How did Best Buy survive when other big retailers like Toys R Us and Bed Bath & Beyond didn’t? Stuart Isett—Fortune
good morning.
I’m at CES in Las Vegas this morning, along with 130,000 other people and enough gadgets to fill 2.5 million square feet of convention space. Everything is AI-assisted: transparent TV screens, self-driving strollers, AI-assisted ovens, toothbrushes, pillows, and more.
My job last night was to interview Best Buy CEO Corey Barry at a dinner for technology leaders. I started by reminding her that 10 years ago, the smart money assumed Best Buy was headed for extinction. It will eventually become a graveyard for Toys R Us, Bed Bath & Beyond, and countless other big box stores. After all, who needs a gadget store in a world where you can buy everything on Amazon? Here’s her answer:
“There were two things people were wrong about. First, this is a great industry.that‘It’s incredibly vibrant. It changes all the time.i know it‘Although it is often talked about as discretionary spending,‘Excuse me, but how many people can go an hour a day without appliances? And we’re the only remaining scale U.S. company that sells only consumer electronics. And we are the only ones who don’t care about our customers at all.we don’t‘I don’t care about the brand. I love all my children.
And as a company, we have made this decision.Yes, please let me‘It doubles down on who we are. we‘It’s where you go. Do you want to know what words I often hear in stores? ‘I never thought I could do something like that.‘ that‘That’s what we do. We humanize technology. We don’t just focus on SKUs, speeds, and feeds.…that‘About what I want to do.”
Barry returned to the human theme again and again…in fact, she used the word “human” more often than she used the word “technology.” For example, we asked her how AI will change her Best Buy business. Here is the response:
“here‘That’s the irony of AI. In fact, AI can make all of our experiences with technology feel more human.…i don’t‘I can’t see the world there‘The decline of technology in our homes, the most intimate parts of our lives. So our role is to really humanize it, bring it to life, and help the world understand how it can make people’s lives better.”
I asked her to look ten years from now and predict how our lives will change as a result.
“I think we will all become more and more dependent on technology, but still‘You begin to feel more and more transparent, that is, you‘I’m not gonna notice you‘Sometimes I use it.that‘It just becomes a human part of what we do every day.And I think our collective responsibility is to make that happen in a fair, just, safe and responsible way.”
Even though I don’t really need an AI-assisted toothbrush, I’m tired of it. Please see the news below for more information.
alan murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com
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THis edition of CEO Daily is curated by Nicholas Gordon.
