Best Buy closures force retail reconsiderations

Retailers forced to re-evaluate shopping experience after Best Buy announces nation-wide store closures.

Last March Best Buy announced it would close 50 big box stores in the US.  In the past few days the company has closed 15 Best Buy/Future Shop stores and laid off 900 staff positions in Canada. In both cases Amazon was sited as a major competitor, a fast changing market (computer and television sales to tablet and smartphone sales) and 'Showcasing' (visiting retailers to examine product then purchasing online) were sited as activities killing Best Buy revenues.

InfoStream asked PetLynx Market Services and Intelligence Analysts to comment on this activity for the retail sector of the companion animal industry. They have provided several observations that may be useful:

• Consumers are quickly moving in large numbers toward online providers when they trust the offering and enjoy better pricing.
• Competing head-to-head with an online provider doesn't work (they have lower cost structures) so bricks and mortar retailers need to check the products available to consumers in the market and move away from those not competitive.
• Move toward providing/incorporating services which can't be duplicated online. PetSmart showed this to be a successful strategy. It may involve collaborating with Ad hoc service providers in the community to recast the retail location as the center for pet families and companion animals.
• Be present online to understand what consumers are being offered and the effect online offerings may have on the bricks and mortar retail presence in the community. 
• Start lifetime conversations with consumers:
• Discover what they buy online
• Discover what they enjoy most about visiting a bricks and mortar retailer
• Focus on providing an experience pet families desire
• Develop staff that are consumer advocates with authority to remove barriers in the relationships
• Get involved with other thought leaders who face similar issues in your region.

Ten years from now we will all look back on these days and we will see clearly what Best Buy and others did not see soon enough. Bob Johansen, author of 'Leaders Make the Future' would argue that with the correct lens, leaders can see these changes coming and can make a future of their own choosing.