Brian Dunn, the new CEO of Best Buy, announced yesterday, in an interview published in the Wall Street Journal, that the US' largest electronics retailer is seeking a 15% share of mobile activations, up from its current 3%, and will be opening 40 Best Buy Mobile stores in the US. Dunn said this is part of Best Buy's strategic focus on connected devices.
This is a smart goal for a number of reasons. Wireless distribution is highly fragmented, service is uneven (even at the company-owned stories), and many independent distributors are exclusive to a single carrier. As devices proliferate, the carrier connection will be less important, and guidance & support, a Best Buy hallmark, will become more crucial.
Additionally, building a standalone mobile brand opens the door for Best Buy to take its private label strategy to the mobile marketplace, creating unique bundles of devices, services and applications that they can brand and sell-something difficult for Wal-mart, the electronics retail "elephant in the room" to compete with.
It's a winning strategy for Best Buy, and a boon to customers.
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Photo by asmythie via Flickr creative commons
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