Best Buy to Adjust Store Strategy to Adapt to E-Commerce Surge

The dramatic shift toward e-commerce has sparked experimentation at Best Buy stores and inspired a new strategy that will turn some of them into hubs for online fulfillment, CNBC reported. Corie Barry, Best Buy CEO, said the retailer will start testing a ship-from-store pilot program. Although all Best Buy stores ship online orders, this program will allow about a quarter of the company's nearly 1,000 stores to be specifically designated to handle a higher volume of packages to help speed up orders and improve efficiency.

Currently, about 60 percent of Best Buy’s online orders are either picked up in-store or at curbside or shipped from them, CNBC reported. The company chose the designated hubs based on space, proximity to shipping carriers and ability to support same-day and next-day deliveries. At this time, Best Buy has 16,000 third-party locations where customers can pick up online orders, and it plans to expand there as well.

Total Retail's Take: More consumers are understandably sticking to online shopping amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, rather than visiting brick-and-mortar stores. Best Buy is betting that this is a trend that will stick even after the pandemic subsides, and therefore will adjust its store strategy accordingly. The consumer electronics retailer is making the most of its physical footprint to provide the best service for its customers, whether they opt to shop online or in-store. It will be interesting to see if other retailers follow Best Buy's lead and begin to adapt their brick-and-mortar stores into hubs for fulfillment of online orders.