Best Buy Showrooms Through the Holidays

Best Buy sought to attract tech-savvy Christmas shoppers by turning stores into “Your Ultimate Holiday Showroom.”Continuing to embrace the concept of showrooming (see "Best Buy Keeps Banking ..." in Related Articles), the consumer electronics retailer outfitted stores with ceiling banners, signs and A-boards carrying the slogan and kicked off a series of themed holiday TV spots during the Oct. 28 broadcast of Major League Baseball's World Series on the Fox network.The humorous spots touted the advantages of the retailer’s physical stores while highlighting its multichannel capabilities. The ads starred actors Will Arnett, LL Cool J, Maya Rudolph and Jason Schwartzman, who appeared in separate vignettes to relate potential holiday disasters that were averted by shopping at Best Buy. The spots highlighted products from brands including LG, Hewlett-Packard’s HP, Asus and Canon. The campaign was created by CP+B, Best Buy’s advertising agency of record. (See video, below.)The multichannel focus also played out in stores via ceiling banners directing shoppers to bestbuy.com to find “More Gifts.” Meanwhile, computer kiosks facilitating online ordering touted the website as “Our Biggest Store.” The retailer boasted of a “significantly improved” online shopping experience after investing to make the website easier to navigate, according to Reuters. The company also leveraged its brick-and-mortar presence, shipping online orders directly from 400-plus stores during the season (and offering free shipping with purchases of at least $25).In response to an ultra-competitive retail environment, Best Buy’s strategy also involved matching prices even though the company expected the move to hurt margins. The retailer’s “Holiday Low Price Guarantee” ran Nov. 21 through Christmas Eve, offering price matches and refunds throughout the period (except Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday). The discounts did reduce operating profit, as domestic sales fell 1.5% to $9.8 billion and comparable-store sales slipped 0.9% in the nine weeks ending Jan. 4 (comparable online sales in the U.S., however, jumped 23.5%). “To advance our Renew Blue transformation, it was imperative that we live up to our customer promises — and one of these promises is to offer our customers competitive prices,” the company said in a media release.Best Buy opened most of its stores at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, earlier than in 2012. (See "Best Buy Does ...") It expanded its doorbuster deals, offering new savings in multiple waves — the first one week early on Nov. 22, followed by 6 p.m. and midnight on Thanksgiving Day, then 10 a.m. on Black Friday. It also hosted exclusive events for My Best Buy cardholders. (See "Best Buy Gets Personal ...") Later, the retailer targeted last-minute shoppers by keeping stores open from 7 a.m. to midnight from Dec. 20-23. For its end-of-season sales, stores were open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Dec. 26-30, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Dec. 31 and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Jan. 1.Among other seasonal deals, the retailer promised:a store gift card of at least $200 to shoppers who traded in a working, third-generation Apple iPad through Nov. 9; the offer dropped to $100 through Nov. 23.a store card of at least $100 to customers who traded in a working Apple iPhone 4 or 5 and bought a 5s or 5c with a two-year contract through Nov. 23.a $50 card to shoppers trading in any working smartphone and buying an iPhone 5s or 5c with two-year activation from Dec. 8-14.Another seasonal incentive targeted one of the chain’s favorite demographics: students. In conjunction with Sprint, the retailer offered 12 months of free unlimited talk and text and one gigabyte of data per month with purchase of a new smartphone and service plan. Participants weren’t required to sign a contract. The offer was valid through Jan. 4.For video gamers, the retailer introduced an “Unlocked Epic Gaming Package” on Nov. 15 to coincide with the launch of Sony’s PlayStation console — and one week before Microsoft Corp. released the Xbox One. The package comprises either of the new consoles, an extra controller, two new video games of the shopper’s choice, and two years of Geek Squad Protection, PlayStation Network/Xbox Live subscription and My Best Buy Gamers Club Unlocked membership. In-store signs supported. In time for the holidays, the retailer also upgraded the gamer loyalty program to deliver 20% off new games for two full years (while discontinuing free @Gamer subscriptions for new members. See "Best Buy Offers ...")Meanwhile, an in-store “Ultimate Gamers Showdown” that began Dec. 2 awarded a grand-prize $1,500 store gift card. Participants competed in EA Sports' Madden NFL 25 tournaments at select locations, culminating in a final competition at AT&T Stadium in Dallas on Dec. 16. Winners of local tournaments received $1,000 store cards and trips to the final round. Spectators also had a chance to win prizes.Elsewhere, a chain-wide sweepstakes spotlighting store gift cards awarded a $10,000 card to the grand-prize winner and cards of $500 (five) $100 (10) and $50 (40) to runners-up. Shoppers who purchased a card worth $25 entered the “Give It To Win It” sweeps on bestbuy.com or though the retailer’s mobile application from Dec. 11-24.Best Buy also leveraged mobile by letting consumers opt in to an SMS notification program that delivered daily messages from Oct. 20 through Dec. 31. Emails supported. The marketing plan additionally included run-of-press ads in newspaper such as The Washington Post, circular features, regional radio spots, Facebook updates and display ads on websites including cnet.com.In stores, third-party gift cards and other giftables including tablet accessories and home videos earned secondary merchandising space on holiday floorstands. Best Buy also spotlighted manufacturers such as Toshiba on outdoor A-boards proclaiming “Low Prices on Gifts That Click.” Manufacturers including Garmin, Skullcandy, Conair, Walt Disney Co. and Sony supplied custom displays. Boost Mobile and SanDisk were among brands gaining space for national seasonal displays.In cause activity, Best Buy joined St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s annual “Thanks and Giving” campaign for the first time, encouraging shoppers to donate at checkout from Nov. 24 through Dec. 28.

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