Best Buy Plays Nice With Amazon

Continuing to turn showrooming on its head, Best Buy proves it can peacefully coexist with rival Amazon by rolling out shops for the latter’s own products in its stores.The consumer electronics retailer recently added Amazon Alexa as well as Google Home “experiences” to 700 stores. Located within the retailer’s “Connected Home” departments, the custom gondola systems spotlight the voice assistant devices available from the two tech giants.Specially trained “blue shirt” employees are on hand to demonstrate the various capabilities of the products, recommend compatible smart home products and coordinate Geek Squad installation services.“Echo devices and Alexa have become a habitual part of customers’ lives, and with the Alexa voice service, setting up and using smart home products with an Echo has never been easier,” said Miriam Daniel, director of product, Amazon Echo devices & experiences. “We’re excited to work with Best Buy on this because their stores are one of the best places for customers to see, hear, and understand how these delightful Alexa experiences come together.”Equipped with a video screen and touchpads, the Amazon display employs a design scheme quite similar to those seen in its own handful of physical store locations.Many stores without the dedicated shops instead showcase the Echo, Echo Dot and Echo Show devices on permanent endcaps. Elsewhere in stores, a floorstand stocking Amazon Fire sticks employs the same sleek design.An A-board near the smart home department also invites shoppers to bring their own Amazon devices to stores to learn how to “get the most out of your device.”On bestbuy.com, an Alexa landing page spotlights Echo devices as well as Alexa-compatible products from home automation brands including Nest, Insignia, Philips and Arlo.The products from Amazon, first available at Best Buy stores in early 2016, are an important addition to the retailer’s growing assortment of connected home solutions. In an interview with CNBC, Best Buy chief executive officer Hubert Joly admitted that selling in-demand products means “showcasing in our stores products from people who are sometimes our competitors.”But for Best Buy to give Amazon such an expansive showcase in its stores is particularly ironic, considering that several years ago it nearly buckled under the competition from the company, which was turning stores into showrooms for products that shoppers later purchased at a lower price online.Following a successful five-year turnaround plan that included instituting a price match guarantee, Best Buy is convinced that by luring shoppers into stores with Amazon’s presence, it can retain them with its own array of consultation and installation services.

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