Last week TWICE reported on a Best Buy pilot program designed to drum up business by providing free in-home tech consultations.
The retailer is providing details about its new In-Home Advisors service on a microsite that carries the tagline “You’ll be surprised what your home can do.”
To begin with, the pilot is limited to three markets: Atlanta, and Austin and San Antonio, Texas. There, customers can schedule an appointment for a no-obligation visit by an advisor, who will explain the benefits of various tech products and services and follow up with a customized plan for their home.
Suggested services include setting up a home-theater system; improving Wi-Fi speeds; whole-home music streaming; or connecting and controlling various household smart products through a mobile device.
Of course, Best Buy’s In-Home Advisor will help customers purchase any agreed-upon products and services, but will also serve as general contractor of sorts to manage all Best Buy deliveries and installations and schedule related services like Wi-Fi or cable TV from other providers.
Management considers services critical to differentiating the chain from its tech competitors, and is betting that an increasingly complex web of IoT-connected products will generate greater demand for tech support, drive customer loyalty and revenues, and will lead to ancillary product sales.
Services may also be Best Buy’s strongest card now, as Amazon continues to gobble up market share in hardware and software. Indeed, an estimated 90 percent of all CE retail sales growth last year was garnered by the new No. 2 tech retailer, based on stats from TWICE’s latest Top 100 CE Retailers ranking.
