Best Buy Seeks Stronger Online Sales

Best Buy Co. Inc. (Richfield, Minn.) has updated its web site with a “My Best Buy” loyalty program. The intention, according to a Bloomberg News report, is to turn strong online traffic to sales.

“My Best Buy,” which has 41 million active members, lets shoppers redeem reward points and shop on a single site. The CE retailer’s previous loyalty program, “Reward Zone,” wasn’t linked to BestBuy.com, forcing users to log onto both sites to turn points into purchases.

The program also has some advanced features. Mobile-phone users earn points by clicking on an application while they’re in stores. The program has three membership tiers, and shoppers who make the top level by spending $3500 or more a year get free expedited shipping on purchases and 45 days to make returns and exchanges.

Best Buy ceo Hubert Joly has set a target of more than doubling Best Buy’s share of U.S. online consumer-electronics sales to 18 percent — matching its share of brick-and-mortar sales — from the current 7 percent.

Internet research shows that while Best Buy has 1 billion online visitors a year, only slightly more than one of every 100 visitors makes a purchase, which is about half the average rate among online retailers.