Best Buy: Surviving the Showroom
Featuring Hubert Joly
By the early 2010s, Amazon had turned Best Buy stores into free showrooms: customers walked in, handled the product, then bought it cheaper online. The stock cratered, leadership churned, and analysts had the obituary drafted. Then Hubert Joly took over as CEO in 2012 and launched a turnaround that pointedly refused to out-Amazon Amazon, betting instead on what a physical store and a service arm could do that a website could not.
For any operator facing a cheaper, faster, digital-native competitor, this case sharpens the decision every incumbent eventually confronts: which fights to pick and which to refuse. It pushes you to inventory the assets a pure-digital rival cannot easily replicate, and to be honest about where you are spending energy competing on dimensions where you are structurally disadvantaged. How Best Buy actually rewired its relationship with suppliers and customers is the move to discover inside.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Best Buy showrooming case about?
It is about how Best Buy survived being turned into a free showroom by Amazon in the early 2010s, when customers handled products in stores then bought them cheaper online. The stock cratered and leadership churned before Hubert Joly took over as CEO in 2012 and launched a turnaround. He bet on what physical stores and a service arm could do that a website could not, rather than trying to out-Amazon Amazon.
Who turned around Best Buy and when?
Hubert Joly became Best Buy's CEO in 2012 and led its turnaround, known as Renew Blue, through the following years. He refused to compete with Amazon purely on price and instead leaned on physical stores, services like Geek Squad, and supplier relationships. The strategy reversed a period of cratering stock and churning leadership.
Why did Best Buy survive Amazon when other electronics retailers failed?
Best Buy survived by choosing which fights to pick and refusing to out-Amazon Amazon, leaning instead on assets a pure-digital rival could not easily replicate, such as physical stores, in-person service, and supplier partnerships. It rewired its relationships with both suppliers and customers rather than competing only on price. That focus on structural advantages kept it relevant.
What can operators learn from Best Buy's turnaround?
The lesson is to inventory the assets a digital-native competitor cannot easily replicate and stop spending energy competing where you are structurally disadvantaged. Best Buy won by picking its battles and playing to physical and service strengths. CaseBook turns this into a move you apply to your own company, with an AI coach that reads your answer.