Best Buy and Vivint Open Doors with Partnership

Best Buy gained a valuable ally in its quest to dominate the burgeoning smart home market.The electronics giant has partnered with smart home service provider Vivint to launch a joint initiative dubbed “Best Buy Smart Home powered by Vivint," marking one of the first collaborations between a security company and a retailer.The service brings shoppers an extensive assortment of smart home security products connected to Vivint’s control platform, which is accessible from both a home control panel and a mobile application. The platform also connects to voice assistants including Amazon Echo and Google Home.“When you piece together a smart home on your own, you usually end up with a bunch of different apps,” said Bryan Girardi, a Best Buy general manager in San Antonio, in a post on the retailer’s corporate blog. “With Vivint, it’s one system and one app. The ease of use is really nice.”The program began rolling out over the summer and will reach 450 locations by the end of October.At participating stores, an informative standee is positioned alongside a bright blue, interactive door that lets shoppers demo smart locks, light switches, cameras and thermostats from Vivint. Experts from both the retailer and Vivint are on hand to assess shopper needs and recommend the right products.Many of the Vivint SKUs in store and on bestbuy.com have never previously been available at retail stores. Vivint vice president of strategic business Colby Winegar told Security Info Watch that a retail presence could aid in closing the sale.“If you’re on the phone, it is hard to describe to a customer or show them how a smart home works,” Winegar said. “But in the retail stores at a Best Buy, you have equipment there and it is live and working, so you can show an example of using an Amazon Echo to lock your door, view clips or live video, turn lights on or off, and arm and disarm your system.”Shoppers also have the option to purchase professional installation and monthly service plans with or without a contract from the provider. Best Buy additionally offers special financing with qualifying purchases.A landing page on the retailer’s website spotlights the partnership, touting the service benefits and system capabilities while inviting shoppers to search for the demo store closest to them. It also lets visitors shop for individual products online.Through Sept. 30, Vivint is also dangling a free doorbell camera with purchase of a suite of select products from Best Buy. Flyers on store standees and an ad on the bestbuy.com landing page plug the offer.Connected Homes The Vivint displays are located within the retailer’s Connected Home departments. Rolled out to over 1,000 stores since 2014, the departments showcase a plethora of smart home products from manufacturers including Philips, Ring, Nest, Honeywell and Samsung. Stores without the dedicated departments alternatively spotlight the aforementioned brands via permanent endcaps and sophisticated in-line displays.According to the retailer, Best Buy sold 55 million smart home products in 2016 and currently boasts 1,500 dedicated smart home staff members across its fleet of stores. Following a successful business turnaround over the past five years, Best Buy has zeroed in on the smart home category as a way to provide comprehensive solutions to shopper needs — a key pillar in its Best Buy 2020 strategy.The category also is especially lucrative, with the global smart home market expected to reach $53.5 billion by 2022, according to Zion Market Research. Some analysts have suggested that Best Buy stands to capture 10% share if its tactics pay off.In-Home ConsultationsTo bolster its smart home effort, the retailer is growing its new in-home advisors program. Following a successful pilot last year, the service now brings expert staff into customers’ homes to assess their technology needs across all major U.S. cities. The service is free, and advisors coordinate delivery and installation if a purchase is made."Economically for us it's attractive because it helps make customers happy, build a relationship and grow the revenue line," Best Buy chief executive officer Hubert Joly told CNBC in an interview.In addition to recommending relevant smart home products, the advisors also assist in designing entertainment and audio systems, choosing major appliances and troubleshooting potential connectivity issues.In July, rival Amazon followed suit by launching its own Smart Home Services program.To learn more about the Best Buy's tactics and strategies, view our comprehensive retailer profile.

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