Business Analyze of Best Buy

Executive summary

As more and more businesses increasingly focus on financial goals, the customers are being less important to them. However, it is not true. Best Buy, as one of the most successful retailers in the world, has issues as well as strengths. This report mainly focuses on the interpersonal relationships between Best Buy and its customers, including customer relationship management and marketing strategies. In order to get the most appropriate feedback from customers, we did a questionnaire survey on the target market of Best Buy which includes all the age stages. Besides, we did the online survey about the background and general management information of Best Buy followed with our analysis by using professional knowledge related to marketing and human resource management. This research paper begins with a general introduction to Best Buy and analyzes the relationship between customers and its businesses mainly from the market perspective supported by data analysis, facts statement and contrasting. At last we make a conclusion through SWOT analysis, finding out the merits as well as the defects of Best Buy. In order to have a correct view on the relationship between customers and businesses, based on our research, we make some recommendations for Best Buy given in the last part of the paper.

Introduction

Best Buy Inc. was built in 1996 by Richard M. Schulze and his partner. To attribute more customers, the company changed to a superstore format to sell more kinds of electronic products and opened large showrooms to stock goods where customers can directly take it. Besides, it entered online market combined with shipping service to provide more convenience. Nowadays, with nearly 1,631 stores operated worldwide in 2016, best buy is one of the largest and the most successful retailers in the world （statista, 2017）.

Best buy’s mission is “we’re a growth company focused on better solving the unmet needs of our customers—and we rely on our employees to solve those puzzles.”（Best Buy, 2017) In 2013, best buy got 22% market share (Deutsche Bank report, 2013) in U.S contributed by it’s good marketing strategies and high development in E-commerce to get consumers’ loyalty and good reputation. But Best Buy’s bad customer service and lacking in professional knowledge about product still are its problems. This paper explored the relationship between Best buy and it’s customers for providing a more comprehensive view about it.

Methodology

Primary Resource

Questionnaire

We found that Best Buy has bad customer services issue when we do the online research. Many customers complained that the service waiting time is too long and the employees cannot offer knowledgeable information about the products. Therefore, our group members decided to create a relevant questionnaire in order to evaluate Best Buy’s customer services (see Appendix One). We have went to one of Best Buy’s physical stores in Winnipeg and then waited outside the store. We handed sixty questionnaires to Best Buy’s customers after their shopping. The people we selected include people with different ages and different nationality. We think that handing the questionnaire to the customers directly is more effective than giving the questionnaire to any other people randomly. However, the result would be biased because we had only went to a Best Buy’s physical store to finish the survey.

Personal Experience

Our group members have went to the store to have an experience about Best Buy’s services. We pretended to buy a printer, and we have waited 30 minutes to connect with an employee because of limited employees. We asked the differences between two printers, the employee has read the descriptions of the printers, rather than giving us his own professional suggestion. In this situation, we use our experiences in order to evaluate Best Buy’s customer services.

Secondary Resource

Based on the websites in the reference, we find a lot of reports discussing about Best Buy. During this online research, we find that Best Buy uses appealing marketing strategies to attract customers. Especially on the Best Buy’s official website where it sells products through e-commerce, there is a bunch of information about the promotion and other marketing approaches for it to build relationships with customers. Hence, it also provides a direction for us to create our questionnaire targeted on how customers feel about Best Buy’s service.

Besides, the data analysis shown in some reports indicates us to focus on how a little bit change will influence the performance of Best Buy and the evaluation of its consumers. What is more, when comparing some related data among several variables we can easily tell which factor is the main cause of the outcome and why this factor has such impact. Therefore, it is crucial and helpful for us to research, to analyze, as well as to put forward the recommendations and suggestions.

Findings

Corporation Mission & Core Value

A mission statement is a strategic focus of a company and it is the direction for employees to finish tasks (Khan & Chaudhry, 2010). Although Best Buy does well in retailing and online business, the corporation does not have a clear official mission statement to the public (Farfan, 2016). Obviously, the customer relationship management (CRM), which is a key factor for such a large retail company like Best Buy, is not reflected. Nevertheless, in the spite of the lack of the mission statement, four core values are established to direct and motivate the employees. The three of them embody the appropriate attitude and the relevant strategies, which are “Learn from challenge and change”, “Show respect, humility and integrity”, and “Unleash the power of our people”. It also shows that Best Buy attaches more importance on customer services and potential challenges in every aspect, especially in marketing.

Marketing Strategies (STP)

Segmentation

Best Buy is using geographical variables on segmentation. Domestic segment refers to the United States while international segment refers to Canada and Mexico. (Best Buy, 2016, p.4) Performance and durability expectations differentiate different segments. In Canada, Best Buy should segment consumer markets in generations. Teenagers, the middle-aged and the elderly would have different expectations on the products. Teenagers prefer latest high-performance electronic gadgets,