Bestbuy.com - A site review

Overview:

Bestbuy is an electronics, appliance and media purveyor based in Richfield, Minnesota. Their website sells most if not all items available in their bricks and mortar retail store fronts. Bestbuy is the tour de force of the consumer electronics and appliance industry.

Type of Store:

Bestbuy has had an iron clad grasp on the consumer electronics market for the past couple of years and shows little sign of letting lose. Their website reflects their control to an extent. Although many sites have comparable amounts of goods available, few have the span of information and functionality that is available to the end consumer and investor.

Strengths and Weaknesses:

The website has a simple layout that somewhat offsets the barrage of options and links available on the home page. Simple colors and graphics are the norm in Bestbuy land, as are generic looking ads and symbols. This may turn off some consumers seeking a more upbeat user experience. Even though there are many discounter websites offering substantial savings, people still flock to the big blue and yellow shop they know so well, and often end up paying much more for the same goods.

Potential for Success:

Due to Bestbuy’s enormous market saturation, their market dominance and success is nearly assured. Bestbuy’s vast buying power enables them to effectively compete with anyone in the industry at nearly any level they choose. This supremacy easily spills over into the Bestbuy.com website which in part is due to brand recognition and loyalty.

Possible Improvements:

Several notable things Bestbuy could do to improve its site ranges from small issues such as color schemes, to large overhauls having to do with the way they conduct business. First is to develop a better graphical user interface that is more appealing to their target audience. Second is to stop associating with and using doubleclick (a company who has been sued for privacy violations) which is a cookies and tracking software. Bestbuy could also create a less cluttered home page and add a chat room with a representative page.

Effective Merchandising:

The site is an effective sales tool for e-commerce because of its easy to use shopping cart, its intuitive reviews and descriptions of its merchandise and its overall ease of use once you have selected your item(s) to purchase.