Best Buy's Centricity model doesn't seem to be working out, as they've axed two concept stores in the past three months:
http://www.twice.com/article/CA6364469.htmlThe 5,000-square-foot retail laboratory featured
personalized service, soft music, classroom workshops and a limited assortment
of CE in order to attract middle-aged moms who were turned off by Best Buy’s
noise and clutter. The demographic, dubbed “Jill,” became one of the
cornerstones of the company’s customer centricity program, and Best Buy is
incorporating lessons learned from its Studio D experiment into its namesake
stores.
I'm not sold on the idea of pandering to the female demographic by trying to make a stereo store look and sound like a yoga studio. My experience has taught me that to successfully create new client relationships with female buyers you need to do two things: a) don't talk to them like they're an idiot. b) don't make sexist assumptions about their level of knowledge or decision making. If you combine those two points with c) standard client-building salesmanship like listening to them and d) providing a solution that fits, then you're doing the right things.
Since I'm being negative this early in the morning, I also take issue with assigning names to your target demographic as if they were hurricanes. Profiling your market is critical, sure. However, creating a composite shopper and naming them "Jill" indicates that too much time was spent fleshing out who the shopper is, and not enough time focusing on what the shopper needs. At HBC, they used to talk all the time about "Jane" (or whoever), and the company revamped the store's merchandising and product mix on a regular basis to cater to "Jane." HBC management had an excellent idea of who "Jane" was, but their dismal performance metrics over the years make it clear that they just couldn't connect to "Jane." If they had, she would have spent more money, and HBC wouldn't be adrift in the marketplace.
Parting shot: If Best Buy is aware that affluent soccer moms hate going to Best Buy because of the noise and the clutter, I would suggest that those are two key lessons that they can incorporate into the merchandising plan of their core stores.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Best Buy loses touch with their feminine side
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
"Soccer moms" aren't the only ones turned off by the noise and clutter of the typical Best Buy store. This approach to marketing also "dumbs down" the approach to baby boomer males who are now pushing anywhere from their late 40's to their early 60's. Add this unnecessary noise and distraction to the fact that most Besy Buy sales associates are stuck for an answer when you ask them their name, let alone to provide the relevant specs for that new-fangled gizmo you're shopping for, and you have reason enough to shop elsewhere. The only problem is there is little better to be found elsewhere. I recently was sent screaming from one of the local competitors to Best Buy, who shall remain nameless but whose initials are "Future Shop", because they couldn't decide what to do about a laptop repair after being given 5 and a half weeks to mull it over. As it turns out they are owned by the parent company who also owns Best Buy. Are the "hounds" driving their prey (we sorry and harried consumers) to the "hunters"? I just turn up the volume and scream. Primal scream therapy; perhaps the only thing to come out of the 70's that wasn't a complete waste of time.
Post a Comment