Dive Brief:
- Best Buy’s incoming CEO Jason Bonfig is making CX one of the retailer’s four major priorities when he takes on the role in November, he said on a Q1 2027 earnings call Thursday. Bonfig is currently the retailer’s senior executive vice president and chief customer, product and fulfillment officer.
- The electronics retailer will enhance its store experience, deepen its understanding of customers, develop partnerships with AI companies, and invest in its employees to stay ahead of competitors in a changing retail environment, according to Bonfig.
- “Without elevating the Best Buy experience, none of the other priorities can succeed,” Bonfig said on the call. “No matter how we evolve, we're committed to being competitive on price and delivering excellence across every customer experience.”
Dive Insight:
Bonfig sees customer experience as the underlying driver to Best Buy’s future success.
“Every decision, every process, every customer interaction should begin with one question: How does this make the customer experience better?” Bonfig said.
The company’s stores are “evolving into activation and experience hubs” where customers can discover and put their hands on technology they can’t use anywhere else, Bonfig said. “They’re vendor showrooms, service centers, fulfillment points, community spaces — all in one.”
Best Buy wants to use its larger stores more strategically by consolidating empty space into specialized experiences, according to Bonfig.
Over the coming two quarters, 50 stores will introduce dedicated Meta experiences staffed with specialized employees to showcase Meta’s AI and products, according to Bonfig. Another 20 stores will utilize their extra space for Yardbird outdoor furniture shops or Best Buy’s outlet assortment.
Starting this summer, Best Buy will start introducing small- and medium-format stores designed for dense urban neighborhoods and suburban centers, according to Bonfig. These locations will offer a curated product assortment and expand Best Buy’s fulfillment network while maintaining the brand’s focus on expert service.
“This is a major step forward, because it expands our reach without compromising our experience,” Bonfig said. “It gets us closer to more customers, more often.”
Bonfig also highlighted the upcoming addition of points to Best Buy’s loyalty programs. Starting next week, paying members will receive 1% of their spend as rewards points, and those who pay with a My Best Buy credit card will earn 6%. Points can be redeemed for rewards certificates in $5 increments.
“No membership program is static, and it's always been our intent to iterate and improve the program as we learn more from our members,” Bonfig said.
A better experience will support Best Buy’s other initiatives as well, according to Bonfig. CX investments will improve the company’s reach, which will give it access to more customer insights to help the business fuel its retail media network and technology ambitions.
Best Buy is charting its course on the back of earnings that exceeded expectations but failed to wow analysts. Comparable store sales rose 2% year over year, according to an earnings report. Enterprise revenue rose 2% year over year to $8.9 billion.
In the future, Best Buy plans to invest in its employees while embracing AI, according to Bonfig. Best Buy isn’t alone among retailers putting an emphasis on its people, balanced with technology, for improved CX.
“We are committed to ongoing investment in our people while embracing technology, including artificial intelligence, that will empower our people to deliver even more remarkable experiences for our customers,” Bonfig said.
