Shanghai, China – Best Buy has opened its first global product sourcing office here.
The retail chain said the new function will reduce costs, cut distribution time and provide a ‘direct line’ to vendors to relay customer feedback on new and existing products.
Best Buy executive VP/GMM Ron Boire said the global sourcing strategy will ‘augment’ current supplier relationships and would ‘contribute to the introduction of great innovative products, breakthrough brands and competitive pricing.’
Senior executives told analysts earlier this year that they would pursue global sourcing as a key avenue in countering commodity CE inroads by retail leviathan Wal-Mart, which has raised the strategy to a science.
Day-to-day operations of the 25-person buying office are being honchoed by Weimin Lu, VP/Best Buy Asia.