Best Buy is incorporating generative artificial intelligence (AI) into customer support, the retailer announced April 9. To achieve this, it’s working with Google Cloud and Accenture to supply what the corporate calls “more personalized, best-in-class tech support experiences.”
Best Buy detailed the brand new strategy inside days of reported layoffs that impacted its Geek Squad customer support operations.
Best Buy ranks No. 9 within the Top 1000. The database is Digital Commerce 360’s rating of the most important North American online retailers. It falls under the Consumer Electronics category.
How Best Buy will use AI
The retailer will launch a generative AI assistant to handle customer inquiries on BestBuy.com, the Best Buy app, and thru its phone support line. The assistant is scheduled to launch in late summer 2024. It should have the ability to assist customers troubleshoot problems, change delivery scheduling and manage subscriptions and memberships, Best Buy said.
Best Buy also uses generative AI for customer support agents to make their roles easier. The technology gives agents real-time recommendations on methods to reply to customer inquiries. It also summarizes conversations and uses data from calls to make higher recommendations in the longer term, Best Buy said. Using AI improves the accuracy of information collection and reduces average engagement time with agents by about 5%, CEO Corie Barry told investors in February.
Store employees may also get some AI help. Best Buy is working on a generative AI assistant that may provide easy accessibility to company resources and product guides to assist customers more efficiently, it said.
Best Buy can also be using AI to create more efficient delivery and installation schedules, in response to Barry.
The retailer is further investing in developing its AI capability with a brand new technology hub in Bangalore, India, Barry added. The placement will give Best Buy “expanded, more economical access to talent and skills,” she said. It should open later in 2024.
Best Buy layoffs
In the identical call, Barry noted plans for layoffs in 2024. She said Best Buy would concentrate on “driving further efficiencies” within the Geek Squad repair division. Best Buy laid off some Geek Squad members in April, 404 Media reported. The retailer didn’t disclose what number of staff were impacted.
The layoffs are a part of a mission to “balance field labor resources to make sure that we’re providing the optimal experience for purchasers where they need to shop; redirect corporate resources to make sure that now we have the obligatory assets dedicated to areas like AI and other elements of our strategy; and right-size parts of the business where we expect to see lower volume than we envisioned a couple of years ago,” Barry said.
Best Buy Q4
Best Buy domestic revenue declined 0.9% to $13.41 billion in Q4 of its fiscal 2024 ended Feb. 3. That was driven partly by a 5.1% decline in domestic comparable sales. Home theater, appliances, mobile phones and tablets led the comparable sales decline, partially offset by sales growth in gaming.
Net earnings were $460 million for the quarter, compared with $495 million within the year-ago period.
For the total 2024 fiscal 12 months, domestic revenue declined 6.3% to $40.10 billion. Comparable domestic sales declined 7.1%. Operating income also decreased, to $1.47 billion from $1.63 billion in fiscal 2023.
Best Buy projected the identical trends will proceed in fiscal 2025. The retailer forecasted revenue to achieve between $41.3 billion and $42.6 billion. It also said comparable sales will decline as much as 3.0%, or at the very best stay flat.
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