Best Buy is fighting fire with fire.
The No. 1 CE chain, which has been ceding share to online retailers, has updated its mobile app with a feature that encourages customers to visit its physical stores.
The new “check-ins” component is available to members of the company’s Reward Zone loyalty program, who can receive up to 10 bonus points by launching the program within a geo-fenced area at a compatible Best Buy location.
Points are awarded for up to two visits a week, and Reward Zone members can apply their accumulated points toward product purchases.
Checking in on their wireless devices will also ostensibly expose users to Best Buy’s latest mobile promotions and possibly preclude them from showrooming the stores.
All told, the strategy sounds like a win-win for customers and Best Buy’s big-box real estate. It also demonstrates Big Blue’s renewed multichannel focus under CEO Hubert Joly, and shows that physical retailers can play in the digital space too.
