forced to either live off a third of that or look for other employment. But Best Buy was able to retain the reputation of having highly knowledgeable employees and therefore a competitive advantage over big box discount retailers. To maintain their competitive advantage Best Buy was forced to provide constant training to keep sales professionals up to date on changing technology, a very costly expense. What could Best Buy do in order to sustain growth and profitability while maintaining innovative products, knowledgeable employees, and world class customer