Best Buy is no longer counting on consumers to come to their own website to see product information and deals but is also extending a variety of outward communication delivery systems to go where there customers are, including via email and mobile devices. The company is using application programming interface (API) technology that allows others to take Best Buy's content for free and integrate it into their own websites, social networking sites, blogs, mobile applications, and beyond.
As an article on the StorefrontBacktalk site pointed out, this strategy could mean "a blog discussing high-definition televisions could allow people to purchase such devices from that site."
Michele Azar, Best Buy's VP for emerging channels, told StorefrontBacktalk, "Our customers are going to expect us in these new places."
Dave Micko, a technical lead in the emerging channels group, said, "Our vision certainly extends beyond blogs and social sites. The foundational data can flow into all sorts of places, from mobile to your TV or your car or even your bathroom scale."
Jon Crowe, enterprise technology services director at Cabela's, doesn't buy into the notion that efforts such as Best Buy's will only appeal to Gen X and Y consumers. "I think that, in the future, over the course of the next 24 months, social sites and blogging will become much more prominent," he said. "It certainly makes a lot of sense, and if you can expand your sales channel touchpoints and do it without watering down the brand, that's something you want to take a serious look at."
The real issue for Cabela's comes down to control of the brand and message, said Mr. Crowe.
"If you drop your widget on, let's say Facebook, and there is a problem, that's not going to be perceived as Facebook's problem. That will be perceived (by customers) as Cabela's problem," he told StorefrontBacktalk.
Best Buy's Micko said concerns over control are purely an academic discussion since content is being taken daily without the company's permission.
Discussion Questions: What do you think of the use of application programming interfaces by Best Buy and others to put their content in more places where it can be seen by consumers? What are your thoughts on the net pluses/minuses relative to giving up control of the content once it is taken from the retailer's or other marketer's site?