Shares of Best Buy Co Inc. (NYSE: BBY) rallied on Thursday after the electronic goods retailer said that it will open “mini stores” within its stores across the U.S., selling Samsung products, this summer.
The Company said on Thursday that it will open 1,400 “mini stores” dubbed as Samsung Experience Shop, by the end of June. Now each store of Best Buy will have a dedicated section of Samsung products, which will include smartphones, tablets, cameras, Televisions, laptops and other accessories. Besides, it will also have a consumer support for Samsung products, akin to the Genius Bar at Apple stores.
Although both Best Buy and Samsung have enjoyed a long partnership with all products easily available at former’s stores, the “mini store” concept is a step further in which Samsung’s products will not scattered everywhere but assembled within a section. Besides, Best Buy will also train its Samsung’s “mini-stores” employees so that they are better equipped to provide information on the products, improving chances of purchase and activation
Although the South Korean company’ sells more number of handsets globally than any other company of the world, Apple’s iPhone is still the market leader in the U.S.
However, Samsung denied opening of its mini stores was aimed at competing with Apple, adding that it rather wanted to offer its customers what they yearned.
“At the heart of who we are, this is about responding to consumer needs and requests and ensure they’re delighted and empowered and happy with their choice of Samsung as a brand,” said Ketrina Dunagan, vice president for retail marketing at Samsung in an interview, according to the New York Times.
Apple currently has 400 Apple-stores around the world and also operates “mini stores” in Best Buy stores. Besides, it has also partnered with other prominent retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Target Corp. Apple’s iPhones iPads are also found in wireless communication services providers’ stores.
Some other competitors such as HTC, Blackberry and Motorola however are not prominently available in retail stores and depend mainly on wireless carriers to sell their devices.
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