After completing its five-year turnaround, Best Buy CEO, Hubert Joly, says it is more than ready to compete with Amazon.
“We have turned around the business; it’s about where we go from here,” Joly told Reuters. “We have not only survived, but thrived, and I don’t believe this is a winner-takes-all market.”
While Best Buy has had to shutter stores over the past few years due to increased competition from eCommerce sites like Amazon, the electronics retailer has spent the past five years investing in price-matching, boosting its online search functionality and improving customer service.
This past holiday season, the company offered free online ordering and expanded the range of its same-day delivery service. Best Buy wound up posting its best holiday sales in a decade.
Amazon and Best Buy have about 25 percent of the U.S. consumer electronics market share combined, with Best Buy holding around 15 percent. The company's appliance and home theater business has also gotten a boost from the bankruptcy of RadioShack and H.H. Gregg, as well as falling sales at Sears, Joly said.
The company is also launching new services within its In-Home Advisor and Total Tech Support programs, which offers tech support to customers. Additionally, there are plans to open new warehouses near urban markets to improve the speed of online delivery.
In addition to attracting customers, the retailer has worked to keep their employees happy through better pay, training and other initiatives, which have resulted in a decline in turnover.
Currently, the Richfield, Minnesota-based retailer’s share price is up 271 percent over the past five years, closing at $73.82 on Friday.
