North American consumer electronics giant Best Buy will formally
launch its first store in China today, claiming success in sales
and customer satisfaction during its trial run last month.
Setting its sights on the country's lucrative electronics
market, estimated to be worth as much as US$100 billion, Best Buy
said yesterday it will open one to two new stores in China over the
next 12 to 18 months, with its subsidiary Five Star Appliance
opening 20 to 25 more outlets in the period.
The company expects that over time it will be the dominant
player in China, said Robert A. Willett, chief executive officer of
Best Buy International.
"The fact is that we are not tied to those figures. We can open
100 stores a year or more. The important thing for us is to make
sure of making a paradigm shift in customer experience," he
said.
But its Chinese rivals said last week that they would not
consider Best Buy a major threat because of its presence in
China.
Late last month, Best Buy, which has 1,100 retail stores across
North America, launched a month-long trial of its flagship store in
Shanghai's Xujiahui, a business area with customer traffic and
visibility twice that of Times Square in New York City.
The area is also a Mecca for domestic consumer electronics
retailers and home to over 130 chain stores such as Gome and
Suning.
"We are delighted to say that we are happy with our first Best
Buy store here in Shanghai," Willett said.
Declining to reveal sales volume for the first month, Willett
said the store's performance has "exceeded their expectations very
significantly" and estimated the outlet would be in the top 10 in
Best Buy's worldwide stores over the next 12 months.
According to a survey released by the firm, overall customer
satisfaction was pegged at 8.5 out of 10, with 89 percent agreeing
the store provides an easy shopping experience. More importantly,
74 percent of customers said that Best Buy's prices were
competitive.
Best Buy plans to eventually become the top player in the China
market.
"We had no market share in Canada four years ago," Willett said.
"Within four years we had 13 percent of the market. It took us time
to get going, to learn and to understand, and now we are growing
our share very rapidly in Canada and we will do exactly the same
thing once we are clear on what our customers want."
(China Daily January 26, 2007)