Best Buy is the largest consumer electronics retailer in theUnited States, accounting for 19 percent of the market. Globally,it operates around 4,000 stores in the United States, Canada,Mexico, China, and Turkey. Its subsidiaries include Geek Squad,Magnolia Audio Video, Pacific Sales, and Future ShopBest Buydistinguishes itself from competitors by deploying adifferentiation strategy rather than a low-price strategy. In orderto become a service-oriented firm, it changed the compensationstructure for sales associates and applied a customer-centricoperating model to provide end-to-end services. It also heavilyinvested in the training of sales professionals so they can betterunderstand products and better assist customers. As a result, thecompany is widely recognized for its superior service. Best Buystill faces competition, however, from large brick-and-mortarstores like Walmart, as well as e-commerce stores like Amazon. Theeconomic downturn and technological advances (the frequentintroduction of new products) have also put stress on its financialstrength and the quality of its customer service. The key challengefor Best Buy is to determine the correct path to improve itsdifferentiation strategy.
Assess the company's strengths and weaknesses by examining BestBuy's internal and external environments. Does the company have acompetitive advantage? Your response should provide substance andbe supported (cite sources
