Abstract

The case examines the growth of Best Buy from a small car stereo retailer to a market leader in consumer electronics retailing business in the US. Best Buy was appreciated for its customer-centric supply chain management practices. It extensively used information technology (IT) for managing its supply chain in its effort to optimize all supply chain processes. The company’s technology driven initiatives help it take informed decisions on several aspects of business which resulted in higher customer satisfaction and loyalty. The case details how Best Buy managed its supply chain, the technologies it implemented in optimizing its supply chain, and how it modified its supply chain to fit the customer-centric approach it took to conduct the business.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Study the concept of customer centricity in supply chain management
• Understand the use of information technology (IT) in supply chain management
• Examine the concept of angel and demon customers in consumer electronics retailing
• and Analyze the changes made by Best Buy in its supply chain in accordance with its customer-centric strategy.

Keywords

Best Buy, Supply Chain Management, Operating model, Customer-centricity, Circuit City, Consumer electronics retailing, Customer focus, End-to-end visibility, Restructuring, Logistics, Price Optimization, i2 Technologies, Angel and Demon customers, Customer segmentation, RFID tags, Operating Procedure, Inventory Management, In-bound Freight Operations, Event Management Solution, Collaborative planning, forecasting, and replenishment, Electronic Data Interchange, Customer Satisfaction