Best Buy

When in the market to purchase a computer, big screen television set or other electronic device, a big yellow price tag just might come to mind. Since 1966, Best Buy has made a name for itself by offering quality products and superb customer service for a reasonable price. This winning combination has helped the company become one of the largest retailers for electronics, entertainment software, appliances and cameras in United States, Mexico and Canada. In fact, Best Buy’s 1500 stores and website generate close to $40 billion each year (About, n.d. para. 1). An organization cannot perform its operation successfully without a clear competitive strategy. At Best Buy, the importance of strategy is crucial. To stay competitive and profitable

Examples of these private brands include Insignia, Dynex, Rocketfish and, as previous mentioned, Geek Squad. These private brands are vital parts to the company’s defense against its competition. Insignia and Dynex are the private label brands primarily for televisions. Rocketfish produced high end cables which are mainly used in computer accessories and home theatre installation. Geek Squad offers computer installation, repair services and high end computer cables and flash drives. These exclusive brands help Best Buy to compete more effectively with their competitors and the products that they offer (Writer, 2009).
Best Buy faces very stiff competition from the online shopping guru Amazon as well as from the major discount retailer Wal-Mart. These top competitors are endlessly working on expanding their online and digital capabilities to fit the growing needs of buyers. Most of Best Buy's competitors are typically categorized as low-cost providers. According to the textbook, a low-cost provider is a company that is, "striving to achieve lower overall costs than rivals and appealing to a broad spectrum of customers, usually by underpricing rivals" (Gamble, 2015, p.

Wal-Mart employees can probably direct customers to the right area of the store for desired items, but most employees know very little specifics about products. However, to stay competitive, the company is starting to be more innovative with technology. They are putting more emphasis on their online presence and will soon roll out a GPS project that can guide customers through the store to the products they wish to purchase. In addition, customers may soon see a tool that will allow them to scan and pay for items with their cell phones without standing in the checkout line (Wal-Mart, 2015). Therefore, even though some competitors focus on customer experience and satisfaction, given its tremendous success, Wal-Mart is likely to continue its low-cost provider