Best Buy Marketing Strategies in a Difficult Retail Environment Essay Example
Best Buy Marketing Strategies in a
Difficult Retail Environment
Jayne Diaz
BUS 620: Managerial Marketing
Professor David Kalicharan
January30, 2012
Best Buy Marketing Strategies in a Difficult Retail Environment
Best Buy was once the “go-to” store for electronics. This organization expanded from the U.S. market to a multi national retailer in 2001. Best Buy has squashed its competition for over four decades. Circuit City eventually declared bankruptcy, while Fry’s Electronics and Hhgregg are minor players in the electronic retail market. With the advent of e-commerce, as opposed to brick and mortar competition, Best Buy has been struggling to compete in a new marketplace. This paper will discuss the three different generic strategies that businesses should implement to gain the competitive edge. It will also go over the population segmentation that Best Buy uses to market its products and services, and how segmentation is changing due to internet sales. Lastly, some improvements to Best Buy’s strategies will be introduced for them to remain a competitor in the online retail market.
Differentiation as a Competitive Strategy
A former Best Buy sales manager wrote on a blog:
I will buy it in your store . . . use it while I order another one for 75% less on Amazon and then return the new in the box one at your store. It's shoppers like me that are multiplying because of research that is available on the Internet and that is why there is concern about the company (Bustillo & Jarzemsky, 2012, para. 8).
For any retailer to succeed in a competitive market, strategies need to be implemented to gain advantages over others. Organizations, such as Best Buy, need to objectively identify their strong points and determine how they can be used to react to the larger market. Michael Porter came up with three generic strategies to give businesses that competitive edge or advantage in their various product-markets. These are: (1) overall cost
Difficult Retail Environment
Jayne Diaz
BUS 620: Managerial Marketing
Professor David Kalicharan
January30, 2012
Best Buy Marketing Strategies in a Difficult Retail Environment
Best Buy was once the “go-to” store for electronics. This organization expanded from the U.S. market to a multi national retailer in 2001. Best Buy has squashed its competition for over four decades. Circuit City eventually declared bankruptcy, while Fry’s Electronics and Hhgregg are minor players in the electronic retail market. With the advent of e-commerce, as opposed to brick and mortar competition, Best Buy has been struggling to compete in a new marketplace. This paper will discuss the three different generic strategies that businesses should implement to gain the competitive edge. It will also go over the population segmentation that Best Buy uses to market its products and services, and how segmentation is changing due to internet sales. Lastly, some improvements to Best Buy’s strategies will be introduced for them to remain a competitor in the online retail market.
Differentiation as a Competitive Strategy
A former Best Buy sales manager wrote on a blog:
I will buy it in your store . . . use it while I order another one for 75% less on Amazon and then return the new in the box one at your store. It's shoppers like me that are multiplying because of research that is available on the Internet and that is why there is concern about the company (Bustillo & Jarzemsky, 2012, para. 8).
For any retailer to succeed in a competitive market, strategies need to be implemented to gain advantages over others. Organizations, such as Best Buy, need to objectively identify their strong points and determine how they can be used to react to the larger market. Michael Porter came up with three generic strategies to give businesses that competitive edge or advantage in their various product-markets. These are: (1) overall cost