Best Buy turns to games to coax customers

forget 3D TVs or iPads, Best Buy is using video games to attract customers into its UK shops.

The firm, which now operates six outlets in the country, has moved its games departments to the front of many of its stores in order to encourage consumers to come in and start playing.

Best Buy has suffered a turbulent start in the UK, with various managerial changes, head office restructures and an expected loss of 55m. But the firm is confident it is now doing the right things to ensure long-term success in the territory.

We have learnt a lot about the UK, about the UK consumer and how they shop for electricals,” said head of home theatre and entertainment Rob Wilkins.

I believe we have had a massive impact on the UK market already in terms of how we have structured our stores and approached the last 12 months.”

He added: Gaming is the dominant part of the entertainment business.

We have tried gaming in several parts of the store with some of our outlets, and we decided that the right thing to do was to put it right at the front. We want to give it some real prominence to draw the customers in and give them something fun to do. Entertainment is the traffic driver into our business.”

Best Buy has also reshaped its entertainment team following customer feedback, merging it with its home theatre department to better integrate TV with audio, games and DVDs.

We are different in how we go to market,” continued Wilkins. There has been loads of insight work done. Our customers drive our business and we have obtained a lot of feedback.”