Customer Experience Transformation: BestBuy

Designing with changing customer behaviour in mind

One day, I went into BestBuy to check for the prices of TVs with zero, I mean absolutely no intention of buying a TV. My plan was to go into to store have a physical feel of the TV, check the dimensions, go home, open my laptop and purchase from Amazon. This is because I have more options on Amazon, and I could get the best deal on prices. To my very own plot twist, I walked out of BestBuy with a 55" Toshiba TV. In my mind I was feeling like that day was a dynamic day for me, and I went with the flow, you know, shit happens. What I did not know, or rather was ignorant to, is the fact that my journey from the entrance of the store to my purchase decision was totally designed. BestBuy had designed the experience in such a way to enable me come to a decision quickly while in the store.

With the rise of eCommerce, and our very dear Amazon, almighty Amazon, the fair share of the shopping market have moved from physical stores to the internet. This is not a bad thing, I mean, that is where the world is headed. The internet is here to stay, and we can only adapt our lives around it. If the internet can make our lives easier, sure, why not buy stuff online, and do a buttload of other things online. Amazon started selling products people could find in a store and often at lower prices with free shipping. With more people shopping on Amazon, many walk-in stores were forced to go bankrupt and close down. Sorry, but not sorry, if I can get it cheaper while sitting on my couch, there’s no benefit walking into a store to make a purchase.

BestBuy was not immune to this change in consumers’ habit, BestBuy’s sales suffered from 2008 to 2013. Customers started prioritizing finding the lowest price for electronics and appliances, which Amazon offered. This change did not happen overnight and BestBuy underrated the threat from Amazon and the internet generally.

The turn-around

At the time, it was speculated that BestBuy would go bankrupt within 5 years, hence it was about time the company needed an intervention. In 2012, Hubert Joly was hired as the new CEO by BestBuy’s board after the resignation of the former CEO. To solve its problems, BestBuy had to study its customers, and how their behaviours have changed. To start, the new CEO began cutting cost and investing in the part of BestBuy’s business that gave it advantages of online competitors, which is physical service, being able to feel what you are buying. Retail gives the customer unique benefits like seeing and touching things that would only be on a computer screen. There is an open shopping space which gives customers a unique way to see and compare competing items.

Also, BestBuy realized they were subject to showrooming, a case of when a customer will go into a store, examine a product and go online to buy it for a cheaper price. Having pinpointed this customer behaviour, the company began to think of better ways to enable the customer come to a decision while in the stores.

Another move by BestBuy was to match Amazon’s low prices, and offer the kind of customer service an online retailer couldn’t offer. That meant a customers checking a product can walk out with that product the same day. Employees had to be trained to be knowledgeable about the products for them to serve as live product review.

BestBuy then entered the ecommerce space and started shipping online orders directly from stores, making each store a warehouse (talk about killing 2 birds with 1 stone). The retail giant then put in place an easy way to return online orders to store, leaving the customers with an easier option to return orders that is not available to their eCommerce counterpart. Don’t you hate when you have to go to the post office to pay to return an item you purchased online.

In the midst of losing customers, BestBuy invested in a customer-experience transformation which improved the public’s confidence in the brand and organizational health. Good design affects how we feel and how we behave.

In conclusion, if you study the customer and their habits well enough, you would be able to anticipate their needs and design experiences personal to them.