In other BestBuy.com news, the company announced that it has struck a strategic alliance with Simplexity.com, a new Internet-based business that has developed an online architecture that matches telecommunications services with consumers and small businesses.
“Simplexity’s technology and content will be incorporated into BestBuy.com to make it easy for our customers to choose the best services and plans for their needs,” said John Walden, president of Best Buy’s online subsidiary. The deal also calls for BestBuy.com to make a $4 million equity investment in Simplexity, which will give it a seat on the start-up’s board of directors.
Simplexity, based in Reston, Va., plans to launch its small and home-based business service this quarter.
Said Simplexity CEO Thomas Kilcoyne, “The line between communications and computing is becoming increasingly blurred, and businesses and consumers both describe the marketplace as confusing. Best Buy’s mission fits extremely well with our mission of bringing clarity to the telecommunications marketplace.”
BestBuy.com recently made a comparable $10 million equity investment in etown.com, the online information and shopping referral service for CE products. The two investments reflect the subsidiary’s strategy of partnering to selectively obtain best of class, customer-friendly services to complement its internal efforts, the company said.
