Best Buy Enhances Shopping Experience To WOW Customers This Holiday

November 29, 2007

Consumers are gearing up for the busy holiday season and Best Buy is making significant changes online and to its 900 stores to ensure its customers have a great shopping experience this year. According to the 2007 Best Buy holiday survey, nearly three in five (58%) Americans will purchase consumer electronics this holiday season for their children, significant others or parents, among other people. With consumers more budget conscious than ever, Best Buy is launching a series of programs that will take the pressure off holiday shopping and make the process easier for customers, including an extended return policy, the addition of Customer Assistants, an improved Web site, an increased selection of gift cards, shortened transaction times and targeted Hispanic initiatives. "We start holiday planning 11 months in advance so we can provide the very best experience possible," said Brian Dunn, president and chief operating officer at Best Buy. "Our holiday approach is focused on bringing our customers complete gift solutions by offering a wide range of products, knowledgeable sales associates, and premium service to customers whether it's in store, online or through our phone channel." Best Buy's Enhanced Shopping Experience: New Online and In-Store Resources When shopping for consumer electronics, the Best Buy survey found the factors consumers consider very or somewhat important include the return policy (92 percent) and the ability to speak to someone live when calling the store rather than hearing an automated message (91 percent). Other important elements include: customer assistance to help throughout the store (89 percent) and a helpful, easy-to-use Web site (70 percent). Recognizing these needs, Best Buy has rolled out a number of new initiatives in-stores and online just in time for holiday shopping: -- New Customer Assistants: To improve the shopping experience, Best Buy has reassigned approximately 30 percent of its sales floor labor to a new cross-trained Customer Assistant position. Based on test scenarios, Best Buy found this new position would allow for deeper personal interaction with customers during peak times, a critical component to creating the best holiday experience. The new Customer Assistants are trained to help customers across all categories in the store from home theater to music to gaming, while being supported by more specialized BlueShirts who have deep knowledge in specific customer electronics categories. -- Extended Return Policy: This season Best Buy overhauled its return policy, extending the deadline on all products to January 31. By extending the return period and setting one standard date for all returns, Best Buy is working to alleviate some of the stress, confusion and ultimately the frustration associated with post-holiday returns. For example, a product purchased as a gift as early as Nov 4 can now be returned at any point up until Jan 31. The new policy even includes computers and digital cameras as well as other products such as GPS devices which were previously limited to 14 days. -- Spanish Website: BestBuy.com/espanol, launched in November, is a Spanish-language version of the English BestBuy.com site and offers bilingual content on more than 12,000 products, including service plans and gift cards. The new site allows Hispanic customers to browse, research, compare products, check out, and receive an order confirmation in their preferred language. The site also provides customers an opportunity to click-to-call and be connected with a Spanish-speaking customer service representative who can assist them with site navigation and purchase decisions. Best Buy is continuing to add multilingual sales associates at stores across the country as well as increasing bilingual in-store signage in areas such as home theater and entertainment, adjusting merchandise offerings to address local community preferences and launching a national advertising campaign created specifically for Hispanic customers. -- Enhanced Phone Support: Not only will consumers see in-store changes, but the phone experience has changed for the better with the addition of new sales operators. Consumers can now be connected to live store operators, who can consult on purchases, call up inventory, place items on hold and perform sales transactions. Sales operators undergo a month of intensive training to better serve the consumer. -- Making Gift Research Easier: Best Buy knows that more than half of shoppers do research online before coming to the store for a purchase. As a result, Best Buy is making the research process easier by enhancing its Web site, including the addition of customer reviews and an expanded home theater guided selection tool, available at: http://www.bestbuy.com/hddoneright. -- Shortened Transaction Times - Small changes can make a big difference for consumers. By reconfiguring the software in its cash registers and increasing training of sales staff, Best Buy has decreased the average check-out time by 20 percent. -- Give the Complete Gift: Part of giving a truly WOW gift is helping family and friends enjoy the full benefits of their gifts as soon as they unwrap their packages. To help customers give complete gift solutions, Best Buy created an in-store shopping tool that helps identify the products that may accompany the main gift item, such as a memory card or for a case for a digital camera. -- Personalized Plastic: With more than fifty percent of consumers placing gift cards at the top of their wish lists, Best Buy now offers a multitude of holiday gift cards representing diverse needs, including religious denomination preferences, customization components in which you can add your own image or picture and gift cards in Spanish to support the growing Hispanic population. -- Extended Hours: The holidays are a busy time and shopping during normal store hours isn't always possible. As a result, most Best Buy stores extend their hours to accommodate early morning and late night shoppers. For specific hours in your city, please visit http://www.bestbuy.com/storelocator.

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